best way to clean a sticky powder measure

[part_timer]

I'm having problems with a Hornady powder measure sticking when used. This is screwing up the progressive press it is attached to as I have shells with no powder from time to time due to it sticking in the "thrown" position. The spring tension is not enough to pull it back down.
What is the best way to go about cleaning it up to remove the stickiness from the drum?

Thanks

[fredj338]

Clean the entire thing w/ a spray degreaser. let it dry then run a pound or two of pwoder through it. The graphite should smooth things out. You could use some powder graphite through it to helo it along, but it should get smoother as you run more powder thru it. Powders have graphite coatings that fall off as you run them thru the measure.

[AriM]

DO NOT...I repeat DO NOT use a solvent on the painted portions of it....the paint will melt...ask me how I know this....=(

maybe the linkage is not set-up correctly....the LnL powder measures I have, are very picky about how the linkage is set-up/tuned...

[BerdanIII]

[QUOTE=AriM;857646]DO NOT...I repeat DO NOT use a solvent on the painted portions of it....the paint will melt...ask me how I know this....=(

Ditto on that. My Rockchucker has the mange for the same reason.

I cleaned off the rotor (blued steel) of my Uniflow with mineral spirits, then scribbled on it with a pencil for lube.

[August]

Hornady One Shot gun Cleaner dry lube is your huckleberry.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Ditto on the cleaning first followed by running powder thru it. If the problem persists you might look into a slightly stronger spring.Robert

[mroliver77]

Spray silicon is not your friend in this case either! Really, trust me on this. ;)
Jay

[two dogs]

clean with hot soapy water,do not wipe dry just air dry do not rinse the soap off.my last about 5000 rounds before i have to repeat.

[part_timer]

Thanks Guys, I'll give it a try tomorrow. It's not the linkage as it is sticky and hard to throw when off the press as well.

[littlejack]

A world of good information on the Castboolits site.
Jack

[Dframe]

[QUOTE=AriM;857646]DO NOT...I repeat DO NOT use a solvent on the painted portions of it....the paint will melt...ask me how I know this....=(

Ditto on that. My Rockchucker has the mange for the same reason.

I cleaned off the rotor (blued steel) of my Uniflow with mineral spirits, then scribbled on it with a pencil for lube.
I did exactly the same thing. Worked like a charm.

[Green Frog]

... or you could go to a lock or auto parts shop for a squirt tube of powdered graphite and "spray" it at friction points then work it in. Works for me! 8-)

Froggie

[Char-Gar]

I clean the sticky surfaces with 0000 steel wool and lube with powdered graphite. Been doing this for over 50 years on various powder measures.

[part_timer]

I finally had a weekend to my self to work on the jobs I wanted to do not the jobs on the honey do list so I tore the powder measure apart and cleaned it. This is what I found.

* A slight coating of surface rust on the drum edges.
* A slight sharp edge on the casting where the drum fits into it.
*A slight sharp edge on the inside where the measure rides up and down in the casting.

I took a sheet of 330 emery cloth and smoothed everything out and removed all places where there was slight rust. The sharp edges were removed and smoothed over. All in all it works like a brand new powder measure.

Thanks to everyone for the help.

[James Wisner]

You are lucky as it was just burrs binding your measure up.

I had to rebuild mine, yes rebuild it.

OLD deluxe measure, had over 25,000 rounds thru it, mostly flake powder, so much to the point that the alum pistol insert had become worn and allowing portions of powder flakes to be come wedged. Since this alum insert is what cut off the charge against the body of the measure. It would hang up an average of 20 percent of the time.

I contacted Hornady to see if the new LNL pistol drum / insert would fit the older measures, the answer I got back was sorry but NO.

So that left me with two options, one buy a new measure, or two make a new drum.

Having three of these older Hornady measures, I really did not need a new one.

So being the cheap person I am, I machined a new drum, opened up the insert diameter from 5/16" to 3/8" for improved powder flow, and shortened up the old pistol insert, much like the rifle insert. I had to silversolder and machine a ring on the end of the adjustment screw to match the new larger hole.

So now have all steel parts cutting off the powder, currently have 100 rounds thru it with no problems. I have about 8 gallons of once fired 45 ACP brass all cleaned and ready to load. That should be a good test of the new drum.

James Wisner

[jaguarxk120]

I usually dissasemble mine, clean with rubbing alcohol and lube with dry moly lube. Keeps it running plenty smooth.

Longpoint

A big plus on the moly on the moving parts. Just rub it on till all moving parts are well coated. Use rubber gloves.

[Shiloh]

Loose graphite works good. Keeps you from having your arm fall off levering powder through the measure. Did it on an E-Bay Uniflow I purchased several years ago that was sticky from sittin for years.

SHiloh