Hornady LNL AP powder measure creeping up??

[Member 36360]

hey guys just got my new hornady ap progressive up and running last night and I was loading some 300 blk subs and was checking my powder charge about every 20th round after I got the charge figured out. my target charge was 10.4 grains and over time it started to creep up to 10.7/10.8 has anyone else experienced this issue? am I just being overly concerned?
thanks for any input

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[Crohnos01]

Tapping on the side of the hopper after adding powder to settle the powder seems to help. I also throw about a dozen times into a cup before I try to remeasure after making an adjustment. Do you have the powder baffle installed?

 

[Member 36360]

Yes I do have the baffle installed.

 

[DizzyJ]

Definitely keep an eye on it.
That's one surprise you don't want to catch AFTER the fact.

 

[Crohnos01]

I have the same set up. I am staying within a .2 gn deviation with most throws within .1.

So far as I can tell, settling the powder seems key as well as consistent operation of the handle on the press. I try to make each cycle the same as the last. This of course is good practice on any of the drum style powder dispensers.... Ummmm... One other thing that I just thought of. They make quite a big deal about cleaning the shipping lube out of the powder dispenser, hopper, drop tubes, etc. Apparently 9 time out of 10 when people have consistency issues it's because they either didn't clean the powder dispenser and assembly well enough or at all . If you aren't sure, strip it down and degrease the sucker.

 

[Member 36360]

Yeah. I did clean mine. Made that mistake the first time. And sprayed the Hornady dry lube stuff in there. I'll tear it down this WkND and clean, decrease etc again tho

 

[Crohnos01]

I had to clean mine twice to get all the "stuff" out of it. I also noticed that while loading AA#5 that the powder was climbing the inside of the hopper due to static electricity. I ended up tearing it down a third time and spraying this plastic eye glasses cleaner and anti-static solution I picked up at the Sportsmans show on the hopper and that seemed to stop that issue. Probably anti-static dryer sheets would work too but I didn't have any.

 

[DizzyJ]

I had to clean mine twice to get all the "stuff" out of it. I also noticed that while loading AA#5 that the powder was climbing the inside of the hopper due to static electricity. I ended up tearing it down a third time and spraying this plastic eye glasses cleaner and anti-static solution I picked up at the Sportsmans show on the hopper and that seemed to stop that issue. Probably anti-static dryer sheets would work too but I didn't have any.

The dryer sheets are what I use to try to stay on top of the static issue. This also applies to electronic scales as well.

 

[techiej]

+1 on dryer sheets for static control. You can also run some graphite through the tube & drum which I found helps as well. When you clean don't forget to clean & coat (one shot or graphite) the powder adjustment insert/micrometer (strongly recommend the micrometer insert).

Please keep in mind that although your electronic scale may display to 0.1 grains most are only accurate to 0.15 grains so being off 0.2 would not be unusual which is why most people base the accuracy on 10 throws of powder.

What can also help is pausing for a moment at the top of the stroke to make sure that the drum fills completely. I do this mostly with extruded powders.

FWIW I've used AA#5 extensively and haven't had problems with powder consistency.

 

[Member 36360]

I appreciate the feedback guys.
I will tear it down and clean it again and lube it with one shot. As far as the dryer sheet goes do I just stick it inside the hopper with the powder? It does seem like I'm having a static issue. Because the powder is sticking to the the walls and such. I will look into the mic insert

 

[Crohnos01]

Well, since my wife has the household pretty much in hypoallergenic mode due to her allergies and I never think of buying some when I'm at the store, I am speaking out of my butt somewhat here.... Also explains why i use the anti-static spray i mentioned above ... however i believe that the recommended practice is to rub it everywhere inside the empty hopper prior to filling it with powder.... One of the guys who do their laundry and reloading at the same time can probably confirm my assumptions or tell me I am full of it.... either or both are not only possible but likely

 

[P7M13]

The first time I used my LnL, I didn't clean it. Saw wildly inconsistent powder drops, +/- 1 gr on 9mm, when I did the occasional check weighing. Wound up using acetone to clean it - leaves no residue, and then used silicone as the lube.
Never tried anything for anti static. Haven't had a problem with it.

 

[Crohnos01]

After cleaning twice and the a third time with anti-static spray, mine has been rock solid. I loaded 400 +/- rounds last night and every throw was 7.0 gns of AA#5 on the nose.

 

[Member 36360]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I took apart and cleaned again last night with Hornady one shot and then blew it out with compressed air then wiped down with a dryer sheet. I'm was pleasantly surprised most all of my charges were within .1 grains

 

[Crohnos01]

Cool; I'm glad that did the trick! Finicky lil b-stard it seems about getting ALL that lube out of it, but that was my experience as well.