How to remove extra powder and primers

[fireman1776]

I recently went blue with a Dillon 550b. I finally got it all set up today and dumped a bunch of powder in and put in more primers than I should have (I put 100 in and only planned on making 50 rounds. I didn't plan it out well).

I got to the end and realized I hadn't thought about how to dump out the powder and get rid of primers.

What's the best method?

So far this is what I came up with. Disconnect the powder activation bar by pushing up on that white piece and the taking off the tool head and dumping it out? I'm wondering if that will wear out the white plastic piece quickly?

I have no idea what to do about the primers.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

I'll plan better with the primers going forward.

[haiedras]

Leave all of it in for the next time you load. That's what I almost always did. What powder are you using? Read somewhere that double base powders aren't as susceptible to absorbing water than single base powders.

[fireman1776]

Leave all of it in for the next time you load. That's what I almost always did. What powder are you using? Read somewhere that double base powders aren't as susceptible to absorbing water than single base powders.

I'm using titegroup. My press is out in the garage so it gets exposed to cold temps right now and hot temps in the summer.

[Nimitz]

Just leave it.  I've been reloading 25,000+ rds/yr for the last several years and I've never once unloaded my press between sessions, did someone tell you to do this?

[GrumpyOne]

7 minutes ago, Nimitz said:

Just leave it.  I've been reloading 25,000+ rds/yr for the last several years and I've never once unloaded my press between sessions, did someone tell you to do this?

This. And we're in Florida with all the humidity. My press is in an outdoor unheated/uncooled shed.

[Hi-Power Jack]

14 minutes ago, GrumpyOne said:

  we're in Florida with all the humidity. My press is in an outdoor unheated/uncooled shed.

^^^   Ditto    ^^^^

[haiedras]

28 minutes ago, fireman1776 said:

 

I'm using titegroup. My press is out in the garage so it gets exposed to cold temps right now and hot temps in the summer.

 

Then yeah, leave it. That's what I'm using. I don't even bother to empty it, just refill as I get low. Of course, you should probably plan on your powder measure turning a dark shade of purple after a while. TG is a little hard on plastic.

[rdinga]

I reload indoors and no longer worry about leaving powder in the measure. However in the past (and even now)if I had to remove a small amount of powder from the measure, I just dragged out the shop vac and vacuumed the powder out. 

[fireman1776]

Wow that's great to know. I will just leave it in there. I was told when I first started loading to not even store my powder in the garage and it needed to be in a cool dry location at all times.

[mlmiller1]

If I am not leaving powder in the hopper, I just pull the tool head like you said & dump powder back in powder jug.  Shouldnt wear anything out.  

[Bamboo]

I do what Mlmiller1 does.  Remove the tool head and put the powder back in it's original container, and cycle the powder throw a few times to make sure all the powder is out.  I do this not so much to protect the powders, but I load for several calibers and use different powders and never want to have any confusion about what powder I'm working with on the press.  Also, I only keep one powder on the bench at one time.  So for me it is a safety issue. 

If you want to see what happens when you load the wrong powder into the wrong caliber there is a thread a couple years ago (from Jamie ??) who loaded pistol powder into .223 with disastrous results.  BTW  - I left ww231 in the hopper for a few months and it turned it opaque.  Simple green removed most of it if  and is worth a try if you don't like the staining.  

[9x45]

Putting pistol powder in a rifle case is an operator problem. If you load rifle and pistol, the hoppers should be labeled with what powder it is. But removing powder from a hopper each time is not needed. The simple fix is to load hundreds of rounds at a time and always keep it 3/4 to full.

[Jeff Phillips]

One labeling trick I discovered is to simply peel off the labels from the powder cans, cut them to size, and stick them to the powder hoppers. Makes identification a snap.

[Bamboo]

Agreed, and the OP who blew his rifle humbly admitted to that.   I'm glad he shared his story and the photos.

So, no human is infallible.  If I only used one powder, or had dedicated presses for each load my philosophy might be different.  It is just what works for me, YMMV.

 

Yeah, labeling is always good,  I use a lot of Blue painters tape for labeling everything from the powder hopper to containers with my load data...love that blue tape!     

[acoop101]

I would pull the tool head and dump the powder if you are not planning to load for a while since the powder will discolor and weaken the hopper. If you are going to load again in the next couple days, I would not worry about it.

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[KIRK J]

I must be the only one who does it this way, pull the failsafe arm, loosen the two set screws on the powder measure, lift measure off of the powder die and empty.  Cycle the arm a few times to get the last little bit of powder below the baffle.  15 seconds tops

[fireman1776]

I must be the only one who does it this way, pull the failsafe arm, loosen the two set screws on the powder measure, lift measure off of the powder die and empty.  Cycle the arm a few times to get the last little bit of powder below the baffle.  15 seconds tops

Thank you!

[Flatland Shooter]

I don't see any suggestions on how to remove excess primers.

In my case I use two types of primers.  They are Winchester SPP and Winchester SRP.

Very rarely I've had to shut down with primers left in the tube and come back wanting to switch primers. But what if it does happen?  Other than "not" loading too many primers, any suggestions to the OP question on how to get them out of the loader?

[Bamboo]

No real easy way to remove primers in the tube that I know.  

With a 650 it is pretty easy to click the primer wheel and retrieve the primers from the ski jump,  for the 550 I've removed the primer slide bar, raised the platform and pulled back and plucked each primer from the cup.  

[muncie21]

4 hours ago, Flatland Shooter said:

I don't see any suggestions on how to remove excess primers.

In my case I use two types of primers.  They are Winchester SPP and Winchester SRP.

Very rarely I've had to shut down with primers left in the tube and come back wanting to switch primers. But what if it does happen?  Other than "not" loading too many primers, any suggestions to the OP question on how to get them out of the loader?

If you have a 650 you can easily remove the primer 'indexing arm spring" see the Dillon diagram for more details- https://www.dillonprecision.com/docs/650_Pg_53.pdf

Whatever you do, don't remove the primer magazine (like I did) in an attempt to dump all your primers.  If you do, you'll quickly become more intimate with the disassembly of your press...which isn't always a bad idea, it just depends on your timing and priorities at the time.

[Brooke]

13 hours ago, KIRK J said:

I must be the only one who does it this way, pull the failsafe arm, loosen the two set screws on the powder measure, lift measure off of the powder die and empty.  Cycle the arm a few times to get the last little bit of powder below the baffle.  15 seconds tops

That's exactly what I do. Raise the platform a little, loosen the retaining screws that hold the hopper on to the powder die, lift the hopper off and dump it. It takes less time than explaining it. Avoids errors and possible degradation later, not to mention ruining the hopper itself.

On primers...I just plan to use them all before quitting  How hard is that? Even if you're completely insane, that is 99 extra rounds at the most since I assume you would not reload the primer stack if you were done. In practice it's only a few extra rounds and you take no chances on degraded primers, mistakes about which ones were left. or other more serious problems like someone coming along and setting off the stack by doing some imbecile act.

[Livin_cincy]

Smart ass answer... "Shoot more so you don't have left overs "

The humidity if absorbed by the powder will change the weight per given volume of powder.  I am not sure how much.  Also not sure how much it changes the burn rate.  This is why the factory ships in an airtight container and gives you a gasket under the cap.  

I suspect that the NFPA and your insurance want it stored in the proper container and not on the press.

You see plenty of discolor on Dillon pictures that indicate that it is commonly stored on the press.

 

[Expflier]

I've had to do it a couple times on a 1050. I take out screws, put my finger in front and tilt it back controlling the primers best I can while they pile up on the primer slide 

 

 

 

[Dirtchevy841]

On 1/16/2017 at 2:32 PM, KIRK J said:

I must be the only one who does it this way, pull the failsafe arm, loosen the two set screws on the powder measure, lift measure off of the powder die and empty.  Cycle the arm a few times to get the last little bit of powder below the baffle.  15 seconds tops

Nope. I do this as well. A minute or less to do this and hopper stays nice and clean. What I do extra is when I dump and cycle it a couple times I'll shoot a little air in it yo clean it out really good. No time what so ever. 

[rustybayonet]

On my 550 I just remove the failsafe rod, 2 pins holding the head then dump and cycle a few times into my brass funnel. I haven't found an easy way to get the primers out. I just load my tube with the amount I need, make them in batches of 100, or leave them till the next time I load.