magnum12pm
Member
What kind of metering accuracy are you getting with clays powder on your Dillion 550 powder drop? I seem to have trouble staying consistant on the charge wieght.
Clays for dillion 550
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magnum12pm
Member
What kind of metering accuracy are you getting with clays powder on your Dillion 550 powder drop? I seem to have trouble staying consistant on the charge wieght.
keppelj
Member
With Universal Clays I find it quite accurate once the measure settles down.
Big Fred
Member
Here's a little secret. Go to Walmart and buy the cheapest aquarium aireator they have, I paid around $6.00, and tape it onto the side of the dillon powder measure hopper. The vibration will really help level off your charges. I run my Dillon 650 this way all the time. I load American Select and this works great.
OP
magnum12pm
Member
Fred that makes sense to me. I was wondering if the problem could be the larger flakes could not be packing into the powder bar consistantly. I am used to much finer flakes of Titegroup. I also have some American Select in the collection. What are you loading with American? Here again is an ideal that makes this site great!
PaulCG
Member
Had the same problem.
Switched to Bullseye. Problem gone.
Switched to Bullseye. Problem gone.
OP
magnum12pm
Member
I usually stick with Titegroup, I guess you stick with what you know for the 8 pounders, so I got to make it work until its gone.
Big Fred
Member
Magnum12pm, I load 3.2 gr. of American Select in .38 special with a 125 gr. Penn TC. I'm a cowboy shooter and between me and my son we go through a lot of 38's in a year. I used to load Clays but found I like A.S. better. Seems less smokey and cleaner than Clays. I've run the aireator with Clays and A.S. It really helps. You may still get a variation of +or- a tenth.
You won't need the aireator with Titegroup or any other similar grained powder. I also have about 6 lbs. of Titegroup left to use up. I am presently loading 5 gr. of it in .357 with a Penn 158 gr. TC for around 900 to 1000 fps, depending on barrel length. It is my .357 plinking load. It shoots nice but is not as clean as A.S.
You won't need the aireator with Titegroup or any other similar grained powder. I also have about 6 lbs. of Titegroup left to use up. I am presently loading 5 gr. of it in .357 with a Penn 158 gr. TC for around 900 to 1000 fps, depending on barrel length. It is my .357 plinking load. It shoots nice but is not as clean as A.S.
Stillwater788
Member
I reload with Clays on a 550 and a 650 all the time with excellent results. The body of the Dillon measure is just an aluminum casting – it's none too smooth. Fire up your Dremel with a felt polishing tip and apply a good helping of Flitz or a similar metal polish. Disassemble the measure and polish everything to a mirror shine – including the charge bar. Also, keep the measure at least 1/3 full. The aerator sounds like a neat idea, but I haven't needed it to get consistent charges with Clays – or any other powder.
I load .45ACP, 38's and 9mm on a 550 using Clays almost exclusively now. This is regular Clays, not Universal oe International. No problems with charge weight at all. Meters very consistantly, +/- less than 1/10 grain. Clean, accurate, and soft recoiling. BTW, the 550 powder measure is bone stock, and not been cleaned in at least 10,000 loads.
Beans
Member
I'm loading .40 S&W, 45 ACP and 44 Specical with regular Clays on both a 650 and a 550. everything is "Bone Stock" and I am also staying with +/- 1/10 of a grain
MrPhil
Member
I'm loading 3.5 of Clays with a Dillon. A light charge by any "measure". Weights hold to +/- 0.1 grain. Never had any problem. I tap the reservoir and throw 10 loads before checking weight. Doing those things seems to settle the system down.
OP
magnum12pm
Member
I have worked on this problem and now believe it is not the Dillion 550 at all, which has been flawless for me as far as metering. I have concluded that it is the powder scales failing to maintain its calibration, floats all over on the same charge in the pan. It will vary 3/10, plus or minus from the actual charge. I know someone will ask (Pack BBK Scale).
Skip Sackett
US Veteran
I'm going to weigh in here but only because of two things. One being Clays powder and the other a digital scale.
#1, I will never use Clays again in an auto round, that's right, I said NEVER. Surely not in the 40S&W! The pressure curve is super steep and a .3gr difference is enough to put powder in the stratosphere. In some firearms, like my old Browning High Power, it proved to be too much and caused a KB. Revolver cases, sure.
#2, Having a digital scale as your final check is problematic in my mind. I have never had my beam scales get out of calibration. I do have digital ones but only for intermittent checks and simplicity. Load development and for those rare occasions where I am pushing the envelope, I use my beam scale.
FWIW
#1, I will never use Clays again in an auto round, that's right, I said NEVER. Surely not in the 40S&W! The pressure curve is super steep and a .3gr difference is enough to put powder in the stratosphere. In some firearms, like my old Browning High Power, it proved to be too much and caused a KB. Revolver cases, sure.
#2, Having a digital scale as your final check is problematic in my mind. I have never had my beam scales get out of calibration. I do have digital ones but only for intermittent checks and simplicity. Load development and for those rare occasions where I am pushing the envelope, I use my beam scale.
FWIW
