PSA: cased activated powder throwers

[guzma393]

PSA, perform your powder throw checks often, particularly in case activated drum units. I caught my lee auto drum seizing up, resulting in no powder throws on the last few progressively loaded rounds.

Out of abundance of caution, I purged the batch into the defect bin to be pulled later.

In hindsight, I'm overdo in maintaining my powder dropper. I've loaded tens of thousands of rounds without even thinking it will fail. I guess this was the day, and I'm lucky to catch it on the bench rather on the field.

Today is not the day to reload for me. Going to have to service my lee auto drum or perhaps replace it with a better one if I catch any noticeable wear/failure points or perhaps outfit an audio sensor to alert a drop and disable upon reset.

To the reloaders brain trust, what measures do you take in maintaining your case activated powder throwers and what preventative measures do you take?

My current method is I check powder throws every 5-10 rounds, but the batch is pretty much ruined if even one spiked round is in the bin. I do batches of 100 because of this

 

[4g64loser]

PSA, perform your powder throw checks often, particularly in case activated drum units. I caught my lee auto drum seizing up, resulting in no powder throws on the last few progressively loaded rounds.

Out of abundance of caution, I purged the batch into the defect bin to be pulled later.

In hindsight, I'm overdo in maintaining my powder dropper. I've loaded tens of thousands of rounds without even thinking it will fail. I guess this was the day, and I'm lucky to catch it on the bench rather on the field.

Today is not the day to reload for me. Going to have to service my lee auto drum or perhaps replace it with a better one if I catch any noticeable wear/failure points or perhaps outfit an audio sensor to alert a drop and disable upon reset.

To the reloaders brain trust, what measures do you take in maintaining your case activated powder throwers and what preventative measures do you take?

My current method is I check powder throws every 5-10 rounds, but the batch is pretty much ruined if even one spiked round is in the bin. I do batches of 100 because of this

Only auto dumps I use are Dillon. They are subject to some charge weight migration if you don't keep the hopper volume level away from the very bottom but otherwise I have had no issues. They are pretty consistent with flake and ball powders.

 

[K31]

To the reloaders brain trust, what measures do you take in maintaining your case activated powder throwers and what preventative measures do you take?

I don't have a case activated powder thrower but throughout my reloading I've used loading blocks (and not those one size fits many but dedicated to a given caliber). When I'm done I hold a strong light over the cases as a final check to see that the powder in all appear at the same level.

 

[5string]

Only auto dumps I use are Dillon. They are subject to some charge weight migration if you don't keep the hopper volume level away from the very bottom but otherwise I have had no issues. They are pretty consistent with flake and ball powders.

There's been a Dillon here since about 1990, just used it yesterday for some 45 ACP. It works very well.

 

[Triggerfinger]

I don't have a case activated powder thrower but throughout my reloading I've used loading blocks (and not those one size fits many but dedicated to a given caliber). When I'm done I hold a strong light over the cases as a final check to see that the powder in all appear at the same level.

I do the same. An abundance of caution is worth saving my eyes and hands.

 

[guzma393]

Only auto dumps I use are Dillon. They are subject to some charge weight migration if you don't keep the hopper volume level away from the very bottom but otherwise I have had no issues. They are pretty consistent with flake and ball powders.

Do you service your dillon auto dumps? If you do, how often do you service them?

By service, I mean opening it up, cleaning and wiping things down, and applying lube (dry lube of course) where it's needed.

 

[4g64loser]

Do you service your dillon auto dumps? If you do, how often do you service them?

By service, I mean opening it up, cleaning and wiping things down, and applying lube (dry lube of course) where it's needed.

Not really. If the charge bar seems to have trouble sliding, a clean out may be in order but it is very infrequent. My friend that I load with is feeding a lot of subguns and a couple of belt feds. We stick to ball powder for bulk rifle stuff and they really never have a problem. The pistol measures on the 750 and the sdbs seem to need to have the charge bars brillo pad scoured once in a blue moon. I don't apply squat to them. I just run a bunch of charges while resetting the charge bar adjustment with the pin out of station four so the belled, charged, case can be easily removed and dumped. That gets powder fines anywhere they need to be.

 

[guzma393]

Perhaps running flake powder (titegroup) built enough fines to booger up the mechanism on myns. Probably a good idea to contact lee about it. Maybe they can shine light why the drum all of a sudden decided to bind.

 

[John from MD]

PSA, perform your powder throw checks often, particularly in case activated drum units. I caught my lee auto drum seizing up, resulting in no powder throws on the last few progressively loaded rounds.

Out of abundance of caution, I purged the batch into the defect bin to be pulled later.

In hindsight, I'm overdo in maintaining my powder dropper. I've loaded tens of thousands of rounds without even thinking it will fail. I guess this was the day, and I'm lucky to catch it on the bench rather on the field.

Today is not the day to reload for me. Going to have to service my lee auto drum or perhaps replace it with a better one if I catch any noticeable wear/failure points or perhaps outfit an audio sensor to alert a drop and disable upon reset.

To the reloaders brain trust, what measures do you take in maintaining your case activated powder throwers and what preventative measures do you take?

My current method is I check powder throws every 5-10 rounds, but the batch is pretty much ruined if even one spiked round is in the bin. I do batches of 100 because of this

Drum throwers can be finicky about powder grain size and small loads. My RCBS will not throw Red Dot powder with any accuracy below 3.0 grains. It also gets jammed up with H110 or WW296 powder. These are some of the idiosyncrasies related to drum measures. There is no particular maintenance program, the graphite in the powder keeps them lubed pretty much.

 

[4g64loser]

Perhaps running flake powder (titegroup) built enough fines to booger up the mechanism on myns. Probably a good idea to contact lee about it. Maybe they can shine light why the drum all of a sudden decided to bind.

Unless the surfaces are straight up ass finished or there is moisture/oil present, the powder fines won't "build up" to a significant degree. I know a guy who has multiple Harrell measures and has never had to "service" them. Talking decades.

Had an rcbs drum dump (not case operated) that was a worthless piece of shit. It leaked powder and.fines because the drum fitment to the stationary housing sucked and the housing was very rough. Won't touch a lee or hornady measure with a ten foot pole.

 

[guzma393]

Unless the surfaces are straight up ass finished or there is moisture/oil present, the powder fines won't "build up" to a significant degree. I know a guy who has multiple Harrell measures and has never had to "service" them. Talking decades.

Had an rcbs drum dump (not case operated) that was a worthless piece of shit. It leaked powder and.fines because the drum fitment to the stationary housing sucked and the housing was very rough. Won't touch a lee or hornady measure with a ten foot pole.

I might just cough up the dollars and get a dillon powder thrower later down the line since powder dropping is a very critical operation. I took apart the auto drum and I didn't see anything unusual up until I actually see the drum contact surfaces.

I had a hunch that some powder fines winded up on the contact surfaces and just grinded and smeared along those surfaces, resulting a rough finish.

After wiping everything down, it started operating just fine. I guess I'll start doing routine maintenance from now on until I can afford a dillon powder thrower.

 

[4g64loser]

I might just cough up the dollars and get a dillon powder thrower later down the line since powder dropping is a very critical operation. I took apart the auto drum and I didn't see anything unusual up until I actually see the drum contact surfaces.

I had a hunch that some powder fines winded up on the contact surfaces and just grinded and smeared along those surfaces, resulting a rough finish.

After wiping everything down, it started operating just fine. I guess I'll start doing routine maintenance from now on until I can afford a dillon powder thrower.

Are the offending surfaces made of a material that can be polished or are they made from pot metal/highly porous junk grade aluminum?

 

[trickg]

Only auto dumps I use are Dillon. They are subject to some charge weight migration if you don't keep the hopper volume level away from the very bottom but otherwise I have had no issues. They are pretty consistent with flake and ball powders.

I've noticed that my Dillons will shift ever so slightly over a batch - I don't check as often as some, but I'll usually check the measure after a batch of 100. Depending on the powder I use, it might shift by about 1 or 2 tenths of a grain - not always, but sometimes.

Otherwise, I just make the adjustment and keep going, and I don't worry about it past that - I've never really had cause to question it.

 

[4g64loser]

I've noticed that my Dillons will shift ever so slightly over a batch - I don't check as often as some, but I'll usually check the measure after a batch of 100. Depending on the powder I use, it might shift by about 1 or 2 tenths of a grain - not always, but sometimes.

Otherwise, I just make the adjustment and keep going, and I don't worry about it past that - I've never really had cause to question it.

When "firing up" the dillons, or any mechanical for that matter, I tend to throw a minimum of ten and usually more like twenty charges to settle the measure. Then I throw five and weigh each. This seems to work well as I catch any adjustments that need to be made up front. For handgun, to me, it's not worth loading unless I have at least 500 projectiles to do (test loads are a separate process).

 

[trickg]

When "firing up" the dillons, or any mechanical for that matter, I tend to throw a minimum of ten and usually more like twenty charges to settle the measure. Then I throw five and weigh each. This seems to work well as I catch any adjustments that need to be made up front. For handgun, to me, it's not worth loading unless I have at least 500 projectiles to do (test loads are a separate process).

It does seem to take a few throws to get them to settle in. Some powders are VERY consistent though - variations of only 1/10th of a grain, and strings of 5-6 in a row right on the money without variation at all.

 

[4g64loser]

It does seem to take a few throws to get them to settle in. Some powders are VERY consistent though - variations of only 1/10th of a grain, and strings of 5-6 in a row right on the money without variation at all.

This would be why I want a Harrell or a Bruno. If I loaded ball powder in more rifle cases, I'd definitely scrape that money up somehow. I've used them, hands on, and checked the throws on tuned BR grade scales. It's amazing.

 

[guzma393]

Are the offending surfaces made of a material that can be polished or are they made from pot metal/highly porous junk grade aluminum?

Probably the latter, but they do stress a high polish on the offending surfaces to the point where it is supposed to work, but I'm sure I will see pores if I look at it with a magnifying glass. Lee is known to scrimp out on material build quality, but they are designed to work when they do work.

The lee auto drum has been working stellar up to when I experienced the failure discussed. After reservicing it, it operates and drops flake power just fine, and drops TG flake powder down to -/+ .1 grain. I subjected it to 100 more arounds of 9mm, and checked powder drops every 10 rounds and all were in acceptable parameters. Only time and further trials will tell if what I experienced was just a freak accident that would otherwise be addressed by well-informed preventative measures and maintenance.

 

[4g64loser]

Probably the latter, but they do stress a high polish on the offending surfaces to the point where it is supposed to work, but I'm sure I will see pores if I look at it with a magnifying glass.

Yeah. I expect you would. Not that Dillon is perfect or anything (it ain't no Harrell) but the charge bars slide horizontally rather than rotating. Definitely seems to behave better.

 

[gungate]

I just got the below Hornady powder cop. So each round can be visually verified. I looked at another with an audible alarm, but I just don't do enough reloading to need that level. I have a 6 station press so had room for it.

Hornady Amazon

 

[guzma393]

Drum throwers can be finicky about powder grain size and small loads. My RCBS will not throw Red Dot powder with any accuracy below 3.0 grains. It also gets jammed up with H110 or WW296 powder. These are some of the idiosyncrasies related to drum measures. There is no particular maintenance program, the graphite in the powder keeps them lubed pretty much.

I didn't know powder has graphite in it. I'll have to call lee and ask what they think.