TargetTalk

Just got myself a FAS 603 in .32 S&W long along with over 500 rds. of ammo, those would last me a while, I'll need to start reloading them once they're gone.

Up till now I've been using my RCBS Uniflow powder measure for all my reloading need, it throw pretty consistant charge for .38; .45; 9mm...etc, but I'm not sure it can throw small powder charge for .32 in the 1.5-2.0 gr. range accurately, also its kind of a pain to switch rotor when change from loading pistol to rifle cartridge, so I'm think perhaps I should get another powder measue just for pistol ammo.

Would the RCBS "Little Dandy Powder Measure" be a good choice? What make of powder measure you folks use for loading small pistol cartridge such as .32?

Suggestions are welcome.

Tony

"Li'l Dandy" works fine. I use a Bonanza, but they're about the same.

One trick while using it; buy the rotors for a lighter charge and then drill them to get exactly the charge you need. If you overdo it, put in a drop or two of glue and readjust.

Much as I hate to admit it, the Lee Pro Auto-Disk charger with the micro-disk insert is able to very reliably produce very small powder charges (down to about 1grain of V-V N310). Although I'm currently using a Hornady product to load .32's, that's only because that's what came on the press I'm currently using and I'm too lazy to change it. I liked the Auto-Disk measure so well that I have two of them and they'll now be dedicated, one to .38 and the other to .45.

While I've always been a big fan of RCBS equipment, I'm very impressed with a few of the Lee tools, especially their factory crimp dies. If you're using a progressive press then a factory crimp die is a very slick means of ensuring every round will chamber without any problems. I don't have this die for .32 but I am using it for .38 & 45. For the .32 I've found it adviseable to use a separate seater die and then a separate taper crimp die.

Greetings,

The choice of delivery is up to you regarding the Vendor.

What to look for is this...

Throw ten charges and weigh the total.

Then dump the powder and repeat.

If you can successfully throw ten charges that weigh +/- 0.2 grains for all ten you are metering the powder consistently.

Not all powders measure well.

Ones that do work are N310, N320, WST, IMR PB, 231. (Not inclusive, there are others that I have not tried personally.)

Avoid powders with large flakes. i.e. IMR 700X, Unique, Red Dot, etc.

Cheers,

Dave Wilson

Fabricator and shooter of fine 32 barrels.

Tony,
I've had good success = very consistent charge weights = with the Little Dandy. I started with a 00 rotor and had some fun with a spherical bit on a Dremel tool. The biggest advantage is that once you've created the cavity you want it can NEVER get out of adjustment.

I got the most consistent charge weights with PB and Accurate #2.

Good luck.

If you can successfully throw ten charges that weigh +/- 0.2 grains for all ten you are metering the powder consistently.

All that proves is the average of 10 charges is consistent - which however bad your measure is should be reasonably consistent.
It tells you nothing about charge to charge variability

I've never seen any RCBS eqpt. Will the L'il Dandy work on a progressive press with a through-die funnel?
Needs to work on a Dillon 550, which I'm not sure the Lee measure will do.

The Little Dandy and the Lee autodisk are both very consistent. Be aware, though, that a change in powder from one lot to another may result in a different charge weight being thrown. This is critical with the tiny charges used in the 32. The Dillon powder measure is adjustable and is available with an extra small charge bar. Some people like it, others don't. There is some good info archived here at Targettalk describing how to make a custom charge bar for the Dillon measure specifically for use with the 32 WC.
Cheers!

FWIW, I agree with Dave Wilson that the choice of powder has more to do with it than the measure. I use a Uniflow, and while the variation is about .1 grain with large flake powders, with W231 it's, -- well I don't think I can reliably measure the variation it's so small. I have no issue metering W231 through a Uniflow.

JamesH wrote:

All that proves is the average of 10 charges is consistent - which however bad your measure is should be reasonably consistent.
It tells you nothing about charge to charge variability

This can be an interesting topic. Recall that the Probable Error of a scale that measures in 0.1 grain increments is 0.05 grains. (We're not talking about accuracy here, which is not the same thing.)

As an exercise, I once spent a quality evening dropping, weighing, and recording the results of my Dillon powder measure dispensing Bullseye and WST, fifty (50) charges of each powder.

The Standard Deviation of dropped charges was slightly higher than the Probable Error, ~0.051 grains, IIRC. This means that ~66% of the charges would have an undetectable variation, and ~95% would be within +/- 0.1 grains.

So over the course of ten dropped charges, the likelihood of offsetting 0.2 grain variations is pretty unlikely.

Conclusion: Weighing individual charges of a powder that meters as well as WST is a waste of time. If you have an adjustable powder measure, adjust it so ten dropped charges weighs ten times what you want one charge to weigh. Repeat; if it yields he same result, you're done:-)

I thank everyone posted to this thread, I haven't order another powder measure yet, right now I'm kind of leaning towards to a Lee Pro auto disk powder measure.

I understand the RCBS Little Dandy measure will do a good job, however I'm the kind of reloader always experimenting with different bullets and powders, so a measure can only throw a fix charge with a single rotor kind of give me the pause.

For bullseye pistols, I use N310; W231 and Bullseye powder, I would like to have a powder measure able to throw a charge in the 1.5-2.0 gr. range within +/- 0.1 gr. consistantly, I understand different powder meter differently, W231 being the best in terms of small deviations, a +/- 0.2 gr. error may be perfectly acceptable when reloading large cal. ammo, it just won't do when loading .32 S&W with a charge of 1.5-1.8 gr. of powder.

FWIW I do all my reloading on a RCBS Rockchucker press, someone gave me a Lyman turret press a couple of years ago, think I'll set it up for loading pistol ammo, I don't use the average of 10 charges method but weight my first couple of charge carefully, check every 10 charge or so afterward and also weight my last charge.

Looks like Santa is going to stuff a powder measure down my chimney soon!

Tony

Have you tried TrailBoss powder? It's much bulkier, so you need a larger volume charge. I've had good results with it. It is pricier, but with the small charges, cost isn't that big of an issue.

If you reload for different pistol calibers-you might consider an adjustable pistol insert for your powder measure. They are the same as the adjustable rifle inserts for a powder measure-but are more precise because they are limited to throwing from zero grains to maybe 20 grains of powder. Some powders DO meter more consistantly than others.On the .32 cal-I use WST,N310 or B'eye powder with great success.

Tony C. wrote:
For bullseye pistols, I use N310; W231 and Bullseye powder, I would like to have a powder measure able to throw a charge in the 1.5-2.0 gr. range within +/- 0.1 gr. consistantly, I understand different powder meter differently, W231 being the best in terms of small deviations, a +/- 0.2 gr. error may be perfectly acceptable when reloading large cal. ammo, it just won't do when loading .32 S&W with a charge of 1.5-1.8 gr. of powder.

... I don't use the average of 10 charges method but weight my first couple of charge carefully, check every 10 charge or so afterward and also weight my last charge.

Have you tested W231 in your dispenser? 0.2 grains would be four standard deviations from the nominal value using my data- statistically VERY unlikely.

As to weighing every tenth charge- what do you do if it varies by more than your tolerance? How can you differentiate between a random variation and a systemic problem?

Food for thought:-)

Back in the day I used to have 0.8 grain loads in 32 S&W Long for my model 16 for the 10 and 7 yard sections of Service Pistol Unrestricted. Almost no recoil.

However at that powder level any kind of 0.2 grain variation as has been mentioned was totally unacceptable. The disc based turret doodads just don't cut the mustard. Ended up with a RCBS Competition Powder thrower type single thrower with micrometer adjustment, takes longer but that's what it takes to get the job done.

Now for larger rounds and charges, a turret is hard to beat. But for every task there is a tool.