My Uniflow will be 40 years young next month. Except for the powder baffle I added a few years ago (although its benefit is still debatable) it's been giving good service all these decades. But it has not been as user friendly as I'd like. Until recently, I had the mounting bracket bolted to the front of my reloading bench, positioning the drop tube below it. That location has always been awkward to access. But changing powders has always been the bigger problem.

I would have to unbolt the powder measure from the bench, then dump the remaining powder into my aluminum funnel, back into its container; then bolt the empty measure back to bench again. That procedure was time consuming. Of course, I could always just work the measure until all the powder drained out but I never liked doing that. The Uniflow actually cuts powder granules, especially the extruded 'stick' type. If I loaded 20 cartridges of 50 grains each, that would mean 140 such loadings from a 1# bottle. Those powder granules would get cut smaller and smaller until the 1# was empty. I determined not to do that a long time ago.

Your thoughts on the continuous cutting of gunpowder granules?

RCBS makes a few powder measure stands but they all must be fastened to the bench. I made one that is movable. Here's how I did it:

I salvaged a 3" piece of copper pipe, 4" high. I filled it with molten lead salvaged from some large (14 ounces) bank sinkers I'll never use again. I located a steel rod that I machined to be a slip fit into the bracket's large hole, near one side of the pipe. And a locating pin to keep it from rotating. I encased the top and bottom with epoxy just to shield the lead from exposure. I also glued a cork base to the bottom to make it non-slip and non-scratch. The base alone weighs 11 lbs.

I adjusted the measure on the bracket to just clear the tallest cartridge I load for, the 416 Remington magnum.



I tapped that rod to accept 1/4-20 threaded knob I had leftover from my brass tumbler. (that OEM wingnut just had to go!) I buffed the copper with red rouge to make it look less plumber-ish.



Now my powder measure is portable, and it can be taken apart and dumped with a quick spin of the knob. So no more powder measure sticking out in front of the reload bench, getting in the way. And it can now be pushed out of the way when I'm not using it.

I wish I would have thought of it sooner.

I like it. Though the new stand only holds the measure by the lock nut at the bottom. It's no longer threaded to the stand, it just drops in, but it's not portable.

Good work.

Rich

I never used a stand. I just used the plate that mounted under the seating die. When done with the that cartridge take the die out and dump the powder. When working up loads with multiple powders I would just use a small amount in the thrower since I weighted anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by ramrod340:
I never used a stand. I just used the plate that mounted under the seating die. When done with the that cartridge take the die out and dump the powder. When working up loads with multiple powders I would just use a small amount in the thrower since I weighted anyway.

This is for use with my Forster Co-Ax single stage press. Both my Dillon SDB and RL550B use their own case-activated powder measures.

I modified the base to make it more stable. I don't know why the cork wouldn't lay flat. So I ground it away with a belt sander and screwed on one made of polyethylene. .250" thick left over from making a butcher's cutting board table top.

quote:

Originally posted by richj:
Though the new stand only holds the measure by the lock nut at the bottom. It's no longer threaded to the stand, it just drops in, but it's not portable.

One end of the measure's flat bracket is still threaded just the way it came from RCBS. The other end, I believe, is meant to fit under a die that is screwed onto the press. That was not modified either. The only reason for having the lock ring on the measure is to have some adjustment up or down, if needed. Otherwise it would spin on the thread without a stop of some sort.

Nicely done!

Mine has the RCBS stand and is bolted to the aluminum plate, and I use a C clamp to hold it to table edge. When I change powder I just unclamp it and pour it out. I like having it mounted as my personal technique is to return the lever with a sharp clack so it helps the powder settle.

Or at least that is what I like to think happens!