So I am taking the first steps towards reloading. I ordered the Lee classic turret press with extra 9 mm dies. The shipment box was damaged, bullets rolling around, and a missing dipper which should have been with the dies, which were also rolling around in the box.

 

My question...since the press comes with an auto powder measure, do I need the dipper? Just curious, in part because I don't want to go through the hassle of sending the die set back.

 

Thanks in advance!

its only needed if you have no other means to measure your powder drop/load/volume

STOP, the first step in reloading is reading the manual. Then you read the reloading manuals to determine your bullet type and weight.

You confirm this by using your powder scale and weighing the bullet.

Then the  correct powder for your application and the correct weight of the powder charge.

While reloading, weigh a charge to confirm your setting , never depend on a machine to hold perfect.

Too little or too much powder, incorrect powder, incorrect bullet weight, WILL BLOW YOUR GUN APART POSSABLY  ALONG WITH YOUR HAND

Apart from that ,reloading is economical and fun to do.

The only time to use the Lee dippers, imho, is when you're sitting in a cave reloading because the end of the world is near.

 

Do yourself (and those around you) a huge favor, and check your powder charge weights with a reliable scale.

STOP, the first step in reloading is reading the manual. Then you read the reloading manuals to determine your bullet type and weight.

You confirm this by using your powder scale and weighing the bullet.

Then the  correct powder for your application and the correct weight of the powder charge.

While reloading, weigh a charge to confirm your setting , never depend on a machine to hold perfect.

Too little or too much powder, incorrect powder, incorrect bullet weight, WILL BLOW YOUR GUN APART POSSABLY  ALONG WITH YOUR HAND

Apart from that ,reloading is economical and fun to do.

I'm not jumping into anything right now. I've been reading the Lee manual religiously , but I was concerned about the missing piece during shipment. As of now I have no powder nor primers. I was just trying to get advice on the piece of plastic that bounced out of the UPS truck.

 

When my next question comes, I hope that you smack me to understanding!

It was a matter of time...UPS lost the dipper before you could.

I have plenty of dippers, none of which have ever been in contact with any powder. If you feel you really need one to collect dust at the back of your shelf, let me know - I'll let you have one of mine. You can even have the dust for free.

Definitely do not.

Thanks for the replies, that's good to know.

 

And Stu, I appreciate the offer, but I've been working on my own collection of dust.

Dosent the Lee manual warn about the dangers of incorrect powder and powder charges?

A quality scale is your most important item.

Dosent the Lee manual warn about the dangers of incorrect powder and powder charges?

A quality scale is your most important item.

 

It does.  I also picked up one of these:  http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hornadyreg-GS-1500-Electronic-Scale/1156191.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3D21-7813%2BHORNADY%2B1500%2BGRAIN%2BELECTRONIC%2BSCALE%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts%26x%3D18%26y%3D6&Ntt=21-7813+HORNADY+1500+GRAIN+ELECTRONIC+SCALE&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

 

It seems to have good reviews, and according to the tech info should be accurate to +/-  0.1 gr.

Besides the dipper ,  what else did UPS steal from your box ?

Actually, for the Lee dippers only--if Lee has a load for a dipper, that load can not be loaded to unsafe levels using the dipper as directed. Lee has simply made all such loads at the low end for starting loads. Thus, if you were a new reloader and only had a Lee dipper and actually read the directions and followed the Lee loads for that dipper, you would have loads that would be quite safe, if very anemic and possibly not function a semi-auto.

Beyond that, you need a scale. This does not apply to any load other that the few dipper loads shown in the Lee manual or the Lee die instruction sheets.

One hopes the shell holder and all the dies arrived.

Dump the dipper,  use a good digital scale.  Or, just use the dipper to load the scale.