Hornady Case Activated Powder drop.

[gibekim]

Has anyone used the Hornady Case Activated Powder drop with any other brand of powder measure besides Hornady? The instructions say that it can only be used with the the Hornady measure. I thought that I have seen some posts or maybe videos on U-Tube showing the Case Activated Drop used with other Brands of Measures. I have a Redding 10X which I would like to mount on a T-7 Turret press. Also I have an RCBS Quick Change (similar to the Uniflow) which I can use as well. Any input or suggestions from my fellow reloaders will be received with great enthusiasm. Pictures of such would be a bonus.

 

[cfullgraf]

I have swapped out the RCBS case activated powder drop on the Uniflow powder measure that came with RCBS Pro2000 with a Hornady case activated powder drop. I did keep the RCBS drop tube that screws into the powder measure, but I think the Hornady tube would work on the Uniflow.

I also modified a Redding 10-X powder measure to use the Hornady case activated powder drop. The body of the powder measure has to be tapped for the drop tube and the lever needs to be modified a little to be able to mount to the Redding drum.

Some other folks have modified Redding BR-30 powder measures.

 

[gibekim]

Thanks cfullgraf. I did manage to mount the Hornady CAPD on my RCBS Quick Change measure last night. I did not have any major problems. I had to fiddle with it somewhat in order to get it to index past the priner feed tube. I also added a 7/8-16 locking ring under the upper assembly, it made adjusting it a bit easier. I loaded up 50 rounds of S&W 40 using 4.5 grains of WST. Weighed all 50. 2 were 4.4, 2 were 4.6, 1 was 4.7, the rest were spot on.

I will be taking the 10X to work today to modify the body for the CAPD long metal drop tube and to fabricate a new actuating arm. I prefer this measure because it was always my most accurate and it's smaller size will make it easier to position it on the press.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I put the Hornady on my Uniflow. It takes a bit of playing to get the right setup for the lengths but once you get it set it works fine. I have noticed that the end is slowly bending from the strain when you expand the cases. Watch for that on yours as I expect one of these days the end will shear off that is attached to the thumb screw.

 

[gibekim]

confused

Peter - This is just a cartridge charging station. I'm confused when you say to be careful of the bending from case expanding. Do you have this set-up on a Powder thru case neck expander?

 

[MuffinMaster]

I have two of them, only set up one of them though. It controls a Uniflow. A year ago it was used to load a few hundred 357 mag loads with Trail Boss. It worked just fine for me. I did find setting the case flare a little tricky. There is an insert sold to help with this to, if I remember correctly.

 

[cfullgraf]

Peter - This is just a cartridge charging station. I'm confused when you say to be careful of the bending from case expanding. Do you have this set-up on a Powder thru case neck expander?

With the appropriate drop tube and set up, the case activated systems can expand the case mouth of hand gun cartridges at the same time as dropping powder.

This frees up a station for adding a powder cop die or crimping in a separate step as seating the bullet.

I prefer to clean my cases between resizing and loading so I let the normal mouth expander die expand the case mouth. I prep and clean the cases shortly after shooting them as store them away for a future loading session.

So, my powder measure does not need to expand the case mouth and I am not experiencing the problem that Peter has mentioned. I would guess that he has his powder measure hit a stop to get uniform mouth expansion. This would put more load on the mechanism. But I could be wrong on Peter's set up.

I still the get the benefit of the extra free station for a powder cop die and crimping in a separate step.

But, my way is not as efficient, but I still load more ammunition than I can shoot so it works for me.

Hope this helps.

 

[Blue68f100]

If your are talking about the arm that goes between the top and bottom, I have failed one. This is why Hornady came out with the powder stop to put the load on the nuts ( where the spring is). This will happen every time you put all of the expanding on the linkage. Use the stop and the problem will go way. Contact Hornady and they will send you an replacement part out free. They also sent me the stop to so I will not break another one.

 

[mstreddy]

OP I have used the Hornady Case Activated Powder system with the RCBS Uniflow. It worked fine, but currently I have it set up with a Hornady LNL powder measure. If you have your documentation on your case activated drop -- there is a recommended position for the screws and linkage for "other" powder measures. You need to connect it there, if not, they the adjustments will be off.
I'll check my documentation when I get home and scan/send if needed.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I will have to take a picture but Cfullgraf is correct. I have mine now set up using the hornady PTX powder measure stop on one side and the standard thumbscrew link arm on the otherside. Before I got the PTX stop I had the hornady setup just like the RCBS setup so as you expanded and dispensed at the top of the stroke the whole dispenser is held back by the thumb screw. The link arm bent here over time. I am sure I fatigued the metal and it will break eventually.

The problem stopped when I put the ptx powder measure stop in. Why RCBS does not have this I don't know. It allows much more precise controlling of the amount of flare and the amount of stroke on the measure.

 

[gibekim]

Thanks

Thanks guys for all your help and enlightenment. First off I was not aware (my bad) that there was an expander plug that can be used with the Hornady CAPD. That cleared up all of the confusion I had with some of your replies. I did my research and my CAPD can be used as such, it came with the correct link, now I know what that extra part in the box is for although it is not shown in the instruction booklet that came with the unit. When I order some more stuff from Midway I will get the inserts for the Calibers that I load. This will save 1 stroke on the T-7 turret press.
I have been loading using the RCBS Quick Change powder measure with the CAPD and it is working just fine. A real time saver. I'm still working on modifying my Redding 10X to use with it as well.