Powder consistency with Dillon 550B

[TackDriver284]

I did a little test with my Dillon that I dusted off after 19 years, used MR-2000 rifle powder, since its ball powder with is similar to Power Pistol, Auto Comp and AA#7. I wanted to see if it leaked, or leaving kernels between the metering blocks, etc. Grabbed 8 fired 38 Super cases with the fired primer still in, dropped a charge in each case and weighed on my FX-120i. Charges weighed in order is : 10.84, 10.76, 10.78, 10.76, 10.80, 10.82, 10.82 and 10.76 and yes its not pistol powder yet. Maybe pistol powder are more uniform, but will try again later with Power Pistol, AA#7 and AutoComp. I did not tap the sides of the hopper to allow powder to settle nor filled the hopper to the top which may help meter better. There is max variations of half a grain. Is this normal? I do see that the 2000-MR ball powder has bigger sized kernels than the others in the cases.

 

[TexasLife]

I've used my 550b since '84 and 550c since '16 with good success. When I started reloading in '84 it was for 44mag and 264wm. With the 2nd stage being their powder die and hopper is set it @ 61.3gr of imr4831 for the 140sbt sierra's. I never chrono'd any back then, but seem to be very consistent with accuracy on p-dogs. I churned out about 200-250hr. I would recheck about every 20 with a beam scale and it appears to worked for me.

Note: it's .5gr past their #5 data.

 

[salmonchaser]

Did you weigh your cases first? I’m still waiting on my first cup of coffee but it looks like a variance of less than a tenth of a grain. I see that in rifle cases routinely. I think my Dillion is still in the observation room at my old department. I should check on that!