Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Powder measure problem.

After many years my Pacific powder measure is acting up.
It seems to be holding part of a charge in the drop tube
and adding it to the next load. Any experience with this?.
The powder has been sealed, and the measure so simple that
it's hard to find the problem.
Thanks!

Well, if it's cold there (imagine that!) it might be static cling. I mean that even though this is April 1st.

Empty the powder and wipe the measure down with a dryer sheet. Wipe the outside of the plastic tube only, you don't want any residue inside it.

If that doesn't fully solve the problem, run a wire from the measure to a good electrical ground. I've had to ground both my measure and balance scale in very cold, dry weather, or both of them go wonky due to static.

Finally, you might run a dry brush up through the drop tube in case you have debris, dust or anything clogging it up.

Good advice Rocky, as always. Another would be to figure out some way to attach a "knocker" device to it like what's on a Lyman #55. The first measure I learned on had a handle that was made of spring steel and you could just pluck it to get rid of the bridging.

If you are using a course grain powder, the grains could be bridging.

I had a MEC shotgun loader one time that would do that. The drop tubes appeared to be made from aluminum, but when I took it apart, I found the tubes were steel, and the plating had worn off on the inside of the tube.

The tubes were clogged up with rust, causing the powder to not flow freely.

You might try taking the measure apart and cleaning it, throughly. You could have rust or debris clogging it up.

Yes it is a course grain (4350). I have loaded quite a few pounds of it through this measure with no problem.
It must be bridging after the rotor. One load will be short,
the next overflows the case. I'll try clearing the measure
and the drier sheet. If that dosen't work I'll try another
can of powder. It bug's after all these years ,why now.

Thanks!

Because like our numerical friend, you might just now have developed some rust in the drop tube - or some globs of old powder from when there was some moisture in the tube. Unscrew it and look.

Push a new or completely solvent-free bore brush through it a few times, blast it with some brake cleaner and warm it to be sure there are no residues.

Something else you might want to try, after you take it apart and clean it, is lubricate it with dry graphite powder.

Lubricate it throughly, put it togather and cycle it several times without any powder in it, then take it back apart and clean the graphite out. Powder is coated in graphite, so a little bit left in shouldn't hurt anything.

I don't know how a Pacific measure works--I have a very old Redding and a newer RCBS. They both have a drum and a micrometer adjustment for the powder chamber. If the Pacific is made the same way, rust and/or corrosion can build up amd cause difficult operation of the moving parts.

When I charge several cases at one time, I always hold the loading block under a light and look to see if the powder level is all at the same level, and expecially check to see that all cases have powder in them. I also randomly check a few of them on my scales.

With your measure being erratic, it is very important that you take this extra step.