How long do you feel comfortable leaving powder in a hopper?

[Quiet Burp]

How long do you feel comfortable leaving powder in a hopper?

[Rip Snorter]

I empty every time at the end of a session.  Easy way to avoid issues.  Years back, I had to replace a tube.  

[Sedalia Dave]

24 hours. 

[Eyesa Horg]

On rare occasion, I'll leave it overnight if I need to finish loading the next day. Otherwise it goes back in the bottle when I finish loading. 

[Cypress Sun]

1 minute ago, Eyesa Horg said:

On rare occasion, I'll leave it overnight if I need to finish loading the next day. Otherwise it goes back in the bottle when I finish loading. 

 

This ^^^^^

 

Leaving the powder in too long will discolor the clear plastic on the hopper. Leave it in way too long and the powder could start to degrade.

[Sedalia Dave]

3 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

On rare occasion, I'll leave it overnight if I need to finish loading the next day. Otherwise it goes back in the bottle when I finish loading. 

 

I do the same. If a session requires 2 days I'll leave it overnight.

[Pat Riot]

23 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

24 hours. 

 

23 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

On rare occasion, I'll leave it overnight if I need to finish loading the next day. Otherwise it goes back in the bottle when I finish loading. 

 

19 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

I do the same. If a session requires 2 days I'll leave it overnight.

Samey Same

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Overnight at most.

[watab kid]

i also empty every session , i never leave powder in the hopper 

[Blackwater 53393]

Most of my hoppers will be emptied at the end of the loading session. For my MEC 600jr I just unscrew the bottle and screw a lid down on it unless I’m changing powders.

[J-BAR #18287]

55 minutes ago, watab kid said:

i also empty every session , i never leave powder in the hopper 

 

47 minutes ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

Most of my hoppers will be emptied at the end of the loading session. For my MEC 600jr I just unscrew the bottle and screw a lid down on it unless I’m changing powders.

 

 

This.

 

Who knows what tomorrow brings?

 

Make life easy for your loved ones in case you don't get out of bed.

Edited June 2 by J-BAR #18287

[Rye Miles #13621]

I’ve never emptied it and  I have never had an issue in my Dillon powder hopper. 

Edited June 2 by Rye Miles #13621

[Pat Riot]

91% Isopropyl Alcohol gets that hopper tint out if it’s not too bad. 
I did have an incident where I left powder in my hopper for about a month or so. It was July 11, 2019. That morning I got set up to load .38 Wadcutter rounds so that when I got home from work I could start right up getting some loading done. 
That afternoon that stupid woman hit me and my bike on the 105 freeway and I ended up in the hospital with numerous injuries including a punctured lung. 
There are some instances where it can’t be helped. 

[Texas Maverick]

I guess I am different from  most. I have been reloading for about 20 years and I never drain my powder tube. I usually will load a few rounds most days. At least 50 rounds a day and more before matches. I try to keep around 1000 rounds loaded and available. Never know when you might need it. I have never had any issues doing it this way. I don't add more powder until it gets down to about a couple of inches to the bottom. I use CleanShot and so far it has never failed me and all my rounds go bang when I pull the trigger.

 

TM

[Rye Miles #13621]

Just now, Texas Maverick said:

I guess I am different from  most. I have been reloading for about 20 years and I never drain my powder tube. I usually will load a few rounds most days. At least 50 rounds a day and more before matches. I try to keep around 1000 rounds loaded and available. Never know when you might need it. I have never had any issues doing it this way. I don't add more powder until it gets down to about a couple of inches to the bottom. I use CleanShot and so far it has never failed me and all my rounds go bang when I pull the trigger.

 

TM

Same here! I’ve never emptied my Dillon hopper and never had a problem!

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

OK.  Some folks have never had a problem.  I don't want a problem, so I empty the powder measure immediately after every session, even if I'm going to be loading again the next day.  Just seems to make good sense to me.

[Utah Bob #35998]

I don’t.

[John Kloehr]

Not reloading yet. Quite serious about what I will eventually be doing. The big concern I see with leaving powder out is humidity. See this study:

 

https://chronoplotter.com/2021/08/19/how-does-humidity-affect-powder/

 

I'm in east Tennessee, humidity can swing from 10% in the winter to 90% in the summer. I can manage indoor humidity to some extent but not perfectly. For someone who lives where humidity is always 50% +/- 5%, hopper staining might be the worst problem. For me, humidity will be enough of a factor to affect some planned future loads. I will not be leaving powder in the hopper.

 

But hey, for SASS, even humidity might not really matter.

[Texas Maverick]

15 minutes ago, John Kloehr said:

Not reloading yet. Quite serious about what I will eventually be doing. The big concern I see with leaving powder out is humidity. See this study:

 

https://chronoplotter.com/2021/08/19/how-does-humidity-affect-powder/

 

I'm in east Tennessee, humidity can swing from 10% in the winter to 90% in the summer. I can manage indoor humidity to some extent but not perfectly. For someone who lives where humidity is always 50% +/- 5%, hopper staining might be the worst problem. For me, humidity will be enough of a factor to affect some planned future loads. I will not be leaving powder in the hopper.

 

But hey, for SASS, even humidity might not really matter.

I live just north of Austin where we do have humidity and it has not effected my SASS loads. Now if I was going to be doing rifle rounds for say hunting I would be using a powder drop with fresh powder in it. 

 

TM

[J-BAR #18287]

The reason I empty the hopper is I use 4 different smokeless powders (Bullseye, Unique, Universal, and Titegroup) and never know what I might load next.  I never used the Dillon powder measure for black powder cartridges... dippers worked best for me.

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

After each session.  It's part of my routine, and at my age, I don't need to mess with my routines

[watab kid]

23 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

 

 

 

This.

 

Who knows what tomorrow brings?

 

Make life easy for your loved ones in case you don't get out of bed.

exactly - i was told leaving in the hopper allows it to compress then not measure accurately 

[Texas Maverick]

19 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

The reason I empty the hopper is I use 4 different smokeless powders (Bullseye, Unique, Universal, and Titegroup) and never know what I might load next.  I never used the Dillon powder measure for black powder cartridges... dippers worked best for me.

Makes sense. I only load my cowboy loads for 38 using the same powder so I just leave it alone and then can load up rounds anytime I have some spare time. I usually do at least 25 to 50 a day just to stay ahead.

 

TM

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

OOPS!!  I was just reminded, I did leave powder in a Dillon measure once a long while ago.  I have a really well stained hopper because of that little oopsie.  Not gonna happen again.  Should have remembered sooner.  Will call Dillon and replace it.