Hornady Case Activated Powder Drop Binding

[TigerCreek]

I finally got my Hornady Progressive press set up and ran into a couple of problems.
I'll focus on one of those here.
The case activated powder drop "binds" occasionally before releasing the powder.
It has been cleaned a reassembled - and only does this when powder is actually in the unit.
The powder is 25.6gr of 4064 into a .223.
It seems to be binding and chopping the powder before releasing.
I finally got frustrated enough to swap it out with my Lee case activated drop - ZERO issues.
Here is a video of the problem -

 

[AR-Bossman]

The problem, as I see it, is that the age old stick powders suck in rotating powder measures still holds true. I personally would never run a stick powder through a Hornady style measure. It's been proven to be inaccurate because it has to cut through the sticks of powder.
I'm not a fan at all of stick powder for progressive reloading. I'll use a auto trickler if I feel I need to use a stick powder for larger rifle loads.

Save that 4064 and get yourself some ball powder.

 

[TigerCreek]

That has been my thinking and was looking for others with a similar opinion.
Lack of powder in my area limits my choices.
All of my rifle loads, except for 223, are done on a single stage with weighed powder loads.

 

[Blue68f100]

I agree, When running a AP you want a powder that will meter accurately and smoothly. The reason I use ball powders or small flake powders. I've used CFE-223, Tac on mine for the 223R. The Tac metered the best but CFE-223 worked too with a 0.1gr max swing.

 

[Allen One1]

It does appear to be a powder problem. I have had very good luck using CFE-223 or H335 in .223 on the Hornady AP press.

 

[cfullgraf]

I lubricate the PTX tube, the powder measure drop tube, and the powder measure drum with some kind of dry lubricant. It helps prevent the binding alot but does not eliminate binding completely until the powder measure has been worn in but it reduced the incidences of binding immensely.

Just a light spray to coat the parts, do not drown them. Make sure you allow the lubricant's carrier fluid to flash off before putting powder in the measure.

I started using Remington teflon spray lubricant now I use aerosol graphite lock spray.

And, yes, some powders are worse than others.

 

[ar-newbie]

I started out using the hornady case activated powder drop, but never care for the rube goldberg linkage on it, ended up switching to lee.

 

[gojones]

I only load pistol on my AP and do not use any stick powder. Zero sticking or binding issues. I did thoroughly clean and use aerosol graphite lock spray when I first set it up in 2013. I believe stick powder contributes to these binding issues. Also be sure to clean thoroughly and use a dry lube to get the measure ready. Should be ok after that.

 

[TigerCreek]

I'll probably be sticking with the Lee powder drop for the 223 loads.
I had separate Lee drops set up for my pistol loads on the Lee turrets.
I'm moving all of that reloading over to a Hornady progressive and will probably let the Lee drop keep doing the job.
Not giving up on the Hornady drop for my Unique loads but I know the Lee drop will handle it without any problems.
I need to get it figured out since I already purchased all those metering inserts!

 

[AR-Bossman]

I'll probably be sticking with the Lee powder drop for the 223 loads.
I had separate Lee drops set up for my pistol loads on the Lee turrets.
I'm moving all of that reloading over to a Hornady progressive and will probably let the Lee drop keep doing the job.
Not giving up on the Hornady drop for my Unique loads but I know the Lee drop will handle it without any problems.
I need to get it figured out since I already purchased all those metering inserts!

Are you testing the drop consistency?

 

[joed]

I'm with AR-Bossman on stick powders. Progressives are great but there are a few tricks to learn. I own Dillon but I'm not sure the Dillon would do any better with 4064. If I were going to load rifle I'd try to stay with ball powders.

 

[TigerCreek]

Are you testing the drop consistency?

Yep