Hi all,

My plastic tube hopper on my Hornady LNL press melted from leaving Bullseye powder in it. Can anyone tell me if the Hornady's alumininum/brass Black Powder hopper could be used to replace it, rather than getting another plastic hopper?
Thanks

I have never heard of smokeless powder melting a plastic part of anything. The powder is shipped in plastic bottles now days. Anyone else ever had this happen? Maybe I am missing something?

I called Hornady and as soon as I told them the hopper melted, they asked me if I left Bullseye or TightGroup in it, so it is a known phenomenon. They said that the extremely fast burning powders can be very caustic on the plastic hopper. They were great in sending a new one out right away at no charge. That said, I personally don't like having to empty it every time I am done reloading. I know some say it is a safer practice and less likely to mix up powder or forget what powder is in it, but I leave the container out to remind me which powder I am currently using in case I was to forget, but that is unlikely, because so far I use a different powder for each caliber. So, if I am reloading 9mm and have my 9mm shell plate and dies on the press, I know the hopper has Bullseye. If I am loading .45 ACP, I know the hopper has Win 231, etc. Long story short, I ended up ordering a black powder hopper today to replace the plastic one.

Well, you learn something new every day, if you pay attention. I have a Dillon 650, and I also leave Unique powder in the hopper. I will be sure to take a look to see if anything is going on with the Dillon hopper. Very interesting. Thanks for the heads up.

Unique is not one of the offending powders that Hornady tech supp mentioned. They said "extremely fast burning powders, like Bullseye and TightGroup." From my research, others have also had similar experiences with those powders, but so far, I have not heard of others. However, that is not to mean that other powders won't have the same effect. That said, others have claimed that Dillion hoppers have occasionally discolored, but never melted.

I would never leave powder in the hopper because I might misremember what it is, and that could have serious consequences.

i knew a guy who left powder in his measure all the time. that pratice ended when he switched calibers and had a bit of unique left in, which went into a 22/250 case and promptly ruined a nice 700 remmy. he was ok but surely shaken