reloading 45Lc and 357 Mag with Hodgden TightGroup and Unique powders is quite the challenge on an autoloader press.

3.5-5 gn of powder is really only a few specks and I am very concerned over double loads. So I got me a powder cop die from Hornady.

My experience so far with its ability to display a visual queue if the powder charge in case makes me only feel like I am giving lip service to the requirement. There really is not enough powder in the case to measure by pushing down over it a 3/32" cylinder of steel that will kind-of rise based on the powder volume in the case.

anyone have any words of wisdom?....before I just give up and manually charge the cases and visually inspect.

I was thinking maybe I might just switch to trail boss powder as it will present a higher volume of powder to measure wirth the powder cop. My concern there is that I have experience getting tight groups with UNIQUE and TITEGROUP powders....

If its to small a charge to be reliable,I wouldnt fool with it,but i do like for my case to be pretty full so i would for sure try a differnet powder also that may be just as accurate and safer visually to inspect.I have also cut a very small dowel or pencil and marked it with a pen all way around to double check small charges and make sure they are not overloaded,then i go ahead and seat the bullet so theres no way i can double charge it after that....Years ago ..When i use to throw powder from a hopper I got some very hot loads one time and i just hand measure one at a time now.....The hoppers can throw a little hotter charge sometimes and by hand loading each round i have seen this on several occassins and just trikle the last few grains now....
Hope this helps

I also wanted to share with you that i have taken a deer antler & drilled a hole in it so when it is flush full it holds 70gr.pyrodex for my Hawken,you could make a similer measurer such as cutting a pistol case,etc. to dip the small charge and then throw it on the scales for a simple double check...or just trikle 3.5 grains etc.

One reason I am dead set against TG in anything really. I know, I know, it's cheap & accuracy is good, but accuracy is good w/ 1/2 doz other powders that are less prone to pressure spikes & throw a charge that can be visually checked. I don;t know what you are shooting for, but hard to go wrong /w Unique under lead bullets for most applications.

I found tight group pressure spikes.. mega quick...

I have a container that has about 5% used out of it and that's it..

I won't touch the stuff....

btw - I am using the handgun loads with cast lead SWC .45LC and 148gr WC .357Mag.

Their intended purpose is as a targert and light hunting load (up to 1000fps)

quote:

I found tight group pressure spikes.. mega quick...

I have a container that has about 5% used out of it and that's it..

I won't touch the stuff....

Seafire, This is the 1st I`ve heard of anyone haveing a problem like this with Titegroup. I`ve burnt quite a bit in my 45acp and never noticed anything suspious with it. I don`t use it for any other then mild target loads though, and prefer Power Pistol or VV-N340 for heavy loads.

I have loaded the 45 LC with tightgroup (about 5 grains IIRC and got very "fun to shoot" velocities. I really liked it until one day I hit a 4X4 wooden block and the bullet bounced straight back from it and hit me in the leg..... It stung like hell but didn't break the skin.

Ever since that day I decided to load such that the bullet would at least stick in a pine board!!! And then gave up on large caliber handgun all together as my hands were bad from an illness.

My point:.....increase the load and your powder cop will easily show the powder level difference between a single and double charge..

Oh BTW.....I'm the guy that developed the powder cop for Hornady and it showed dramatically the difference in a single and double charge of 2 1/2 grains of bulleye in a .38 special case.....one of Steve Hornady's requirements for the tool!

rje

I'm sorry I can't comment on the Hornady powder cop but I do have plenty of experience with the Dillon powder check in a 650. I also ran TG and 231 in reduced loads for light target loads and steel shoots (speed and accuracy required, no power factor required). I ran 38's with 2.8 and 3.0 grains of TG and also 231. The powder check worked great. Although Dillon claims its only to check for over or no charges, when set up properly you can visually check the consistency by watching where the plunger rests (it has a v notched adjustable grove that triggers the alarm).

I ran thousands of loads through it with no problems at all.

Seafire

Your making me very nervous with the spikes comment with TG. I just loaded some near max 357 loads with it. Could you please elaborate more on the issues you found with Titegroup.

vapodog,
I saw your feedback on the powder cop and just went down and configured 3.0gn of TG. PUlled through about 20 charges and set and reset the Hornady powder cop to visually get the O-ring to signal proper charge. I see your point about being able to meter small loads, but the amount of center column movement of the indicator for those loads was less than 1/64th of an inch.I don't see how to set it so that I can feel comfortable that I am getting a proper load. I mean the O-ring itself is probably 1/64 of an inch in width. IT is not like I have any precision notches in the column or any other signal. Also, The O-ring is prone not be exactly horizontal, given it is a elastic fit to the center column.

maybe I am missing something here......

quote:

I mean the O-ring itself is probably 1/64 of an inch in width

The powdercop I delivered to Hornady had an O-ring of IIRC about 1/16" inch (4 times the 1/64 you mention) and the die is set such that the top of the O-ring moves to the top of the counterbore in a normal charged case. In a double charged case (the size of a .38 special case) the O-ring moves completely out of the counterbore.....an obvious change....

If you're loading a .45 colt or a .44 magnum with very small charges the difference in charge height will be quite a bit less and much less noticeable. This is why I suggested using another powder that allows a charge of 6-7 grains and then a double charge is much more noticeable.

Again, the powdercop is a fine tool for detectng double charges and NO-charge and not so fine for detecting overcharges.....the height difference of a couple grains in a large capacity case can be very miniscule.

If the die is adjusted such that the stem with the O-ring is pushed up to the top of the counterbore with a normal charge, then the height difference of a double charge is quite noticeable unless you're using an extremely small charge in a very large case.