Powder measure maintance

[Char-Gar]

Those who know me, understand I am an old school reloading guy. This means old powder measures as well. When I started in handloading in the late 50's my mentor told me to remove the drum of the measure every once in a while, cut off the powder residue with fine steel wool, put a little powdered graphite on the drum or rotor and reassemble. This keeps the measures working freely and increases the accuracy of the thrown charges.

This is a routine procedure with my measures that have drums or rotors. It really works. How often? Well that depends........

[DeanWinchester]

I have two lyman 55's and I do the exact same thing.

[country gent]

My old bedding and mull gets the same cleaning every so often and lubed with dry lubricant also. Almost every moving part benifits from proper cleaning and lube.

[seagiant]

Hi,
My Hollywood measures demand a cleaning every now and then. The Saecos not so much!

[hd09]

I would love to clean up my old lyman 55 but the screw on the left side is in there good. I started to mess up the slot and had to let it go for some other day. Any one got any tricks it would be a wonderful thing.

[JASON4X4]

I clean mine the same way every now and then

[country gent]

HD If you have a drill press put a bit in the spindle lock the drum to the table in the right place and use the chuck key or a rod in a chuck hole to turn while holding the bit in place with the spindle, this gives better down force and a straight true turn on the screw.

[seagiant]

HD If you have a drill press put a bit in the spindle lock the drum to the table in the right place and use the chuck key or a rod in a chuck hole to turn while holding the bit in place with the spindle, this gives better down force and a straight true turn on the screw.

Hi,
Thats good with a little of this!

[hd09]

Thanks to ''country gent''. It worked great and got her cleaned up real quick. If that had not of worked probably would have tried the Kroil as ''seagiant'' said. I don't think it had been apart in a long time. My dad got it back in the 60's, the old orange ones. He gave it to me a few years ago. Thanks again

[hd09]

Forgot to mention, I think my 55 is the twin to ''Char-Gar''s

[Bonz]

I use Hornady One Shot Gun Cleaner & Dry Lube on each of my powder measures every time I change powders. Just disassemble, spray & re-assemble. It dries in seconds and leaves the dry lube protection behind.

[seagiant]

Thanks to ''country gent''. It worked great and got her cleaned up real quick. If that had not of worked probably would have tried the Kroil as ''seagiant'' said. I don't think it had been apart in a long time. My dad got it back in the 60's, the old orange ones. He gave it to me a few years ago. Thanks again

Hi,
Just for future reference,but a little can of Kroil can save you a lot of heart ache if you are a do it yourself guy. A lot of times if you see a nut or screw that is going to be tough,before you strip it give it a shot of Kroil and let it sit a minute and try it again.

I know that a lot of mechanics use it on brake bleed valves and just as a habit squirt a little on each one before they even begin! Makes life easier. I keep a can in my shop and use it often! Of course the other side to this is Never-Seize or Moly Paste, for the next time you have to take it apart!

[Char-Gar]

My first powder measure was a Lyman 55, but I quickly went to a Hollywood as it is much easier to adjust. Today I have two Hollywoods, a RCBS Little Dandy with a mess or rotors, the two Pacifics with rotors and the Lyman 55 which is left set at 3.5/BE. I am watching for a cheap Lyman 55 to leave set at 4.7/BE

I like the measures (Pacific and RCBS) with fixed rotors, but you have to check the rotor against a good scale and it will never throw the exact charge indicated. While most often the minor difference in charge weights won't matter, there are times I want exact weights and that is what the Lyman 55s do and any other adjustable measure.

There is a place in my shop for both the fixed charge weight and adjustable charge weight measures. I would not want to have to choose one or the other.

Oh yes, I keep a can of Kroil on the bench. It is a necessary item for me.