Dillon 650 Powder Accuracy

[runway1]

Been hand loading for a few years now on a single stage press. Love it but I need more volume - eeeeesh!

Thinking of moving to a Dillon 650 but I'm concerned about the repeatability (precision) and accuracy of the powder feed. I'm a bit anal about my loads. I currently measure each load with a Hornady auto charge powder dispenser:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/818489/hornady-lock-n-load-auto-charge-powder-scale-and-dispenser-110-220-volt

It worries me on the progressive machines that I can't verify each powder load. How precise is the Dillon 650 powder loading?

[ricemanff]

The 650 is very reliable, but you might get a +/-.1. I will check every 10 loads to make sure I am still at my designated powder charge. The variation happens very rarely usually with ultra light loads and powder configuration.

[not-fishing]

It may be +/- .1 grain (more likely +0.14 and -0.14) but there's only one real measure.

You want to chrono them to be sure.

From my Harrell pistol measure I think it can vary more than that. I loaded some 38 spc, Universal Clays 4.2 grains, 158 Bear Creek, Federal Brass and primers on my single stage;

With the Harrell the chrono had a (5 shot) higher average and the variance was 130 fps.

With an RCBS chargemaster weighing every load the (5 shot) average was 60 fps lower with a variance of 45 fps.

I'm thinking the chargemaster loads 0.10 + 0.02 grains where the thrower loads +0.15 grains.

My loads were barely light to make the power factor I want so I'm going to load another 50 (weigh each load) of +0.1 grains and + 0.2 grains to dial my loads in and see if the spread changes drastically.

[runway1]

I can tolerate +/- 0.10. If it moves to +/- 0.15, that's a 0.3g spread. No problem on my rifle loads but I would have an issue on my pistol loads at 5.4g.

[damndave]

All depends on the powder used.

[Solus]

.3g difference can go unnoticed when shooting. You are more likely to flinch or pull the shot rather than notice the difference. unless you are doing long distance shooting it wont be noticed

[runway1]

.3g difference can go unnoticed when shooting. You are more likely to flinch or pull the shot rather than notice the difference. unless you are doing long distance shooting it wont be noticed

You may not notice it in your hand, but if you shot a course twice with one load and then twice with another that was 5% different, your result may notice the difference.

Aside from that, as a mechanical engineer, it's just in my head. I can't accept 5%+ variability. In this application, 3% is ok. 5%, no. Not unless I'm just plinking around.

[runway1]

All depends on the powder used.

Agreed. Very good point.

[hambam105]

BL-C, H335, W748, loaded thru Dillions, are all powders that have been in the winner's circle for about the last 15 or so years.

[bruce381]

231 on my 650 at most +-.1 gr. not noticed at all those rounds will shoot 1 1/2 inch at 50 yards with pistol and scope over a rest.

[Pauliedad]

Take a look at some of my posts on just this. Got lots of good feedback from others.
There is always a jump after you stop for a few minutes. If I'm going for as accurate as possible, Ill toss back the first three loads into the hopper. Once going, the powder drop is spot on.
One time I crono'd 20 random out of a big batch and compared them to 20 I measured out by hand and guess what? Same average FPS with a high/low difference of 15 FPS
That was the day I stopped worrying about how accurate the powder drop was.
Now that all said, this is pistol we're talking and as mentioned by others, it really depends on which powder you throw.
I'm starting to gear up for .223 and not long range so Ill just go with a powder that throws ok. For 308 I'm looking to go single stage.
Hope this helps and do some googling on this if you want more. I found a ton. Much came back from calguns and also the Brian Enos forum.
Good luck.

[runway1]

Bruce, Paulidad, thanks for the help. I get the same "settle down" on my Hornady aut powder dispenser as well, so I'm not worried about that. Good to hear it settles and then repeats - that's really what I was looking for. Mechanically, that's a good behavior.

Good move on your part grabbing the random and doing a short test. Thanks all for the excellent replies. Very much appreciated. Looks like I need to fund a 650!

[bruce381]

a 650 is truely a ammo factory, my brother that knows nothing about guns whated me laod some 45's on my 650 and thought it was a cool machine. To go from fired brass to laoded in a few pulls of the handle.

[Finish it]

Tighten the wing nut on the powder bar linkage a little extra. This will minimize the variation.

[CAL.BAR]

.1gr +or- for HP 38. Even more accurate with H1110