Graham Smith Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Perhaps I'm just search challenged, but I could not seem to find this: I'm going to be running some small batches of the same caliber with different powders. This brings me to the one thing I find difficult to do on a 550 - disconnect and remove the powder measure. It seems as if you have to half disassemble the whole linkage assembly to disconnect the powder measure. What am I missing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigpops Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 I'm afraid there is no easier way. I know UnigueTek had a proposal idea for emptying the measure but I am not sure if they are producing it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinMike Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Doesn't seem that bad to me. Loosen the two bolts and pop off the safety rod thing. I was more annoyed at adjusting the powder charge for various things, so years back I bought several small powder bars and keep them in bins on my bench with a label as to what powder and charge they are. When I change a load, I just have to dump the powder, swap bars, put in the other powder and keep going. Pretty fast really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee King Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 I actually won a gift certificate at a match and used it to buy a whole powder measure. One is set up for major w/ titegroup. The other minor w/ clays. I just loosen the screws, disconnect the reset rod (or whatever that rod is), pop on a whole new podwer measure, reconnect and go. Takes me about 5 minutes at most. I don't have to empty either to switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted March 27, 2009 Author Share Posted March 27, 2009 Doesn't seem that bad to me. Loosen the two bolts and pop off the safety rod thing. I was more annoyed at adjusting the powder charge for various things, so years back I bought several small powder bars and keep them in bins on my bench with a label as to what powder and charge they are. When I change a load, I just have to dump the powder, swap bars, put in the other powder and keep going. Pretty fast really. I have different powder bars as opposed to a completely separate powder measure for different calibers. Don't have a need (yet) for different bars for different charges for the same caliber. But I will by the end of they year because I'll be shooting .40 minor and major (Production & L10). That's part of what I am working on now. As to loosening the two bolts.... I must be doing something wrong because I have to pretty near take the bellcrank assembly off to clear the rod. The manual (pg 13) shows a picture (Fig 24) that shows the powder station on the press and a caption that says "After emptying the powder measure, loosen the bellcrank screw sufficiently to allow you to remove the powder bar." This caused me to believe that it is possible to empty the powder measure without taking every thing off. Well short of turing the whole press upside down, I don't know what that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPatterson Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 For me the easiest way is to remove the fail safe rod, remove the 2 pins in the tool head and dump the powder back in the container it came out of. Be sure to cycle the powder bar a couple of times to remove the last bit of powder. Also when swapping powders only have the powder in use on the bench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xfactor Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 For me the easiest way is to remove the fail safe rod, remove the 2 pins in the tool head and dump the powder back in the container it came out of. Be sure to cycle the powder bar a couple of times to remove the last bit of powder. Also when swapping powders only have the powder in use on the bench. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y-not Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Does anyone leave the powder in the measure when not in use, or do you always put it back in its contanier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWLAZS Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Just pull the tool head and dump it. I leave it loaded all the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPatterson Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Does anyone leave the powder in the measure when not in use, or do you always put it back in its contanier. I used to until I left some TiteGroup in there for about a week and it turned the plastic too black to see through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuc Shooter Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Does anyone leave the powder in the measure when not in use, or do you always put it back in its contanier. I used to until I left some TiteGroup in there for about a week and it turned the plastic too black to see through. I've always left the powder in the measure, just get a bit of discoloration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 Just pull the tool head and dump it. I realized that it is possible to remove the pins from the toolhead and pull it out and rotate it to release from the rod. Then the powder can be dumped and the toolhead reinstalled. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njl Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Just pull the tool head and dump it. I realized that it is possible to remove the pins from the toolhead and pull it out and rotate it to release from the rod. Then the powder can be dumped and the toolhead reinstalled. Thanks. Doh!...I've been doing it the hard way...undoing the failsafe rod (which requires readjusting the wingnut on reassembly) and loosening the bolts that hold the powder system on the powder die. I'll have to give that a try. I empty the powder hopper every time I finish loading...having seen way too many pictures of presses with badly yellowed or darkened powder hoppers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
open17 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Yup---just pull the pins and remove the tool head to dump. I keep a cheap plastic funnel on the bench to get most of it back in the jug. Then you can set it right side up with the powder die inside the jug neck, and operate the bellcrank by hand a few times to get the last of it out of the measure. I always run a empty case in and cycle a few times to make sure I've got all the old out before filling with a different powder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSteel Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I just push the white plastic shoulder clip (Dillon, Delrin Shoulder Washer ) down out of the Fail Safe bracket with a screwdriver leaving the rod attached to the crank. Pull the 2 head pins and remove/dump powder from measure tube.... I spend more time switching for primer sizes than I do the powder measure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Does anyone leave the powder in the measure when not in use, or do you always put it back in its contanier. I'd highly recommend always putting powder back in its airtight container at the end of each loading session. Powder, sitting in the Powder Measure for days or weeks, will absorb moisture from the air. So the same volume (adjustment on the powder bar) of powder will weigh more after it's set in the measure for any length of time. Or in other words, keeping the powder in its airtight container for as much time as possible helps remove the "moisture variable." be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njl Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Just pull the tool head and dump it. I realized that it is possible to remove the pins from the toolhead and pull it out and rotate it to release from the rod. Then the powder can be dumped and the toolhead reinstalled. Thanks. If I understand you correctly, I tried doing this tonight, and found I could only move the tool head maybe half way out before it felt like it was putting too much strain on the failsafe rod to continue. I had to release the bottom end of the failsafe rod in order to get the tool head all the way out. This still seems like a better way to go than what I was doing, as I don't have to mess with the screws or wingnut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boz1911 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Does anyone leave the powder in the measure when not in use, or do you always put it back in its contanier. I'd highly recommend always putting powder back in its airtight container at the end of each loading session. Powder, sitting in the Powder Measure for days or weeks, will absorb moisture from the air. So the same volume (adjustment on the powder bar) of powder will weigh more after it's set in the measure for any length of time. Or in other words, keeping the powder in its airtight container for as much time as possible helps remove the "moisture variable." be Oops, never thought about that......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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