Wow, Unique kinda sucks to meter

GymB

GymB

Picking it up slowly.
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decided to load 45LC, 8.5gr of Unique under a 250g RNFP. Lyman powder measure would either throw about 1 grain or overflow the case no matter how hard I beat on it. At the 20min mark it was consistently throwing about 7.8g - 8.0g and I just decided to trickle it up.

First experience with Unique, anyone else find it hard to meter?
 
I use Unique a lot and it meters just fine in a Lee PPM, Autodrum, or an RCBS Uniflow, within +/- 0.1gn

Was it a new powder measure?
 
Uniflow or a Little Dandy with my adjustable rotor. The adjustable rotor has a "cutting edge" built into the design specifically for dealing with flake powders.
 
Have loaded a fair amount. Alliant likes big gnarly flakes.

Never had any issue staying within +/- 0.1 with most closer in the LnL. Autodisc was more consistent.

Does your measure have large and small rotors?
When I tried to be lazy and use a large rotor it did not go well at all.
 
It is a new powder measure, but I have taken it apart and cleaned it.

It has 3 slides, large, medium and small. The greatest problem was trying to adjust the large slide to get to roughly the right volume, seems that the flakes would bridge the opening until it got to be a certain size and then all fall in.

I'll go take an RCBS powdermeasure apart at Cabelas this afternoon to see if it's much different.
 
Did you run a hopper of powder through it? Whatever slide you plan to use wide open. The residue helps lube things and prevent sticking.

Also, you might try with and without the baffle, some large flake/grain powders will meter better with the pressure of the column bearing on them, of course this does result in charge shift from full to empty.

Also suggest you bang that knocker thing hard if working the lever doesn't give the measure a good jarring. Course powders typically respond well to jarring/shaking/vibrating as long as the method is consistent. I've even heard of guys rapping the measure with a dowel or screwdriver handle, or attaching an aquarium pump. I've never had to resort to such measures, but with bigger flakes I do tap or rattle the measure for 15-20 seconds (until it stops settling noticeably) before I drop the first charge, then run it in a spirited manner.
 
I've never had an issue in my Lee PPM or Autodisk. I do like to keep the hopper 50% or more full but I do that with any powder. It typically stays within +/-0.1 gr.
I have found that I need to cycle the powder measure a couple of extra times with Unique, almost like it needs an extra pass to settle. Outside of that it gets no special treatment and I use a lot of Unique.
 
Sounds like you might already have solved your problem by running powder through your measure. give it another try?
 
There is always graphite...which is what most powder measure mfgs recommend for a first time or cleaned out hopper fill the first time. But powders have graphite too
 
I've never had much in the way of issues using the Lyman 55 but admittedly once I have it set I don't do a ton of checking. For pistol loads I'm just not that worried about .1gr one way or the other. I've found that it's best not to hammer on it but just to knock it the same number of times each time. Could always go with an automated weight based measure!
 
Okay then, I'll stop trying to make it better by cleaning it!
 
My Lee Pro AutoDisk does okay with Unique, but not great. I'm maybe a bit OCD about my reloading practices, but with Unique, I weigh each charge, as opposed to 2400 or W231, which is so consistent that I only weigh every 10th charge.
 
I don't recall it being hard to meter, but it sure does leave a pistol dirty.
 
mckenziedrums said:
I've never had much in the way of issues using the Lyman 55 but admittedly once I have it set I don't do a ton of checking. For pistol loads I'm just not that worried about .1gr one way or the other. I've found that it's best not to hammer on it but just to knock it the same number of times each time. Could always go with an automated weight based measure!
Click to expand...

They seem pricey, of course the RCBS is on sale at Midway and their is a rebate. Lyman seems to have several offerings. There are other brands. Interesting that they are only accurate to .1gr. Which do you recommend?
 
JimB said:
They seem pricey, of course the RCBS is on sale at Midway and their is a rebate. Lyman seems to have several offerings. There are other brands. Interesting that they are only accurate to .1gr. Which do you recommend?
Click to expand...

You can come try out my Lyman gen 6. Accurate to .1 describes pretty much anything.
 
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