Inconsistent powder drops: static, moisture, or what?

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I'm reloading with PowerPistol on a Dillon XL650, 9mm. The powder charge is fairly inconsistent, varying up to .3 grains (i.e 5.7-6.0) The powder seems to be clumping a bit. I've cleaned the powder funnel and drop tube, and run a dryer sheet over and through all surfaces, to no effect. As you can see by the following photos, I'm dealing with pretty smooth surfaces, ie no surface rust.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1387247915.486437.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1387247930.549868.jpg

The powder is the bottom of a jug that was left over from early Spring. Is it possible that the summer humidity is causing clumping? Is the powder such that it might be resurrected with some dessicant packs in the jug? Or is exposure to air/water causing a chemical breakdown, relegating the powder to fertilizer status?
 
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I 'm not familiar with the dillon, but did you take out the rotor and clean that as well? Along with the inside of the housing? Is there a baffel? are you using it?
 
I don't know what to tell you about the clumping, but someone here suggested some Teflon dry lube, small bottle of liquid available in the tool section of Lowes, to lubricate the powder drop. It seems to work wonders for me.

Chris
 
I 'm not familiar with the dillon, but did you take out the rotor and clean that as well? Along with the inside of the housing? Is there a baffel? are you using it?

There's no rotor on a Dillon powder measure.


How full is it? Try getting it at least half full, then tapping the side about a dozen times (lightly) to settle things, then toss and dump 5 or so charges, and weigh a few to see if things even out.
 
How does the Dillon work? just curious.

Never mind...I looked it up, looks like a sliding bar set up kinda like the Lee autodisk. Forgive my ignorance as I have only used Redding and Hornandy measures lol.

Why take a step backwards when you already have the best... [pot]
 
I have had some powder clump a little. There was a bad lot 0f HS6 that didn't dry enough at the factory. I would shake the jug to break up the clumps.
My Dillon throws dead on until it runs out of powder
 
I remedied my powder drop issues on the Hornady lock n load drop by doing a few things. First was to shit can the one shot cleaner and dry lube. It made powder stick, so I would get a couple charges a tenth of a grain low then the next a couple tenths high.
Second I degreased really well with alcohol and let it completely dry.
Third I used some used dryer sheets to wipe everything out, and also spray the general area with a light mist of static guard kind of up in the air over the powder drop.
Last I used a light spray of graphite blaster from Lowes. Drop tubes, inside the powder Hopper, on the V shaped baffle, inside the funnel down to the rotor and even on the faces of the inside of the rotor and let it wear off where it needed to. I ran it for a bit until dust stopped falling off.

Some people just run powdered graphite through the system. After all gun powder is covered in graphite. I also wipe down the powder cans with dryer sheets. Not sure if it does anything beside eliminate static on the outside.
 
I remedied my powder drop issues on the Hornady lock n load drop by doing a few things. First was to shit can the one shot cleaner and dry lube. It made powder stick, so I would get a couple charges a tenth of a grain low then the next a couple tenths high.
Second I degreased really well with alcohol and let it completely dry.
Third I used some used dryer sheets to wipe everything out, and also spray the general area with a light mist of static guard kind of up in the air over the powder drop.
Last I used a light spray of graphite blaster from Lowes. Drop tubes, inside the powder Hopper, on the V shaped baffle, inside the funnel down to the rotor and even on the faces of the inside of the rotor and let it wear off where it needed to. I ran it for a bit until dust stopped falling off.

Some people just run powdered graphite through the system. After all gun powder is covered in graphite. I also wipe down the powder cans with dryer sheets. Not sure if it does anything beside eliminate static on the outside.

I also did this. The Hornady One Shot seems to do a good job on metal parts, not sure another cheaper product would do just as well. Not in the powder system though.
 
Rutilate, it sounds like your looking at all the usual suspects. I used to be unhappy that my Dillon (lowly 550) would vary the weight of the charges, some powders worse than others. I did the dryer sheet wipe, cleaned the heck out of everything, did a lot or work on the powder drop tube. polishing the shit out of it, especially on the inside. I was surprised that for what I see as a quality product would have a powder drop with such a lousy finish on the inside, it's important to be smooth, right? I also shimmed the die block so it wouldn't bounce and experimented with a rounded button under my shell plate to reduce the plate snapping into position. Everything together may have marginally helped but at the end of the day, powder measures vary somewhat. Every powder measure I've used vary to some extent, depending on the type of powder, with the exception to my Harrels which drops 2460 (ball powder) dead on but sucks with large grain such as Varget. If your sure nothing sticks or clings to anything in the powder measure system, I'd look at how smooth your technique in using the press. Varying the pull of the handle will cause your problem. So will a press not adequately anchored to the reloading bench, which has to be sturdy. If it needs to be that accurate (at least in my mind), I weight out the charges. I've probably wasted a LOT of time doing that. IF that small amount of variation doesn't cause unacceptable accuracy or pressure problems, reload using a process that includes a powder measure.
 
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