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I use the drop tube off of my No.55 charge thrower. The insert that goes into the bottom of the charge thrower allows my RCBS funnel to sit perfectly on it. With a little extension, it goes out to 30".Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain*Kirk
You can make your own, or buy one... Track of the Wolf has options as well as BACO. Longer the better IMO for the reasons Lead Pot showed, which is freakin awesome by the way! Great example of what compression does to the powder column.
A 2512 uncut aluminum arrow shaft makes a GREAT drop tube. You have to put an "O" ring on the bottom to keep the powder from splashing out in a 45 case. Any plastic funnel can be fitted to the top of the shaft.
Dave
I like to keep the tube out of the case mouth. It defeats the drop tube purpose when you pull it out. It loosens the powder you drop in or spill it.
I use a 3/8" OD type L ridged copper tube and I use a 5/8 ID X 3/8" OD sweat reducer and that will fit over a .50 or smaller case mouth and it will not spill the powder.
I have them from 12" to 36" long. The inside diameter of the tube is small and it restricts the flow and it does a fine job compacting the powder in the case.
Attachment 284232Attachment 284233
I like that set up. Where do you acquire the funnel? Does this work for cases as small as 35-38 cal?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lead pot
Scheels have a good selection of funnels.
That drop tube works well for the .30-30 to the .50-90 and everything in-between :D
https://www.scheels.com/p/satern-no-...l/4951-22.html
Thank you, I'll fab one of these up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lead pot
I just bought one of the Satern funnels. It works great, and should work well with a drop tube like the one you showed. Thank you!
One thing that threw me for a while was my sight staff was not at a right angle to my level and this made windage adjustments confusing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain*Kirk
The fine tuning is not so bad with black keep is simple at first. The army had the right idea in 1873, that load was the start of my sucess. I am now using an accurate molds 459520B very close to the Postell. Others may disagree but I do most of my load development at 100 unless it is very calm.
I found a generic brass tube of around 8mm (a quarter of an inch) od diameter available in some craft and hardware supermarkets makes a great drop tube. It has thinner walls than equivalent aluminium tubes and for some reason that works better for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by tmanbuckhunter
Also I found bigger granulation powder seems to pack better with drop tubes. For example 75grain of a mix of 2f and 3f trickle drop tubed into a starline 45-90 case results in about 12mm of space (half an inch). Same volume of 1.5f powder delivered in the same way results in around 16.5mm of space (650 thou).
Same 1.5f powder simply poured into the case and vibrated by holding a case tray on top of a vibratory tumbler for 25 seconds packs the powder so there is 14.5mm remaining (570thou).
So there is quite a difference. Drop tubing properly however takes quite a while. One is supposed to trickle the powder slowly not just dump the whole lot in one go. If you're doing it by hand it takes a lot longer than charging a bunch of cases and vibrating them en masse. I haven't noticed a difference in accuracy between the two, but there are plenty of people that do allegedly.
There is an article in bpcr news magazine Winter of 2009 by Bob Glodt. Where he compared drop tubed, vibrated, and just charged loads. Unfortunately I don't know the outcome as I've been trying to track a copy for years... If anyone does have it I would be very grateful for telling us the results of that test.
An easier /more adaptable way is to drill a hole thru a pc of .060 poly /epoxy ( like a washer) onto the end of your tube . vibrate the base your brass sits on (old electric razor) No spill and works on any brass your tube fits inQuote:
Originally Posted by tmanbuckhunter