Stepping up on the reload press so....

[Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L 639]

I load 45 Colt and 44 WCF mostly - black powder only.

 

Looking at stepping up from my Lee Classic turret press to something....more efficient and quicker?

 

Any particular models to look for - special powder delivery mechanisms? - understand that the standard smokeless devices are not good per static electricity concerns.

 

Thanks for any info.

 

GG ~ 

[Tyrel Cody 5,330]

I use a Hornady LnL with a Black Powder measure and case activated powder drop. I don't think Hornady makes it any more, but I'd recommend trying to find a used one or make/buy an aluminum hopper and proceed as usual.

[Goody, SASS #26190 1,587]

Do you use any fillers? If so I would go with a Dillon 650. This has 5 stations and allows for an extra powder measure to be used in for delivery of filler. There are non static aluminum hoppers available for the Dillon powder measure. If not you can use the Dillon 550, which is only 4 stations. Of course the 650 is fully progressive, the 550 had to be advanced manually be virtue of a thumb wheel, but all four stations are active on each stroke of the handle.

 

[Michigan Slim 13,466]

I prefer the 550 as I feel I have a little more control. But we also hand dip the powder charges.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz 7,810]

Blue is for YOU.........Dillon 550.

Been run'n mine since 1987.

OLG

[Hoss 1,498]

I know there is an outfit that makes glass hoppers for Dillon presses. Would that alleviate the static concerns? 

[Tyrel Cody 5,330]

6 minutes ago, Hoss said:

I know there is an outfit that makes glass hoppers for Dillon presses. Would that alleviate the static concerns? 

 

Probably, but in my opinion aluminum would be better and far less prone to break.

[El Hombre Sin Nombre 1,844]

3 minutes ago, Hoss said:

I know there is an outfit that makes glass hoppers for Dillon presses. Would that alleviate the static concerns? 

The static concern is a myth that has been proven repeatedly as not possible. Static electricity from plastic can not generate enough of a spark to ignite black powder. If it is still a concern, I have heard that using a dryer sheet to wipe out the plastic container works as a viable placebo for some folks. 

[The Original Lumpy Gritz 7,810]

 

I have loaded real BP on my D/550 for decades.

YES-My press is hardwire grounded to a dedicated GND rod.

I live in the Mojave, and static cling is a real issue here.

The GND really reduced the variance in the PM 'throw' with smokeless and BP.

OLG

[Springfield Slim SASS #24733 805]

I have loaded BP on my 550 for over 14 years with no problem at all, using the plastic hoppers. Do the same with my MEC shotgun shell loaders.  I had an aluminum hopper but I felt the increased chance of loading an empty shell was too great.

[Hollifer A. Dollar 148]

We have been loading BP (real, not subs) on one RL550 for 5 years & on a 2nd RL550 for about a year - 1 for small primers & 1 for large.  Nary an issue with the loader.  The 2nd press has a case feeder (it was a package deal) - it is more trouble than it is worth most of the time.

 

Holler

[Riverboat Red, SASS #71733 128]

Gunner

I also use a 550. With a light kit so I can see the powder throw and an auto case feeder 'cause I'm lazy.. 

I don't worry about static. 'Course, if you hear of a house blowing up in Minneapolis, you'll know I was wrong.

I also use a MEC 9000 for SG.

[Jefro, SASS#69420 434]

Hornady LNL, all the features (and more IMHO) of a 650 for the price of a 550, get the large rifle drum for BP. Here lately I've been using my Lee Pro Auto Disk for all my 38 stuff, it throws  a perfect load and gives me room for a Powder Cop and Lee factory crimp. If you're concerned about static there are several BP measures available, just have to use your finger to activate. Or you could drill and tap one for the Hornady linkage, I just use the Hornady rifle drum. I started on a Lee Classic also, yer gonna love this. Good Luck

[Abe E.S. Corpus SASS #87667 226]

13 minutes ago, Jefro, SASS#69420 said:

Hornady LNL, all the features (and more IMHO) of a 650 for the price of a 550, get the large rifle drum for BP. Here lately I've been using my Lee Pro Auto Disk for all my 38 stuff, it throws  a perfect load and gives me room for a Powder Cop and Lee factory crimp. If you're concerned about static there are several BP measures available, just have to use your finger to activate. Or you could drill and tap one for the Hornady linkage, I just use the Hornady rifle drum. I started on a Lee Classic also, yer gonna love this. Good Luck

I’ve loaded APP with my Hornady measure but it has a lot of steel parts to clean afterwards.  Lately I have been using a Lee Auto Drum measure atop a Lee Powder Through Expander Die.  Less steel parts to clean.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz 7,810]

2 hours ago, Hoss said:

I know there is an outfit that makes glass hoppers for Dillon presses. Would that alleviate the static concerns? 

 

Glass 

 

Ya got a link?..........

OLG

[Rye Miles #13621 7,730]

I loaded BP on my 550 for about 8 years with the plastic powder hopper and I'm still here! To be really safe you can get an aluminum hopper but the 550 is great!

[Hoss 1,498]

26 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

 

Glass 

 

Ya got a link?..........

OLG

https://dramworx.com/

[Dutch Wheeler 1,716]

10 minutes ago, Hoss said:

https://dramworx.com/

 

Dang!  Hoss beat me by 6 minutes!

[The Original Lumpy Gritz 7,810]

16 minutes ago, Hoss said:

https://dramworx.com/

 

Have sent him an Email.

I must live under several rocks, as I have never heard of this outfit. 

TNX to you both......

OLG

[Captain Bill Burt 3,701]

4 hours ago, Goody, SASS #26190 said:

Do you use any fillers? If so I would go with a Dillon 650. This has 5 stations and allows for an extra powder measure to be used in for delivery of filler. There are non static aluminum hoppers available for the Dillon powder measure. If not you can use the Dillon 550, which is only 4 stations. Of course the 650 is fully progressive, the 550 had to be advanced manually be virtue of a thumb wheel, but all four stations are active on each stroke of the handle.

 

This is my plan for reloading black/smokeless in 45 lc.  One more tool head with all the dies to load .45 smokeless, then swap out the powder measure for one with BP and add another powder measure at station 3 to drop the filler.  Should be pretty easy.  I'll be running .32 H&R mag, .38 special, .45 lc smokeless, .45 lc BP, and .45 ACP all off the same press with minimal time switching calibers.

[El Hombre Sin Nombre 1,844]

56 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

 

Have sent him an Email.

I must live under several rocks, as I have never heard of this outfit. 

TNX to you both......

OLG

Well that's a given. One of those rocks being above the shoulders

[Michigan Slim 13,466]

I did use FFF APP on my daughters 550 once.        Once.         Only once.    

 

She was, well, just say...… a little upset with the mess. Very dusty.

I was gonna clean it up. Honest. But she turned into her mother and cleaned it herself. Complete teardown required. Did I mention how dusty APP is? Well, it is. 

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 1,057]

Howdy

 

I seem to have been posting this photo a lot recently.

 

I load all my Black Powder cartridges, 45 Colt, 45 Schofield, 44-40, 44 Russian, and 38-40, on a Hornady Lock & Load AP. 45-70 I load one at a time on a single stage press.

 

I do not use the standard Hornady powder measure, on the Hornady machine, I have a Lyman Black Powder measure mounted on the press for Black Powder. This powder measure comes with an aluminum hopper.

 

 

 

 

 

I buy old Lyman smokeless powder measures whenever I find them at white elephant tables at gun shows or local shops.

 

 

 

 

 

The metering rotors from a standard Lyman powder measure fit the BP measure. I keep each one set for the standard powder charges I use in each of my BP cartridges. That way I don't have to spend time adjusting back and forth. Note the bodies of these rotors are brass. The body of the measure is iron. Brass rotating in iron is non-sparking, a good thing when dealing Black Powder. No, I am not talking about a static discharge spark, I am talking about a mechanical spark similar to the spark generated by flint striking steel.

 

 

 

 

 

Note: I use the same charge for both 45 Colt and 44-40. Hint hint.

 

 

 

 

 

Regarding cleaning the press after loading Black Powder:

 

The fine dust that comes along with Black Powder is very hygroscopic. It is excellent at sucking moisture out of the air. I discovered a long time ago that if I did not remove the rotor and clean the dust off of it, moisture drawn from the air would corrode the brass and 'weld it' inside the powder measure. The solution is simple. After a loading session I empty the powder measure, no different than loading Smokeless. Never leave powder, Smokeless or BP sitting in a powder measure for a long period of time. I simply remove the rotor, dust it off, and put it on the shelf to store until needed the next time. No muss, no fuss. And no corroded powder measure parts.

[Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 3,600]

18 hours ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

 

Glass 

 

Ya got a link?..........

OLG

 

Remember your HS science class, when the teacher rubbed some fur on a glass rod, and then picked up bits of paper with it?  I'm not sure that a glass hopper addresses the issue....

 

I like OLG's grounding info; gives those electrons somewhere to go.

 

LL

[The Original Lumpy Gritz 7,810]

2 hours ago, Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 said:

 

Remember your HS science class, when the teacher rubbed some fur on a glass rod, and then picked up bits of paper with it?  I'm not sure that a glass hopper addresses the issue....

 

I like OLG's grounding info; gives those electrons somewhere to go.

 

LL

 

Yup glass with do that-so will plastic......

But glass won't degrade and 'color' like plastic hoppers do.

OLG

 

 

[Nate Kiowa Jones #6765 486]

23 hours ago, El Hombre Sin Nombre said:

The static concern is a myth that has been proven repeatedly as not possible. Static electricity from plastic can not generate enough of a spark to ignite black powder. If it is still a concern, I have heard that using a dryer sheet to wipe out the plastic container works as a viable placebo for some folks. 

 

 

I tend to agree, with one caveat. Devices that tend to generate static are much like capacitors. They store the static until something provides a path to discharge it. If you live in a really dry area, as in low humidity and cool temp static arcs are more sever.  Areas with hi humidity won't allow the static to build. It's like a shorted capacitor

Hoss, where you live there on the gulf coast the other helping factor is the salty air helps conduct the static away, not allowing it to build up.

[Waimea 888]

Pmd ya

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 1,057]

4 hours ago, Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 said:

Remember your HS science class, when the teacher rubbed some fur on a glass rod, and then picked up bits of paper with it?  I'm not sure that a glass hopper addresses the issue....

 

I like OLG's grounding info; gives those electrons somewhere to go.

 

Many years of experience in the electronics industry taught me something about static electricity.

 

Delicate electronic circuits and assemblies are easily damaged by a sudden drain of a static charge running through them. It is called Electro Static Discharge. (ESD).

 

If a material is not a conductor, it is a static generator. Like glass and plastic. In other words, the material; wood, paper, plastic, glass, and many others will hold a charge. That's why it is called static electricity. The charge is static, it ain't going anywhere. Rub two static generators together and you are tearing electrons off some of the atoms. The electrons form the static charge. Delicate electronic assemblies were assembled in special 'static free' environments. Static generators such as paper were not allowed at the work station. The entire work station, including the operator sitting in his/her chair were grounded. Operators wore wrist straps connected to ground to prevent static charges building up on their persons. The air in the room was maintained with a relatively high level of humidity, to help static charges bleed off into the air.

 

Grounding the press will have no effect on reducing the static charge in a plastic or glass hopper. The glass or plastic will hold the charge and it will not be grounded through a ground wire. We used to use special 'static bags' to ship parts and assemblies that could be damaged by an ESD. The bags were made of plastic that had a conductive material mixed into the plastic. The plastic was specially formulated so that a static charge would bleed off gradually, not all at once. Too quick was not a good thing.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz 7,810]

DJ-After I hardwire grounded my press.

I had no more powder 'cling' to the Dillon plastic hopper.

The GND give the static a path to leave.......

Same for my MVA, PM.

I will be ordering one of those Pyrex glass hoppers for the D/550.

OLG

 

[Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L 639]

Holy cannoli Spicoli! Thanks guys!

 

Now my head is fried with all that info.  

 

GG

[Hoss 1,498]

2 hours ago, Nate Kiowa Jones #6765 said:

 

 

I tend to agree, with one caveat. Devices that tend to generate static are much like capacitors. They store the static until something provides a path to discharge it. If you live in a really dry area, as in low humidity and cool temp static arcs are more sever.  Areas with hi humidity won't allow the static to build. It's like a shorted capacitor

Hoss, where you live there on the gulf coast the other helping factor is the salty air helps conduct the static away, not allowing it to build up.

I thing I got is salty, humid air! 

[Nate Kiowa Jones #6765 486]

1 hour ago, Hoss said:

I thing I got is salty, humid air! 

 

 

Ed Zachery 

[bgavin 2,026]

19 hours ago, Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 said:

Delicate electronic circuits and assemblies are easily damaged by a sudden drain of a static charge running through them. It is called Electro Static Discharge. (ESD).

Yep.
Many years back, I was called in to diagnose why the customer's IBM AT personal computers were dying in a particular department.
After very tactful discussion, it was narrowed down to a single young lady and her constant wearing of silk lingerie.
She was killing the machines with ESD.

We used zap straps, but this was not a solution for the customer.
Instead we gave her a ground zap mat and instructed her to "touch this first."
ESD problems gone.