bridging with light loads of red dot?

[motosapiens]

loading 3 grains of red dot with a lee auto-disk on a 550 for 9mm. I usually keep an eye on the powder drop, and I saw a couple that looked low last night, so i weighed them, and they were 1.6-1.8. each time I discarded them, cycled the press again, and got a normal drop. This seems to me like it is probably bridging, which I've heard about happening with light loads of flake powders, but never observed. Anyone else had this happen with red dot?

this also probably explains the two times last fall where I had a very light squib-sounding load while shooting. each time I stopped, and checked the barrel, but the bullet always made it out of the barrel. Still, it's disconcerting. Perhaps i should switch to a less flakey powder like perhaps ramshot competition or vectan ba9 1/2 for 9mm. Never had any problems in 40, but of course that's a significantly larger charge volume.

[Bamboo]

I don't have any experience with the Lee Auto Disk, but with the Dillon measure polishing the internal funnel and using the Extra Small charge bar (30 bucks) helped the consistence a lot. It made a big difference when using small charges of flake powders like Clay Dot, American Select, and 700x.

[motosapiens]

thanks. those suggestions make sense. I do have a dillon measure, but I left it set up for 40.

fwiw, my drops are pretty darn consistent...... except for the 1 every few hundred that isn't..... but that's enough to have me concerned, and also to cause me to use the 2500 rounds already loaded only for practice, and do a few hundred rounds where I'm *sure* I didn't get distracted from looking at the case to use for match ammo.

[Jim Watson]

I had the same experience with 700X in .38 Special/CH Autochamp and 9mm/Dillon.

I never got a zero powder "squib" but a one grain load will ruin your stage.

Win 231/HP38 solved that problem for years and years, but when supplies got short during the Second Obama Panic uh Administration, I dug the 700X out of the back of the cabinet where it had languished since I pretty much quit loading 12 gauge. I put a vibrator on the powder measure, just a $6 aquarium air pump from Cheapmart, a coathanger and a heavy rubber band. I loaded about a pound and a half of 700X with no bridging. It also worked on Clays and Solo 1000, so I think it is a big help for large flake powders.

I don't know if the Lee measure is sturdy enough to support one like mine, but there might be lighter ones around. I saw one ad for a purpose made vibrator but never heard of one in actual use and did not even see another ad.

[jmorris]

thanks. those suggestions make sense. I do have a dillon measure, but I left it set up for 40.

You can get extra threaded dies and powder bars so you can keep everything preset and just swap the measure itself back and forth, if your cheap like me.

If your going to stick with the setup you are currently using I would switch powders as it's just a matter of time until you miss one.

Edited December 4, 2015 by jmorris

[dave33]

You may want to look at getting one of the new Lee Auto drum measures. Mine loads clays and e3 down to 2.5gr with no bridging at all. I use to get the occational light load when using my old auto disks also, to the point of using the flake powders in 45acp only. With the new auto drum I havent had that issue any more.

[motosapiens]

You may want to look at getting one of the new Lee Auto drum measures. Mine loads clays and e3 down to 2.5gr with no bridging at all. I use to get the occational light load when using my old auto disks also, to the point of using the flake powders in 45acp only. With the new auto drum I havent had that issue any more.

i hadn't seen those. thanks for the suggestion. looks like a nice xmas present to myself.

[motosapiens]

You may want to look at getting one of the new Lee Auto drum measures. Mine loads clays and e3 down to 2.5gr with no bridging at all. I use to get the occational light load when using my old auto disks also, to the point of using the flake powders in 45acp only. With the new auto drum I havent had that issue any more.

Thanks again for this great suggestion. I got my auto drum today, and it appears to solve the problem. very consistent powder drops, cheap, simple, easy to set up.... what's not to like? It even does away with that flimsy spring that breaks every few years on the auto-disk. One of those hit me in the upper chest a few years ago, so now I'm very scrupulous about wearing safety glasses when reloading.... probably should have always worn them.

[dave33]

You may want to look at getting one of the new Lee Auto drum measures. Mine loads clays and e3 down to 2.5gr with no bridging at all. I use to get the occational light load when using my old auto disks also, to the point of using the flake powders in 45acp only. With the new auto drum I havent had that issue any more.

Thanks again for this great suggestion. I got my auto drum today, and it appears to solve the problem. very consistent powder drops, cheap, simple, easy to set up.... what's not to like? It even does away with that flimsy spring that breaks every few years on the auto-disk. One of those hit me in the upper chest a few years ago, so now I'm very scrupulous about wearing safety glasses when reloading.... probably should have always worn them.

Glad to hear it's working well for you. I've got a few thousand rounds through mine now and it just plain works. No leaks, very consistent throws even with larger flake powders, quick to change powders and adjust, and cheap. Hard not to like it.