Mark7 Evolution - Tuning & Troubleshooting

[dfox]

The mark 7 powder measure is not the same as the lnl measure. I have both and the mark 7 measure is a lot nicer machined and functions a lot smoother than the lnl measure there a lot of differences in them. My mark 7 measure adjustment screw I have tightened with a plier and it still comes loose. I prefer the mark 7 measure, 

[jcwallace84]

UPDATE:

I ran 100rnds of 223 using Hornady 55gr FMJ and TAC.  TAC being spherical powder. I got all the stations set up and this is already sized and swaged brass.  For this particular trial I used a Mighty Armory hold down die for the priming.

I measured the powder drop without anything other than weighing the case before and then after the powder drop, being careful not to spill.

As you can see I used my A&D FX-120i scale, what you can't see is the Trip Lite powder conditioner, ferric coils on power cord, and that I had it leveled, warmed up, and calibrated with a Troemner analytical Class 1 50g calibration weight.  

The values I got in order as they were created were (in grains)

25.18
25.26
25.34
25.3
25.3
25.44
25.24
25.26

This results in an extreme spread of 0.26gr, so +/-0.13gr, and an SD of 0.072gr, avg of 25.29gr.

So let this be a future reference data point for all of you.  It was also using a pretty full cylinder of powder.  

If anything I bet these numbers could be improved upon.  The one 25.44gr charge happened after the case neck hit the hold down die and I had to adjust it, and if you take that out it becomes a spread of 0.16gr or +/- 0.08gr.  I have an idea of how to accomplish primer hold down without the hold down die, and not using a friction fit 223 body die.  I'll see how it works in the near future. 

Also, I used a Forster benchrest seater and Redding adjustable crimp die.  Necks were expanded with a lyman M die.  I measured the (almost) ogive to base length on several rounds randomly in the output bin. I used the Hornady 020 insert, as I don't seem to have a true .22 let alone .224 insert, so not quite ogive, but probably overestimates variance.   The values are as follows (in inches):

1.954
1.952
1.952
1.951
1.952
1.953
1.951

This results in a spread of 0.003in, so +/- 0.0015in, and SD of 0.001in.  

Here are the pictures

 

[armedmoose]

9 hours ago, jcwallace84 said:

 

This results in an extreme spread of 0.26gr, so +/-0.13gr, and an SD of 0.072gr, avg of 25.29gr.

So let this be a future reference data point for all of you.  It was also using a pretty full cylinder of powder.  

If anything I bet these numbers could be improved upon.  The one 25.44gr charge happened after the case neck hit the hold down die and I had to adjust it, and if you take that out it becomes a spread of 0.16gr or +/- 0.08gr.  I have an idea of how to accomplish primer hold down without the hold down die, and not using a friction fit 223 body die.  I'll see how it works in the near future. 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you using the base powder drop or the programmable powder measure?

[jcwallace84]

Base manually activated one.

[mikamarj]

I'm reloading 9mm with my Evolution Pro and with the Lee undersize sizing die that came with the machine, it was difficult or impossible to load without lubing the cases. Today I got my Redding titanium carbide sizing die and that seems to do the trick, now with clutch setting 7-8 (out of 0-20) it works smoothly!

[tanks]

2 hours ago, mikamarj said:

I'm reloading 9mm with my Evolution Pro and with the Lee undersize sizing die that came with the machine, it was difficult or impossible to load without lubing the cases. Today I got my Redding titanium carbide sizing die and that seems to do the trick, now with clutch setting 7-8 (out of 0-20) it works smoothly!

 

I'd still use lube. I have a clutch setting of 3 for .40S&W with lubed cases (one shot) and the same sizing die. No digital clutch warnings.

[mikamarj]

12 hours ago, tanks said:

 

I'd still use lube. I have a clutch setting of 3 for .40S&W with lubed cases (one shot) and the same sizing die. No digital clutch warnings.

I know lubing would be gooder, but I don't like to have sticky ammo or having to tumble the lube off. In the communist state of Finland where I live, we don't have One Shot available since shipping such a hazardous spray bottle would be so dangerous. I'm gonna give Brass Juice a try, if that lube works and doesn't stay sticky on the ammo, I'll use that.

Also I've understood that quite often .40S&W doesn't require as much power to resize as 9mm since .40 is straight wall while 9 is tapered. So clutch somewhere between 4 and 6 is expected with 9mm anyway, bumping that to 6-8 is not that big of a deal.

Ps. Guys who are waiting for your press: it's gonna be worth it, stay patient and instead of calling DAA/Mk7 every day, go pick up and clean some brass, you're gonna need it! 

[rotifsn]

23 hours ago, mikamarj said:

How well does your Mark 7 powder measure work? On mine I noticed that it doesn't always come back to lowest point possible when toolhead goes up, that could cause variation in amount of powder... Haven't yet tested much, maybe there is just some toolmarks that will smooth out. (Overall not really happy about that there is no mechanical, forced return on the powder measure, don't trust the spring return on extruded powders)

The powder measure is my biggest problem with the Evo Pro. I've always gotten inconsistent charges. Mark 7 replaced my original powder measure and the new one is better, but at 1300 RPS I still get between up to .3gr variation with n320. If I increase the speed the variation increases even more. I've been working with support since I got the press on this problem and have been waiting for a week to hear any new suggestions to fix it.

 

Does anyone else get differences with powder charges at different speeds? If I increase the speed the powder measure drops a smaller charge even with really long top and bottom dwells. 

[mikamarj]

30 minutes ago, rotifsn said:

The powder measure is my biggest problem with the Evo Pro. I've always gotten inconsistent charges. Mark 7 replaced my original powder measure and the new one is better, but at 1300 RPS I still get between up to .3gr variation with n320. If I increase the speed the variation increases even more. I've been working with support since I got the press on this problem and have been waiting for a week to hear any new suggestions to fix it.

 

Does anyone else get differences with powder charges at different speeds? If I increase the speed the powder measure drops a smaller charge even with really long top and bottom dwells. 

I have not yet loaded many rounds, just a couple of test rounds that worked. But I noticed that at least during those test loads, the powder measure's range of motion was not full. Can you post a video of your powder measure in action, does it do the full range of motion or does it not fully return to the "zero" every time toolhead goes up?
With extruded powder like N320 it could be possible that the springs on powder measure are not powerful enough to cut the grains and that could give variation...

[tanks]

2 hours ago, rotifsn said:

The powder measure is my biggest problem with the Evo Pro. I've always gotten inconsistent charges. Mark 7 replaced my original powder measure and the new one is better, but at 1300 RPS I still get between up to .3gr variation with n320. If I increase the speed the variation increases even more. I've been working with support since I got the press on this problem and have been waiting for a week to hear any new suggestions to fix it.

 

Does anyone else get differences with powder charges at different speeds? If I increase the speed the powder measure drops a smaller charge even with really long top and bottom dwells. 

 

Do you have the manual or automatic powder measure? I get between 4.7 and 4.9 grains with majority been at 4.8 (the actual setting) on mine. But the highest speed I have run it so far is 2K rounds on my Revolution. I just received the powder check. So far 4.9 trips it.

[Laurent_FR]

Hi all,

 

I have got my Evolution press (manual) since end of july.

I have the same issue with the powder measure . With N320 powder the charge vary between 3.9 and 4.2 gr.

I tried with smaller tubular powder as Vectan BA9 ans Swiss reload RS12, the variation is less but not great.

Then i tried with small sphérical ball powder (LOVEX D032, similar as Accurate N°2) and the accuracy is awesome, the max variation is 0.03 gr (0.002 grams). This powder measure love small powder, but not big tubular one.

Edited September 15, 2018 by Laurent_FR

[dfox]

Has anyone had problems when you take the die head and shell plate off to clean and lube and put it back together and it only moves 2” during calibration and stops. I checked shell plate it moves easy so I loosened the die head bolt and it would move so I ran it a few cycles and then slowly tightened the Allen screw. It works but doesn’t seem as a smooth anyone run into this?

[SSGJohnV]

3 minutes ago, dfox said:

Has anyone had problems when you take the die head and shell plate off to clean and lube and put it back together and it only moves 2” during calibration and stops. I checked shell plate it moves easy so I loosened the die head bolt and it would move so I ran it a few cycles and then slowly tightened the Allen screw. It works but doesn’t seem as a smooth anyone run into this?

 

Double check the shell plate. It should be moveable with finger tension. Also check that when you go to calibrate the shell plate is indexed correctly or the guide rods will bottom out on the shell plate. Also look at the primer shuttle to make sure it is in place for calibration. Other than that, you can run it at 1,000 RPH and watch for where it is hanging up. My tool head is tight as can be and has zero issues with indexing.

[BRennie]

On 9/1/2018 at 10:20 PM, dfox said:

Reloaded today on evolution Pro. Was using range brass multiple head stamps. Most all issues I had were related to the range brass. The only press issue I had was the powder measure adjustment knob staying tight. Was running the press at 2200 rounds an hour and the slamming of the powder measure when the return springs snap it back the powder adjustment comes loose and changes the powder charge. I tightened the lock nut with a plier and it still come loose after 200 rounds it would change the charge from 4.1 grains to 3.8. I think it is going to require a set screw in the locking nut to make it hold. The bullet sense I was having an issue with required some shims under the back of the housing to get it to line up and work, but it worked after that fix.It runs smooth at 2200 rounds an hour with index set on 1. Using new brass would make it fly and you would have to have primers,bullets,cases,and powder ready to go.Primers disappear very fast. Learning more and more as I load. Will do more again tomorrow am going to use new brass for this session.

I had the same problwm with my powder measure jam nut. I recommend using a 3/8-24 UNF-2B Nut. You can find them for 12 cents a piece. I loaded about 1000 rounds and the drop remains consistent. 

 

Pm me if you would like a picture. 

 

-B

Edited September 24, 2018 by BRennie

[mikamarj]

How are your powder measures working? On my Evolution Pro, if I tighten the powder measure screws, the measure gets stuck, usually in up-position. If I leave them loose, the screws don't hold and will eventually fall out.

I have a support ticket open about this also and it is a known issue at Mark 7, just wondering how many are hit by it.

[Tan40]

I received my Evolution two days ago. My only real issue was a bad power cord on the Mr. Bulletfeeder. Mark7 sent out a new one.(I haven’t received it yet, but went to Beat Buy and picked one up for 5 bucks. I couldn’t wait to get it moving). So last night I set up everything and started cranking out 223 freedom pills. Before I could blink I needed to add primers. I am extremely impressed with the engineering of this machine. It’s operation is top notch.  To clarify, I have only loaded 100rds so far so this is not an in-depth, it’s  a perfect machine review. I’m just saying my initial “new toy” knee jerk reaction is I liked loaded 223 on this machine better than I like loading 223 on my Dillon. I’ll post more once I have more time on the machine. 

 

I currently own 5 Dillon presses and one Hornady Lock N Load AP. So I do have a lot of experience on several different loading presses. 

 

Having the ability to process and load rifle ammo is what drew me to this press. I am still waiting on the M7 trimmer and die, but if it ends up being as good as the rest of the machine then the wait will be worth it. (M7 says I should have it next week). 

 

If if anyone has any questions feel free to ask. 

[RGA]

Hi Tan40,

 

Did you encounter any case feeder issues like I did with .223?

 

Kind rgds,

RGA

[Tan40]

I have not had any issues with the cases getting stuck in the funnel or drop tube. Yet. 

[ddc]

3 hours ago, quiller said:

Thetimb, attached is the facebook image.

 

Not yet familiar with that powder measure: I see a part that has a flared section that is to the right of the die. For some of the measures that section appears to be stainless; others have a black finish. What and why the diff? Thanks.

[mikamarj]

6 hours ago, quiller said:

It was posted yesterday, I saw it last night.

 

Ok I did see the picture but not the text. Wondering what has changed, quickly looking it looks the same as mine that was delived in September.

[RGA]

Can't spot a visual difference from mine either.

[Tanfastic]

 

18 hours ago, mikamarj said:

 

Ok I did see the picture but not the text. Wondering what has changed, quickly looking it looks the same as mine that was delived in September.

 

It could be the power chamber inside.

[Tanfastic]

On 9/30/2018 at 2:33 PM, Thetimb said:

 

 

anyone have any pics? I am guessing they are replacing the 3d printed part that connects the base to the top. 

 

They do have those available in aluminum now, same for the case feeder spring "flipper" which was 3d printed on the first batch of Evo's.

[rougeqc21]

Yeah, the plastic shim was replaced with a machined part, chamber profile was changed, and interior dropper sleeve was lengthened.

I was one of the first evo's to customers and reported issues early on about severe inconsistencies in the drop.

@RGA, I load 9 and have had cases jam up in the top of the feeder's funnel three times per my logs.

 

Another oddity that is yet unexplained but that MK7 is aware of. If I set my powder measure to throw a load directly into a scale pan, then have it throw a measure into a case on the station, I get a completely different throw. This is with full swing on the throw bar as verified on video. I can't make sense of it!

[rougeqc21]

3 hours ago, Tanfastic said:

 

They do have those available in aluminum now, same for the case feeder spring "flipper" which was 3d printed on the first batch of Evo's.

Was not aware of the feeder spring "flipper", mine is one of the printed parts.