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Dillon 1050 cases sticking on powder station


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Polishing the Mr. Bullet feeder die with 800, 1200, and 2500 grit sandpaper and polishing with flitz and a  dremel did help. However the new way I use Hornady one shot seems to be the best fix. (Thanks Bill D.) I have always laid the brass flat in a giant ziplock bag and sprayed it. Now I have another step. After this I put it in a shallow box and shake, puts them (99%) primer side down. Spray the hornady oneshot across the brass letting it get on the inner rim. Let dry 15 minutes. This fixed it for me hope this helps.

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  • 1 month later...

I hope the op has solved this problem. Mine was similar in 550b with daa mini bullet feeder belling die. The sticking was so much that sometimes the primer jumps out of its carrier when I forcibly push the handle up to unstick the brass. Thought it was alright to just let it pop out of the brass in the powder station. I was wrong. Afaik it cracked the body of my powder measure after thousands rounds. So be aware guys. 

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Actually forgotten about this post. The powder activator by and large has reduced the sticking by quite a bit. I think some lube would probably completely get rid of it, but at this point the sticking is so minor that I really don't notice it anymore.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/13/2017 at 8:20 PM, ultimase said:

Dillon powder activators arrived today. It appears that the sticking has stopped. I haven't run the press with all the stations filled so I'll update when I get the chance to.

 

Also checked the diameter of the swager/expander, I measured where the brass was reaching with how much thicker it got. For my swager at least it never got wider than where the brass was already reaching, so I might not have gained anything additional by filing the swager down, or perhaps the prior owner already did so.

 

 

I wet tumble for the same reason as you. I use a Mark 7 on a 1050 and make about 5k of 9mm per month. I tried all these things to get the brass-stick at the powder drop station under control.  What I experienced is most definitely a clean brass problem and it sticks at the powder drop station, not the swage/expander station.

 

Each of these changes below helped a bit, some enough by themselves.

 

1) Hornady one-shot sprayed INTO the case. Doesn't help to spray the outside...Let dry for longer than it says, I'd suggest an hour.

2) sizing die wax applied every 25 cycles to the powder funnel itself, VERY small amount, barely enough to see/feel, using a finger.

3) Less belling = less sticking, so using jacketed or plated rather than lead helps.

4) Don't add pins to your wet tumbling. Just use hot water and some soap and skip the pins. Tumble an extra 1 hour to compensate.  It's faster, your brass will still be cleaner than with dry media alone, and no pins to sort out, plus it won't stick at the belling/powder drop station because it's not totally clean. Not as shiny but that's all cosmetic only.  (I no longer decap before wet tumbling, it was a waste of time with no functional value other than pretty shiny brass. You need a bit more time to dry, though).

5) Filing off your swage back-up rod so the expander part goes deeper into the case helped the least, but I'll admit I didn't file too much...I didn't want to do anything irreversible. I think this step is more relevant if you are expanding aggressively for  lead bullets ( and especially oversized lead bullets) and trying to fix a shaving problem or toppling problem on indexing. 

6) changing funnels (Dillon vs MBF) made no difference for me.

 

If you DO process in two steps on the 1050, then I would suggest you resize/expand/bell during the decap (1st) phase, then SS pin clean, then load on the 2nd phase....that way you are not belling a clean case (which sticks) but rather a dirty and lubed case during the decap phase.

 

C

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When I started wet cleaning (without pins) the sticking started or maybe just got bad enough to be noticeable. I decided to dry tumble the wet cleaned brass for a few minutes to see if the dust would get me back to where I started.  Since I already had two dry tumblers it was a simple thing to try.

 

It worked. I guess the minor amount of dust on the brass reduces surface area of contact between the brass and expander enough to reduce friction. Yes, it a pain to return to dry tumbling and add a step to the process.

 

Just so you don't think it is my imagination, with only wet cleaning the "sticking" problem caused me to have to run the torque setting on my Mark 7 at the 7or 8 setting to avoid frequent torque shutdowns. Using the dry tumbling I can reduce the setting to 4 which is more in line with Mark 7's recommendations. This a 650 with a 650 Pro auto drive.

 

I won't return to dry tumbling only because it takes longer and doesn't clean the brass as well. I put the dry tumblers outdoors on nice days and process the brass that I have cleaned and dried previously. It solves the indoor dust issue when opening the tumblers. I am loading about 50,000 rounds per year with sorted headstamps in 9mm. Do I like the added step...hell no! but it works for me.

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