Posted: 11/14/2014 7:44:48 PM EDT
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Does leaving powder in rcbs chargemaster for a month affect the powder? Would the powder de-grade overtime?
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| I leave mine in the tube. Wasn't aware it causes any problems. The powder has to sit somewhere, unless there's a chemical incompatibility issue with the plastic tube material (which seems like an odd choice for tube material of construction if true), I don't see how it would degrade in a capped tube any faster than degrading in a capped original container. But maybe I'm missing something?... |
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I leave mine in the tube. Wasn't aware it causes any problems. The powder has to sit somewhere, unless there's a chemical incompatibility issue with the plastic tube material (which seems like an odd choice for tube material of construction if true), I don't see how it would degrade in a capped tube any faster than degrading in a capped original container. But maybe I'm missing something?... The Chargemaster, and for that matter most other PMs, have moving parts, therefore tolerances, and are not air tight. Maybe it was a lack of conceptual foresight or just laziness on the part of the engineers :), but plastic tubes have discolored after prolonged contact with at least some powders. I personally have experienced this, though not with the Chargemaster since I have always emptied mine after use. |
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I bought a used RCBS powder measure, and the previous owner kept powder in it between loading sessions. The clear plastic is no longer clear on the inside. Well I Learned something new. I had pistol powder in my Hornady progressive that had been stored in it about 2+ month or so. While the tube doesn't appear tremendously affected, it does appear slightly affected. So this was a dilemma. The affect on the tube was a non-item, it actually looked clearer now where the powder was in contact. The other question was, if the powder is interacting with the tube, what's being consumed in the powder doing that? Concerned at contaminating my 8# jug of remaining powder with 1 lb of powder that might be different now, I just consumed it in making a large run of ammo. Do you have any idea how much a PITA it is to run an unscheduled run of 9mm to consume almost a pound of powder??! That took hours. But thanks for this thread. I didn't know - going to be a lot more careful about putting my powder back when I'm done with a run. As it stands, I've got rifle powder that's been in my Chargemaster for close to 2 weeks. I don't suspect 2 weeks will have as large affect, especially on large grain (low surface area) rifle powder, but it's time to put that back in the jug. It still begs my original question, why on Earth is the powder hopper made of an incompatible material with the gunpowder!? That seemed like such a crazy idea, I didn't even consider it. |
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I leave Unique in a Dillon power feeder all the time with no problem, however Skeeter Skelton once wrote of a powder reacting with the plastic hopper, degraded the powder and the hopper. Bullseye will do that, and do it in just a couple days. I left about 1/4 pound of Bullseye in my RCBS Uniflow during a run of ammo making. Left the powder in with the intention of continuing the next day. Life got in the way and it was about 4 days before I could get back to the bench. By then the green plastic barrel had been etched and flakes of Bullseye were stuck in the etching. Apparently it is the nitro which reacts with the plastic. RCBS was cool and sent me a replacement barrel even though I told them it was completely my fault. I don't know what other powders react like this but now I will continue to load until the hopper is empty or empty the hopper as soon as I finish loading regardless of the powder used. |
| My reloading crap is all on a bench in the garage, so I have always emptied my Chargemaster. However, I emptied it only because I did not want the temperature fluctuations/humidity in my garage messing with the powder. During the winter, I do bring it in the house, and so the powder still comes out... I used to think it was a PITA to empty it but it only takes me about two to three minutes to clear it out. |
