Powder Baffle vs. Powder Weight

D

dyl

New member
These seem to have contradicting theories behind them. I'm dealing with a large flake powder in small quantities (3-5 grains) for pistol and there's some powder bridging occasionally that I have to be vigilant for. I'd say once every 10-15 rounds I see a low powder charge. Which of these have you had success in preventing bridging in small powder quantities?

Powder is a little known "ETR7", burns like titegroup, looks like unique :(
Equipment is Lee Loadmaster progressive, auto disk (chain operated) case actuated
 
4

44 AMP

Staff
with a mechanically driven powder measure, you're kind of stuck with what you have.

Manually operated measures, you use the simple trick of banging the handle a couple times on at the end of the stroke to vibrate the measure and break up powder bridging. The old Lyman Ideal No.55 measure actually had a "knocker" similar to a door knocker, for just this purpose.

The idea behind a baffle in the powder hopper is to provide a constant weight of powder above the metering chamber, one that does not change as the level in the hopper goes down (until it drops below the baffle)

Your case activated chain operated measure is getting the same "vibration" every time, and with the powder you are using you say you are getting bridging. Try rapping the BODY of the measure (NOT the hopper) with the handle of a screwdriver a couple three times when the measure is at the point of filling the cavity. Also won't hurt anything to give it a tap or two when the cavity dumps.

Do this CONSISTANTLY, and see if it doesn't eliminate your bridging problem.

Good Luck
 
S

Sevens

New member
In 30 years of metering my own powder charges manually from a volumetric measure (Lee then Hornady and finally happy forever with Lyman 55's), I ultimately found the no-compromise solution that makes me happy:

I'm done with large flake powders for handgun rounds.

Unique, Red Dot, Promo, Green Dot, 800-X, Blue Dot... I don't need this old-school stuff. These powders made more sense decades back when choices were fewer and guys wanted to use as little as possible.

I don't find powder expensive, especially under 5 grains in each loaded round. I'd much rather be happy with my process and get the performance that I want then to battle with some old shotgun powder that was all the rage in 1965 that happens to be the right burning rate for .38 Special.
 
N

Nick_C_S

New member
I'm done with large flake powders for handgun rounds.
Click to expand...

And once again Sevens and I walk parallel paths.

44 AMP's "banging the handle . . ." method while throwing powders will bring you consistency without extra expense. I finally learned to do this (via advice here on TFL) with Unique to get consistent throws. It worked; and that suited me just fine until I exhausted my supply of Unique. But . . .

The best long-term solution is to just use propellants that meter well. There's lots of good ones out there. No propellant meters better than AA#2; and it just happens to "burn like TiteGroup" too (at least in terms of burn rate). That's just one example. Most propellants meter just fine; and only a few are problematic.

If you have lots of this ETR7 stuff, then getting a baffle might be a good idea. Tapping the handle while throwing might still be something you will need to do though.
 
F

FrankenMauser

New member
A powder baffle will usually help keep things more consistent.
The old tappity-tap-tap can also help.

Big flake powders, I used to meter through a Dillon powder measure (people say they don't work with big flake powders, but it worked great for me).
Now that the Dillon powder measure is gone, I throw charges by hand or use a powder that meters well.
 
Z

zeke

New member
When charging small cartridges, (32 acp/380 acp). am swithching to a Redding small comp powder measure, with appropriate volume meter. Use green dot for the 32 acp, and unique for the 380 acp with no problems.

There is a limit that my uniflow can accurately throw small charges, but not using the smaller pistol cylinder. Not the most economical solution, but keeps me from weighing each small charge. Just another consideration.
 
A

Aguila Blanca

Staff
With the Lee Autodisk powder measure, there is no handle. The cavity (whatever size aperture is need for 5 grains of that powder) is just a vertical cylinder that slides back and forth. When it's under the hopper, it fills. When it's slid over the case, it drops the charge. I use the Autodisk with Winchester 231 for all my handgun loads in both .45 ACP and 9mm. I find it to be very consistent ... with Winchester 231.

Based on the way it functions, I don't know how there could be any bridging with the Autodisk, unless the powder is made up of VERY large flakes.

But -- the reservoir is plastic, and the charge slider is plastic. It's possible there could be some static electricity at work. I keep a dryer sheet over my reservoir, held in place by the cap, to help alleviate this.
 
S

std7mag

New member
With my Lee Turret & Autodisk, when i bring the handle down (ram up) i tap is slightly with the handle.
Meaning when the handle bottoms out, i tap it gently against the stop a couple of times.
 
M

marchboom

New member
This is always a concern when using small amounts of powder. When loading for my .380 I use 3.0 grs of AA#2. This powder works great through my old Saeco measure.
 
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hounddawg

New member
I have recently switched to a Lyman 55 the last couple of weeks and noticed I get better results when throwing medium and long stick when I do no tapping. When I do a smooth uninterrupted throw up and down I get very consistent throws and a 75% or higher reduction in cutting kernels. When I tap almost 50% of the throws the handle will jam and I will cut a stick and the consistency is crap.

On ball and flake I tap and get very consistent throws.
 
U

Unclenick

Staff
An old trick is to use some big rubber bands to hold an aquarium aerator pump against the powder hopper, and to turn it on for a moment while the metering cavity is accepting powder. The vibration breaks up bridges. It also packs the powder some, so you want to use it sparingly so it doesn't pack to the point the measure jams and you want to check your drop weight again, of course. For fast operation, it can be tied to a Microswitch on the press that closes when the ram is in the powder fill position. Some use a timing relay to control the length of the brief turn-on, but just establishing the right rhythm should do it.
 
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hounddawg

New member
@UN

awhile back I bought a vibrator cell made for a cell phone and rigged it up with a momentary contact switch on my Hornady throw, it was "meh". The funnel in combination with a baffle seems to work best for me both in the Hornady and the Lyman 55. Apologies for the OT but I think I have settled on the Lyman 55 now, wish I had bought one years ago. Very well made with easily repeatable settings and works from the smallest pistol to the largest magnum rifle. I really don't feel the need to experiment any farther now. I throw low and trickle up on the stick and the fine stuff meters so well I just check every 5th throw or so
 
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