jmac2112

Thanks, Miranda, I'll try that! I ran across a similar idea recently, which is to take a strip of dryer sheet and put it under the lid so that it dangles down into the powder. Your idea seems better in that it actually provides a pathway to ground now that I've got the metal part of the powder measure grounded. I have several of these Lee powder measures that I used about five years ago when I first started reloading. I really started to focus on the possibility of static electricity a couple of days ago when I noticed that one of them still had powder clinging to the inside of the "neck" of the powder measure. I also ran across the fact that rubbing nylon against other materials (or against itself) is a great way to create static electricity. Guess what those Lee drums are made out of.... That could explain why I have never noticed this problem with my Dillon powder measure.

Miranda: The adjuster is not hitting anything. I grounded the metal part of the powder measure last night (by running a wire to the part of an outlet that is grounded with the green screw), and that seems to have made a difference. I say "seems" because the weather here has also recently gone from very cold and dry to warmer and more humid. Whatever the reason is, I am now able to operate the powder measure more quickly without getting a light charge. If I go nuts with it I can still get 2-3 tenths less than I want, but it's giving me the right charge as long as I go at a moderate pace. Thanks for all the suggestions, and I will provide an update as things progress!

Thanks for all of the ideas! I'll apply your suggestions and see what happens.

Thanks for the replies! I should have specified, however, that what really matters is how fast the powder measure is activated, NOT how much time I allow for the powder to drop once it is fully activated. In other words, if the drum begins its clockwise motion too quickly, that's what causes a light charge. To me, that doesn't seem to make sense, because the cavity in the drum has had plenty of time to fill. The only thing I can imagine is that centrifugal force could be flinging the powder upward into the hopper, but that seems pretty far-fetched. None of this would matter if it weren't for the fact that I have to actuate the drum REALLY, REALLY slowly in order to get the full charge. "Gingerly" might be the best word for it. Bizarre.

Having trouble with a Lee Auto Drum powder measure. Essentially, the amount of powder I get depends on the speed with which I work the handle. This is on a Dillon XL 650, which I usually use with the Dillon powder measure; I'm just experimenting with a Lee Auto Drum that I happen to have lying around. Anyway, the charge is spot on if I go very slow, but the more I speed up, the less powder I get. For instance, I'm currently aiming for 4.1 grains of Sport Pistol, but I will get as little as 3.9 if I run the press fast. The hopper is half full; I haven't tried adding more powder. Is this just the nature of the beast? Or could it be static electricity? I'm thinking of grounding my press, even though there doesn't seem to be any extreme amount of static. Any help appreciated! Thanks, John

Thanks, good to know!

Sounds good. I just thought there might be a different setup for the Photo Escape funnel, but I guess it's the same basic idea.

There were no instructions with my Photo Escape die. Do you set yours up according to the MBF instructions?

I do have the MBF expander, and it does what I need most of the time, BUT.... Sometimes I shoot 147 grain coated bullets, and it's nice to have an expander that reaches deeper. Keeps the base of the bullets from getting swaged down, especially with certain headstamps. Funny you should mention the Photo Escape expander, since mine just arrived in the mail today! I've just started experimenting with it, and it seems to work fine. I don't really understand the rationale behind making the 2nd stage so much longer than the first, though. You really don't need that much of a pocket to keep the bullet straight, and it lessens the amount of brass that grabs the bullet. Not necessarily a problem, though, unless I'm using Blazer brass. I swear that stuff is a special alloy of brass and butter.... Good for solving my problem with swaging, though!

Just to follow up on this months later (in case anyone is interested).... I tried the RMR 124 gr Matchwinners and the Precision Delta 124 gr JHP (V1). They are both great bullets, but I got slightly better accuracy with the PD (1.6" vs. 2" groups at 25 yards, benched). I shot a bunch of groups with each type over several range sessions and then averaged the group sizes, so I'm pretty confident in the results. Having said that, I would not hesitate to shoot the RMRs in a match! I continue to get crap accuracy with Blue Bullets 125 TC (about 4" at 25 yards, benched). Not blaming the bullets since I'm sure I need to work on my reloading technique. I just bought a new powder-through expander die made by Photo Escape that looks like it might help: Photo Escape - 9mm – HTC Powder Transfer Unit (photoescapeinc.com) It's like a Lyman M die except that stage 2 is longer than stage 1. I'm not sure I follow the logic there, but it gets good reviews.

I recently learned that NOE is (again) producing powder through expander dies: Powder Through Expanders | NOE Bullet Moulds (noebulletmolds.com) They are meant to be used with the Lee Short Charging Die. I've done my time with Lee Auto Drum powder measures, and I have no desire to go back to them. Has anyone experimented with using these expanders with the Dillon powder measure? Is there any way that doesn't involve duct tape/baling wire/epoxy/etc.? Or if anyone is really a fan of Lee products, I'm open to persuasion. I still have several of those Auto Drum powder measures. I could occasionally get them to work without spilling powder, but maybe Lee has come up with something better in the last five years. Thanks! John

Thanks for the tip!

OK, thanks! I do have a bunch of Blue Bullets 125 TC in both .355 and .356, so that's where I'll start. I used to shoot a Shadow 2, and that was my go-to bullet for that gun.

I've pulled bullets and am definitely not damaging the coating or swaging the bullets down. I use the Dillon crimp die. I own a Lee FDC but haven't seen any use for it, plus I was afraid it would squeeze the bullets (perhaps a misguided fear). Are you recommending the FDC, or recommending that I stay away from it? Feel free to PM me if you think this will start a war! I'm ashamed to admit I've never recorded the SD when I chrono. I record the average PF and the low PF (using the lowest velocity out of a ten shot string). There is always at least 1 PF difference in those numbers, usually two, so there is room for improvement. I would expect the difference to result in vertical stringing, but with my latest testing I was surprised at how the shots were all over the place.

Yes, I was surprised that they weren't more expensive! Always available is a nice feature as well.

I have a crap ton of 125 grain Blue Bullets, so I'm going to start there and see if this is just a bullet weight issue. I'll probably end up trying the RMR 124s as well. I've shot BBI bullets before and liked them, but I never did any accuracy testing with them. And I keep hearing good things about Brass Monkey as well, so I'll definitely keep those in mind. Thanks to everyone for the feedback! Keep it coming if you have any more suggestions.

Another RMR endorsement! I notice they have a 147 grain Matchwinner also, but apparently it won't work in barrels with short leades. I have some CZs and I believe the Canik has a longer leade than those guns, but I'm a little wary of trying that option. Not that I'm dead set against 124 grain, but I do prefer the 147s.

Interesting! Thanks for the recommendations. I had never heard of RMR before, but it looks like they make really good bullets. I went through some N320 and N330 last year when I couldn't seem to find Sport Pistol. Great powders, and I wish I had some left so I could do some testing now!

I've been shooting a RIval for a few months now. I finally got around to doing some bench rest group shooting, and found that my reloads are not up to snuff. I get 2" groups at 25 yards using factory ammo, but my own loads yield 4" to 5" groups. My recipe is: Blue Bullets 147 gr. round nose, .355 diameter 3.2 grains Sport Pistol once-fired Federal brass CCI primers 1.120 OAL crimped to .377" at case mouth chronos at 137 PF loaded on a Dillon XL 650 This ammo passes the "plunk" test, cycles the gun flawlessly and leaves no lead in the barrel, but clearly I need to change something to get better accuracy. Things I've considered trying are upping the powder charge a bit (maybe 140 PF), trying a .356 diameter 147 grain bullet, and trying a 125 grain bullet at both those diameters. Anyone have any other ideas? Thanks!

P.S. It turned out it was about .002" that I was looking for, and I got it by taking .002" off the top of the Lee shell holder. Now my cases will size until the head is truly flush with the low step in the case gauge.

Hi, I'm currently sizing on a Lee APP (I load on a Dillon XL650), and I'm not sure if it will truly cam over or not. If I understand correctly, "cam over" means that the die and the shell holder are making as much contact as they possibly can, but the handle keeps moving and the frame or linkage of the press flexes a bit before hitting a hard stop. My press is set up to do this just a little, even though I've never really understood the benefit of going beyond the point of full contact between the die and shell holder. Correct me if I've missed the point! Thanks, John

Farmer, Thank you for that explanation! That clarifies something that I've never understood before, namely the relation between excessive headspace and head separation. I was assuming that the pressure from firing a round would simply drive the case back against the bolt, and any stretching or deformation would occur in the shoulder area as it expanded forward. It had not occurred to me that the firing pin would drive the case forward, and then the outward expansion of the case would hold it in that position. As far as examining a fired case in order to determine how much the shoulder should be bumped back, I still have some questions: 1) First, it seems that it would not matter where the expansion occurs (head vs. shoulder) as long as the case expands to the dimensions of the chamber. I understand now why excessive headspace is hard on the brass, I'm just saying that I don't understand why it would matter for this purpose whether the brass stretches at the head or the shoulder. 2) I have read several times, and from people who seemed to know what they were talking about, that a case shot in an autoloader can expand beyond the length of the chamber since there is still pressure inside the case as it is being extracted. You said above that "To stretch the brass beyond your chamber the load would have to be quite excessive in psi," which seems to indicate that this shouldn't be a problem at normal pressure. In any case, I have an adjustable gas block, and it has occurred to me that I could remove this variable entirely by dialing down the gas until the bolt won't cycle. Does that sound reasonable? As a side note, I realize that I seem to be overthinking this. In my defense, I would say first that I am genuinely interested in understanding how and why things work. More importantly, I am relatively new to rifle reloading, and a novice in any discipline simply doesn't know which specs are guidelines and which ones need to be taken seriously. I learned that the hard way when I was repairing motorcycle engines in a past life. The School of Experience collects tuition on a sliding scale, according to one's thoughtlessness....

Farmer, Thanks for that suggestion! Can you explain this part, though? I'm not sure I follow how that works. Is it because it keeps the head pressed tight against the breech face? I recently took some brass that was formed by firing in my gun and did all the other steps you suggest, but I didn't try to seat the bullets long on those rounds (I had just crimped at the cannelure and called it good). In that experiment, the difference between the low "step" in my case gauge and the height of the brass above that point was between .004" and .005". However, it sounds like you are saying that this might be deceptive due to the case stretching beyond the actual dimensions of my chamber.

It fits the chamber and everything seems to work fine. What worries me is that my full length sizing die is not sizing the cases all the way. The head is sticking up out of my case gauge just a little above where it should be (about .002"). I've adjusted the die as far down as it will go, and I've got "cam over" when I hit the end of the stroke. It just isn't going to size the cases any further unless I take some metal off either the die or the shell holder (or buy the Redding Competition Shell Holders that HesedTech referenced in his post above). My understanding is that I should have about .003" headspace for a semi-auto, and my suspicion is that I have only about .001". This is based not only on what my case gauge is telling me, but I also tried an experiment today. I took several cases that I had sized with my die and inserted spent primers in them so that the primers were sticking up about .010. I put each one in my chamber and dropped the bolt on it, and then I measured how far the primers sat above the head. They were all in the .001-.0015" range. Anyway, I'm going to take metal off the top of my shell holder little by little until the die will size the cases all the way. I don't use this shell holder for anything else but sizing cases for the one AR that I own, so I'm not ready to spend a lot of money on the Redding shell holder set.

Thanks for the replies! MadBomber: I do trim my brass, but my question was about headspace. HesedTech: Thanks for the links. One of the things I proposed doing was taking some material off my shell holder so that the sizing die would go down further and bump the shoulder a little more. It sounds like that Redding shell holder set does the same thing but gives you more options. I guess what I really need is a good way to determine how much headspace I need for my particular chamber. It may be that my die is doing all it needs to do, and I don't want to size my brass more than it needs to be. I'm in the middle of watching this video which seems to have some good info on the subject: