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Posted: 1/21/2015 5:45:59 PM EDT
So half way thru my first 9mm reloads in my 650 i spotted a empty case (not a drop). I didnt feel anything different on the handle but dam glad i spotted it. Any idea on what could cause this so i can look for a reason? I have the powder measure to where it touchs the shell plate already on the up stroke, maybe it needs more to work the powder drop all the way on shorter cases? Useing titegroup powder btw.
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| Sir, I'm not sure what you mean when you mention you have the powder measure adjusted so it touches the shell plate, but you need to go back to the instruction booklet and follow the steps described on page 21 and 22. It does not look as if you have any case neck bell on the cases in the picture which indicates to me that your powder measure is not properly adjusted. The powder bar in the powder measure has to travel the full distance from the battery position to full open as indicated by the white cube in the side of the powder bar coming to a stop adjacent the PM body as indicated in figure 93 on page 21 of the instruction booklet. The powder die should only be adjusted up or down enough to provide a case neck bell as the powder funnel pushes the entire powder measure upward fully and the tapered area of the powder funnel engages and expands the case mouth. Are you using the powder check assembly? HTH, 7zero1. |
| I dont have a powder check yet. Ijust visual look at the powder and check a few as i go for weight on my scale. I had the powder tube to where it was flareing the case mouth but backed it down to where the bullet would sit in there easly, it seemed to be to much. Maybe its not far enough down like you said, but why would it workk on all the others? I didnt think to check the length of that case to see if it was shorter. Anything else to look for? |
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Mechanically, because the case is totally empty, you either had an obstruction in the powder measure that magically disappeared the next round or you didn't cycle the press far enough for the powder measure to drop a charge. Likely, you were busy dealing with something in the process and not paying attention to your cycling of the press. Did you for any reason not complete a cycle, let the handle down a bit (like needing to straighten out the bullet) and then press it up to complete the cycle? If so, you may have dropped the handle just enough to cycle the press which caused the empty case. |
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Quoted:
Mechanically, because the case is totally empty, you either had an obstruction in the powder measure that magically disappeared the next round or you didn't cycle the press far enough for the powder measure to drop a charge. Likely, you were busy dealing with something in the process and not paying attention to your cycling of the press. Did you for any reason not complete a cycle, let the handle down a bit (like needing to straighten out the bullet) and then press it up to complete the cycle? If so, you may have dropped the handle just enough to cycle the press which caused the empty case. Not that im aware of but anything is possiable. I have a pretty good routine down and never had a problem doing rifle rounds. Maybe it was just a fluke or i didnt notice doi g something wierd like you described |
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Not sure if that is the case,,, a ,380 will definitely get a 9mm powder drop on a dillon press, and you never notice until you see the cartridge afterward and think your seating die came loose somehow  That sounds like advice the hard way. 
Dont think it was a different case but i will look thru them all tomarrow |
| did you happen to leave powder in the hopper for a while? what powder are you using? just thinking out loud, but I've seen some powder "clump" in humidity a bit, maybe the clump bridged the powder drop chamber, then either broke up or moved for the next round? I'm surprised you wouldn't get any powder though in that scenario. is your powder drop failsafe rod in place correctly (or using an older version)? |
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I dont have a powder check yet. Ijust visual look at the powder and check a few as i go for weight on my scale. I had the powder tube to where it was flareing the case mouth but backed it down to where the bullet would sit in there easly, it seemed to be to much. Maybe its not far enough down like you said, but why would it workk on all the others? I didnt think to check the length of that case to see if it was shorter. Anything else to look for? Sir, I've never used titegroup powder but it may be possible that the powder "bridged" in the mouth of the powder funnel. In that case I would expect the subsequent powder drop into the next case to be excessive or even a double charge. I've experienced "bridging" with extruded powders when reloading .223 Rem. but never with flake of grain type powders. The bore of the Dillon XL650 9mm powder funnel is only .020" larger diameter than the XL650 powder funnel bore for .223 Rem. Dillon modified the throat of the 650 powder funnel to make it longer and more gradual than older versions of the funnel such as the .223 Rem funnel I have for the RL550B press. To reiterate you need to check the adjustment of your PM to ensure you're cycling the powder bar fully. A slight bell of the case mouth is desirable IMHO. CoSteve's suggestion about the existence of an obstruction may seem far fetched but if an obstruction occurred where did it go? It may be prudent to dismount the PM, empty the powder back into the jug and do a detailed inspection of the PM interior to make sure there's nothing inside that doesn't belong. Otherwise, I'm out of possibilities. HTH, 7zero1. |
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Quoted:
I dont have a powder check yet. Ijust visual look at the powder and check a few as i go for weight on my scale. I had the powder tube to where it was flareing the case mouth but backed it down to where the bullet would sit in there easly, it seemed to be to much. Maybe its not far enough down like you said, but why would it workk on all the others? I didnt think to check the length of that case to see if it was shorter. Anything else to look for? Get one! I finally got one after I was getting inconsistent results with 9mm. Apparently the 231 loads for 147 grain bullets aren't a good thing. It was so inconsistent that I bought the powder check. I have loaded over 10000 9mm rounds for my SBR since and have never had an empty case. The powder checker is extremely easy to set up. Run your powder through your mesh kitchen strainer too. |
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Cases in pic up top look to me to not have any flare, thus wild guess that powder measure not being actuated properly to dispense desired powder charge,, go back and review your dispenser set-up / charge bar cycle / flare situation..
Very well possible ram got raised enough to trip the advance cam, and not fully cycle ram, and set back down, advanced with out powder... but that still dont explain what appears lack of flare.. act of flaring on DILLON helps with charge bar actuation / dispensing Powder check.. dont own 1.. friend had 1 briefly, he took it off, easier to just use eyes and look at powder level as they went by |
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Dillon 650 then 1050 user here- never have had a problem with 231, Unique, Bullseye, etc. The powder die height and retractor rod wingnut both have to be adjusted properly.
I usually process all brass then load in a second pass- On a well sorted machine most press hang-ups are caused by brass problems so they will occur when you are not priming and dumping powder. Loading later without having to size is much smoother and results in very consistent powder throws. Whenever I do have a problem requiring me to not fully complete a ram cycle I remove brass from all stations, dump powder, and throw the brass in a cigar box. Then clean/adjust as needed then resume loading. Later I then separate primed/unprimed and process as needed. |
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