new Reloading Powder Shaker review

[Blackwater 53393]

1 hour ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Which powders did you experience bridging with? I'll try to avoid them!

Hodgdon Longshot was the worst! It was recommended by Ballistic Products for a WTSHTF load for my tactical semi-auto.

 

It REALLY worked well and gave me the exact results I wanted, but it was an absolute pain in the posterior to get accurately metered!  I wound up weighing each shell individually.  

I didn’t have any appropriate dippers and really don’t care to load that way!

[Blackwater 53393]

Sat down this morning and fabricated a nice shim to fit the shaker to my RCBS powder measure.

 

I found an old Dillon reservoir that was all cloudy and had a small crack in it. I trimmed off a section of it to make a ring the width of the band on the shaker. Then I split the ring and sized it down to fit the RCBS.*
 

I put it all together and I’ll try it out after lunch.

 

 

 

* The reservoirs are tapered,  slightly larger at the top, both Dillon and RCBS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 17, 2024 by Blackwater 53393

[Blackwater 53393]

UPDATE!!

 

I set up to run some shotgun shells with the Longshot powder that gave me fits when I used it last time.  Then, it metered like wet gravel, causing me to have to repeatedly dump out a shell and attempt another drop. 
 

This time, after I got my charge like I wanted it, I flipped on the shaker and ran a couple dozen rounds, measuring the charge after every drop.  It was within .10 plus or minus of a grain every time!
 

 It worked smoothly and I’m satisfied with my first time using the shaker.

 

 

[watab kid]

that seeems to work pretty well , im going to look into one 

[Blackwater 53393]

I finished up a hundred 3” shells using the powder shaker and the Longshot powder.  By the time I got to the second batch of 25 shells, it became apparent that this thing works reliably.

 

I’m using a clear, (translucent) shell with higher brass. You can see the powder charge when it’s dropped.  For the rest of the batch, I only weighed random samples, still eyeballing the powder level.  My range of variation was +or- .10 grain.

 

For this application, I feel like that is entirely acceptable.