View Full Version : Old Lee dipper?
Found an old, red plastic dipper marked, "052". Suspect it's an old Lee dipper.
My dippers are all yellow. Did Lee formerly make dippers in a different color?
snakehunter
08-12-2010, 08:40
Found an old, red plastic dipper marked, "052". Suspect it's an old Lee dipper.
My dippers are all yellow. Did Lee formerly make dippers in a different color?
Yeah. Red.
Litt'le Lee
08-12-2010, 10:33
And BLACK
Yep. Red going back 30 some years. Started with a Classic in .243. Bought one in .45-70 for the Trapdoor carbine BP experiment. Carbines don't use 70 grains of BP with a cast 405.
Throw 'em away and use a scale. They can vary the powder charge plus or minus a full grain. What possessed Lee to buy scoops calibrated in cc's is a mystery.
No, don't throw them away - make up your own mind. Don't let
someone else's opinion sway you. Dippers come in very useful at times.
"...someone else's opinion sway you..." Personnally tested fact, not an opinion. They are handy for getting close with a scale, but totally useless for a reliable powder charge by themselves.
Litt'le Lee
08-22-2010, 08:48
I use them when I am loading just a few rounds--use the largest under the weight then level on my scale with the smallest dipper
when using things that can go boom with smokeless powders, it be flat out silly(read stupid) to use anything But a scale to weigh powder. With black powder I feel confident to use volume measures, but I always verify the charge weights of my old Pacific shotshell press's bushings by weighing charges, same as you would weigh charges using a powder thrower, each time you reload.
I was always told that humidity, temp & powder lot grain size can all cause differences in the amount a powder weighs in a given volume.
We've got a Dillon 550 in dedicated calibre set ups, but I dern sure weigh several charges every time we sit down to reload that lot of ammo, always be very careful & extra safe, it'll payoff.
da gimp
I don't think I could reload without them. First of all I use them reloading pistol ammo. They are quick and accurate enough that I can throw 5 grs Unique or Red Dot accurately to within 1/10 gr every time. Of course I am not using max loads for my old .38, so I could be off by as much as 1/2 gr and still be OK. For rifles I weigh every load but I use dippers to get close then trickle to the exact weight... that's how I learned to load. I don't think any reloading bench should be without a set of Lee's dippers.
:hello:
John Kepler
08-28-2010, 04:04
"...someone else's opinion sway you..." Personnally tested fact, not an opinion. They are handy for getting close with a scale, but totally useless for a reliable powder charge by themselves.
DITTO! Half-a-hammer-handle at best! As for "useful at times".....I can't think of one other than complete total desperation!
Just a couple of thoughts for the dippers, any powder dipper can be used in conjunction with your scale. I pour my powder into a short wide mouth glass jar after balancing and setting my scale then use the dipper to throw the charge and finish off with a dribbler if needed. Yes you can do the same with a measure if you want to take the time to set it up but for a few rounds or working up a load the dipper/scale method is "much" quicker in the set up and reset and the next reset than a measure. By the way I not only use the Lee dippers but I also custom make my own for a caliber and load, it's BS to say you cant keep the powder load from a dipper to within + or- 1/2 grain because I do it all the time. When I want to I can make them come out a lot closer than that. Use them or don't use them but dippers have a useful place in reloading wether or not some want to admit it is up to them. HTH
BudT
Remember LEE has been selling those (deadly) dippers for about fifty years and they are still in business.
Can't be that bad.
John Kepler
08-29-2010, 04:57
Sure they can! STP has been making a largely useless product for close to 70 years and is still profitably at it! Besides, no one is saying that you can't produce something that will go "Bang" when you pull a trigger....it just won't make a good load. If "Bang" is all you're interested in, then the Lee dippers are the greatest thing since sliced bread.....if your bar is set just a smidge higher, you won't touch them with a barge pole!
STP, barge pole, I'd say 70 is about right.
John Kepler
08-29-2010, 01:16
Couldn't hekp notice that while you took a poke at me personally....you don't have much more to say about those Lee dippers. When you can't come up with a cogent arguement to a given point...attack the the person making it, right?
FWIW, not even close!
" I pour my powder into a short wide mouth glass jar . . ."
Is there a reason you use a glass jar instead of another kind of container?
Handy, easy to scoop the powder, the price was right and static electricity. I also use a wood reloading bench with carpet on the floor and discharge myself before touching anything. Other than that a plastic bowl or other container that doesnt conduct static electricity well would work. I think my powder container had stuffed spanish olives in it in it's earlier life.
Regards
BudT
Rodd Knox
08-30-2010, 06:20
I've scooped and weighed loads with Lee dippers. Yeah, it's usually close with black powder but nowhere near as consistent as a powder dispenser with smokeless. Try using the scoop for the recommended load and set your measure for the same amount. Scoop and weigh ten times and do the same with the measure. You'll see pretty quick.
I do agree that scooping BP has in my experience been fairly consistent. But not smokeless.
John Kepler
08-30-2010, 08:10
I do agree that scooping BP has in my experience been fairly consistent. But not smokeless.
I concur...pure volumetric measurement of BP is just fine. But consider that when loading "Bullseye" in a .38 Special, that the difference between a fairly ordinary 158 gr LRN load and a frame-stretching +P+ load is just 0.8 gr.! Very often, there are NO small "inaccuracies" when it comes to charge-weight and smokeless powder!
FWIW, I have a set of Lee dippers...leftovers from days when I was poor and inordinately stupid. I haven't even brushed the dust off them in 30 years, and don't feel irresponsible enough to sell them to some other similarly afflicted person and thereby lead them into folly. Today, I use a PACT electronic powder system, and have no need for such crudeness as a Lee dipper...even for a few rounds.
Sure they can! STP has been making a largely useless product for close to 70 years and is still profitably at it! Besides, no one is saying that you can't produce something that will go "Bang" when you pull a trigger....it just won't make a good load. If "Bang" is all you're interested in, then the Lee dippers are the greatest thing since sliced bread.....if your bar is set just a smidge higher, you won't touch them with a barge pole!
You take a poke at me I can take a poke at you. If you can't take it don't dish it out. If you don't like my posts do not read them.
John Kepler
09-03-2010, 10:57
No...I countered your thoughts and (lame) ideas, not you. As for dishing and taking....you obviously don't know me very well!
deaddoc4444
09-09-2010, 07:15
I have a complete set of both Reds and yellows I could not reload without them I also use SOME of them as is for handgun ammo when loading plinkers but weigh stuff for qualifications or match . I use them for the nearest LOWER load on the scale for handguna and rifle then trickle the rest in to zero it . NEITHER of my scales is new enough to have Varget listed so i have weighed my own on both and have the AVERAGE weight written down for those IF im careful i can be very very close with jsut the dipper but usually not close enough to trust it for rifle or heavy handgun
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