progressive powder shakeout

[HisSoldier]

Maybe some of you have dealt with this. In my Pro2000 with auto index I noticed that when the shell plate reaches it's stop point the snap of the detent ball causes a tiny bit of powder to shake out of the case. It's not much, but it accumulates on the shell plate and around the base of the machine. This is with a short shell, the .380. I replaced the spring with a lighter one but the other side of the dilemma is that below a certain spring strength I expect to have to watch the plates indexed position carefully with every throw of the lever. The speed of the lever pull has little or no bearing on this action at the plate as it's caused by the ball snapping into the hole. Obviously it's consistent from shell to shell but it does make me check thrown powder weight more often than I should have to. There are two places where it can lose powder, the stage after the measure and the one under the seating die. Thanks.

 

[ants]

Some powders 'jump' and some powders don't. You might try a different powder, although 380 Auto has a limited number of powders available. I'm not having that problem with Titegroup, but I used to have it with Unique and Clays in 9mm.

Or put your fingers over the top of the case mouth just as it arrives at the point where the ball snaps into place. For the case approaching the seating station, place the bullet on top before the case reaches the detent ball. That's what I did with Unique and Clays when they wanted to jump out of 9mm cases.

An alternative: I generally load 380 Auto on the single stage. I can do a hundred in 30 minutes or so. I seldom shoot more than 100 at any one time, so it works for me.

 

[HisSoldier]

Hmm, I had considered that. I bought the press for .45 ACP. I have a Jr. press I bought for pulling bullets. So I guess I just need a hand activated powder measure.

 

[BigJakeJ1s]

Call RCBS. You may have a faulty part.

Otherwise, if you took a dremel with a rotary polishing (felt) tip to the detents, and softened the edges just a little, it might diminish the snap action. Careful, don't do too much or it won't line up consistently. You may want to go back to the original weight spring too.

Andy

 

[HisSoldier]

Ok, I trimmed the length of the detent spring until it was much shorter. No more powder shakeout! The length of the detent spring is apparently critical when loading short cases.