winchester 231 powder problem

[NOTABIKER]

i have a basic single stage press and dispenser. I have been loading Winchester 748 & 760 for rifles. My powder measurements come out fine with these powders. I bought some Winchester 231 to load 44 mag and it seems to be sticking or bunching up in my feeder. This powder is nothing like the 760 or 748 which measure out consistently. If i set it for 8 grains and it comes out 7.8 i open up the adjustment and it still feeds less than 8. I am sure it is sticking in the dispenser [ why ]. I can use my lee dipper and scale but i do not want to.

[Divernhunter]

Possible static electricity.
Take a dryer sheet and wipe down all the parts of the unit you can. Or wash in dish soap then when dry do the dryer sheet thing.
We use Win 231 a lot without any problems. By brother just finished cranking out 2000 rounds of on the Dillon 650 using win 231.

[maxx03]

Cleaning the inside of the powder measure with a dryer sheet should help the powder flow better.

[opos]

I don't know the answer but might consider one thing...it's been really dry and you may have a static problem. (I played with our cat this morning and the dry air caused static and it shocked him when I'd touch him)
I load 231 all the time and no issues...I use the Lee AutoDrum measure now (the last 6 or 8 months) and never an issue....didn't have one with my prior measure either...but one thing I always do is to completely empty and clean out the measure when I change powders...and then wipe the inside of the dispenser and all moving parts with an anti static sheet from our dryer....I also don't load when the static is up due to really dry weather

Is there a chance you loaded the other powders a while ago and have just had the 231 problem recently? Maybe if you are loading in and area (I load in my garage) where it's really dry on low humidity days.....it might be causing the trouble...

Maybe a bad batch of powder? Maybe you rinsed out the measure and didn't get it dry? Beats me.

['ol shooter]

I have read where some loaders used a vibrator taped to the dispenser, and reporting that not only does the powder not stick, the dispenser positively glows.

[wbunning]

I have read where some loaders used a vibrator taped to the dispenser, and reporting that not only does the powder not stick, the dispenser positively glows.

Mine screams. :-/

[NOTABIKER]

tonight i cleaned it with brake cleaner spray and blew it out with compressed air. This unit is old and has been sitting around in a garage before it was given to me as a gift. When i got it i oiled the external moving metal parts and wiped it down. It is possible that some of the oil found its way internally . my bad if it did. It is clean and dry now so i will try again.
Thanks for the replies.

[sunnysmarine]

tear down all the drum parts clean them and treat with a dry lube spray I use Remington Dry Lube ends static cling for ever, the plastic hopper can be wiped with dryer sheet it will need it more frequently

[sofbak]

Oil + dry powder= bad results... W231 flows well. Rub down the internals with dryer anti-static sheet as decribed above and you will be back in bidness.

['ol shooter]

When I cleaned my RCBS dispenser the last time, I sprayed the drum with Hornady One Shot, cleans and leaves a dry lube film behind, worked out pretty good.

[divingin]

Best thing to use for lubing powder measure parts is dry powdered graphite. No worries about powder contamination, as it's already in powder: used as an ignition retardant on powder kernels.