The Old Belding & Mull powder measure

[Wayne Smith]

My B&M is my go to measure. Nothing has bridged yet. Can't say that about any of my other measures, except my little Bair pistol measure.

[robertchambers]

I liked my B&M so much that I took the time to convert 2 project measures into right handed tools. I moved the operating handle to the left so that my right hand would be free to do all the careful operations like not spilling the powder on the way to the funnel. I also increased the powder reservoir by almost 3x.

[milprileb]

My Goodness ! Kind of leaves me speechless !

That picture shows multiple drop tubes: how did you make them ?

Your reloading bench must be one interesting spot from the looks of it.
The kind of place one would want his ashes interned and put on the shelf amongst
the classic reloading tools !!!

[Green Frog]

I'm even more impressed with that tricked-out Ideal #5 Measure with gold lettering and an eagle on top! I bet there's a story to be shared on that one!

Froggie

[robertchambers]

Froggie & Milpreleb.
The B&M drop tubes were purchased from B&M...the real interesting one is the W D Barchmann in the background. It's the predecessor to the B&M visible measure. Note how much larger the casting is. It also has a steel secondary hopper where the B&M has an aluminum sliding hopper. I have another B&M converted for right hand use that looks like military trench art. the operating handle is made from a 50 cal shell

[scrapcan]

Robert,

I have seen the pictures of your measures many times and every time I see them I am amazed. Very nice equipment.

[Wayne Smith]

My favorite drop tubes are made from 45-70 shells with the primer hole drilled and tapped for a 10/32 rod with a machined plate on top. A nut serves as a tightener. The 10/32 gives me a much more sensitive movement than the very coarse thread on the copy measure I bought. A friend is in the process of making me a couple out of 45-110 shells for larger capacity.

[robertchambers]

Manley,
Thank you ...maybe you haven't seen these measures. 1 B&M, 1 homemade, and 1 standard Hollywood mounted to a 15 pound powder trickler



The powder measure below is homemade...I'll eventuly post it in the "Homemade" thread...note this powder measure is next to a 7 1/2 foot Indian muzzleloader.



The measure below is nothing special but the combination base with intregal trickler makes it interesting.

[LUBEDUDE]

Interesting photos.

Thanks!

[milprileb]

It would be interesting to know what Mr. Chambers choice of powder measure would be if he
had to decide on a measure that is currently being offered on the market !

I personally have given up on anything working half right. My B&M just does it right all the time
and as slow, and antiquated as it may be.... it works, no excuses, no deviations, no alibi and always trustworthy once set up to drop a specific rifle powder charge. Like the wheel, shower and mosquito net, the B&M is right on the money !

[robertchambers]

milprileb,
About 10 yrs ago we (cousin & I) got that same idea and put together a little test that went like this. Near any powder measure can attain reasonable repeatability with ball powders and carefull handling, so we chose long extrusion slow burning IMR 4350.
With a fresh 1/8 lb of 4350 in each measure, we weighed 20 charges targeting 45 grains per throw to see which measure fluxuated least. With one person measuring and weighing and one recording the weights, it only takes about 10 minutes per powder measure.
We tested 2 RCBS Uniflows, 1 Ohaus, 1 CH, 5 different Herters, 1 Texan, 2 Lachmiller, 1 Bonanza, 1 Lyman 55, 1 Lyman No5, 1 early Lyman (pre No 5), 2 Lyman No5 micrometer, 2 Redding large dial micrometer, 2 Redding standard micrometer, 1 Redding BR Micrometer, 1 Redding drop tube model, 2 Belding & Mull, 1 Potter,1 Pacific/Bair, 1 Krupp, and 2 Hollywood (1 powder measure & 1 shot measure).
The only measures that that came close (to B&M) in performance was 1 Herters drop tube model and the Bonanza bench rest model (from the fertile mind of Clarence Purdie). The Redding drop tube model was good, but not good enough.
Since then I've acquired about 7 more powder measures and even built a homemade giant uniflow of sorts, but I've not tested any of them in that way.

So the answer to your question is ...other than the B&M visible measure (sort of still available) , the Bonanza BR demonstrates the least variation with the long extruded powders us dinosaurs are still burning.

Note that I have never owned or tested a Lee, Harrel, or Dillon powder measure...AND...I wound up with about 3 lbs of once chopped 4350 that I'm still trying to burn up with 8x57 and 6.5x55 so I'll probably never repeat that experiment again.

Did you see the stag handled B&M? ...I'm taking that one with me when I croak. Bob Chambers

[LUBEDUDE]

Wow, my hat is off to you for your tenacity in your testing. And the great variety of powder measures!