I'm trying to charge my re-sized and primed 7mm Remington Magnum cases.  I'm using IMR4831, which is a fairly coarse stick powder.  My RCBS powder measure is throwing quite inconsistent charges.  It also binds on the upstroke and cuts some of the powder.  I would guess I'm getting anywhere from .3-.7 grain variations.  Has anyone encountered this problem?  Should I get a different powder measure?

- you could try H4831SC, short cut for an improvement in metering
- personally assuming you're making a box or two at a time, I'd just throw and trickle up and live with it.

I go through the same with IMR 4895 and 4064

The above comments are going to be your best bet. Coarse stick powders do not meter evenly and cuttting the granules is going to happen. The baffle that is made for the RCBS Uniflow may help some with consistency but it is just a fact of life that the best way to reload coarse stick powder is to throw low and trickle up to the desired charge.

Then allow me to ask another question: which sorts of powders meter best?  Would this be ball powders?

I'd list what my powder options are, but I don't have my load data in front of me.  I remember that I can use N165, but that's it.

Yup, ball powders flow like water and come out pretty damn even with every stroke.

ETA- consistent throw lever technique is important no matter what you use.  I use the RCBS measure myself and use a light rap at each end of the stroke.  I have the large micrometer on mine and it tends to flop down with the weight of it, so I actually leave it down, cycle the micrometer upward tapping it on the stop, and then back down tapping on the bottom stop.  

Short length stick powders run fairly clean.
Long sticks or extra long like 4064 are the most irksome.

Some guys swear by the lee powder measure for stick powders.  IIRC it has a rubber edge to avoid the crunch cut.

I don't have a lot of magnum powder experiece so I'll let someone else guide you there.  I think I used RL22 for .300 win mag but that was a long time ago and was a stick powder.

Yup, throw and trickle.

Not a problem for me, as I never loaded more than 100,  338 Win Mag at a time.

have you shot any of this yet? i am looking on setting up the same. 7mm rem mag with rcbs uniflow and IMR483. as many rounds as i am going to load, i could take the time to weigh them out. but if they shoot around corners, let me know.

thanks.

I actually quit using extruded (stick type) with my RCBS uniflo and now use only "ball or spherical type" for all rifle and pistol loads and this solved all my problems and kept my money in my pocket so I didn't have to purchase another powder dispenser. Handloading or reloading is expensive enough for me that I don't need to be buying more equipment or not using what I already purchased.

No, I actually picked up a jug of US 869 and used that.  Can't comment on accuracy though...I changed rifles mid-flight.  I traded my Remington 710 for a brand new Stevens 200.  I shot a few shots out of the Stevens, but the recoil is abusive.  I'm flinching when I shoot, so I really don't know what accuracy it's getting yet.  Since it's a Savage, I'd be shocked if it was poor, I've never heard of inaccurate Stevens/Savage.

i had bad blinking problems on my 7mm rem mag too. i had my wife put a muzzle brake on for me for a valentines day gift and that solved it. it cut the felt recoil in half. before i could only get a box out semi accurate and the second box was just beating me. i could not hit any thing out of it. now i can work through three boxes with no shoulder dislocation involved. allot of guys trash them but my local gun guy put it on for me and my groups improved (from shooter input not the gun). i think it cost me $180 break included.

I've considered threading and putting a brake on it.  Problem is, it's a deer rifle; I'll be taking a shot in the field without hearing protection.  I once fired a rifle with a muzzle brake without hearing protection.  I'll never do that again.

i am hearin ya. not really. i mag dumped a attack chipmunk with my glock 17C. C stands for ringing ears till easter.

I've had the same problem with that powder and several powder measures. Its the powder. 4831 is great in many of my rifles so I just deal with it.

Look into Gentry brakes. A couple of my friends have them, great recoil reduction and not much different sound....for the shooter anyway.

I might give that a try.  I'm going to try some lighter bullets (going with 120 grain hollowpoints this time instead of 168 grain BTSP) in combination with a limbsaver pad.

James, I've shot two 300 mags that had them. One Ruger and one Savage. Don't know about the claimed reduction to .243 levels, but its a hellofa lot better than mine without. The only reason I don't have one on mine is resale/collector value. If I really like the rifle and planned on keeping it I'd have the brake installed.