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Lee Perfect Powder Measure vs. Lyman Model 55

boisepaw

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 20, 2020
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Queenstown, MD
I have a Lee powder measure out of the Lee 50th Anniversary Reloading Kit that I've been using for 4-5 years with no complaints. But I do weigh and trickle every charge when reloading. I recently acquired the Lyman Model 55 powder measure but I haven't set it up yet on my bench.

Will I get dramatically better results...more consistently measured charges...with the Lyman than I have been getting from the Lee?

Apart from a Chargemaster or something like that, is there anything that will consistently throw a charge each time so that I don't have to weigh and trickle every single charge?
 
This month's issue of BluePress (the Dillon monthly advertisement) has an article abut this question. It is not the exact units you asked about, but directly compares. The article compared three styles of powder measures (the Chargemaster - an automatic scale/trickler combo, the Dillon APM - a sliding bar volumetric measure, and the RCBS Uniflow - a rotating drum volumetric measure). The chargemaster did best with lowest standard deviation of charges thrown. The Dillon and Uniflow were comparable; I would say no significant difference.

The Lyman and the Lee powder measures are most similar to the Uniflow. While I have no direct experience with the Lyman, I have used and owned a couple of the Lee Perfect Powder measures. After running a bunch of powder through (to get the measure's internals graphite coated), and paying careful attention to operate the measure smoothly and consistently, I have obtained very consistent loads from the Lee. Almost any measure can accomplish this with ball/small flake powders. The Lee has a reputation for being very accurate with stick powders. I have used it for both, and have found it to produce ammo with very good ES (i.e. less than 10fps in 308 sized case).
 
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Your only going to get so so results from a powder measure unless you run ball powders.
With good technique I’ve seen really consistent throws with my Hornandy and RCBS measures and ball powders.
To throw stick powder just pony up to the charge master or Alternatives.
 
Your only going to get so so results from a powder measure unless you run ball powders.
With good technique I’ve seen really consistent throws with my Hornandy and RCBS measures and ball powders.
To throw stick powder just pony up to the charge master or Alternatives.

I also have the Hornady Lock-N-Load Auto Charge but after getting it out one time and not being immediately satisfied with the results...it has sat on my bench, unused, for a couple of years. I think that I've heard that with a little bit of fiddling with it to get things set up right it is a very good measure but so far I haven't found that out by first hand experience...
 
I also have the Hornady Lock-N-Load Auto Charge but after getting it out one time and not being immediately satisfied with the results...it has sat on my bench, unused, for a couple of years. I think that I've heard that with a little bit of fiddling with it to get things set up right it is a very good measure but so far I haven't found that out by first hand experience...
If you make a insert from a soda straw to adjust the opening exposure in the hopper the Hornandy works quite well.
 
I have the Lee, Lyman, and RCBS Quick Change. All three stink with IMR 4064, work great with ball,flake/spherical powder, ok for 8208 in 308, but not 223.

I usually use the lee for pistol, and Chargemaster 1500 for rifle.
 
I used an old lyman no. 55 for years and years, set the charge weight to about 0.5gr shy of my desired charge weight and trickled the rest. Only way to be 100% consistant with charge weight. It tended to vary around +/-0.3gr for me. I really want to get another one, being in the market for a new measure but not sure if the other options on the market are better or not. The one feature I did like on the lyman was the knocker in the front, a tap or two will settle the powder into the drum and a tap after throwing the charge ensures it all comes out. Extruded powders tend to get cut when throwing but flakes and sphericals metered out pretty well.
 
The Lee is a more accurate measure than the other drum measures
 
I used an old lyman no. 55 for years and years, set the charge weight to about 0.5gr shy of my desired charge weight and trickled the rest. Only way to be 100% consistant with charge weight. It tended to vary around +/-0.3gr for me. I really want to get another one, being in the market for a new measure but not sure if the other options on the market are better or not. The one feature I did like on the lyman was the knocker in the front, a tap or two will settle the powder into the drum and a tap after throwing the charge ensures it all comes out. Extruded powders tend to get cut when throwing but flakes and sphericals metered out pretty well.
Well I don’t think it really matters much when it comes to cutting powder. Ever pulled a bullet from Federal Gold Medal Match and poured out the powder? I saw where it was a blend. They use 3 different powders similar in size to 4895, 4064 and ball powder mixtures. together. And it’s pretty accurate for out the box
 
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No I never saw a difference, besides whats one or two cut kernels of powder out of a 73gr charge’s worth? The annoyance is on the upstroke of the throw lever and having it go crunch after forcing it back up..do that 50-100 times and it gets old.