hornady measure on dillon 550b??

[rpludwig]

Son-in-law has a Dillon 550b which is giving him fits with their powder measure (inconsistent charges)...his question is, can a Hornady case activated measure be adapted to his Dillon?

I am an RCBS guy, so no clue as to the feasability of such a conversion.

Thx in advance!
Ron

[jmorris]

It would be easy as there is no fail safe rod on the Hornady measure, just thread it into the tool head.I was given a 20 lb keg of old "long cut" 3031 that the Dillon measures didn't like and bought an LNL but the Hornady measure didn't like it much either.If I am going to load on a progressive I pick powders they like that also shoot well.What are you loading?

[rpludwig]

It would be easy as there is no fail safe rod on the Hornady measure, just thread it into the tool head.I was given a 20 lb keg of old "long cut" 3031 that the Dillon measures didn't like and bought an LNL but the Hornady measure didn't like it much either.If I am going to load on a progressive I pick powders they like that also shoot well.What are you loading?

he loads 9mm & 45acp...that said, while he prefers w231, he's out and has been using some that won't meter great through anything (700x for example)...

[rosewood]

Haven't used the Hornady one, but have used the Lee autodisk and perfect measure on mine without issues. As a matter of fact, the autodisk with the adjustable measure has become my favorite for low powder charge pistol rounds.

[knifemaker]

I believe that Dillon makes an adapter that allows other brands of powder measures to be used on the 550 progressive press.

[dudel]

Must be very powder dependent. My Dillon PMs work much better than the Hornady PM they replaced.

I think a Lee will provide case activation with a Dillon; not sure about the Hornady. Dillon does sell an adapter to mount other PMs, but as I recall they need to be activated manually (for example if you wanted to use an RCBS Little Dandy or a Lyman) http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/23634/catid/3/Powder_Measure_Adapter

What powder is he using. Might he need the XS powder bar? http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/23601/catid/3/Dillon_X_Small_Powder_Bar

[rosewood]

If you have the Lee powder thru expander die (which comes with the Lee pistol kits) it will activate it without anything else special. It will also work with the rifles if you purchase a Lee rifle powder thru die.

[omgb]

The Hornady measure will work so well you will wonder why you fiddled with that old Dillon measure as long as you did. You will need the measure and the case activated powder drop. Now, you could use an RCBS Uniflow and the Hornady case activated powder drop too. Either way will work. As to your problem with 700X, that's a shotgun powder that loves volume powder measures so it must be something specific to your Dillon measure. I use it in my Hornady 366 and 266 presses without a hitch

[omgb]

The Dillon measure is a modernized version of the old Star measure dating back to the late 1940s. The Hornady measure is a licensed version of the RCBS/Hunting Die measure. The case activated mechanism is all Hornady IIRC.

[bhn22]

700X & 800X meter poorly through most measures because of the profile of their flakes. Most of the issues I've seen with Dillon powder measure inconsistencies stem from the powder in the measure settling more as you use the press. As it's used, the powder charges get slightly heavier for a bit, then finally level out. After a while the powder seems to be more densely packed in the measure, and much more consistent powder charges result. Flake powders are the worst offender in these circumstances. Honestly, my Hornady powder measure doesn't meter them any better.

[omgb]

Well, I'm loading Green Dot, a flake powder and it is dead on every time I have checked over the last six days. The same is true of 2400, my other go to powder. I may be just lucky but I've used 2400 for over 40 years and it's always metered well. Now I have only limited experience with Dillon measures so I can't really speak to them. But RCBS and it's red twin Hornady have been my primary powder measures since the early 70s and I do speak with some gravitas concerning them. Hornady 366 and 266 measures use a powder slide and a washer to skim the powder into the bushing. I've run everything from Red Dot, Blue Dot, Green Dot, Universal and Clays through them without a hitch but again, they are mechanically different so I'm not to sure they are relevant to the discussion.

[j4570]

I use an RCBS uniflow with an RCBS case activated linkage kit for stick powder like IMR on my Dillon. The Hornady is similar, so I don't see why it wouldn't work.

I've never had a problem with 231 or 296 in my Dillon measures. Now flake powders like Blue Dot gave it fits, and so did stick powders.

[rosewood]

Stick powders have been the only ones to give me issues as it bridges in dry weather from static in the dillon measure. I have found if u help the bar return lever by giving it a tug on the return stroke so it jars the powder to go ahead and fall before the case comes out of the powder thru die.

[bhn22]

Well, I'm loading Green Dot, a flake powder and it is dead on every time I have checked over the last six days. The same is true of 2400, my other go to powder. I may be just lucky but I've used 2400 for over 40 years and it's always metered well. Now I have only limited experience with Dillon measures so I can't really speak to them. But RCBS and it's red twin Hornady have been my primary powder measures since the early 70s and I do speak with some gravitas concerning them. Hornady 366 and 266 measures use a powder slide and a washer to skim the powder into the bushing. I've run everything from Red Dot, Blue Dot, Green Dot, Universal and Clays through them without a hitch but again, they are mechanically different so I'm not to sure they are relevant to the discussion.

Read my reply closer, I said that 700X & 800X meter poorly. Now if you want to talk about Alliant/Hercules flake powders, my elderly Hornady measure has earned its keep primarily with Unique & Red Dot over the years. Decades, really. 2400 isn't a flake powder, it's extruded IIRC. DuPont/IMR 700X & 800X dealt me fits from the first use. I ended up not buying anymore because the flakes appear to be twisted or bent in some manner, and that makes precise metering difficult through some measures. They do seem to work well in shotgun loaders though, and they seem popular enough for those applications.

[bgw45]

Do measures other than the Dillon incorporate case belling features?

[rosewood]

Do measures other than the Dillon incorporate case belling features?
The Lee measure itself does not bell the case. The Lee powder thru die will bell the case when either using one of their powder measures on top or manually pouring the powder thru the die. The Lee seems a bit better than Dillon for cast as the Dillon powder funnels are way undersized for cast. The Lee expander/powder thru plug tends to be closer to the desired plug size for expanding for cast, although they could stand to be a bit larger.

Rosewood

[Maximumbob54]

I would assume if you use a Lee powder through expander die in conjunction with the Pro Auto powder measure then it would work on the Dillon. I've used that combo on my Hornady LNL AP and it worked fine. I have recently started adding the NOE inserts to my Lee dies though since they mimic the Lyman M die making the stepped case mouth instead of belling it. If you are trying to use the Lee PPM then there is a case activation for it but as far as I know that only works for rifle loading and it doesn't do anything to the case mouth. If you do use the Hornady powder measure with the case activation system then the PowderFunnels.com PTX insert is pretty nice for belling the case mouth.