Lee Loader

As I try more loads with reduced case fill I am coming up against higher SD's and inconsistent accuracy. (Trail Boss excepted). In the past I have avoided any type of filler to keep the powder up against the primer. Pointing the muzzle up and tapping the butt is pretty much forbidden at my club's range so I am faced with reviewing my decision on using a filler. The only one I might consider is Dacron. Any sage advice to help me make up my mind?

Never used Dacron, but did use Grex when it was available, but haven't had the need in a while.

Make smoke,

I've tried all kinds of filler from Cream of Wheat to pillow batting (which is actually cuttable sheets). Without a doubt, BPI's Buffer is the best product I've used and I won't mess with any other. It's measurable, both weight & volume, and repeatable (material does not change density when exposed to atmosphere changes). I started using Buffer with my round ball loads in my short cartridge lever carbines.


I'm using it with the out of production Lee Safety Disk, but any of the Disk measures work great and I haven't had any problems with the Buffer and the Adjustable Charge Bar like I have had with powders.

After I drop my charge of powder, I fill the case to 102% of its usable case capacity. I'm getting ready to take my dogs out, but a bit later this morning I will post an additional sheet to be added to the VMD ods I posted. It will calculate the charge weight & volume of BPI needed to fill your cases to 102%.

Buffer is available BPI or from most reloading supply houses. My last purchase was from MidwayUSA so you might be able to find it in Canada.

Actually, I started using it as a filler with my 12 Gauge slug loads of 5 years back. With my Marlin Slugmaster now in hand, I will be using it in that role again.

Think I found a supplier up here. Sent them an email. Thanks for your help.

Mac

I have found some bad VMDs in my calculator so I have updated the VMD chart to the latest Lee chart. I also added a BPI Buffer calculator for filling a case above your powder charge and a Load-All II bushing calculator.

Do not use a previous version of this ods spreadsheet!

You can download "VMD Calculator Public" from this link: http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/Reloadi ... public.ods

There are some problems with the spreadsheet that are a result of converting a xls to a ods format. The issue is with the mouseover instructions on the dropdown boxes, they are handled differently and will not move from one to the other. In fact, they are impossible to delete and start over. Sooner or later I will start over with a new file.

I have not added any protection to the spreadsheet. I assume a fellow using it knows what he is doing and can add it if he wants. If you goof up a cell, don't save the file or download it again.

Macd and others, I made some more changes to my VMD calculator and corrected some issues I found in the last version, new Version 1.1. Please download the new version or delete any past versions of the ods you have downloaded in the past.

Download VMD Calculator

Yesterday evening I loaded the last run of 218 Bee cases single stage so that I could get an image of how consistent the BPI Buffer drops on top of the powder charge.

Looks very promising. The only supplier I found won't have any in till late June or early July. BTW that is a nice meplat on the bullet. How fast are you driving it in the 218?

Macd wrote:Looks very promising. The only supplier I found won't have any in till late June or early July. BTW that is a nice meplat on the bullet. How fast are you driving it in the 218?

QuickLoad predicted 1250 FPS but it averaged 1270. The compression probably gave me that.

I shot a large armadillo at 25-yards night before last. It knocked at least a half inch hole through it.