RCBS Shortcomings

[Mr. Neutron]

Wow, Mucho Thank Yous to You, RifleTom!!!!

I never knew a part like that existed for these powder throws. I guess I need to get out more.......

Mags, I've learned that not all "deliveries" to BiMart are created equal, or on the same day. I check 3-4 BiMarts semi-regularly, with the closest (in Sandy) the most often. Then Gresham's, then Damascus's store, and as a last resort, the one on 172nd & Powell, in Portlandia. They seem to each get ammo on different days, and things like powder, primers, and whatknot come in a different delivery, typically on a different day from the ammo. At least that was how it was explained to me by one of the gun counter guys in Sandy.

[Mags]

Mags, I've learned that not all "deliveries" to BiMart are created equal, or on the same day.....

Yup, but that is the same for Sportsman's and Coastal Farm as well. Clerk at BiMart today told me most of the reloading supplies go to of all places the BiMart in LaPine. Makes sense being a Western ranching / hunting type of area. I had heard similar with the Sportsmans up the road in Bend.

[Mr. Neutron]

I knew I lived in the wrong town.......

[John E Davies]

The baffle is GOOD, it acts as a “regulator” to eliminate the variations caused by the powder weight of a full hopper vs a nearly empty one. And of course, you are supposed to operate the handle vigorously, “clack clack”. That shakes the contents for the next charge. Don’t baby it.

John Davies
Spokane WA

[Mags]

I went checking on the availability of the small drum. Every place I went (except the RCBS site) said "out of stock and don't know when they'd get more" or "discontinued".
So I went ahead and ordered one directly from RCBS. The baffle was available for immediate delivery from Amazon.

The small drum is supposed to handle not only small drops, but drops up to 50gr. My biggest drop charge is likely not to exceed 36-38gr so I'll likely never use the standard drum again.

[John E Davies]

One other tip, I average ten throws when adjusting the Uni-Flow. That takes care of the slight variations. Since I am math impaired, it is easy to just drop the last digit to calculate the average figure.

John Davies
Spokane WA

[Rifletom]

"math impaired". Wish I could have has a calculater wheh I was in school! Would have made my report cards look lots better!

[JEBar]

I'm more than a bit surprised by reports of powder charge accuracy issues .... we've been and still are using a manual Uniflow Powder Measure that came in a RCBS Rock Chucker Combo purchased back in the mid 60's .... it has 2 drums and a baffle in the hopper .... no clue how many tens if not hundreds of thousands powder charges it has dropped .... with our hunting loads we weigh and where necessary adjust each round .... over time we've used about every type of powder and don't recall any major issues

[Mr. Neutron]

I found (and ordered) the small drum from Primos Hunting here:
https://www.primos.com/priming-and-powd ... -9004.html

It was like Mags said. I kinda had to hunt for somebody that had one in stock. This has been discontinued by RCBS as far as I can tell, and stock is where ya find it......

I used the ole Uniflow 2 this morning, for throwing powder in some .30-30 mixed brass I have layin' around. It metered the 35 grain charge of H335 I'm using really consistently. It meters the charges of Win. 748 for the .30-30 consistently as well. Both of these are ball powders, which tend to meter really consistently.

Where I personally have had minor issues is with very small charges of Bullseye flake power, and previously, was kinda "sketchy" in the past with small charges of almost any pistol powder for my 38 Spl., & .357 Mag, depending on the powder choice. Unique, Hodgdon's Universal, Bullseye, and such weren't very consistent in this measure. This is possibly mostly my own fault for a couple of reasons. First, I had no idea there was a small charge kit even available from RCBS. I'm hoping this will be a "game changer" with the limited powders I currently have. Secondly, when I last loaded for some of these other calibers, if a powder didn't meter well, ya just went out and bought a powder that did. For some reason Win 231 seemed to always be a versatile powder that metered well outta my Uniflow, or my Dillon's powder throw. But that has all changed somewhat. 231 got really hard to find as of late, so I've taken to using some other powders that either I have laying around already, have been given, or happen to find for sale. Just don't have the options I did a few years back. Can't blame RCBS for that, I reckon.

And I really shouldn't call my Uniflow a "bad' powder throw. It's not. It's a very well used powder throw that was given to me with no baffle, no written instructions, or any sort of "help" for it, around 25 yrs. ago, and has still essentially done what was needed. Kinda like a how a rifle shoots certain bullets better that others, I guess the Uniflow just works better with some powders and charge weights than others, as it is right now. Hoping the small drum kit makes a difference.

[Mags]

One other tip, I average ten throws when adjusting the Uni-Flow. That takes care of the slight variations. Since I am math impaired, it is easy to just drop the last digit to calculate the average figure.

John Davies
Spokane WA

When prepping I do several drops/throws of 5 average until I get the adjuster dialed in where I think I want it. During a run I'll check one drop every 10 or 15 rounds to make sure I'm still getting what I want.