MBF and 44 SPL coated 200 RNFP

[EricBu]

Banging my head on the wall, run out of things to try, hoping somebody has an idea. I "think" what's happening is the bullet dropper bearings are snapping into the lube groove on the bullet (they are coated, so no lube in the groove). Basically, it will drop 2 or 3 bullets....then it won't "lift" up...the case moves up inside the dropper die without any resistance. I've played with the adjustment endlessly, no change. I've done the beveling on the dropper die itself. I've run it with the clip in the top and bottom, and with the bearings in both the top and bottom position. I put the DAA spring assembly on it. No change in operations. Working with Mark 7 support as well, but I think they are out of ideas. Am I dead in the water with this bullet style? Or is there something I haven't tried yet? Pic on the left is with toolhead bottomed out. You can see the top hasn't been pushed up at all. I could run another cycle, and it will work fine for 2 or 3 cycles...then do this again. The bullet is a 200 grain Hi-Tek coated RNFP. The dropper assembly is the MBF Pro 45/44.

 

[EricBu]

Well, the fix was simple! Lol, I bought a Hornady LnL 44 caliber feeder die for 50 bucks. Turned down the tube that comes out of the MBF switch a tiny bit so that it would fit into the top of the Hdy feeder, and it was a drop in replacement. Works flawless.

 

[Mark_Mark]

Took you a week and half to figure that one out. Do they have a forum for heavy duty and industrial press machine?

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I was thinking the Hornady feeder dies aren't recommended for lead bullets, they may work for a while but may give you trouble later on.
I've seen to many coated bullets with a lump of coating sticking out on it and that will jam the die up.
If you get it to work, great! But you may want to keep an eye open for lumpy coating on the bullets before dumping them in your feeder.
Just thought I'd mention it.
I have two of the dies and they do work well but I haven't tried lead in them because of this issue and worrying about the different thickness of coating.

 

[EricBu]

I was thinking the Hornady feeder dies aren't recommended for lead bullets, they may work for a while but may give you trouble later on.
I've seen to many coated bullets with a lump of coating sticking out on it and that will jam the die up.
If you get it to work, great! But you may want to keep an eye open for lumpy coating on the bullets before dumping them in your feeder.
Just thought I'd mention it.
I have two of the dies and they do work well but I haven't tried lead in them because of this issue and worrying about the different thickness of coating.

The issue with lead is usually the lube gums up the works, there's work arounds for that. Coated don't cause as many problems, but you do have to clean the dies. I loaded 4K yesterday, not a single hitch. Pulled the die down and cleaned it afterwards, was hardly dirty at all.

 

[EricBu]

Took you a week and half to figure that one out. Do they have a forum for heavy duty and industrial press machine?

No, got nothing from forums on this. Just took a stab in the dark. My problem with the MBF feeder was twofold, first it uses bearings that move in and out to lock the follow on bullet in place, and those were snapping into the empty lube groove on the coated bullets. 2nd, MBF only makes a 45 caliber die, meaning the .44 bullets are always slightly out of alignment. Basically, I just went through my on hand old parts, and researched all the rest of the bullet feeder dies out there until I found one that a) actually had a 44 caliber version, and b) didn't use bearings. That left the Hornady pretty much, and it works perfectly. The only tricky thing there was...Hornady specifies an actual amount of flare, and you've pretty much got to stick with that.

 

[Mark_Mark]

No, got nothing from forums on this. Just took a stab in the dark. My problem with the MBF feeder was twofold, first it uses bearings that move in and out to lock the follow on bullet in place, and those were snapping into the empty lube groove on the coated bullets. 2nd, MBF only makes a 45 caliber die, meaning the .44 bullets are always slightly out of alignment. Basically, I just went through my on hand old parts, and researched all the rest of the bullet feeder dies out there until I found one that a) actually had a 44 caliber version, and b) didn't use bearings. That left the Hornady pretty much, and it works perfectly. The only tricky thing there was...Hornady specifies an actual amount of flare, and you've pretty much got to stick with that.

I wish I could help but most of this stuff is over my head!! But I have learned so much from the Reloading section that would have taken me years and way too much $$$$

But if I do get a Mark 7 with a MBF and loading coated .44’s, I know to use the Hornady seat thur die and relmove the bearing from the MBF

 

[EricBu]

I wish I could help but most of this stuff is over my head!! But I have learned so much from the Reloading section that would have taken me years and way too much $$$$

But if I do get a Mark 7 with a MBF and loading coated .44’s, I know to use the Hornady seat thur die and relmove the bearing from the MBF

No, you replace the MBF feeder die with the hornady feeder die. seating is a separate operation;-)

 

[tightgroup tiger]

The issue with lead is usually the lube gums up the works, there's work arounds for that. Coated don't cause as many problems, but you do have to clean the dies. I loaded 4K yesterday, not a single hitch. Pulled the die down and cleaned it afterwards, was hardly dirty at all.

Sweeet!!
Whose bullets did you use?

 

[Mark_Mark]

No, you replace the MBF feeder die with the hornady feeder die. seating is a separate operation;-)

just got my Dillin Powder check in and the powder probe looks bent. They shipped it in a plastic bag in a Amazon plastic bag. WOW Amazon is sending a replacement

 

[EricBu]

Sweeet!!
Whose bullets did you use?

Guy in Flagstaff. Snyder's Bullets. It's the same mold as MBC's 44 200 gr RNFP. Great bullets. My wife and go up to Flag several times a year, so I preorder a bulk purchase of 38, 44, and 45 hi-tek coated bullets, and head home with her 4-Runner on the bumpstops.

 

[EricBu]

just got my Dillin Powder check in and the powder probe looks bent. They shipped it in a plastic bag in a Amazon plastic bag. WOW Amazon is sending a replacement

Dillon will too if you call them, they are good with such things.

 

[Mark_Mark]

Dillon will too if you call them, they are good with such things.

Dillon sells thru Amazon also. as a 3 P seller

 

[Mark_Mark]

Dillions profits are not to worry about.