njl Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 I've been loading 9mm the past few nights on my 550, and I keep finding powder around/on/under the shell plate, on the primer punch etc. I finally figured out, it was getting there because my shell plate has been sticking occasionally, and I have to push so hard to turn it that when it finally gives, a few granules of powder are being ejected from the case in station 2 on its way to station 3. I set out to figure out why this was happening, and with it stuck, I removed the case from each station, one at a time, and it remained stuck after they were all out. It was the spring loaded ball under the shell plate binding against the index holes in the shell plate. Is there supposed to be any bevel whatsoever to those index holes to stop that from happening? My 9mm shellplate has none that I can see. I don't see this mentioned in the lubrication stickies (oh the irony!), but I ended up putting a little grease on the bottom of the shell plate in the path of the ball. OMG! The ease with which my shell plate turns now is like the ease of sizing lubed vs non-lubed brass...but way more so. Is this recommended? Anyone else lube down there? After making this discovery, I caught myself screwing up the indexing (seating a bullet on a case with no powder, about to put powder into a decapped case with no primer). Fortunately, I'd recently emptied the finished cartridge bin before screwing around with the shell plate...and I reluctantly decided the prudent thing to do is tear down all the cartridges in there (I'm leaving that for tomorrow). I don't think any bad ones made it through, but it's not worth the chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan550 Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 There's no bevel to the holes in the shell plate, but lube is a great idea. You fixed it yourself! Alan~^~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dillon Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 The best place to lubricate is where the head of the shellplate bolt recesses into the top of the index sprocket. Be sure the hole where the detent ball sits is free of powder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njl Posted August 13, 2013 Author Share Posted August 13, 2013 The best place to lubricate is where the head of the shellplate bolt recesses into the top of the index sprocket. Be sure the hole where the detent ball sits is free of powder. I'd already lubed there...but that's not where the problem was. It was definitely the ball sticking in the index holes. Maybe the ball needs a better cleaning...and I'm a little worried that primer crud will find its way to the lube I applied for the ball and my easy turning shell plate will be short lived. I'll have to wait and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffries61 Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 The best place to lubricate is where the head of the shellplate bolt recesses into the top of the index sprocket. Be sure the hole where the detent ball sits is free of powder. ...and I'm a little worried that primer crud will find its way to the lube I applied for the ball and my easy turning shell plate will be short lived. I'll have to wait and see. I use dry graphite for shell plate lube for this very reason, you also might try lapping or lightly honing the bottom of shellplate to be sure its perfectly flat Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njl Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 Figures. I just pulled apart 41 perfect rounds rather than risk any squibs got through. Charge was supposed to be 4.4gr. Every one had powder, and when I weighed the combined powder and divided, I got 4.393gr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Rod Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Figures. I just pulled apart 41 perfect rounds rather than risk any squibs got through. Charge was supposed to be 4.4gr. Every one had powder, and when I weighed the combined powder and divided, I got 4.393gr. Think of it as QA. If you had found a double you would have been soooo glad you did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njl Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 A double is practically impossible with this load. If I were to try it, there'd be powder all over the shell plate. It's one getting through with no powder that had me worried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njl Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 BTW...I just loaded a couple hundred more 9mm, and the lube is working well so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cautery Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 ...and I'm a little worried that primer crud will find its way to the lube I applied for the ball and my easy turning shell plate will be short lived. I'll have to wait and see. "Primer crud" isn't likely going to be a huge deal... spashed powder WILL be a problem... As long as you can avoid letting splashed/spilled powder migrate under the shellplate, you should be good for a while... I use dry graphite for shell plate lube for this very reason, you also might try lapping or lightly honing the bottom of shellplate to be sure its perfectly flat Fred +1 on the lapping... I'm also trying the addition of the Turbo Bearings from UniquTek... RE: Graphite... dry lube is "better" than using a wet lube. I have both Titanium Disulfide and Hex Boron Nitride that I plan to try on one of my 550s before I put the bearing in. Then I plan to put bearings in both, but on one machine, I am going to flush the bearings clean and reload them with a grease that has a significant % of Hex Boron Nitride added... Run them for a while and then measure resistance. Once the dry lube has had time to burnish into the needle bearings and races, I will flush the lube and run the bearings dry. Should reduce clogging significantly... Dry lubes, properly applied, are almost miraculous in low RPM apps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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