Thread: Powder throwers

I just use a lee thrower and set it to the lower end of spot on. I then weigh every load and occasionally have to trickle up a little bit. I only do this for long range loads to get spot on. Rest of the time for goat/culling loads I just use the thrower

Originally Posted by Remmodel7

I just use a lee thrower and set it to the lower end of spot on. I then weigh every load and occasionally have to trickle up a little bit. I only do this for long range loads to get spot on. Rest of the time for goat/culling loads I just use the thrower

Same here. Trickle the last 0.3gr or so.

If you can afford it a Harrell's precision powder thrower, is the best you can get, is unaffected, by drafts, battery's, vibration etc. and is easy to adjust and repeatable,
This is what Most bench rest shooters use, I've got three, 0-25gr, 10-60gr, 10-90gr
The All 3 (difference sizes) measure's will throw within a tenth of a grain, I have never seen variance with ball powder, longer drop tubes allow, for more powder compaction and thus higher charges. useful with BR, PPC cases.
Another big advantage is they are compact on the bench, I've sold of my charge master due to space required, and much slower than a high end powder thrower.
I use the Pistol powder measure lots(0-25) so quick to load a couple hundred, small cal, 22 hornet, 25-20, 32-20 etc.
I use the RCBS powder thrower for shot gun and have the layman 55, its accurate but does not have repeatable setting, and each time must readjusted by weight, once set you are good until you need another charge weight,
I have had mine a good few years,
if i had to down size to one i would keep the Premium BR model, this does to 60gr, about $300us now.

I invested in an A&D scale and I mounted a std rcbs thrower and trickler directly above it. Works very well, can't break and I can fine tune each load to within .02gn. No extra time really. Once you're in the groove it's normal to get a half turn on the trickler and be almost bang on. If I'm half a kernel +or- I leave it there.

But that's just the discipline of it. I know it's absolutely not needed for open sight 45-70 at 100m. But I even sort my own projectiles out of habit too and the electronic scale is handy for that as well.

All powder measures work as good as each other, the secret to uniformity of your powder throw is consistency of operation.

Once you buy one spend some time throwing powder and weighing each charge, the idea is to find out the most consistent way to operate the powder measure.
Write each weight down and compare the thrown charge consistency when full to when almost empty.

The advantage of the Culver style powder measures ie Harrells, Jones, Bruno or an original Culver powder measure is that once set you note the reading and it's easy to dial back to the same setting when you change it to load another cartridge or a different powder.

A powder measure is the quickest way to dispense powder and if you spend the time learning how to use one it is accurate.

For my long range ammo using stick powders like AR2208 i generally use my lyman gen 5 powder dispenser, however for all my ball powders i use the lee powder thrower, its the cast iron one with the micrometer adjustment and brass insides, i think its their flash one.

Anyway, with the lee it throws ball powders spot on if you use it consistently there will be less than 0.1gr variance, i use it on IMR4227, W748,CFE223 and now Staball 6.5, main thing is to have your strokes be consistent, if you make it "tap" at the top of the stroke and again at the bottom and you use consistent force it can be very accurate. In saying that, using it with AR2208 i get about a +-0.2-0.3 grain which is plenty good enough for hunting ammo.

To add, i keep my lee one between half full and full, one day ill make a baffle for it. If buying new just buy one that has a baffle already. Think hornady does

Many thanks everyone for the replies. Some great advice there thank you.

ive used Lee cheap throwers since.... 92 , got a deluxe version recently- works awesome- i still tend to check every charge on beam scales- but dont need to- max its ever out is .2 of a grain- no worse than most electric jobbies.

I've had the expensive Lyman 55 with the knocker, an older orange one and the later dark metallic grey one, an older Hdy Pacific, about 3 cheap Lee Perfects which I still have one of, a more pricey Lee Perfect Deluxe which I still have, and a top-of-range RCBS with the two drums. On-press systems I have Lee Pro Disk Systems, the same with the micrometer upgrade, and 3 Dillon failsafe Powder systems.

The Lyman I liked least..mine had brass drums.which wore blunt where they cut stick powder. Never got them to be consistent.

The older Hdy Pacific for some reason I could not get consistent either with any powder. Glad to hear others rate it as that's what I would expect. Its very similar to the RCBS and the design has been around a long time now.

The RCBS I like a lot when I'm trickling up rifle loads. Its a keeper. The most accurate on all but heavy long stick powders are the two Lees and the best of those is the well-used cheapest Lee Perfect. The secret is to put a whole tub of powder thru it at least once, best twice, to condition the hopper and feed mechanism..mine both just get better with use. Being able to turn the hopper to an OFF position and lift it off the thrower to empty it is a real bonus. The wiper is a cheap replacement part but I have yet to wear one out. The feel light and tacky but are a revelation in use. The Deluxe is a lot more solid, has a heavy stand you buy separate and just feels nicer. It is around $200 including stand but is no more accurate or consistent.


The newer Lees have a system of being able to have multiple hoppers and multiple micrometer drums that you set for a particular charge and leave dedicated for that use. I am not experienced enough with those to comment.

The Dillon system is very good.and very accurate for bulkp istol and say 223 and the like. I prefer however to trickle up all my rifle loads as my volume is not great. Any sort of scoop, Lees ones or homemade from old brass, will do the job. A Dillon press system can also be used for batch loading.

The Lee Pro Disk System is great for set and forget. They are similar in principle to a Dillon or a MEC shotgun press powder bar in how they use a fixed or adjustable hole to measure a charge. The biggest issue for me is leakage of super fine ball powders like W296. I set one of these up on a powder through die on both Dillon and Lee toolhead/turret for a particular load/calibre and leave them set.

Can I chime in here with a question, I have recently bought the Frankford Arsenal bench top thrower, I’m just getting into reloading- it throws 2208 well but will not have a bar of 2225, less than a quarter makes it out of the nozzle before it blocks up completely- I realise this is a large stick powder, do I just have to use Lee spoons or similar with those powders?
Cheers