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Lee anniversary kit
#6487551
10/09/16 02:37 PM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358
Matt Hejl
OP
Bird Dog
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OP
Bird Dog
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358 |
Does the powder measure just have a setting for grain amounts? How does it work?
Also why that and a scale?
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6487599
10/09/16 03:13 PM
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 5,561
Slow Drifter
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 5,561 |
Lee is an odd duck. Their powder drop drops by volume, not weight. The markings on the adjustment knob coincide with their dippers. Their recipes are in grains, but also have a "dipper" comparison. So, if you want to speed up the process and use either the dippers or the powder dropper, you need to check the weight in grains periodically. Their book has a chart in the back with just about every modern powder showing what each dipper will weigh in grains for each powder. I have that kit and just got a good digital scale.
Edited to add: The spoons from Wendy's are the best I've used for trickling powder onto the pan. I don't know what they're made of, but they will not pick up a static charge. I can pick up and drop a single granule of Varget out of the jug with one of those spoons if needed.
Last edited by Slow Drifter; 10/09/16 03:20 PM.
"I have no idea what WW-III will be fought with, but WW-IV will be fought with sticks and stones." A. Einstein
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6487607
10/09/16 03:17 PM
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 3,019
Bar-D
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 3,019 |
No offense meant but if you don't know the answer to those questions, you are probably not ready to start reloading. I am assuming the kit came with a manual. Read it first, learn how your equipment works. Your "grain amounts" are determined by load data for the cartridge and bullet you are working with. The scale is there to measure your powder charge and adjust your measure accordingly. I never used Lee dippers or any other kind for measuring powder charges. PLEASE, do some research, watch some instructional videos or better yet, find a mentor to help you learn to reload. If I misunderstood your questions and have offended you, I apologize, but loading ammunition is not something you need to jump into if you have no idea what you are doing. Be safe. Again, no offense meant.
Last edited by bar-d; 10/09/16 03:28 PM.
People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6487617
10/09/16 03:23 PM
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 5,561
Slow Drifter
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 5,561 |
Oh yeah, READ the first 10 chapters of the Lee loading manual. Over and over again. I'm by no means a Lee salesman, but the first 10 chapters of that book contain a wealth of knowledge whether you use their stuff or not.
"I have no idea what WW-III will be fought with, but WW-IV will be fought with sticks and stones." A. Einstein
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6487633
10/09/16 03:29 PM
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 75
boxerrider
Outdoorsman
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Outdoorsman
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 75 |
I'm not sure I understand exactly what you're asking, so I'll toss out some basic stuff and we can go from there. A grain is a unit of mass (1 grain = 64.79891 milligrams). Powder dispensers like the one in the Lee kit deliver a consistent volume of powder each time. They can be adjusted to drop a smaller or larger amount of powder by reducing or enlarging the opening in the metering chamber. The densities (mass/volume) of powders differ significantly, so the balance (scale) is used to measure the mass of that volume of that powder.
Jeff
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Bar-D]
#6487709
10/09/16 04:51 PM
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Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 1,088
Creedmoor
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 1,088 |
No offense meant but if you don't know the answer to those questions, you are probably not ready to start reloading. I am assuming the kit came with a manual. Read it first, learn how your equipment works. Your "grain amounts" are determined by load data for the cartridge and bullet you are working with. The scale is there to measure your powder charge and adjust your measure accordingly. I never used Lee dippers or any other kind for measuring powder charges. PLEASE, do some research, watch some instructional videos or better yet, find a mentor to help you learn to reload. If I misunderstood your questions and have offended you, I apologize, but loading ammunition is not something you need to jump into if you have no idea what you are doing. Be safe. Again, no offense meant. EXACTLY. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
. There's a fine line between BRAVE ... and STUPID.
The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Bar-D]
#6487757
10/09/16 05:48 PM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358
Matt Hejl
OP
Bird Dog
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OP
Bird Dog
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358 |
No offense meant but if you don't know the answer to those questions, you are probably not ready to start reloading. I am assuming the kit came with a manual. Read it first, learn how your equipment works. Your "grain amounts" are determined by load data for the cartridge and bullet you are working with. The scale is there to measure your powder charge and adjust your measure accordingly. I never used Lee dippers or any other kind for measuring powder charges. PLEASE, do some research, watch some instructional videos or better yet, find a mentor to help you learn to reload. If I misunderstood your questions and have offended you, I apologize, but loading ammunition is not something you need to jump into if you have no idea what you are doing. Be safe. Again, no offense meant. This is exactly what I am currently doing. I don't own any reloading equipment right now. I'm in the phase of research prior to buying, watching videos, etc...that's what this forum is for right? Is help and information?
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: boxerrider]
#6487760
10/09/16 05:49 PM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358
Matt Hejl
OP
Bird Dog
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OP
Bird Dog
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358 |
I'm not sure I understand exactly what you're asking, so I'll toss out some basic stuff and we can go from there. A grain is a unit of mass (1 grain = 64.79891 milligrams). Powder dispensers like the one in the Lee kit deliver a consistent volume of powder each time. They can be adjusted to drop a smaller or larger amount of powder by reducing or enlarging the opening in the metering chamber. The densities (mass/volume) of powders differ significantly, so the balance (scale) is used to measure the mass of that volume of that powder.
Jeff This is the type of info I'm looking for. Thank you for answering my question. Much appreciated!
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6487800
10/09/16 06:16 PM
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 3,019
Bar-D
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 3,019 |
No offense meant but if you don't know the answer to those questions, you are probably not ready to start reloading. I am assuming the kit came with a manual. Read it first, learn how your equipment works. Your "grain amounts" are determined by load data for the cartridge and bullet you are working with. The scale is there to measure your powder charge and adjust your measure accordingly. I never used Lee dippers or any other kind for measuring powder charges. PLEASE, do some research, watch some instructional videos or better yet, find a mentor to help you learn to reload. If I misunderstood your questions and have offended you, I apologize, but loading ammunition is not something you need to jump into if you have no idea what you are doing. Be safe. Again, no offense meant. This is exactly what I am currently doing. I don't own any reloading equipment right now. I'm in the phase of research prior to buying, watching videos, etc...that's what this forum is for right? Is help and information? You are absolutely correct. Your OP did not state you had no equipment yet. I assumed, obviously incorrectly, that you had purchased the Lee kit. I apologized in advance with my post in case I misunderstood. There are a lot of knowledgeable, long time reloaders here and all of us are happy to help with questions. My post was meant to provide the help and information you are seeking, I guess you did not take it that way as you seem to be a little put out with my post. I will apologize once more and wish you luck on your path to reloading.
People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Bar-D]
#6487827
10/09/16 06:37 PM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358
Matt Hejl
OP
Bird Dog
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OP
Bird Dog
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358 |
No offense meant but if you don't know the answer to those questions, you are probably not ready to start reloading. I am assuming the kit came with a manual. Read it first, learn how your equipment works. Your "grain amounts" are determined by load data for the cartridge and bullet you are working with. The scale is there to measure your powder charge and adjust your measure accordingly. I never used Lee dippers or any other kind for measuring powder charges. PLEASE, do some research, watch some instructional videos or better yet, find a mentor to help you learn to reload. If I misunderstood your questions and have offended you, I apologize, but loading ammunition is not something you need to jump into if you have no idea what you are doing. Be safe. Again, no offense meant. This is exactly what I am currently doing. I don't own any reloading equipment right now. I'm in the phase of research prior to buying, watching videos, etc...that's what this forum is for right? Is help and information? You are absolutely correct. Your OP did not state you had no equipment yet. I assumed, obviously incorrectly, that you had purchased the Lee kit. I apologized in advance with my post in case I misunderstood. There are a lot of knowledgeable, long time reloaders here and all of us are happy to help with questions. My post was meant to provide the help and information you are seeking, I guess you did not take it that way as you seem to be a little put out with my post. I will apologize once more and wish you luck on your path to reloading. No no no! I'm super appreciative of any and all information I can get here. Thank you and about the time I replied I saw a great video showing how a scale and powder dumping tool work together and now it makes sense why you'd have to have both. Next question....is their a single powder you can use with most rifle cartridges? I have a 223/556, 243, 308, and 22-250
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6487837
10/09/16 06:44 PM
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Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 1,088
Creedmoor
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 1,088 |
Some single powders may work with more than one cartridge. But usually not very well.
H335, Benchmark, H4350, IMR4064, Varget and some others are versatile in that regard. But If you're looking to stock only one powder for several different cartridges you're likely going to be disappointed with the results.
IMR4064 will do well in the 243 and 308.
. There's a fine line between BRAVE ... and STUPID.
The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6487845
10/09/16 06:53 PM
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,506
kmon11
junior
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junior
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,506 |
Lee uses data from the powder manufactures in their manual with those manufactures permisson. They organized it for each combo by velocity.
Their powder measurers are in cubic centameters and their manual has how many CCs are for the load which gets you close for the setting but always use a powder scale to verify.
On their manual Richard Lee did a real good informative work in those first 10 chapters including the best section on bullet casting I have read
lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true Mainstream news might be fun to watch
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6488264
10/10/16 12:32 AM
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Joined: May 2014
Posts: 1,100
TackDriver
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 1,100 |
[quote=bar-d][quote=Matt Hejl][quote=bar-d]
Next question....is their a single powder you can use with most rifle cartridges?
I have a 223/556, 243, 308, and 22-250 I believe it shows all the powders listed in the reloading manuals, different reloading manuals has an assortment of powders available. Check them and google online as well. Berger, Hodgdon, Alliant, Hornady, etc, websites have them as well. there are slow and fast burning powders for different bullet weights. Good luck.
Last edited by Big Stan; 10/10/16 12:33 AM.
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6488322
10/10/16 01:03 AM
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,506
kmon11
junior
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junior
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,506 |
There are some powders that will work for all 4 of those cartridges but will not be optimum for all four. There are some that will work very well for 223 and 308 and others that will work very well for 22-250 and 243. I could see getting very good results with couple powders for those 4 cartridge selections dependent on bullet weight for each being part of the determining factor. Some for 223 and 308 that come to mind are Varget and CFE223 among others Near the top of this forum there is a sticky with several links that are quite useful for the new reloader and experienced as well. Link
lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true Mainstream news might be fun to watch
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6488542
10/10/16 02:22 AM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358
Matt Hejl
OP
Bird Dog
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OP
Bird Dog
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358 |
What method do you guys use setting up your dies? I notice they are adjustable...I know with the de-priming and resizing die, you just want to lift the press all the way up and then screw the die down to where it meets it and touches, but what about bullet seating one?
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6488727
10/10/16 06:17 AM
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Joined: May 2014
Posts: 1,100
TackDriver
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 1,100 |
What method do you guys use setting up your dies? I notice they are adjustable...I know with the de-priming and resizing die, you just want to lift the press all the way up and then screw the die down to where it meets it and touches, but what about bullet seating one? The dies comes with instructions on how to adjust them. The instructions says to raise the ram all the way up and screw the die in till it touches, and screw in an eighth of a turn or so and set the screw to lock the die but its not the way to adjust for .002" shoulder bump. You need a Hornady Lock N Load Headspace kit to check and see exactly how much you need to screw in your die ( cam over) to get .002" shoulder bump back. But you can follow the instructions that came with the dies and read the basics on reloading before you will understand the more complex things about reloading.
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6488736
10/10/16 09:52 AM
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,506
kmon11
junior
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junior
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,506 |
Some very good videos on reloading are on the Sinclair International website. Here is a link to the resizing first one, watch all 3 of them. link Sinclair on youtube
lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true Mainstream news might be fun to watch
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6490360
10/11/16 01:48 PM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358
Matt Hejl
OP
Bird Dog
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OP
Bird Dog
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358 |
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6490369
10/11/16 01:59 PM
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,506
kmon11
junior
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junior
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,506 |
lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true Mainstream news might be fun to watch
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6490415
10/11/16 02:28 PM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358
Matt Hejl
OP
Bird Dog
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OP
Bird Dog
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358 |
Id like to know the order you guys take in reloading a previously shot casing.
Do you clean it first, then deprime / resize, charge, and then seat bullet?
I know resizing comes in there, and when resizing, do you guys have a setup that automatically makes the case the right size? Or always just measure?
thanks...I have a good feel for the process now, just trying to clear up a few more questions before I buy equip.
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6490454
10/11/16 02:57 PM
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 39,549
redchevy
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 39,549 |
You want to clean it before it goes in your dies. Dirty cases will get debris in your dies and will scratch the cases and dies eventually.
I bought all my equipment before I started reading so I could see the pieces in hand like dies etc. it helped me to visualize what the manual I was reading was saying.
I tumble fired brass wipe clean with a clean towel, size and deprime in same step, wipe any sizing lube off with clean towl. Trim/champhur and debur, prime, charge(powder) and seat a bullet.
It's hell eatin em live
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6490581
10/11/16 04:33 PM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358
Matt Hejl
OP
Bird Dog
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OP
Bird Dog
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358 |
When you guys seat your bullets, do you just go by overall length in the manual...or do you specifically use a method based on the chamber and magazine of the gun?
Is it ok to just start by seating according to overall length and then measuring with digital calipers? Until your die is set correctly?
thanks
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6490592
10/11/16 04:41 PM
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 39,549
redchevy
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 39,549 |
For best results you should tailor your seating depth to the type of bullet you are using and the specific size of your chamber. The magazine length will limit the max length you can feed.
Some bullets like to be close to or in the lands some don't. I would cross that bridge when you get there, there are ways to do it with no special tools.
It's hell eatin em live
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6490613
10/11/16 04:50 PM
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,506
kmon11
junior
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junior
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,506 |
Check this thread for a current ongoing discussion of seating depth locating the lands and seating depth
lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true Mainstream news might be fun to watch
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Re: Lee anniversary kit
[Re: Matt Hejl]
#6490733
10/11/16 06:11 PM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358
Matt Hejl
OP
Bird Dog
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OP
Bird Dog
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 358 |
Im guess though, to get started and until i get a good feel for reloading...I can just use overall cartridge length from manual and seat bullet to that?
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