Getting Yellow Stain Out of Ppwder Thrower

[Rule3]

So how do I get rid of the yellow tinge on the inside of the thrower from the powder sitting there? Is it possible? Or should I just start dumping the powder back and forth between the thrower and the bottle, which is rather not do.

Stop peeing in it!


It doesn't matter unless you can not see the powder or the hopper is "etched".


They recommend NOT leaving powder in it, but other experts of course have been doing it for years.


Some powders with higher nitro content may cause the plastic to deteriorate faster than others.

 

[fredj338]

You cannot remove the stain, just replace the tube if it is an issue. I dont really care so my plastic hoppers are stained.

 

[bigggbbruce]

As long as you can put powder in and meter it out, who cares if it's stained.

 

[Sevens]

I'm with this ^ and the idea of using a plastic polish to remedy the inside of a hopper seems like you might be introducing outside stuff (mixed with ground plastic too?) inside.

I replaced mine only because it was breaking down and wouldn't reliably lock in place.

 

[MajorDude]

I have changed two of my three Hornady powder measures to this.

Hornady – DRAM WORX

They are absolutely worth the cost. No more discolored, disfigured plastic hopper. No more static cling and it includes a powder bridge One thing to note. Hornady has two thread pitches on the threaded base which will require you to modify the threads on the new hopper to work.

That is absolutely awesome, I had no idea these existed! At first glance they seem expensive but Pyrex, come on!! I need one for my Redding and Dillons.

 

[hdwhit]

kbm6893 wrote:
So how do I get rid of the yellow tinge on the inside of the thrower from the powder sitting there? Is it possible?

The "yellow tinge" is etching of the plastic hopper from the nitrates in the powder. There is no way to get rid of it short of replacing the hopper or finding someone who is set up to polish a cylinder with jeweler's rouge.

Or should I just start dumping the powder back and forth between the thrower and the bottle, which is rather not do.

The manual for all the powder measures I am familiar with uniformly suggest returning the powder to the original container at the end of the reloading session.

If you are not doing this, please be aware that unless you are loading a single caliber with a single powder at a single charge weight, leaving powder in the meter is a potential point of failure in your reloading process. The potential to damage the measure (which has already happened as you are posting about it), the potential to throw a different charge than you are expecting. The potential to neglect to identify the powder left in the measure. These are all potential sources of a "Ka-Boom".

Keep only the one powder you're using on your bench at any given time. Fill your powder measure. Check its accuracy. Double-check its accuracy. Triple-check its accuracy. Load. When you are done, return the powder to its original container. Remove the container from the reloading bench. I don't care what your preferences are. After 42 years of reloading, I know that any other process is asking for a tragedy.

 

[kbm6893]

The "yellow tinge" is etching of the plastic hopper from the nitrates in the powder. There is no way to get rid of it short of replacing the hopper or finding someone who is set up to polish a cylinder with jeweler's rouge.



The manual for all the powder measures I am familiar with uniformly suggest returning the powder to the original container at the end of the reloading session.

If you are not doing this, please be aware that unless you are loading a single caliber with a single powder at a single charge weight, leaving powder in the meter is a potential point of failure in your reloading process. The potential to damage the measure (which has already happened as you are posting about it), the potential to throw a different charge than you are expecting. The potential to neglect to identify the powder left in the measure. These are all potential sources of a "Ka-Boom".

Keep only the one powder you're using on your bench at any given time. Fill your powder measure. Check its accuracy. Double-check its accuracy. Triple-check its accuracy. Load. When you are done, return the powder to its original container. Remove the container from the reloading bench. I don't care what your preferences are. After 42 years of reloading, I know that any other process is asking for a tragedy.

I a. OCD about safety, but what you describe will not happen to me. I only use one powder, so they'll never be any cross contamination. I only load one caliber at a time. I have plenty of 9MM in hand and have been shooting revolvers exclusively for a while, so for at least the next few months, I will only be loading .38. I tape a label to the dispenser with the caliber, powder, and charge and adjust the thrower to throw the weight of the caliber I am loading. I load on a single stage press and weigh every charge. And I visually confirm the weight of the charge by glancing at the label on the thrower AND the reloading date tacked to the wall above my bench. The loading data for the calibers not being loaded at that moment are covered by a piece of cardboard over them so I can never read the 9MM data while loading .38.

As for pouring powder back into the bottle, as long as leaving it in the hopper isn't dangerous, why add the extra step? The way I load is I drop the charge, weigh it, seat a bullet, and set into the loading block. Sometimes I only do like 10 before getting called away. When I have 100 loaded, I crimp them a d dump them into the ammo can. If I had to unlock the cabinet and refill the hopper three times a week, then return it to the bottle, it would be a hassle and frankly discourage me from making ammo.