Leaving powder in feeder for how long???

[morcey2]

I put a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the hopper with the powder name written on it along with the date I last used it. I will usually empty it if I haven't loaded for a couple of weeks or I know I won't be getting back to that particular powder for a while. It almost always has IMR4064 in it, at least from the history of little pieces of foil.

I've heard that bullseye and a couple of other pistol powders are nasty on plastic hoppers, so if I'm loading any pistol powder, it gets emptied as soon as I'm done.

Matt

 

[mdi]

Mebbe it's my life long machinist/mechanic thinking, but all tools get cleaned and put away at the end of a work/reloading session. All supplies get cleaned, re-packaged, and put away when done. This is closely related to only one powder on my bench at a time. In 30 years of reloading, I have not had to ask "what's this powder?", and never mixed any gun powders.

FWIW, I have a couple tools that I bought over 40 years ago, and all my tools, hand tools and power tools, are in good condition because I take care of them. My reloading tools and equipment are treated the same and none fail me, and stay in good shape (I have a C-H press from the '60s that is starting to get a bit sloppy, but I didn't own it until the mid '80s so I don't know how it was treated before i got it ).

 

[Nanook]

I usually empty the hopper, but recently I left a lot of H4350 in my Redding hopper for over 5 months.

When I emptied it back in to the bottle, there were no signs of it marking the plastic of the hopper.

I've had other hoppers on other presses discolored by pistol powders, though, after a lot less time.

 

[LightningMan]

I'm a bad boy too! Have always left powder in my hoppers of my Dillon 550B, untill I choose to change powders. Then it gets dumped into its original container, and so on. I have two hoppers for my Dillon and pretty much use one type of powder for each, that was till lately with the powder shortages. One powder hopper is always filled with Trailboss for my Cowboy Action Shooting, and the other usually with Win 231 for all my auto loaders, like .45acp, .40s&w, and 9mm. I've been loading this way for 10+ years without issues. Call me bad, but I was never told or read that it had to return to the container after each day of reloading. LM

 

[Schwing]

I never empty my hopper until it is time to switch powders. I keep the bottle that the powder came from next to my press so the powder never gets mixed up. Sometimes it sits for a week or so... IMHO, I have bigger things to worry about.

I don't disagree that it is a good habit to empty the hopper after each use but it is not critical. There are a lot of things people do out of habit but this is one that isn't necessary unless you are going to be leaving it in there for weeks or months without use. Keep the lid on to prevent moisture problems and you won't have an issue.

 

[BigBore45]

I have left 800X in my shot-shell reloader for over 2 years with it sealed with no problems. I load up 50 or so a year for pheasants and just leave it set up with a card on the shell plate that says the grains of powder/type of wad/and oz. of shot. I leave powder in my metallic loader for a few days with no problems either, just make sure to leave the can of powder it came from right beside the loader. I have a rule about different powder being on the reloading table at the same time as i watched a guy ruin a 30-40 krag from that mistake.

 

[X-Rap]

The OP has nothing to worry about with regards to deterioration of the hopper if leaving the powder until the following day.
That is not to say that there isn't some reaction to the plastic but when one considers the
effect of powder over the full life of the tube a day or two means very little. All of mine have lost their transparency over the years but have no pits but I am a sinner like some and have been known to leave my powder until I move on to the next caliber.

 

[ny32182]

The only time I empty mine all the way is when I'm going to change powders for a short run of something I don't shoot often, which is very infrequent.

What I tried to do for a while was load enough to draw the powder down below the bottom of the plastic so I wouldn't have direct contact between powder and plastic most of the time.

The bottom of the hopper still got discolored.

Conclusion: Your hopper is going to get discolored if you use it regularly. I would no longer use this as a component in the decision of whether to empty the hopper or not.

 

[Louca]

I always unload the hopper after a day of reloading. Usually, it's one session, but sometimes multiple sessions with breaks in between. Either way, the hopper is always unloaded at the end. That is true for both the RCBS Uniflow and the Dillon SD hopper.

I don't have facts or data to back this up, but it seems it is not a good thing to let powder be exposed to air for a long time. I am not sure if fresh smelling powder is any better than stale, out-in-the-air for a long time powder. Maybe not. But it seems it couldn't hurt.

Lou

 

[Swampman]

I always empty the hopper at the end of each session and sweep the bench and floor clean.

I also use my reloading bench for cleaning and repairing guns. Silver soldering or using a Dremel cut-off wheel are best performed after all powder has been put back in the magazine and any spillage swept into the waste powder can and safely stored away or scattered on the lawn.

Read about Skeeter Skelton's "Cowkiller Loads" in "Good Friends, Good Guns and Good Whiskey" for a cautionary tale about leaving high nitroglycerin content powders in plastic powder hoppers for extended time periods.

 

[mstreddy]

I can say, that I am in both camps. When I'm loading rifle I will empty the hopper when done for the day, as this is typically done in small batches. When I'm loading pistol on the LNL AP, I leave the powder in the hopper as I come back to the press as I can throughout the week and load another 100-300 rounds. I tend to use the same powder for a couple of calibers so I keep the powder in the hopper during caliber changes. One thing I do is I stick a piece of blue painter's tape on the hopper/powder measure with the powder that's in it.

 

[ruger1228]

Two weeks ago I had the hopper on my Hornady LNL press come loose from the metal housing. I contacted Hornady Customer Service about a replacement. While I was talking with the Customer Service Representative he told me to never leave powder in the hopper overnight. He stated that the chemicals in the powder react with the plastic hopper and cause it to deteriorate.
I figure he knows what he is talking about so I no longer leave powder in the hopper overnight. Hornady did send a replacement hopper to me free of charge.

 

[joed]

I don't believe in leaving powder in the hopper. However, I have done it if I plan on continuing the following day. Have never left it any longer than that.

 

[tcoz]

Alrite guys, I think OP gets it, that we never leave powder in the hopper. But that isnt what he was asking. Maybe someone can tell us which powders are the worst to leave in? Or which are "high nitro"?

Ive always heard Bullseye is a no-no to leave in the hopper .

Funny that you mentioned Bullseye. I always left it in the hopper from my Pro Auto Disk for a few weeks at a time with no discoloration. I just started using a new Chargemaster and left it in for about a week and it "roughed up" the inside of the clear hopper. RCBS is being good enough to send me a new one at no charge. The problem is that I often load for just an hour or two at a time, but I do it almost every day and I didn't want to mess with emptying it every day, but I suppose I will now.

 

[wingman]

I've been loading for over 40yrs also and I don't leave powder in my measures, ever.

You do what you want but I won't leave powder in anything I have.

I have nearly 50 years in and agree never, never leave powder in a hopper, learned very early in my reloading life not to do so. The powder comes in opaque cans for a reason.