progressive powder dropers? How accurate are they?

Dultimatpredator

Dultimatpredator

Well-known member
A few of my friends always brag about how many bullets they can do in an hour versus a couple of days with my single stage press because of the powder dropper. I just don't trust how inacurate they are. Is anyone on the same page as me? My RCBS dropper can through a charge a good couple a grains off or more every time. Progressive type droppers can't be that accurate over a hundred yards and are best suited for pistol bullets I would assume?
 
Depends on the powder. I have a Dillon 550B that is very accurate . but I'm loading only .45 Auto w/ Win.231. I have found that the heavy grains (my terminology) like Accuracy 3100 is a little more difficult due to the size of the individual grains. I use the RCBS single stage for those type powders and weigh each charge. Its a pain, but it works well.
 
Quote:
" Progressive type droppers can't be that accurate over a hundred yards and are best suited for pistol bullets..."



Not hardly.

I load 308 and 223 match ammo on progressive machines.

So do Federal, Winchester and Remington.

I shoot it a lot further than "a hundred yards".

I think you need to learn about progressive machines and actually use one for a while, before spouting off with an opinion and putting them down.


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My Lee 1000 progressive uses a disk type powder measure and I only use it for my handgun loads (9mm,.40s, & 10mm) and use a fairly fine grained powder. It's accurate within 0.1gr and usually much closer.

For my Rifle loads, I use a single stage with a bulk powder thrower and again, use a fairly fine ball powder and it's really accurate. It's more of a pain if I'm using an extruded powder as it tends to bridge the grains pretty easily and those need to be trickled.

While Lee indicates the progressive can be used for my .223s and .204s, I haven't been able to get the powder disk to work right without buying a separate hopper system.
 
The consistency of the progressives that I use (Dillon) depend heavily on the guy pulling the handle. Where it is quite easy to get consistent dropped charges to the tenth of a grain with ball-powder, any extruded powder takes some acquired technique.

If you are very careful with setting up your press and your process, it is possible to load short kernel extruded powders to within a tenth of a grain as well. ANY little glitch in the process can allow a heavy charge to be thrown. You need to be much more vigilant when loading the extruded powders.
 
I also use the Dillon 550 presses, I have 2 of them. I can make some pretty darn accurate loads using a progressive powder measure. As long as your using ball powders, and short cut extruded powders its great, the long grained stuff is alittle harder to get the perfect drop from, most times impossible. I use them for pistol and rifle, 95% of my reloading consists of small caliber, small case capacity cartriges and can use finer powders. I find it drops right on perfect some go 2/10ths over and never more, hardly ever does it drop short. Depending on the cartrige/case capacity and your use of them, 2/10ths isnt enough to make much of a difference. IMHO
 
If you have the RCBS Uniflow, you more than likeley have the "Big Drum" installed in it. If you bought it in a kit, I can almost guarantee it. The small drum is for pistol/small rifle and from what I understand meters more consistantly in the smaller rifle calibers. I am also told that if you bought this in a kit, and call RCBS, they will send you one at no charge. I hope this helps.
 
Keep in mind that many progressive presses use standard powder measures that are set up to work in the progressive press and are very accurate. Lee comes to mind in that both their pistol powder measure and Perfect powder measure are used on their progressive presses and I use the same pistol measure on a turret press set up to run single stage. It's pretty nice to be able to bell the cases on revolver and pistol rounds and drop the powder at the same time.

There's a Hornedy progressive under my bench that uses a standard Hornedy measure set up to run on the progressive. Basically most of he measures are the same one's you use on a bench when your using a single stage. Can't see how that would make any less accurate loads.
 
Quote:
Quote:
" Progressive type droppers can't be that accurate over a hundred yards and are best suited for pistol bullets..."



Not hardly.

I load 308 and 223 match ammo on progressive machines.

So do Federal, Winchester and Remington.

I shoot it a lot further than "a hundred yards".

I think you need to learn about progressive machines and actually use one for a while, before spouting off with an opinion and putting them down.


.




There was a question mark at the end of the "QUESTION." I should have expected some dumb A$$ to give a smart A$$ reply. I was asking for opinions...not making a statement. Interpretation is the key.
 
A concern I see is the powder dispensers use volume mechanism to dispens a charge of powder that is measured in grains of wieght. Accurate conversion relies on consistency in the powder filling the drum on the thrower and the cycling of thrower. It's easy to introduce inaccuracy up to .5 grains in many throwers. Some folks use the term "accurate" around but have no statistical reference to support it. So be skepical of anecdotal feedback. I think it depends on the intended use for the ammo and what accuracy means to each person. Clearly a trickle dispensed load is going to be more accurate than just a thrown charge, with the an increase in time as the cost. I believe the progressive presses give an accurate enough charge for most peoples use considering they are using a progressive to produce volume meaning they shoot in volume and any deviation in charge wieght does not exceed their accuracy requirement.
 
I've seen arguments on the benchrest boards weighed charges versus thrown ones. Some claim that the thrown charges are more accurate, after all the prep and sorting of cases to get them all alike, they claim the same exact volume of powder is more important than the same exact weight! This is from guys whose reloading bench includes a tool for grabbing powder one granule at a time.
I do both, depending on how well the powder meters. If I'm throwing them, I check the weights routinely though.

peace.
unloaded
 
Look at how a/ any powder measure is designed. It has a chamber of specific size either preset at the factory ( disk type ) or User set for each charge wt.( Uniflow, Hornady, Lyman ect.) They factory use measures based on the same principle. Powder falls into a set chamber that will only hold a specific amount of a specified powder. Powder types can change accuracy due to flow caricteristics Ball Vs Extruded or flake for instance. They are all as accurate as the user sets them up to be, I have helped many new handloaders with this problem Most just do not lock the metering drum and use changes the Charge wt. The amount of powder in the hopper can make a differance as well less wt pushing powder into the drum, operator working the lever to fast ect. But to say a single stage is less accurate han a progressive is just false. Most of the single stage measures are the same thing that is used on a progressive any way.
 
If you are getting errors of several grains you are not using the measure correctly. My RCBS Uniflow measure meters even stick powder within +- 1/10 grain. Ball powderws are right on.

Jack
 
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