Hornady Pistol Rotor for Measure

[ZWCoffindaffer]

Does anyone else use the Hornady Lock n Load powder measure? I have no complaints with mine, but I noticed you can get a pistol rotor for it intended for throwing smaller charges. I just started loading handgun ammunition not long ago so I'm no proffesional yet, but has anyone that uses it found it to help throwing pistol powder charges vs the larger rotor it comes with out the box?

 

[david bachelder]

I thought they all came with two powder rotors. Shows what I know.

I have the LNL Case activated powder drop. It came with a rifle rotor and a pistol rotor.

After I used the small rotor I added this: http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/00005050129/Pistol-Micrometer-for-New-Rotor-
I found it to be just a shade more consistent.

I'm assuming yours is a bench mount. I believe they are the basically the same piece of equipment and the parts are interchangeable. You might call Hornady and ask or someone here may have that answer. I did see that MidSouth had both small and large rotors.

 

[RealGun]

I wonder if the question is about inserts rather than rotors. I had to buy my pistol inserts separately.

The smaller rotor comes with the powder measure and should be used based on its rated range of powder weights, certainly anything below 5 grains. The measure comes with a "standard" insert.

 

[Paddy]

You must use the small rotor with the small insert, and the large rotor with large insert.

And yes, it's much nicer for smaller charges, up to about 7 gr with most flake powders I use for handgun.

 

[cfullgraf]

Yes, I find the small diameter cavity rotor works better for handgun powder charges. I feel the powder measure performs more consistently when the adjuster is not near the "zero" setting.

My L-N-L powder measure came with my progressive press. It did come with both rotors but the literature was vague on the subject. I ordered the one I thought did not come in the kit.

Also, the metering stem is different for each size cavity. The stems are easy to swap out so one could have one pre-set for each cartridge. Or get the micrometer adjuster.

 

[Paddy]

I don't understand all these micrometer stems things. Isn't it completely subjective to the powder being used? The variations in densities are so wide that it seem so pointless to me to try and assign a permanently numbered value to cover all the possibilities

 

[Walkalong]

The point for me is being able to return to an arbitrary setting which I have recorded for that powder lot and weight for a given load.

If know the setting for X Grs of Y powder I can just dial back to it, confirm the throw, and load.

I log that setting with every load. Much faster.

 

[Kaldor]

I thought they all came with two powder rotors. Shows what I know.

I have the LNL Case activated powder drop. It came with a rifle rotor and a pistol rotor.

After I used the small rotor I added this: http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/00005050129/Pistol-Micrometer-for-New-Rotor-
I found it to be just a shade more consistent.

I'm assuming yours is a bench mount. I believe they are the basically the same piece of equipment and the parts are interchangeable. You might call Hornady and ask or someone here may have that answer. I did see that MidSouth had both small and large rotors.

I have the micrometers for my rifle and pistol drops for my Hornady powder drop. The thread pitch on the screw is wrong on mine, and do not allow my to dial back into a powder weight range. They are easier to adjust, thats about it. I dont speak ill about a manufacturers product often, but worst $60 I ever spent thus far. Would have been better off just buying a couple new inserts for different drop weights.

 

[RealGun]

I have the micrometers for my rifle and pistol drops for my Hornady powder drop. The thread pitch on the screw is wrong on mine, and do not allow my to dial back into a powder weight range. They are easier to adjust, thats about it. I dont speak ill about a manufacturers product often, but worst $60 I ever spent thus far. Would have been better off just buying a couple new inserts for different drop weights.

I looked at my micrometer pistol insert and found it graduated as if a relative number, not cc or grains. It shows 0-10 on the barrel graduated in halves, with the knob graduated 0-50. I think that gets you down to .01 granularity. I think you simply record the number that gave you the powder weight you want to remember. The range on mine seems to be .7 to possibly 10.5. That pistol rotor's rated range is .5-17 grains.

 

[ReloaderFred]

It's not intended to indicate the weight in grains, as so many powders have different densities. It's merely a reference point so you can record where the indicator pointed for the powder weight you choose, and then be able to dial back to that point and get the same weight you had before. It's the same as on my Redding, RCBS and other powder measures.

It would be impossible to calibrate the marks on the dial to all powders.

I've got several pistol inserts for my LnL powder measure, so I've got them marked for the loads I use the most and just change them as needed. I also have the micrometer insert and use that for other powder drops.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[cfullgraf]

To add to what Walkalong and ReloaderFred said on micrometer adjusters...

You can also interpolate the existing setting and actual charge weight and calculate a new setting for the desired charge weight.

(Micrometer Setting/Actual Charge Weight)x(Desired Charge Weight)=(New Micrometer Setting)

For small differences in weight, it gets you dialed in pretty much with one change. Larger differences may take a couple changes and calculations.

A lot less trial and error especially when setting up a new powder charge.

Also, I have two Redding 10-X measures and for the same powder charge, the indicated micrometer setting is different. Not by much, but different.

If I was anally retentive about it, I could reset one to match the other. I got better things to do with my reloading time. I just record which measure was used and the micrometer setting.

 

[BYJO4]

You need both a large and small powder rotor along with a large and small powder meter insert (these cost about $10.00) so I have one adjusted for each caliber and load to save time switching calibers. The large is used for rifle and the small for handgun calibers.

 

[david bachelder]

Paddy

Yes you are correct. The starting charge has to be "dialed in". Once this is done you're set to go.

The micrometer is simply a more accurate tool for fine adjustments.

I like it, but I can see where others wouldn't.

 

[Kaldor]

I looked at my micrometer pistol insert and found it graduated as if a relative number, not cc or grains. It shows 0-10 on the barrel graduated in halves, with the knob graduated 0-50. I think that gets you down to .01 granularity. I think you simply record the number that gave you the powder weight you want to remember. The range on mine seems to be .7 to possibly 10.5. That pistol rotor's rated range is .5-17 grains.

Correct, but a full turn on it should equal a full turn on the scale/dial/whatever. It does not. The micrometer goes 0-5 per turn, but when at 0, it does not line up with any marks on the body scale/dial. When I set the thing to the first line, it should read 1.0, not 1.whatever.

I can post pics if you doubt this.

 

[cfullgraf]

Correct, but a full turn on it should equal a full turn on the scale/dial/whatever. It does not. The micrometer goes 0-5 per turn, but when at 0, it does not line up with any marks on the body scale/dial. When I set the thing to the first line, it should read 1.0, not 1.whatever.

I can post pics if you doubt this.

The micrometer is adjustable so that it shows zero when the metering insert is bottomed out.

 

[mstreddy]

The LNL measures included with the press kits, at least the progressive ones include both pistol and rifle rotors/inserts. When you buy the LNL measure by itself, it usually only includes the rifle rotor/insert.
So, if you don't have the small set, you need to buy the rotor and insert. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/164839/hornady-lock-n-load-powder-measure-handgun-rotor-and-metering-assembly

 

[noylj]

>After I used the small rotor I added this: http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.co...for-New-Rotor-
I found it to be just a shade more consistent.

It might let you return to a previous setting, though I am sure you will still have to fine-tune it, I can see no way it would be more consistent, since the "plunger" part is the same and the powder has no idea there is a micrometer attached.

OP: what, exactly, is your question?
You will find that you can not get consistent charge weights for pistol loads using the rifle rotor. You can check various forums and MANY times a poster complaining about the inconsistency of their L-N-L measure will have their problem solved when someone asks if the have the rifle or pistol rotor installed.
Personally, the measure should always come with BOTH just to solve this "problem."

 

[RealGun]

Correct, but a full turn on it should equal a full turn on the scale/dial/whatever. It does not. The micrometer goes 0-5 per turn, but when at 0, it does not line up with any marks on the body scale/dial. When I set the thing to the first line, it should read 1.0, not 1.whatever.

I can post pics if you doubt this.

Mine doesn't zero out or have any calibration mechanism. It doesn't matter. The first mark is 1.0. I can go below that by .3, and that's it. I don't use any charge approaching zero and would be interested if anyone else does either.

 

[Walkalong]

Mine zeros, but as RG posted, it doesn't matter if it does. We dial in a charge using a good scale, record the measure setting, then later when we want to use that load we return the measure to that setting, throw charges to settle the measure, then check a few to make sure we are throwing the weight we expected, and we are good to go. We double check the charge weight for human errors more than anything.

I never remove the insert from my measures to ensure it remains in exactly the same place in proportion to the drum. A bit OCD, but there you go.

I just checked my .32 ACP Log and the smallest setting I have recorded is 2.0 Grains of AA #2 @ 4.2 on my Redding 10X.

That is for my measure and this lot of AA #2, all of which is recorded with the data.

 

[Reeferman]

For those that don't know on the micrometer adjusters you can zero them by loosening the screw on the end after setting the stem in all the way. Both of the pistol and rifle ones I have were way out.

 

[41 Mag]

I agree with what has been posted on the "settings", they are simply a numerical record of where a particular charge weight came to on the dial, and should be checked each and every time.

As for the LnL measure, I do not have one, but I do have the Uniflow with both small and large drums. I use the small ones for handgun and the large ones for rifle. Even with the Uniflow, I can record the number on the stem plus the turns, (ie: 4+2) it takes to get to a particular load, and dial it right back in later one, or at least within reason enough, that a simple tweak one way or the other and it is good.

You do have to verify the loads however no matter what when you change from one bottle of powder to another. The weight per charge can deviate due to age, or the conditions where the powder was stored. As the solvents evaporate it seems to get lighter as well as if it has been in high humidity it can be heavier. Just what I have found while using this method.

 

[Crashbox]

I have three LnL powder measures, with both pistol and rifle micrometer inserts for the respective drums. I also had to re-zero the micrometers from the factory as they either worked loose or were notably off. As mentioned above, the numbers are just to get you close and you NEED to verify the weight at every reloading session; having identical settings for different sessions seems to be the exception to the rule. The tweaking required, however, is usually very small.

I do wish they made an "intermediate" drum/micrometer assembly for these, though- I find that I need to use the rifle rotor for some of my warmer pistol loads!

 

[RealGun]

Mine is calibrated to the first tick, which I read as number 1. I see the zero, but the placement of the subsequent numbers suggests that there is no actual tick for zero. I just think it would be odd to read the numbers as being for the next tick rather than the tick directly beside the number. What matters though is that the calibration never changes, so the charge from how ever one reads the numbers can be exactly duplicated.