Extruded powders "crunchier" than ball types...

[ilmonster]

I was just reloading some 45-70 rounds with a new powder which uses extruded granules (H4198). I noticed in my RCBS Uniflow powder measure that when rotating the arm to drop powder, it sometimes feels almost stuck until I give it a good pull down and feel a crunch of sorts as I pull it down. It almost feels like it's cutting a number of the extruded powder flakes. Is this normal?

I am used to using ball type powders (Western TAC for .223 in my single stage and HP-38 in handgun loads in my SDB) and TrailBoss in my 45-70 rounds loaded on the single stage press, and none of these make the crunching sound / feel. Your thoughts....

 

[Fursniper]

What you're experiencing is normal for a powder thrower with extruded powders, ie, it's essentially "cutting" some granules as you close the arm. Some extruded piwders are better than others at feeding but all will exhibit this problem to one degree or another. Ball powders having much smaller granules don't cause this problem and feed much better. It's just simply the "nature of the beast" and short of short throwing your powder drop and finishing with a power trickler or transitioning to something like a chargemaster, I'm not sure there is a solution.

 

[MtnCreek]

It's cutting the powder as you said. If you want a cheap measure that works good with most extruded powders, pick up a cheap Lee measure. It does not work well with fine ball (like 296) and bridges w/ H1000, but works pretty well with powders in between those extremes.

 

[ilmonster]

Thanks all! That is what it feels like. I'll continue using it, and we'll have to see if the 45-70 reloads shoot well. Cheers!

 

[vh20]

The best way to manage extruded powders in a Uniflow is to use authoritative strokes on the handle, with a pause in between to allow the chamber to completely fill. On the upstroke, I make the handle bump firmly against the stop to "jar" the powder kernels so they will fall into the chamber without bridging, and completely fill it. This helps keep the throws consistent. I pause for a second to make sure the chamber has finished filling, then on the downstroke I come down fast and firm, to "power through" any kernels that have to be cut, so that I don't get stopped and have to back up and take another run at it.

 

[pell1203]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This, 200%!

 

[ilmonster]

Thanks for the tip VH20. The other thing I noticed is that the extruded powder doesn't seem to meter nearly as well as the ball type powders, with the H4198 dropping in a +/- 0.3 grain range. The TAC powder I run through the Uniflow is usually within a 0.1 grain delta. I will try your method to hopefully keep the drops more consistent. Again, thanks for the help all!

 

[vh20]

It will help, but I still always set the measure to throw a few tenths short of my goal and use a trickler to come up to it.