Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 Posted July 24, 2021 Posted July 24, 2021 Rain in Phoenix is usually a short violent storm lasting a few minutes. The past couple of days it has been raining constantly all day long. I was bored so I went in the shop and wasted a couple of hours. I have tried to standardize all my loads and am using one powder and one bullet in my pistols and rifle. (I use the same powder in my SASS shotgun loads.) The only thing that varies is the powder charge so I decided to make new powder bars for a couple of Dillon measures using Delrin for the charge bar and boring the powder drop holes right in the center of the measure powder drop. That way the hole is directly under the powder measure and when the bar moves the hole is directly over the drop tube. After getting the proper charge weights I reassembled the measures. I like the old style spring loaded measures. The Delrin bars seem to be working OK and I will check them after a few thousand rounds to see if there is any abnormal wear. Each measure has a label with the powder charge. One for rifle and one for pistol.
Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 Posted July 24, 2021 Author Posted July 24, 2021 With a milling machine.
Imis Twohofon,SASS # 46646 Posted July 24, 2021 Posted July 24, 2021 A man cant have too many machine tools. Nice work Imis
Singin' Sue 71615 Posted July 25, 2021 Posted July 25, 2021 Wow! You prove to be more than just a handsome fella!!!
Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 Posted July 25, 2021 Author Posted July 25, 2021 I tried this for a couple of different reasons (aside from being bored). On the stock Dillon bar (top) the opening for the powder is triangular as most of our CAS loads are very light and the moving bar is screwed most of the way in. As the bar powder chamber is opened it is never centered under the hopper or over the drop tube. It spans them and the powder is dropped as it is dragged over the drop tube. I am using Clays and it is a flake powder and now and then I get a little more variance than I wanted on the drop weight. I figured a round hole that aligns better with the hopper and drop tube would be more consistent. The fixed charge hole is set to the load I have decided upon after years of shooting so the fact that it is not variable is no big deal. The charge bar is also held to tighter tolerances that the Dillon bar. The black bar in the photo was made out of nylon. I did not like the end result so ordered some Delrin but could only find the size I wanted in white.
Jackrabbit Joe #414 Posted July 25, 2021 Posted July 25, 2021 Yo Larsen you the man pilgrim. See yah down the road some where in time. JRJ
Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life Posted July 25, 2021 Posted July 25, 2021 Looking good. only question would be I have noticed that lot to lot variation in the same powders can be as much as .2 grains. On my cowboy loads that is about 6%. That could mean multiple bars to be around for different lots. minimal I know at our light charges but still somewhat significant. your thoughts? cool idea though Gateway Kid
Sedalia Dave Posted July 25, 2021 Posted July 25, 2021 19 hours ago, Warden Callaway said: How did you cut/mill the Delrin? Delrin is very machinable and it is easy to maintain dimensional stability as long as you monitor the temp of the material so as to not get it too hot. Forced air cooling helps. The material should never be allowed to get so hot that you cannot touch it. Sharp tools are also a must so that you get nice clean cuts.
Lefty Dutchman, SASS #41480 Posted July 26, 2021 Posted July 26, 2021 Did you buy stock bar material and if so what size and where did you purchase it? Lefty
Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 Posted July 26, 2021 Author Posted July 26, 2021 The closest Delrin bar I could find was 1/2" x 1". It had to be milled down to roughly .360" x .835". I only needed about a foot so I just ordered it off Amazon. As far as lot to lot variation of the powder we shoot canister powders at or below the recommended minimum charge weight. Depending on the powder you can get a .2 grain variation from charge to charge since we are measuring by volume and not actual weight. For my CAS loads it is accurate enough. For my charge hole size I threw ten charges and averaged them and changed the hole size until it was what I wanted. When I got to the "final" hole size I threw 20 charges just to make sure the average was still where I wanted it. When I was throwing test charges I had the powder measure hopper half full.
Lefty Dutchman, SASS #41480 Posted July 26, 2021 Posted July 26, 2021 Thank you that was very informative. Lefty
Snakebite Posted July 26, 2021 Posted July 26, 2021 OOH-OOH-OOH If I had a mill, I'd mill in the morning, I'd mill in the evening, all over my shop. I'd mill out receivers, I'd mill out gun stocks, I'd mill out the loading bars for my Dillion 650, all over this land. OOH-OOH-OOH! Good Job Larsen!
Phantom, SASS #54973 Posted July 26, 2021 Posted July 26, 2021 Larsen...you scare me sometimes... Phantom...who wishes he had the motivation to do some of these things...
Creeker, SASS #43022 Posted July 26, 2021 Posted July 26, 2021 4 hours ago, Phantom, SASS #54973 said: Larsen...you scare me sometimes... Phantom...who wishes he had the motivation to do some of these things... Motivation? I just wish I was smart enough.
Phantom, SASS #54973 Posted July 26, 2021 Posted July 26, 2021 58 minutes ago, Creeker, SASS #43022 said: Motivation? I just wish I was smart enough. Yeah well that too.
Kingsley Posted July 27, 2021 Posted July 27, 2021 17 hours ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said: The closest Delrin bar I could find was 1/2" x 1". It had to be milled down to roughly .360" x .835". I only needed about a foot so I just ordered it off Amazon. As far as lot to lot variation of the powder we shoot canister powders at or below the recommended minimum charge weight. Depending on the powder you can get a .2 grain variation from charge to charge since we are measuring by volume and not actual weight. For my CAS loads it is accurate enough. For my charge hole size I threw ten charges and averaged them and changed the hole size until it was what I wanted. When I got to the "final" hole size I threw 20 charges just to make sure the average was still where I wanted it. When I was throwing test charges I had the powder measure hopper half full. Thank you Larsen, just ordered 2 feet of Delrin. Hopefully this will solve my SL900 problem using Win AA Lite powder. With the Dillon powder charge I loose so much powder loading SG. Cardboard Cowboy
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted July 27, 2021 Posted July 27, 2021 OP, one thing I learned from living in th Mojave Desert for over 28yrs, was static buildup. After I ran dedicated hardwire ground from my press to a ground rod. My PM variations were dramatically reduced. Give it a try. OLG
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