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Posted: 3/23/2013 6:44:42 PM EDT
| I've noticed that when I'm loading the bar on the powder measure will go back and get "caught" for a few seconds sometimes before slamming home. It doesn't happen all the time and when I measure the charge it throws correctly. Any idea what causes this and how to fix it? |
| What powder are you throwing in the Dillon? My guess is a stick or extruded powder, and that's what causing the hang up. I only recommend spherical powder in any progressive press. Stick powders do not meter consistently enough for powder throws through a progressive. |
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Quoted: I only use Winchester ball powders in my Dillon presses. Even flake will vary p to 2-3 grains. IMR powders can vary +-5-10 gr!What powder are you throwing in the Dillon? My guess is a stick or extruded powder, and that's what causing the hang up. I only recommend spherical powder in any progressive press. Stick powders do not meter consistently enough for powder throws through a progressive. |
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Guy before me ran some Alliant powder that does 38 special and .45. I gave it to a friend who reloads .45 so I don't recall the name. I've only put Accurate #7 and now Ramshot True Blue through it.
Suggestions on how to fix? For the future for powder that isn't ball, how would I throw the charges? |
 Take it apart and smooth up any flashing with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper. The idea is not to remove metel, just any burrs of sharp pieces of flashing. Which I think is your problem.  Same on the inside, use a straight square piece.  Clean off any dust on the parts and coat them with paste wax. Let dry and wipe off. Will really slick up the movement of the parts. The wax will not effect the powder, I've been doing this on my PM's for years. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I only use Winchester ball powders in my Dillon presses. Even flake will vary p to 2-3 grains. IMR powders can vary +-5-10 gr!What powder are you throwing in the Dillon? My guess is a stick or extruded powder, and that's what causing the hang up. I only recommend spherical powder in any progressive press. Stick powders do not meter consistently enough for powder throws through a progressive. If you're getting +/- 2-3grs with flake and +/- 5-10grs with IMR powders, you're doing something wrong. I use flake, ball and stick, even long stick like AA-4350 in my 550b measure and I'm at the worst, I'm +/- .2 grs. Your numbers are atypical. Chris |
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Quoted:
Guy before me ran some Alliant powder that does 38 special and .45. I gave it to a friend who reloads .45 so I don't recall the name. I've only put Accurate #7 and now Ramshot True Blue through it. Suggestions on how to fix? For the future for powder that isn't ball, how would I throw the charges? Put a second spring on it. I've run two springs since the beginning and I called a few years back when my sister got me another 'quick change' and it only came with one spring. The Dillon guy laughed and said it's supposed to use only a single spring. Who would have thunk it? Chris |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I only use Winchester ball powders in my Dillon presses. Even flake will vary p to 2-3 grains. IMR powders can vary +-5-10 gr!What powder are you throwing in the Dillon? My guess is a stick or extruded powder, and that's what causing the hang up. I only recommend spherical powder in any progressive press. Stick powders do not meter consistently enough for powder throws through a progressive. If you're getting +/- 2-3grs with flake and +/- 5-10grs with IMR powders, you're doing something wrong. I use flake, ball and stick, even long stick like AA-4350 in my 550b measure and I'm at the worst, I'm +/- .2 grs. Your numbers are atypical. Chris Same here. I use RL-15, IMR-4064, Unique, Green Dot, and others with nothing like the huge variations P08 mentions. Something is seriously wrong. |
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Quoted:
Guy before me ran some Alliant powder that does 38 special and .45. I gave it to a friend who reloads .45 so I don't recall the name. I've only put Accurate #7 and now Ramshot True Blue through it. Suggestions on how to fix? For the future for powder that isn't ball, how would I throw the charges? There is no difference in how you throw a powder charge with a 550. It all works the same. Your Dillon should throw stick (IMR) powders just fine. I can get sub-MOA accuracy out of my Dillon made .225 Winchester loads using IMR-4064. |
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You could update to the powder failsafe system the 550's ship with now. It helps with the consistency according to most of the people that use it.
If you call Dillon, I believe they will tell you to try taking it apart and cleaning it with acetone (not brake parts cleaner). |
| I've had my 550 (now "B") since 1985. Dry Flash is correct and solution is correct. The black smear marks are pieces of powder. If you can't see exactly where it is sticking, put verical stripes on the bar with permanent marker and look for removal during operation. When seeing these places, you can use a lead pencil to coat the areafor a temporary fix. I agree it is more prevalent with stick powders as they get cut and the resulting "chips" will get trapped between slide and body. |
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Quoted:
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg272/dryflash3/Powder%20Measure/PC290360.jpg Take it apart and smooth up any flashing with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper. The idea is not to remove metel, just any burrs of sharp pieces of flashing. Which I think is your problem. Same on the inside, use a straight square piece. Clean off any dust on the parts and coat them with paste wax. Let dry and wipe off. Will really slick up the movement of the parts. The wax will not effect the powder, I've been doing this on my PM's for years. Thanks! Can car wax be used? Quoted:
Put a second spring on it. I've run two springs since the beginning and I called a few years back when my sister got me another 'quick change' and it only came with one spring. The Dillon guy laughed and said it's supposed to use only a single spring. Who would have thunk it? Chris It has two springs on it. |
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OP, are you talking about the brass colored levers/cams catching each other? If so, it is designed that way.
Mine does it too and I called Dillon and they told me it was suppose to do that. As long as your powder bar is making full cycles I wouldn't worry about it. Also, the adjustment on the push rod is as follows. Push cycling handle forward. Screw in nut handle all the way until it stops, back off one full turn. Also, make sure the push/pull lever comes in from the back of the powder funnel. It can go in either way but is suppose to come in from the back or left side of the two cams. |
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Quoted: Quoted: http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg272/dryflash3/Powder%20Measure/PC290360.jpg Take it apart and smooth up any flashing with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper. The idea is not to remove metel, just any burrs of sharp pieces of flashing. Which I think is your problem. Same on the inside, use a straight square piece. Clean off any dust on the parts and coat them with paste wax. Let dry and wipe off. Will really slick up the movement of the parts. The wax will not effect the powder, I've been doing this on my PM's for years. Thanks! Can car wax be used? I have no idea, I've always used the paste wax shown. Quoted: Put a second spring on it. I've run two springs since the beginning and I called a few years back when my sister got me another 'quick change' and it only came with one spring. The Dillon guy laughed and said it's supposed to use only a single spring. Who would have thunk it? Chris It has two springs on it. |
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TurkeyLeg is correct.
The old-style PM had a flimsy operating mechanism and the springs on top to return the powder transfer bar back into the PM Some years ago, Dillon came out with an improved powder transfer bar return system, utilizing a couple of spring-loaded plates on the side of the PM instead of the spring on top. You can purchase this improved return system and retrofit it to your PMs . I made the retrofit for all my PMs and I have had ZERO problems with lagging or stuck powder transfer bars since then. |
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Don't allow your PMs to choose your powders for you. That's the press running you, not you operating the press. Having a little "smiffing" background I know really fine grit sandpaper polishes too. Powder and primer slide bars are polished with 600 & 800 grit before using wax or polish like Flitz.
The secret to running them afterwards is keeping bars and tracks clean. |
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I had a powder bar that was sticking, even after the wet/dry sandpaper deburring trick. The metal of the power bar was galling, and despite my best efforts, I ended up calling Dillon for a replacement. So far, it's working fine. Variations as large as you are seeing are NOT normal... and something else MAY be wrong with your powder measure. |
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I would do a little R&D on your powder drop first... disconnect the return bar and remove, operate the powder bar by hand.
If the 'hop' goes away your return bar is not lined up. It's kind of tricky because you have to rotate the levers down to get a full return on the powder bar. |
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