I reload my .270 ammunition with a Lee Classic Loader. I dip powder with a dipper and strike it off flush with a card, and my loads consistently shoot under 1.25" at 100 (cheap scope). I don't own a scale; I just looked up the weight per volume of my powder and made sure it wasn't a maximum load and started loading. I'm pretty sure they would shoot better if it wasn't a 50 year old rifle with a 20 year old 3x9 Tasco. But the system is so simple, and works so well, I'm not changing anything. Ever. Nice video.
Great video. I started out loading .243 cartridges with a $10 Lee loader, a set of these dippers and a plastic hammer. I had a pencil barreled M77 Ruger that put 5 shot groups inside of 5/8" at 100 yrds using 85gr Speer BTHP bullets with IMR 4320 powder. Proof that you don't have to spend a lot of money to assemble an accurate load.
Lee dippers are capable of throwing a consistent volum-metric charge and it can dip the charge within a tenth just like a beam type scale. The trick is, however you handle the dipper you do it the same every time. Powder meters best by filling from it's own weight. I have found it to be most consistent when you dip it, don't shake it, scrape it with a business card or equivalent and pour it. If you shake it the movement of your hand is never the same so by simply dipping it and allowing it to fill, the powder essentially fills to the cavity of the dipper without compressing and it is in it's most uniform state (supports itself from it's own weight). One note, I have never used dippers on a stick powder so I do not know the consistency with dippers for that use. Highboy
If you look at Lee’s modern reloading manual it gives you weight in grains like the rest do . He also gives a dipper number to use and then there is number for the autodisk. The thing with the dipper is that if you look at the book it will be the cubit volume is given that power for 308 and 168 bullet . Let’s use IMR 3031 the starting weight is 39 grains and max is 42 then the 2.8 dipper and then auto disk is DBLD . If using the lee dipper for this load all you have to do is scoop the powder and there clean off any extra powder then dump it in your brass . I been using Lee’s dipper system since 1983. It has made decent ammunition it good for plinking and hunting. Now if it for competitive shooting then that’s a different story.
I have the old Lee set from the 60’s-70’s. The dippers are all black. I use them primarily for pistol caliber plinking loads and shotgun slug loads that I don’t want to use a station for.
I like the Lee Dippers,, i use them for loading smaller amounts of ammo, i also use the Lee perfect powder measure and the Lee Safety Scale balance beam scale for loading larger amounts...
For many, many decades, maybe a full Century, all factory loading was done by "Measure" ! Not by weighting each and every charge. Now today, because of recent advances in electronics and other manufacturing technology, certain very "Premium" ammo IS loaded by weight, purely for consistency and accuracy. But it's certainly not necessary for simple Hunting purposes.
I and many friends have used these "Dipper" with great success FOR DECADES! And had zero problems with them. Just use your head. Don't fool with maximum loads, just use enough powder to "get the job done"! And for hunting, sighting in, or target or training purposes, these dippers and the tables they come with are just fine. USE COMMON SENSE and follow the instructions!
I see people checking dippers with a mechanical or electronic scale. The dipper is made of immutable, foolproof plastic and is innately accurate while the powder scale has linkages, parts, batteries, electronics that can fail. I use my Lee dippers following the proper methods and have infinitely more faith in my Lee dippers than I do any scale ever made and use them almost exclusively for my hunting loads in 45-70.
Here's a question that I haven't seen answered anywhere: Has anyone used two different dippers to subtract a smaller volume from a larger one? For example (I'm just getting started with reloading .32 S&W long), if I want to get close to 2 gr of Bullseye, I could measure out .5 cc (4.7 gr), then use the .3 cc dipper to remove 2.8 gr, leaving 1.9 gr.. The dipper that came with my die set is .17 cc, which I'd consider a light load. Naturally, I'd calibrate my technique with a scale, but is this a common trick to estimate loads intermediate between the standard Lee dippers?
The dippers are perfect if you're loading a smaller amount of cartridges....that way you don't have to load up the powder measure and calibrate it for just a few loads
I use that same set for reloading my .380. the powder I use is a flake style and the auto measure is inconsistent with the flake style. thanks for sharing.
What powder do you use? What powder drop? I like flake powder..(Red Dot is the load you see me shoot all the time) I have great results with it and no problem metering it either.
+Cmax Arms i use 700x and the powder drop is the llyman . I found as much as a .5 grain inconsistencie. so I use the scoop to get close and then powder trickle to final charge
What do you think I have the same guage mine says on ( Using 270 Win shells 2nd time around ) The slide scale says on ICC 4895 this is basic 30.06 powder . use 46.7 --- , The L e e Die set has the scoop 3.4 cc - So my issue is using 140 G BTSP .277 Hornady bullets Where`s the happy medium ??? Die set says 130G - 46.9 or 150G -44.5
When I shot competition bench rest we threw all our charges directly from the powder measure. No reason to believe consistent weight is better than consistent volume.
Ok my man. I'm wanting to get started on reloading for 30-06... I'm planning to get a RCBS single stage press and a set of Lee dies. But in your opinion, should I spend the money on a Lee safety powder scale or should i get a set of dippers as shown in your video? I'm wanting to get into reloading mainly for accuracy but the question is, will the dippers be accurate enough to provide a consistent amount of powder? Also, as a newcomer to reloading, would it even be safe for me to start out with dippers?
Hello. Your post is 3 years old, but I just saw it today. I'm new to the Cmax channel. I am not the Page Owner/Admin, but I would say YES! to using the Lee powder dippers. That .30-06 Sprg. cartridge has been around for 116 years now and it (and the .30-30 Win.) are probably the two most used cartridges in the U.S.A.. The Lee Dippers have several settings and mention different powders. I have used the Lee Dippers since the late 1970's. They work. Personally, I would NOT try to get more powder into the dipper than what goes in naturally. For the tried and True .30-06 Sprg. cartridge powder IMR 4895 is very standard. IMR 3031 , IMR 4064 and Ball c-2 ( or BL(c2) depending on the loading manual, have a long history of use for the .30-06 cartridge. As another poster mentioned: Get a playing card or a Business card and scrape any extra powder over / above the rim/edge of the dipper, back into the powder container. NEVER try to outthink the gents who wrote the loading charts and graphs and guides! Do NOT be like one of those guys at the racetrack who tries to "Hot Rod" his street car and winds up with a blown piston and cracked cylinder head! I do not have any fancy/pricey electric scales , nor a powder trickler. Although, I might get one after watching the video by CMAX on the Redding Powder Trickler. I do not do the "Bench rest" super-dooper accurate shooting. If I did , then a powder trickler would be useful. } I load and shoot basic "Starting Loads" from a printed loading manual such as Lyman or Lee or Speer. Never go beyond the equivalent of the Factory { SAAMI } loads, unless you have pre-paid Emergency Room and Ambulance insurance! 😉
@@gusloader123 thanks for the advice! I went with the dippers and they work flawlessly. Been using IMR4064 and some 147gr FMJ’s and it does really well in my weatherby
@@johnt4060 Very good. 🙂 After 3 years I did not know if you were still You Tube. Before I made the reply/post to your post, I double-checked my Lyman 45th Edition manual. Lots of choices with the .30-06 Sprg. cartridge. From 110 grain to 220 grain jacketed bullets and some recipes for cast lead bullets also. Several flavors of powders also.
I have a Lee PPM, the powder leaking is driving me insane and was wondering if I could use the dippers to measure the powder and skip over the leak machine all together? I would still put the powder on a scale, 2 actually to be sure. I'm not loading mass amounts and even if i was, I'd rather take longer as long as i'm not wasting powder. Thanks!
Hello. I like and use the Lee Dippers. Had them since the late 1970's. There is a chart included as seen in the video. As for the new stuff from Lee, ugh! I bought a kit with the stuff you mentioned (and other stuff) about 2009 or 2010. It reeks of cheapness. I should have learned my lesson in the mid 1980's when I bought their piece-of- junk Shotshell press, The "Lee Load-all". Plastic and pot-metal. ARGH! Powder discharged with shot, shot discharged with the powder. I gave it to my ex-Bro-in-law. He tried it once and gave up. I went back to the original Lee 12-gauge hand loader powered by mallet & arm. That actually worked unlike the stuff with moving parts. I bought an old "Redding" scale on E-bay a few years back. It is made of heavy-duty metal, not plastic, and it works.
They are so inexpensive I just had to have a set and I'm using them more than I thought I would. Yesterday I was making up some new loads with 2.5 grains of Clays but the closest dipper would only do 2.1 grains. After the dipper is full I would give it a few taps on the edge of the container that I was using to settle the powder, then dip it one more time heaping. Got around 2.4 grains that way so I just had to add a few flakes.
Well I tried my lee dippers today.. I was amazed.. I am a precision shooter and always had trouble getting Under 1/2 MOA consistantly.. Well I thought I would just do some testing with the dippers to save time.. 7mm rem mag 150g sst. I simply dipped the powder the same way every time and loaded my cartridges. (I weigh everything) , so went to the range this morning and shots 2 groups of 5. Amazingly enough I produced 1 group at .315 " the other was 1 at .450" both were 5 shots groups.. maybe a flook but it was alot of fun.. Going to give it another try.. I tried this so that I could reload in the field if necessary. Gives me a minimum load of powder but hey,, maybe that is where the sweet spot is.. Take care and good shooting..my rifle is a simple Vanguard series 1, bedded, floated barrel with timney trigger.. other than that it is simply a sporter .. total cost of my "system" if you want to call it that.. $1000
Grant..that is awesome.....I love these kind of stories from my reviews.....thanks.....I hope you will check some of my other videos as well aa enter my current contest..... th-cam.com/video/sOw5ymRtfC4/w-d-xo.html Thanks for watching and HO-HO-HO!
Went out to confirm whether my groups the other day were a flook or not.. Today using the same measuring I achieved a .435" group.. Confirmed accuracy of measuring powder.
@@rmatteson3142 too small, would only add error in my opinion to multiple dip. Used rockhard wood filler - added more than needed, then rotated a drill bit about the same size as the dipper opening to remove and test until i got 5 gr. Sets up fast, easy to work with and powder doesn’t stick to it when dry. And it’s cheap! I pour the powder into a fixed pyrex funnel overflowing the dipper. Get consistent results - it works great. Weigh one occasionally but never under or over my load parameters as long as I keep a steady hand moving to the loading funnel.
I have a Electronic Measure thats programable and accurate, but I bought a set of these for 21 bucks just to have a great back up plan on the cheap that will get the job done. You just might not win any bench rest matches with them.
if the given volume of 4.3 gave you 61.7 grains. wouldn't 4.6 give you 66 grains. 61.7/4.3 = 14.35 14.35 * 4.6 (the 4.3 scoop and .3 scoop) = 66.01 or is would this not be accurate ?
$ 9.00 Dollar's? Wow. I just bought My 1st set at $ 19.00 Dollar's off of Amazon just two day's ago and today is September 8th 2024. Thing's & price's change in 7 Year's. Wow. Oh well. lol.
I reload my .270 ammunition with a Lee Classic Loader. I dip powder with a dipper and strike it off flush with a card, and my loads consistently shoot under 1.25" at 100 (cheap scope). I don't own a scale; I just looked up the weight per volume of my powder and made sure it wasn't a maximum load and started loading. I'm pretty sure they would shoot better if it wasn't a 50 year old rifle with a 20 year old 3x9 Tasco. But the system is so simple, and works so well, I'm not changing anything. Ever. Nice video.
Great video. I started out loading .243 cartridges with a $10 Lee loader, a set of these dippers and a plastic hammer. I had a pencil barreled M77 Ruger that put 5 shot groups inside of 5/8" at 100 yrds using 85gr Speer BTHP bullets with IMR 4320 powder. Proof that you don't have to spend a lot of money to assemble an accurate load.
That's a great load for accuracy. I love speer bullets for .243. made an excellent deer load out to 250 for eastern white tail 👍
Lee dippers are capable of throwing a consistent volum-metric charge and it can dip the charge within a tenth just like a beam type scale. The trick is, however you handle the dipper you do it the same every time. Powder meters best by filling from it's own weight. I have found it to be most consistent when you dip it, don't shake it, scrape it with a business card or equivalent and pour it. If you shake it the movement of your hand is never the same so by simply dipping it and allowing it to fill, the powder essentially fills to the cavity of the dipper without compressing and it is in it's most uniform state (supports itself from it's own weight).
One note, I have never used dippers on a stick powder so I do not know the consistency with dippers for that use.
Highboy
I think it has it's place and I will try to call you today...All is well..........Cmax
Dipping is so old school..and I like it. 👍👍
it does work.....
If you look at Lee’s modern reloading manual it gives you weight in grains like the rest do . He also gives a dipper number to use and then there is number for the autodisk. The thing with the dipper is that if you look at the book it will be the cubit volume is given that power for 308 and 168 bullet . Let’s use IMR 3031 the starting weight is 39 grains and max is 42 then the 2.8 dipper and then auto disk is DBLD . If using the lee dipper for this load all you have to do is scoop the powder and there clean off any extra powder then dump it in your brass . I been using Lee’s dipper system since 1983. It has made decent ammunition it good for plinking and hunting. Now if it for competitive shooting then that’s a different story.
Neat video. When not using my progressive press I use a stand alone powder charger. Never had an issue and do not need a trickle charger either.
Thanks, for the information and demonstration.
I have the old Lee set from the 60’s-70’s. The dippers are all black. I use them primarily for pistol caliber plinking loads and shotgun slug loads that I don’t want to use a station for.
Thank you for demonstrating.
I like the Lee Dippers,, i use them for loading smaller amounts of ammo, i also use the Lee perfect powder measure and the Lee Safety Scale balance beam scale for loading larger amounts...
For many, many decades, maybe a full Century, all factory loading was done by "Measure" !
Not by weighting each and every charge.
Now today, because of recent advances in electronics and other manufacturing technology, certain very "Premium" ammo IS loaded by weight, purely for consistency and accuracy. But it's certainly not necessary for simple Hunting purposes.
Thanks for the heads up. 👍
I and many friends have used these "Dipper" with great success FOR DECADES! And had zero problems with them. Just use your head. Don't fool with maximum loads, just use enough powder to "get the job done"! And for hunting, sighting in, or target or training purposes, these dippers and the tables they come with are just fine.
USE COMMON SENSE and follow the instructions!
Dippers are fun. Good video. Highboy
I see people checking dippers with a mechanical or electronic scale. The dipper is made of immutable, foolproof plastic and is innately accurate while the powder scale has linkages, parts, batteries, electronics that can fail. I use my Lee dippers following the proper methods and have infinitely more faith in my Lee dippers than I do any scale ever made and use them almost exclusively for my hunting loads in 45-70.
One of these days I'm going to get a 45-70 mainly because it's super easy and somewhat forgiving to reload compared to 30-06
Here's a question that I haven't seen answered anywhere:
Has anyone used two different dippers to subtract a smaller volume from a larger one?
For example (I'm just getting started with reloading .32 S&W long), if I want to get close to 2 gr of Bullseye, I could measure out .5 cc (4.7 gr), then use the .3 cc dipper to remove 2.8 gr, leaving 1.9 gr.. The dipper that came with my die set is .17 cc, which I'd consider a light load. Naturally, I'd calibrate my technique with a scale, but is this a common trick to estimate loads intermediate between the standard Lee dippers?
The dippers are perfect if you're loading a smaller amount of cartridges....that way you don't have to load up the powder measure and calibrate it for just a few loads
Great video. thanks for sharing.
Thanks Rusty
:-)
I've thought about reloading rifle but I don't shoot enough rifle rounds to make it worth while. great video
thanks
That's what I said to myself as well haha
I use that same set for reloading my .380. the powder I use is a flake style and the auto measure is inconsistent with the flake style. thanks for sharing.
on 380 i hand weigh each load...small case
What powder do you use? What powder drop? I like flake powder..(Red Dot is the load you see me shoot all the time) I have great results with it and no problem metering it either.
+Cmax Arms i use 700x and the powder drop is the llyman . I found as much as a .5 grain inconsistencie. so I use the scoop to get close and then powder trickle to final charge
Lyman type 55? Like the one on my bench?
+Cmax Arms yes sir. that exact dropper
I started out using the dippers and no scale.
many people did....
That's pretty interesting!
Thanks ED
What do you think I have the same guage mine says on ( Using 270 Win shells 2nd time around ) The slide scale says on ICC 4895 this is basic 30.06 powder . use 46.7 --- , The L e e Die set has the scoop 3.4 cc - So my issue is using 140 G BTSP .277 Hornady bullets Where`s the happy medium ??? Die set says 130G - 46.9 or 150G -44.5
i weigh all of my loads....
When I shot competition bench rest we threw all our charges directly from the powder measure. No reason to believe consistent weight is better than consistent volume.
Very interesting info and very detailed as good stuff..
Thanks
Ok my man. I'm wanting to get started on reloading for 30-06... I'm planning to get a RCBS single stage press and a set of Lee dies. But in your opinion, should I spend the money on a Lee safety powder scale or should i get a set of dippers as shown in your video?
I'm wanting to get into reloading mainly for accuracy but the question is, will the dippers be accurate enough to provide a consistent amount of powder? Also, as a newcomer to reloading, would it even be safe for me to start out with dippers?
Great video by the way. You had some very useful information in your video
Hello. Your post is 3 years old, but I just saw it today. I'm new to the Cmax channel.
I am not the Page Owner/Admin, but I would say YES! to using the Lee powder dippers.
That .30-06 Sprg. cartridge has been around for 116 years now and it (and the .30-30 Win.) are probably the two most used cartridges in the U.S.A.. The Lee Dippers have several settings and mention different powders. I have used the Lee Dippers since the late 1970's. They work.
Personally, I would NOT try to get more powder into the dipper than what goes in naturally. For the tried and True .30-06 Sprg. cartridge powder IMR 4895 is very standard. IMR 3031 , IMR 4064 and Ball c-2 ( or BL(c2) depending on the loading manual, have a long history of use for the .30-06 cartridge.
As another poster mentioned: Get a playing card or a Business card and scrape any extra powder over / above the rim/edge of the dipper, back into the powder container. NEVER try to outthink the gents who wrote the loading charts and graphs and guides! Do NOT be like one of those guys at the racetrack who tries to "Hot Rod" his street car and winds up with a blown piston and cracked cylinder head!
I do not have any fancy/pricey electric scales , nor a powder trickler. Although, I might get one after watching the video by CMAX on the Redding Powder Trickler. I do not do the "Bench rest" super-dooper accurate shooting. If I did , then a powder trickler would be useful. }
I load and shoot basic "Starting Loads" from a printed loading manual such as Lyman or Lee or Speer. Never go beyond the equivalent of the Factory { SAAMI } loads, unless you have pre-paid Emergency Room and Ambulance insurance! 😉
@@gusloader123 thanks for the advice! I went with the dippers and they work flawlessly. Been using IMR4064 and some 147gr FMJ’s and it does really well in my weatherby
@@johnt4060 Very good. 🙂 After 3 years I did not know if you were still You Tube. Before I made the reply/post to your post, I double-checked my Lyman 45th Edition manual.
Lots of choices with the .30-06 Sprg. cartridge. From 110 grain to 220 grain jacketed bullets and some recipes for cast lead bullets also. Several flavors of powders also.
@@gusloader123 very true! Safe shooting friend!
I have a Lee PPM, the powder leaking is driving me insane and was wondering if I could use the dippers to measure the powder and skip over the leak machine all together? I would still put the powder on a scale, 2 actually to be sure. I'm not loading mass amounts and even if i was, I'd rather take longer as long as i'm not wasting powder. Thanks!
Hello. I like and use the Lee Dippers. Had them since the late 1970's. There is a chart included as seen in the video.
As for the new stuff from Lee, ugh! I bought a kit with the stuff you mentioned (and other stuff) about 2009 or 2010. It reeks of cheapness. I should have learned my lesson in the mid 1980's when I bought their piece-of- junk Shotshell press, The "Lee Load-all". Plastic and pot-metal. ARGH! Powder discharged with shot, shot discharged with the powder. I gave it to my ex-Bro-in-law. He tried it once and gave up. I went back to the original Lee 12-gauge hand loader powered by mallet & arm. That actually worked unlike the stuff with moving parts.
I bought an old "Redding" scale on E-bay a few years back. It is made of heavy-duty metal, not plastic, and it works.
They are so inexpensive I just had to have a set and I'm using them more than I thought I would. Yesterday I was making up some new loads with 2.5 grains of Clays but the closest dipper would only do 2.1 grains. After the dipper is full I would give it a few taps on the edge of the container that I was using to settle the powder, then dip it one more time heaping. Got around 2.4 grains that way so I just had to add a few flakes.
Yeah, they take a small amount of experimentation, but once that is figured out, they will work great! Thanks for watching..... Cmax
Picture me trying to use those. Yeah, lol.
yeah, well......in a pinch!
Well I tried my lee dippers today.. I was amazed.. I am a precision shooter and always had trouble getting Under 1/2 MOA consistantly.. Well I thought I would just do some testing with the dippers to save time.. 7mm rem mag 150g sst. I simply dipped the powder the same way every time and loaded my cartridges. (I weigh everything) , so went to the range this morning and shots 2 groups of 5. Amazingly enough I produced 1 group at .315 " the other was 1 at .450" both were 5 shots groups.. maybe a flook but it was alot of fun.. Going to give it another try.. I tried this so that I could reload in the field if necessary. Gives me a minimum load of powder but hey,, maybe that is where the sweet spot is.. Take care and good shooting..my rifle is a simple Vanguard series 1, bedded, floated barrel with timney trigger.. other than that it is simply a sporter .. total cost of my "system" if you want to call it that.. $1000
Grant..that is awesome.....I love these kind of stories from my reviews.....thanks.....I hope you will check some of my other videos as well aa enter my current contest..... th-cam.com/video/sOw5ymRtfC4/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for watching and HO-HO-HO!
Went out to confirm whether my groups the other day were a flook or not.. Today using the same measuring I achieved a .435" group.. Confirmed accuracy of measuring powder.
Merry Christmas!
What do you do if you’re in between scoop sizes? Need 5g of cfe - how to get there?
use one of the smaller scoops.
@@rmatteson3142 too small, would only add error in my opinion to multiple dip. Used rockhard wood filler - added more than needed, then rotated a drill bit about the same size as the dipper opening to remove and test until i got 5 gr. Sets up fast, easy to work with and powder doesn’t stick to it when dry. And it’s cheap! I pour the powder into a fixed pyrex funnel overflowing the dipper. Get consistent results - it works great. Weigh one occasionally but never under or over my load parameters as long as I keep a steady hand moving to the loading funnel.
Is this set for 38/357/44/9mm? Someone told me they were not because of the dipper sizes.
The dippers are for any caliber......that person was completely wrong. Thanks for watching....Cmax
These dippers never get out of adjustment.
I have a Electronic Measure thats programable and accurate, but I bought a set of these for 21 bucks just to have a great back up plan on the cheap that will get the job done. You just might not win any bench rest matches with them.
if the given volume of 4.3 gave you 61.7 grains. wouldn't 4.6 give you 66 grains.
61.7/4.3 = 14.35
14.35 * 4.6 (the 4.3 scoop and .3 scoop) = 66.01
or is would this not be accurate ?
One of the first things I bought, was really cheap on eBay..
I wasn't sure what I would do with them, but like you said...they are cheap! thanks for watching!
Absolutely.. Good video brother.. Keep em cranking.. :)
Interesting, had some with old dies y ears ago but never used them. Didn't think they were accurate enough
You would have to play with them to get them dialed in.....but they could work fine.....
$ 9.00 Dollar's? Wow. I just bought My 1st set at $ 19.00 Dollar's off of Amazon just two day's ago and today is September 8th 2024. Thing's & price's change in 7 Year's. Wow. Oh well. lol.
I’ll stick with my Lyman Gen 6