Dillon Powder Measure Consistency IMR 8208 XBR
- Thread starter Afkirby
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I’ve polished it up a little, nothing as drastic as the mirror finishes I see some people do. I was getting some powder spilling, the polishing seems to have helped, but I haven’t dropped enough charges to say for sure.
I am very interested in this info. I have a Dillon 650 with identical powder measure. Have shot enough factory ammo that to my beleif it produces at least one or two flyers in a five shot string. Is the powder drop accurrate enough or shoud it be set to drop short of desired charge weight and then trickle up on powder scale? This to me almost negates the reason to load on a progressive.
I polished my measure and slide bar as well as the drop.
With XBR I can load without the powder check chirping away which should indicate it's staying within .1 to .2 grains.
Pulled cases weighed on a beam indicate within a .1 of where I want to be.
I just pull the handle and go loading .223 with XBR on an S1050.
Varget, 4064, 4895, I pull out each case after the drop and weigh each case. Anything log like causes issues.
TAC is like water seems designed for a Dillon.
When loading pistol I use W231, pours perfect.
With XBR I can load without the powder check chirping away which should indicate it's staying within .1 to .2 grains.
Pulled cases weighed on a beam indicate within a .1 of where I want to be.
I just pull the handle and go loading .223 with XBR on an S1050.
Varget, 4064, 4895, I pull out each case after the drop and weigh each case. Anything log like causes issues.
TAC is like water seems designed for a Dillon.
When loading pistol I use W231, pours perfect.
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Depends what powder your using and what you've done to your powder measure. I have 7 or 8 powder measures for my 650 and all of them have been polished to a mirror finish, same with powder bar, the actual powder funnels have been polished inside as suggested by Dillon since they are drilled. I also have the Uniquetek powder baffles in my hoppers and the Micrometer Powder bar.
They are dead on with pistol powders, ball powders and 8208. I do not use the powder dispenser on my 550 with large stick powders like H4350 or Varget for my precision bolt gun loads.
Thanks pmclaime and padom, looks like I have some work to do. Do you polish with flitz and a rag or can do it with a buffer on my dremel?
I used the dremel and bullet shaped felt than finished by hand. I think I started with jewelry rouge than used flitz or never dull by hand. They look nice to start but will oxidize/gather carbon quick and darken back up. Still a much smoother finish than factory.
I do it just as a matter of set up with all new measures possibly more for my mental piece of mind rather than actual performance.
I do it just as a matter of set up with all new measures possibly more for my mental piece of mind rather than actual performance.
Remove the plastic hopper and polish the inside of the funnel and the entire powder bar to a very slick finish. I can get Varget or H4350 to drop accurately enough to shoot steel out to 600 yds with progressively made loads. Further out or shooting for score, the hopper gets replaced with a powder die and funnel and each charge is weighed and poured at that station. The 550 or 650 produces excellent precision ammo with .0005 RO or less. Certainly as good as my single stages ever did and easier/faster. My .02.
Check out the Johnson quick measure.
Weighs out 4064 to within 1/10th of a grain, varget is dead on , and 4350 is around 1/10th of a grain. This powder measure has saved me an insane amount of time. No waiting on the charge master which is less accurate anyway. No cutting powder with huge swings like the dillons, hornadys, etc..... even if you want to throw low and trickle it's still faster.
Sweet loading 6.5 Creedmoor /4350 on the 650 with no cutting/crunching. And accurate as f#$k.
Weighs out 4064 to within 1/10th of a grain, varget is dead on , and 4350 is around 1/10th of a grain. This powder measure has saved me an insane amount of time. No waiting on the charge master which is less accurate anyway. No cutting powder with huge swings like the dillons, hornadys, etc..... even if you want to throw low and trickle it's still faster.
Sweet loading 6.5 Creedmoor /4350 on the 650 with no cutting/crunching. And accurate as f#$k.
I mounted the Dillon measure off my RL1050 onto my single stage press for dropping with Tac, BLC2 and 8208. No modification to the measure and it drops within the error range of my scales. As Dillon recommended I drop five times after filling an empty hopper before starting to verify the charge or when changing the charge.
Using dropped charges on steel plates @ 650 with no problems.
Using dropped charges on steel plates @ 650 with no problems.
Measures that do cut powder rarely produce "huge swings" compared to measures that do not. And "1/10 grain" of 4064 is pretty much a single "grain". Use a "volume thrower" to put 95% of the charge in a case and trickle them up from there.
Canthitshit,
What you just said totally defeats the purpose I can throw and trickle for hours or I can use the quick measure and do thd same amount just as precise in 1/8th the time. Also I own or owned powder throws by hornady, dillon, lee, jds and a lyman . Bottom line if precision and speed are you're goal . The quick measure destroys the others. I would rather spend more time shooting or with the family. However do as you please. Oh and measures that cut powder do have LARGE swings this is common knowledge to anyone that has used one. Maybe it's the jostling of the grains cutting don't know and don't care. I am simply trying to save someone money and time. I wish I had found this year's ago.
What you just said totally defeats the purpose I can throw and trickle for hours or I can use the quick measure and do thd same amount just as precise in 1/8th the time. Also I own or owned powder throws by hornady, dillon, lee, jds and a lyman . Bottom line if precision and speed are you're goal . The quick measure destroys the others. I would rather spend more time shooting or with the family. However do as you please. Oh and measures that cut powder do have LARGE swings this is common knowledge to anyone that has used one. Maybe it's the jostling of the grains cutting don't know and don't care. I am simply trying to save someone money and time. I wish I had found this year's ago.
"Jesus" "Fucking" "Christ" "learn" "how" to" "use" "quotations"
Have you ever sucked a sweeter peter than mine?
And you might be an all-thumbs desk-driving white-collar wannabe "sniper" who can't change oil or change a tire for all I know. Pretending that what YOU can do and do is in any way relevant to ME is pretty damned funny. I'm a diesel mechanic, lifelong gearhead and have been "tinkering" with machines and shooting damned near all my life. So its entirely possible that I might be just a little more mechanically-inclined, coordinated, well-equipped and productive at the reloading bench than you are. Especially when I chose to and choose to reload/handload/cast bullets after jacking with broken and malfunctioning machinery in my "free time". As for things that totally "defeat the purpose", I can only put up your "speed" argument as evidence you don't put a whole lot of thought into ANYTHING you do when it comes to loading/shooting.
So you're all about "accuracy and precision" in your shooting but you want to save time and do things quickly? ROFLMAO. Whatever, Super Sniper. I use a Dillon 550 with 4 different automatic measures, a "pull-type" Dillon measure that like my 550 is probably older than YOU are, an RCBS volume thrower and trickle when necessary. I even occasionally use the little yellow "scoops" that come with Lee Precision die sets since those little volume measures are actually pretty accurate when used with the powders they're calibrated for/with properly. I can charge cases precisely throwing the majority of the charge and trickling the remainder faster than any electronic "automatic measure" I've ever seen online.
I use a "quick measure" when it suits the level of accuracy and precision I want in my charges and ammunition and hand-trickle when THAT works best. Using XBR8208 I've "quick-measured" (with the RCBS) powder charges accurate and precise enough that my home-built 18" AR with a Wilson Combat stainless "match" barrel will put 10 Hornady V-Maxes in less than an inch all day long at 100 yards. And that's with me - not a Super Sniper - doing the shooting off pickup hood benchrest or an actual bench. I'm NOT a great "benchrest" shooter so when my rifles and pistols and ammunition shoot well I tend to believe I'm doing something right loading at the bench and I'm NOT a hyper-picky and precision-obsessed handloader/reloader.
You won't find bushing dies or neck-sizing dies or neck trimmers or ".01 grain" scales or case comparators or any ammunition over SAAMI OAL and tuned to be X distance "off the lands" on my bench or in my ammunition inventor. I shoot and load PRACTICAL rather than "TACTICAL" guns and ammunition. I've cranked out 800 rounds of .223 Remington with 55-grain ammo on a single-stage in one long day of reloading and I've spent hours loading 50 or 100 rounds of "varmint ammo" for a handgun. I reload about a dozen different cartridges from .223 to ,50 BMG including 4 pistol/revolver cartridges with about 15-20 different powders. I convert cases for two of the cartridges I load and have continually expanded my range of guns, cartridges, tools, capabilities and skills since I started reloading after 20+ years of shooting.
I've used a few other measures besides what I currently use and haven't purchased factory ammo in several years for almost 30 pretty different guns and have several dozen "loads" in my inventory and also cast bullets from recovered (with a shovel and sifting screen) range scrap lead. Several of the cartridges I load I own multiple guns in multiple types for and the only cartridge I have only a single load for is .35 Remington I shoot in my 1914 Remington Model 8 and that's fixing to change since I replaced the buffer spring in that rifle and got it tightened up after 104 years of use.
That 104-year old semi-auto hunting/sporting rifle shoots 2-3 MOA with a Redfield "peep" rear sight with the insert removed to make it more of a ghost-ring setup and the factory front sight, 200-grain Hornady round-nose bullets and IMR 4064 and those loads are the first load I ever "developed". I've shot a prairie dog at 75 yards with it from the cab of my pickup shooting from the driver seat through the open passenger window (the benefits of shooting left-handed) so I tend to think I probably don't NEED all the "accuracy and precision" process/equipment that "benchrest" shooters and LR/ELR shooters seem to think are required to make supposedly high-quality factory and "custom" rifles shoot "sub-MOA".
I've loaded "varmint ammo" for guns ranging from 1911 pistols (yes, I've shot varmints - prairie dogs - with a 1911) to my .50 and since there are plenty of "cheap" mass-produced rifles and rifle/scope combos out there in common "hunting" chamberings that come with 1 MOA or better accuracy guarantees from the factory with no stipulations on ammo "type" or "load", I tend to think MOST of the "precision shooting" industry is profiting from the ignorance and laziness of "shooters" who have more dollars than sense eager to run out and swipe plastic to BUY "skill" and "ability" when the latest next big thing bandwagon product comes along.
But I'll keep your wisdom and experience and knowledge in mind going forward.
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Apparently you have lots of time considering that novel you wrote. We all now know you are a master diesel mechanic,gear head, master reloader etc etc. Honestly sound like you're insecure. Or maybe you jyst think other love to hear all about you. I quit reading after I realized you were simply tooting your own horn about what you have and what you can do. Why spend more time to achieve the same results ? Answer that for me ? Do you have a family ? If you read what you wrote it actually makes you sound ridiculous. I never claimed to be a sniper. I simply stated facts . Thinking maybe it would help to save others valuable time.
Next time slow down and realize your way may not always be the best. You can always learn something new. Thats why we are here.
Next time slow down and realize your way may not always be the best. You can always learn something new. Thats why we are here.
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