X10 Powder Measure/Drop troubleshooting

[Baynewrady]

Has anyone else with an X10 experienced inconsistent throws and been able to fix it? I'm using N310 powder. When I set the press up I took the measure apart and brake cleaned the internals, let it dry, then ran liquid graphite through the assembly (manually actuating the measure to circulate graphite through the powder throw as well). Unfortunately I'm still getting +/- .1gr throws quite regularly. 

 

Any tips or tricks to get more consistency would be greatly appreciated. TIA!

[shred]

What scale are you using?  If you throw 5 charges and weigh them and then 5 more, do they both average the same?

 

I ask because It's not uncommon with digital scales that only read to +/- .1 and VV powders to see that variance charge to charge if you measure each individually, but an average will come out fine.

 

[Baynewrady]

5 hours ago, shred said:

What scale are you using?  If you throw 5 charges and weigh them and then 5 more, do they both average the same?

 

I ask because It's not uncommon with digital scales that only read to +/- .1 and VV powders to see that variance charge to charge if you measure each individually, but an average will come out fine.

 

Using a Hornady Auto-Charge Pro to weigh my charges. 

When I do a 5 charge or 10 charge "weight check" I'm typically within .3gr of the ideal weight. I understand I might be nitpicking a bit but in my experience  .1gr of N310 translates into about 30-50FPS for me. Had a couple scary moments at the Chrono this year (extreme spread of almost 100 twice) and trying to figure out where I'm going wrong.

[shred]

IDK if the FX10 has a similar thing, but the Dillon is slightly more consistent if you set the failsafe rod so the spring lightly engages at the end of travel.  That said I've never seen very good drop consistency with the VV hamster-pellets in Dillons either.  I usually aim for 132+ PF since I can't feel or see the difference on the clock, match chronos vary by 2-3% easily and it takes the stress out of worrying about it.

 

[Baynewrady]

5 minutes ago, shred said:

IDK if the FX10 has a similar thing, but the Dillon is slightly more consistent if you set the failsafe rod so the spring lightly engages at the end of travel.  That said I've never seen very good drop consistency with the VV hamster-pellets in Dillons either.  I usually aim for 132+ PF since I can't feel or see the difference on the clock, match chronos vary by 2-3% easily and it takes the stress out of worrying about it.

 

Interesting... the X10 does have a similar thing, I'll see if changing how it's set gets me more consistency. 

 

I have heard that VV powders in general don't meter great, but at the same time a lot of guys are still using it. 

I load for major so aiming for 170 pf. I'd agree that you don't really notice the difference on the clock, I'm more worried about chrono at this time. Had to "go to the 4th round" twice this year at chrono and don't want to run into it again. 

 

Appreciate your responses very much shred.

[Bigzona]

I have an X10 and started with my major load using AA7 for Open. You seem to have taken all the precautions to ensure consistency, as did I. With AA7, I too noticed a bit of variation in the load but usually to the high side, so I didn't worry about not making PF at Chrono.  However, it was frustrating in the beginning due to lack of trust, so I'd constantly check more than I'm used to.  Over time consistency got much better, but not great.  For the off season I've switched to LO shooting WST, and found that this powder meters a lot more consistently than the finer AA7.  My point is, your comment about how the specific powder meters might in fact play a role.

 

Best of luck and keep us updated.

[Baynewrady]

On 11/9/2023 at 1:14 PM, Bigzona said:

I have an X10 and started with my major load using AA7 for Open. You seem to have taken all the precautions to ensure consistency, as did I. With AA7, I too noticed a bit of variation in the load but usually to the high side, so I didn't worry about not making PF at Chrono.  However, it was frustrating in the beginning due to lack of trust, so I'd constantly check more than I'm used to.  Over time consistency got much better, but not great.  For the off season I've switched to LO shooting WST, and found that this powder meters a lot more consistently than the finer AA7.  My point is, your comment about how the specific powder meters might in fact play a role.

 

Best of luck and keep us updated.

If I ever figure it out I'll update this thread, though I'm getting close to throwing in the towel and accepting that N310 won't meter well through the FA measure. Don't really know what else I can try at this point.

 

Does anyone know of a powder measure that meters N310/VV powders well?

[HOGRIDER]

2 hours ago, Baynewrady said:

If I ever figure it out I'll update this thread, though I'm getting close to throwing in the towel and accepting that N310 won't meter well through the FA measure. Don't really know what else I can try at this point.

 

Does anyone know of a powder measure that meters N310/VV powders well?

Not sure if you could operate a Dillon measure on the X10, but I adapted mine over to my Apex 10 and it works perfectly and yields excellent results!

 

I have ran VV N310, N320, N330, and N340 through my Dillon measures; and IMO, VV N300 series powders meter with excellent consistency.

 

My adaptation for the Apex 10.............

[HOGRIDER]

A 10 drop average, using VV N330, with a target weight of 4.3g.........

Edited November 10, 2023 by HOGRIDER
To correct description!