Stick Powder and Progressive Presses

[G11354]

I was looking into buying a progressive reloading press but realized I may have an issue.

I'm a fan of H322 as well as the much despised IMR3031 powder. I've found that both tend to have issues measuring consistently through my powder measure, something which I'm not comfortable with when using a progressive press where charges are not receiving individual attention as they do on my single stage.

Does anyone have experience using similar powders on a progressive when reloading for .223REM?

I am not looking for powder alternatives.

 

[cfullgraf]

223 Remington with is small neck adds to the difficulty of using stick powder in any powder measure.

With drum style powder measures such as the RCBS Uniflow or the Hornady L-N-L, if you slow down your operation so that the powder pours from the metering cavity, it has less of a chance to bridge and gives more consistent results.

In general, I use a powder baffle in all my drum style powder measures but others have success without a baffle.

The slide action of the Dillon measure offers some differences but I have never used one with stick powder so I cannot comment. But, I am sure, it can be made to work well.

Whether batch charging cases or running a progressive, technique is the key to getting powder charges consistent. Once you find a technique that gives you consistent results, do it the same way every time.

Hope this helps.

 

[Hondo 60]

I use Varget (a stick powder) in my Dillon RL550B.
It works very well.

(not bragging, just tellin the truth)

 

[carbine85]

If you have a powder baffle in your powder measure you should get pretty good results. I use a lot of IMR4895 and get good results. I think you should always use a powder baffle.

 

[G11354]

If you have a powder baffle in your powder measure you should get pretty good results. I use a lot of IMR4895 and get good results. I think you should always use a powder baffle.

Thanks for the input, I was looking into making one out of some canning lids.

 

[djmike]

I use the same H322 powder for my 223 loads also. I don't have any problems loading with my Dillon 550b. I can only tell you to slow down and let the powder meter through the measure. I check my powder between every 15-20 load and its usually right on or within .1 of what I want.

Mike

 

[MtnCreek]

Thanks for the input, I was looking into making one out of some canning lids.

Play around with distance from bottom of hopper to baffle. It makes a difference.

IMO, stick powders meter better through a Dillon measure (sliding chamber) than they do through a rotating drum. Some folks will remove the measure in the powder drop station and charge each case from a scale (rifles; can't do that w/ pistols). That's a little extreme IMHO; I would just move to a better metering powder. Also test how the dropped charged ammo compares to weighed ammo. An extra ~0.1gr up/down beyond your weighed variance may have similar ES's.

 

[Slamfire]

I have shot tens of thousands of 223 rounds loaded on my Dillion with N140. This is a very short stick powder and I have won medals and my class at Camp Perry with my loads.

If dumped, IMR 3031 works great in the 308/30-06 but the long sticks will jumble up in the case neck of a 223.

Ball powders are not necessarily a panacea for all ills, I had one batch of AA2520 that was so sooty that it clogged the powder horn. Darn stuff left coated the powder horn with a substance similar to charcoal dust.

I recall loading IMR 4895 on my Dillion and it is my recollection it worked well.

 

[Blue68f100]

When I'm using stick powders I manually bump the powder so I can control the action on my LNL-AP. I have found that if it hangs it can roll the mouth in when in auto dump mode.

 

[stubbicatt]

Hoser posted years ago a method of polishing the Dillon powder measure, which I took to heart. After polishing up the internals of the Dillon measure, I threw short stick powders like IMR4895 with no issues. Accurate ammo too.

Maybe you can find the posting. It's worth the effort. Thanks Hoser...

 

[Raufoss]

Stick Powder in Dillon Progressives

The solution I came up with years ago was to eliminate the "choke points" The powder is dropping into the powder funnel and jamming up like logs in a stream. Get a good drill index and drill the measure end of the funnel with the largest drill that will leave about 1/16 / 3/32" left on each side of the funnel and drill about 0.375" deep, then repeat with a drill that is 0.125" smaller for 0.375" deep. Keep doing this until you're about 1/16" from the case mouth surface and you're done. The steps on the edge of each drill depth keeps the powder tumbling and most importantly moving downward at a different speed than the powder going down the center of the funnel. I've passed this on to many reloaders and all have had great success. PM me if you have questions.

 

[jmorris]

I was given a 20 lb keg of 3031 some years ago and made a few attempts at using it with Dillon measures with now real luck.

I then bought an LNL because you always hear how much better the measure is with extruded powders and it was no better than the Dillon.

Either was fine for 308 loads for my belt fed gun but powder bridging on the 223 cases (and spilling all over the place) caused me to stop using it for 223.

 

[TwoEyedJack]

When I load with stick powders like IMR4350, I usually don't use the Dillon powder measure. I put a powder charging die in that hole and use a manual Hornady powder measure, throwing the charge into a Lee powder spoon with a line drawn where the powder should top out. It takes a little longer.