Hi all
Looking for a powder thrower recommendation.
I have a Lee powder thrower, which is okay… But I’m getting very annoyed with an inconsistent feel of the handle.
It’s okay and then it gets gummed up or whatever, probably powder gets stuck somewhere where it shouldn’t and the feel gets inconsistent. I then have to throw 4 or 5 charges just to get the feel back to normal. It’s getting very annoying.
Recommendations?
Mate I run a Redding stock standard thrower. Nothing special however it is very consistent especially with Winchester ball powders, and the ADI powders I use which are 2205, 06H, and 08. Can be a bit clunky with 2209. Have to throw or trickle about every 5th or 6th load again on average. Only an issue with the longer stick powders. Anything else it’s tip top mate.
What are you throwing? Stick powders generally suck in all barrel and scrape type manual throwers.
Mostly flake and ball powders. 2208 on occasion, but mostly ball and flake. Me getting fed up would be using 70N.
I do have an electronic one, but for plinking calibres (ball and flake powders) or milsurps (stick), thrower is the fastest option. Lee just started to shit me.
The Lee is reported to be one of the best out there despite its relatively cheap construction and price. It is used in a few 3rd party Auto upgrade products like the Auto Thrower.
Yeah, maybe I just need to tare it apart and give it a clean. I am getting a little bit of binding. Maybe a clean is all it needs.
Stay tuned.
Different use-case though. Auto thrower trickles in the difference. I don’t weigh every charge however…
I find that the trick with the Lee throwers is to be very consistent in your action. Yes, sometimes the “feel” just doesn’t feel right, granules of powder get cut or bind in the drum. It all depends on your application, the variation from a “clunky” throw might make fuck-all difference to a plinking load. If I’m just chucking pistol or lever gun ammo together and get that, I’ll just throw a couple of quick charges into a plastic cup to clear it and get back to loading. If it happens regularly, a quick strip and clean, check for burring on the edges, reassemble paying attention to how tight you put it back together, will usually fix the problem.
One thing that I’ve seen blokes do that I believe gives them bad results, ( with any thrower ), is having the arm in the “up” or charging position when introducing the case to the thrower. Any impact or movement of the thrower, no matter how slight, will cause settling of the powder in the drum and give differing charges. I’ve also watched blokes slam the charge handle up and down, which causes the powder to jump, then wonder why they can’t get a consistent charge.
I’ve got a Lyman that is total crap when it comes to throwing consistent charges no matter what I do with it, I bought it “as new” second hand, I reckon I now know why the original owner got rid of it. The adjustment is also over complicated and unnecessary. I’ve used Harrels and not been happy with those either. I have an expensive MVA dedicated blackpowder thrower that I won in the U.S. While it is very accurate, it is slow and tiresome to use and a pain in the arse to change the charge amount.
I suppose it may just be familiarity with the Lee’s, ( talking 10’s of 1000’s of rounds ), but I can quickly set a charge amount and go on to throw consistent lots of 50 in a short amount of time. I can get good results with mine with anything from as little as 3.5gr of pistol powders right through various “stick” rifle powders up to 115 grains of blackpowder. ( I don’t subscribe to the urban myth about static in plastics and blackpowder )
That’s pretty much me… I’ll take it apart and clean it before buying anything new. It’s probably due for a clean.
My Hornady one has been great with the ball and flake stuff, but some throws of 2208 and the like are a 1.0 grains off in a 45 grain throw. Like 1 in 10, with the others all within .2 which is very frustrating.
Only have experience with my RCBS thrower. As above, consistent action/technique helps but I have never relied on the thrower to be accurate. Usually a few points of a grain to adjust by hand on the scale. I get excited when I have a run that are really consistent. For this reason I actually set the thrower to throw a little less than I want. Find it easier to add than to remove over throws.
I don’t load enough to just throw charges into cases.
Run a couple - for my accuracy loads I run through the charge master and cross check every 15-20 on a second scale for plunking ammo I punch these out on the Dillon for 223/308 which is surprisingly pretty good for bm2 and 2206h. Have a Redding br that runs well with most powder.
Love my Redding also! I only weigh every 10 for 303 loading…I did weigh every charge, but it makes no difference on the target.
Which Lee thrower do you have,?
Original ‘perfect powder measure’
Yeah I have one the same, and the auto drum, for turret press operation