Mark7 Evolution - Tuning & Troubleshooting

[max1337]

Hey guys, I just received my Evo Pro yesterday. I am currently setting it up and I am about to start making adjustments before running it. 

 

For the ones that have powder measures issues when running automated, what dwell/index time are you set up to ? 

 

Kinda sounds like guys are running the system fast like 2000+rph when have inconsistent powder drops and when running manual with the handle seems to be alright.

 

also, did you guys with the automated version did initial die adjustments with the handle or went right to the automation ?

 

Anyways, it’s missing my Swage Sense and the Powder Check because they are now backordered, but happy to see that this machine is not a myth anymore

[CrashDodson]

I ran bottom dwell around 2 and index around 2 or 3 I think. 

 

I didnt do anything before fully assembling, including the motor. 

Edited December 7, 2018 by CrashDodson

[Stymie12000]

Not much help on the automated unit. I have the manual.  However the powder measure inconsistencies can be with the manual.  I just sent mine in yesterday to get fixed. I learned with my measure,  dwell time did not affect the inaccuracy.  I tested with giving the powder more time to drop. As in I would pull the handle and let it sit in the bottom of the stroke for multiple seconds before advancing the handle. 

[RGA]

16 hours ago, teros135 said:

 

How does the Evo itself work?  

 

Is it smooth when you crank it up to a decent speed? 

Yes, I'm happy with it. I run it manually at a moderate pace and after fine tuning the case feeder and bullet feeder it works well for me.

 

My goal is to load short range (300 meters) .223 match ammo and it seems to do that quite well. It sizes the cases straight, produces consistent shoulder set back, places the primers consistently and sets the bullets straight. Only thing to complete the one pass loading process I'm looking for is the trimmer kit which is on back order.

[tedahlenius85]

Also got inconsistent powder drops with Evo. The powder measure have been back to M7 for an update. I get about 0.3 gr variations. When manually handcycle the drop, its consistent more or less, but when running the press, its up to 0.3gr lower drop. I have tested lowest speed setting, higher speed, bottom dwell up to 10, index speed and so.. it doesnt matter. Something happens differently that causes this. Might be how the funnel lining up as someone wrote or just that when funnel activates the rotation and drop, some powder ”jumps” up and the space for powder isnt packed full when rotation to release it. I dont know, but it sucks big time. I have to buy a Dillon powder measure now to use until I hear something about M7 fixing the problem.

 

I didnt realize the drops were so inconsistent until I chrono ammo and saw 70-100fps ES and 30 SD. With my old press I had always single digit SD. The accuracy was crap too with loads from Evo which isnt strange with those kind of variations in powder and fps.

 

I also had the powder drop get stuck in its upper position. So it didnt rotate back to pick up new powder. This resulting in lot of empty cases since I dont have a powder check to stop machine.

 

 

[Stymie12000]

42 minutes ago, tedahlenius85 said:

Also got inconsistent powder drops with Evo. The powder measure have been back to M7 for an update. I get about 0.3 gr variations. When manually handcycle the drop, its consistent more or less, but when running the press, its up to 0.3gr lower drop. I have tested lowest speed setting, higher speed, bottom dwell up to 10, index speed and so.. it doesnt matter. Something happens differently that causes this. Might be how the funnel lining up as someone wrote or just that when funnel activates the rotation and drop, some powder ”jumps” up and the space for powder isnt packed full when rotation to release it. I dont know, but it sucks big time. I have to buy a Dillon powder measure now to use until I hear something about M7 fixing the problem.

 

I didnt realize the drops were so inconsistent until I chrono ammo and saw 70-100fps ES and 30 SD. With my old press I had always single digit SD. The accuracy was crap too with loads from Evo which isnt strange with those kind of variations in powder and fps.

 

I also had the powder drop get stuck in its upper position. So it didnt rotate back to pick up new powder. This resulting in lot of empty cases since I dont have a powder check to stop machine.

 

 

That's exactly what I was experiencing with mine, .3 inconsistencies and about 100fps ES. It's now on the way back to M7. They have been very responsive.  However I feel like they didn't do the proper r&d before releasing the powder throw. Seems like us consumers are doing the r&d for them.

 

I'm confident that they will get it sorted out but it suck that you have to buy a different brand of powder measure just to use your new press! Guess I'm lucky that I already have the hornady measure that I can use until they get the M7 sorted.

[jcwallace84]

I just loaded 1k 223 from already sized (on my old hornady) once fired mil brass.

 

I tweaked some of my dies a bit, and once I had a round in every station I measured the powder charge in 10 consecutive rounds.  I am using what may be one of the first 223 powder measures from Mark 7, and using Ramshot TAC.

 

Avg was 25.39,   +/- 0.07, and SD was 0.039.  This is a similar result as when I had reloaded a few hundred several months ago.  I was using my A&D FX120i. 

 

When I finish my batch of 223 brass, I'll switch to loading 9mm on this press for the first time.  I will just use the hornady powder measure.  It has done great for me in the past.  Since I have a manual press I don't think I need the Mark 7 specifically.  

[max1337]

I recently expressed my issues with setting up my new machine here before even letting Mark 7 know of them and it was a huge mistake on my part. If you run across an issue with any Mark 7 products before, during or after install, make sure you call them first. Their service is top notch, very professional, and they will sort it out over the phone or by facetime very quickly. I feel like an idiot. Sorry Jay, Thank you Mark 7  !

Edited December 10, 2018 by max1337

[tanks]

18 hours ago, LowBoost said:

I hope mine gets shipped soon, but at the same tie, worried it will be in vain if I will have issues with the powder dispenser.

Is it a given that "everyone" is having or had issues with them or is it just a few people?

 

Powder dispenser has been reworked and any new ones should not have an issue. They replaced the one on my Revolution and it has been working well since.

[Stymie12000]

1 hour ago, tanks said:

 

Powder dispenser has been reworked and any new ones should not have an issue. They replaced the one on my Revolution and it has been working well since.

 

I believe I have the new reworked version.  And it just went back for inconsistent throws. Still think there are some bugs to work out!

 

[max1337]

On 12/10/2018 at 5:35 PM, Stymie12000 said:

 

I believe I have the new reworked version.  And it just went back for inconsistent throws. Still think there are some bugs to work out!

 

 

I am done setting up my Evo and the powder measure is pretty damn accurate .. Once I got my throw to 3.9 of VV N320, I weighed and loaded 10x cases before chrono'ing and results are ; 3.92, 3.92, 3.94, 3.92, 3.96, 3.92, 3.98, 4, 3.92, 3,92   . Using Gempro 250 scale. I will post chrono results early next week for those who are interested. 

 

The primer seating was almost bang on from factory and minimal adjustments had to be done for it to be perfect. 

 

 

[RGA]

I also tested the Dillon powder measure earlier (page 43) with pistol powder bar and bevel installed. This was 20 throws of VV N320.

 

Dillon (pistol powder bar) extreme spread:  3.64 - 3.76 grains

 

And lastly I tested my old Hornady measure with pistol rotor installed. 20 throws of N320 again. All weighed with my Gempro 250

 

Hornady extreme spread: 4.02 - 4.16 grains

 

So I get the impression that other brand devices show less variation. Especially when they use a smaller volume pistol charge drum.

 

To sum things up so far:

 

MK7 extreme spread:                                                3,82 - 4,10 grains       (50 throws of VV N320)

Dillon (pistol powder bar) extreme spread:           3.64 - 3.76 grains       (20 throws of VV N320)

Hornady (pistol rotor) extreme spread:                 4.02 - 4.16 grains        (20 throws of VV N320)

 

Edited December 13, 2018 by RGA

[Stymie12000]

Ran into a new issue today on my EVO.

It's a simple fix but frustrating. Especially since the press has only 1500 rounds through it.

 

So, in the middle of running a batch of 500 rounds. The shoulder bolt holding the lever for the primer rod walked its way loose today. When this happened the lever didn't work correctly which resulted in high primers. It had blue loctite on the threads but still walked out. I cleaned the threads with denatured alcohol and reapplied blue loctite.

 

Still not a huge deal but frustrating. Since I have 200 or so rounds I need to pull so I can seat the primer correctly.  

 

Just another problem I have experienced with this press. Between this, powder measure and I'm still waiting on my primer rod with weight, that was not packed with press!  I've been told twice by M7 that it will be shipped ASAP in the last month! But still nothing!

 

Pic of primers and of bolt after I reinstalled it!

 

20181214_124606 by , on Flickr

 

20181214_124611 by , on Flickr

[MemphisMechanic]

@Stymie12000 what are you talkin about? Line them all up in dillon plastic trays nose-down and go across them all with a hammer and punch. You’ll be done in no time. 

 

Really done.

 

Edited December 14, 2018 by MemphisMechanic

[Stymie12000]

Duh what was I thinking.  Who has the time to pull bullets.... hahaha 

 

 

[deyolo]

1 hour ago, Stymie12000 said:

 

 

So, in the middle of running a batch of 500 rounds. The shoulder bolt holding the lever for the primer rod walked its way loose today. When this happened the lever didn't work correctly which resulted in high primers. It had blue loctite on the threads but still walked out. I cleaned the threads with denatured alcohol and reapplied blue loctite.

 

 

 

 

 

I tend to just tighten it every now and then while the machine is running.

 

Loctited once but i tear down for maintenance a lot. I'm sure you already know but make sure you have the right tension on that bolt before loctite or itll lock up the rocker arm.

 

Make sure to keep the dowel pin that actuates the rocker arm clean and lubed. Had that seize up on me today and i couldnt figure out why i was torque sensing haha.

 

I've been pretty happy with the digital powder measure heard there was a new shielded wiring harness for them too. 

 

 

[quiller]

Setting up Evo with a MA Swage die question. I’m setting up my Evo for 9mm and I got to the Swage die this am. I have never swaged before so have little experience other that what I have read here and on other forums. If someone who has an Evo or Evo Pro as I’m assuming the set up is the same could please respond to the following that will be very helpful.

 

1. According to Mk7 instructions (in short) you cut a piece of brass in 1/2, place in it in the Swage station, install the die, lower press to bottom, screw down the die till the pin touches the inside (bottom) of brass, raise press and screw down the die another 1/4 turn, them lock the die in place. Then adjust the lower Swage pin (on rocker) till it meets the (outside) bottom of brass. When I do the extra 1/4 turn down on the die it flexes the press plate down. Is this a good idea? Am I correct in my process or did I miss something?

2. The MA Swage came with 2 pins, one for pistol and the other rifle. One is flat across the bottom and one is rounded. Since I’m reloading 9mm I assuming I should use the rounded one? 

3. Any other tips you can relay will be greatly appreciated. 

 

Thanks all

[LowBoost]

For the MA swage, you'll want the flat with dimple pin for pistol. I don't have my Evo Pro yet, so I can't give details on how to set it up (yet).

If you have any questions, feel free to send Wayne a message. He's very responsive and helpful.

Edited December 16, 2018 by LowBoost

[quiller]

22 hours ago, LowBoost said:

For the MA swage, you'll want the flat with dimple pin for pistol. I don't have my Evo Pro yet, so I can't give details on how to set it up (yet).

If you have any questions, feel free to send Wayne a message. He's very responsive and helpful.

Right you are. I also reached out to Wayne of MA and he responded with the following: Use the flat shaft for all but 223. 

[Tanfastic]

On 12/13/2018 at 10:29 AM, RGA said:

I also tested the Dillon powder measure earlier (page 43) with pistol powder bar and bevel installed. This was 20 throws of VV N320.

 

Dillon (pistol powder bar) extreme spread:  3.64 - 3.76 grains

 

And lastly I tested my old Hornady measure with pistol rotor installed. 20 throws of N320 again. All weighed with my Gempro 250

 

Hornady extreme spread: 4.02 - 4.16 grains

 

So I get the impression that other brand devices show less variation. Especially when they use a smaller volume pistol charge drum.

 

To sum things up so far:

 

MK7 extreme spread:                                                3,82 - 4,10 grains       (50 throws of VV N320)

Dillon (pistol powder bar) extreme spread:           3.64 - 3.76 grains       (20 throws of VV N320)

Hornady (pistol rotor) extreme spread:                 4.02 - 4.16 grains        (20 throws of VV N320)

 

 

I just rigged up a Hornady powder measure on my MK7 Evo to see if that will work as a stopgap until I get my revised powder measure back from MK7.  I'll test it tonight and see what kind of consistency I get from it, if I get anywhere close to the spread that you had reported, I'd be ecstatic!  At least then I could start loading up some practice ammo again, I've been out for a month and "borrowing" ammo from a friend.

 

 

[LowBoost]

For those of you using an expander die, which one seems to work the best? I like Redding dies, but I am not sure I can use the Mr. Bulletfeeder funnel with this die.

I know I can remove the bits from the Lee one and use the Mr.Bulletfeeder funnel though.

[mikamarj]

3 hours ago, LowBoost said:

For those of you using an expander die, which one seems to work the best? I like Redding dies, but I am not sure I can use the Mr. Bulletfeeder funnel with this die.

I know I can remove the bits from the Lee one and use the Mr.Bulletfeeder funnel though.

I am using a Redding Premium. Works perfectly and is a bit smoother than Lee+MrB funnel since the Redding is TiN-coated.

[jcwallace84]

So I've loaded my 3k of 223 and am done with that for now.

 

I put on the 9mm conversion kit and that was a bit of a learning process.  There was only one minor issue which I corrected, and might ask Mark 7 about when they get less busy.  

 

I cleaned everything out nicely, and made sure my timing was ideal.  The new 9mm shellplate, while being very nice and shiny, required different timing than my very very early 223 plate. 

 

Also, I was having several problems with what I learned was the primer shuttle catching the edge of the primer ram/rod.  So I had to adjust the little curved metal piece that sets the lower limit for the primer ram.  So if any of your guy's shuttle seems to catch and then fling back, this is how to fix it!  I didn't realize that was what was happening at first, but this caused some problems with indexing.  So it should all be fixed.

 

Also,  I am using a hornady powder measure with 9mm.  I measured 6 drops, with rounds in every station, and it ranged from 4.76 to 4.80 with TrueBlue.  However, it did drift a little bit after 100+ rounds, but is easy to adjust. 

 

Also, am using the powder cop die which I check with a double charge on purpose.  Thing works great!  Am waiting for the manual version of Mark 7's powder sensor. 

 

Also, for 9mm, I was not having luck with both Mark 7's spring case flipper, as well as the very nicely designed 3D printed device.  I ordered another one of these:  https://www.sassybrass.com/sassybrass/product/casecage/  

 

This has been 100% for me on my old LNL, which I sold. 

[teros135]

1 hour ago, mikamarj said:

Anyone else have noticed charge variations dependent of the speed machine is operating at?
I was loading some 9mm major with a friend. 6.8gr of Winchester Autocomp, which makes the IPSC open major PF. That charge was measured while running the machine at 1000 per hour. Then when everything was dialled in, we ran "production batch" at 1600-1900 per hour (plus some index slowdowns and bottom dwell). Now the charge was only 6.7gr. Quickly tested 2200/hour and that was only 6.5gr!
(Yes, I did check that the powder measure adjustment screw was tight, hadn't moved at all)

 

Yes, that's apparently the current issue.  They told me the workaround is to set the charge for the speed the machine is running.  

 

Also, the problem with the charge adjustment rod coming loose doesn't seen to have been fixed.  The thumb screw backs out even after being tightened with a wrench (the newer one has flats on it, as seen on one of LowBoost's pics above).

[mikamarj]

3 minutes ago, teros135 said:

Yes, that's apparently the current issue.  They told me the workaround is to set the charge for the speed the machine is running.  

 

That's what I thought also. Can live with it, but not really extremely happy with it... Too bad the electric powder measure is even more expensive.

 

3 minutes ago, teros135 said:

Also, the problem with the charge adjustment rod coming loose doesn't seen to have been fixed.  The thumb screw backs out even after being tightened with a wrench (the newer one has flats on it, as seen on one of LowBoost's pics above).

I have never had this issue, at least not noticed it while loading like couple of thousands at a time. Previously I used some generic pliers to tighten it down, now that it has flats it's easy with a wrench.