Armory Sponsor
Posted: 12/31/2014 2:13:36 AM EDT
You guys have probably discussed this at length, so I apologize if you have. I've been reloading for a couple of years, started with single stage RCBS, and then my wife spoiled me with a RL550. I loaded about 500 rounds of .223 a while back with no trouble. The powder measure stayed put and accurate for the whole time. I changed calibers and loaded some .45 and same thing. Today i switched back to .223 and am having trouble getting the powder measure to stay accurate with charge weights. I seems like it slowly creeps up as i go. I've kept an eye on the adjustment screw and haven't seen any movement. Any ideas on what going on? 
|
|
Welcom to Arfcom and the reloading forum.  Adjust PM with all stations in operation. You must be consistent with your motion on the press handle. Same speed/force every stroke. A Dillon PM is capable of measuring ball powder exact, flake powder + or - .1 gr with good technique.  Some 550 p0rn for your first thread.
|
|
Quoted: Giggety on the pic, especially that nice little pile of blue cases in the top right. I'm slowly getting there  . Thanks for the help/tip. I think my technique varies a little each time. I'm using H322, which has measured well for me in the past |
|
In addition to what Dryflash pointed out, there is also just a bit of backlash in the threads in the Dillon charge bars.
When you are screwing the adjustment screw "in" in the "righty-tighty" or clockwise direction it is essentially pulling the charge bar "open" and it will be resting on the trailing face of the screw. In operation it will settle on the leading face of the screw, opening it up slightly more. In contrast, when you are moving the adjustment screw "out" in the "lefty loosey" or counter clockwise direction it is pushing the charge bar closed and it will already be resting against the leading face of the screw. Consequently, it helps if you always end each adjustment in the lefty-loosey / counter clockwise direction. So if you want to increase the charge slightly, over shoot by 1/3rd turn clockwise and end with a 1/3rd turn in the counter clockwise direction. It'll make the first few drops more consistent and keep you from chasing your tail while you are fine tuning the adjustment. In general though I will still drop about 5 charges before I weigh one when making a weight change. I'll also do the same thing after refilling the hopper, or after the powder has been sitting in the hopper after a long break in reloading, as it tends to settle and pack a bit during periods of non-use. |
|
Quoted: In addition to what Dryflash pointed out, there is also just a bit of backlash in the threads in the Dillon charge bars. When you are screwing the adjustment screw "in" in the "righty-tighty" or clockwise direction it is essentially pulling the charge bar "open" and it will be resting on the trailing face of the screw. In operation it will settle on the leading face of the screw, opening it up slightly more. In contrast, when you are moving the adjustment screw "out" in the "lefty loosey" or counter clockwise direction it is pushing the charge bar closed and it will already be resting against the leading face of the screw. Consequently, it helps if you always end each adjustment in the lefty-loosey / counter clockwise direction. So if you want to increase the charge slightly, over shoot by 1/3rd turn clockwise and end with a 1/3rd turn in the counter clockwise direction. It'll make the first few drops more consistent and keep you from chasing your tail while you are fine tuning the adjustment. In general though I will still drop about 5 charges before I weigh one when making a weight change. I'll also do the same thing after refilling the hopper, or after the powder has been sitting in the hopper after a long break in reloading, as it tends to settle and pack a bit during periods of non-use. Also some good follow on advice after my previous post.
|
Armory Sponsor