Squib rounds-powder drop

I have had an inordinate number of squibs over the past few weeks (I think it is now up to 5). As all would agree- any is too many and completely unacceptable. 

I did some weighing of matching headstamp brass, and sorted out some "light" loads. When disassembled, indeed there were a few with no powder.

I take full responsibility that there is something that I have done wrong- I just do not know where to look for the malfunction. I do not remember having the powder in the off position, or running out of powder. It appears to be random.  I have about 300 rounds that I consider "suspect" and am faced with no other choice but to disassemble them all. 

I am loading on a Lee Six Pack pro, 1st station is sizing, second is expanding with Photoescape's expander. 3rd is powder drop (Lee auto drum), 4th is bullet drop (Mr. Bullet Feeder), 5th is bullet seating and 6th is crimp. Last night I made up about 70 rounds without the bullet feeder and manually placed the bullet, so I could verify a powder drop. All seemed fine, and random weighing of powder was spot on (4.0 gr. Bullseye). 

Is there a way to incorporate the powder drop with the Photoescape expander, so that I may put a powder cop die in the open station? I know that I can put a manual powder drop on the expander plug, but I would like it to be "automatic", as it is the whole reason for the progressive press.

Never had this problem on my Lee turret press!

Thanks for any insight.

Joe

Is this the new auto drum with adjustable drum? Not the autodisk.

Yes, auto drum with adjustable drum. It seemed to work well.

Save them for practice, don’t break them down.

But first: Any chance of a double charge?

This a frustrating problem; Ive had it. My Lee powder measure had a rubber grommet inside that would get bunched up. 

Weighing hasn’t been successful for me but you could weigh batches of 5 or 10 to get an average and separate light shells. 

Is this auto index or manual? Did you short stroke any?

Bruce, I do not think there is any chance of a double charge. I do not believe any were short stroked, as I am very sensitive to completing a stroke of the press.  

I tore the dispenser apart and cleaned and polished it. Function appears to be fine. 

Auto index

I started breaking them down, but it is tedious, and I do not know how many I can do until the hammer fails. 

I will adjust the press tonight to make sure the shell actuates the dispenser as far as it will mechanically allow.

I tried an Auto Drum once on my Dillon press, and it seems that it was a bit fussy to get set up to activate properly. 

It makes a definite "click" when it activates and drops powder. Make sure that you have the chain adjusted so that you hear that "click" every round.

No chain on my model. Just activated by the case

My suggestion would be to get rid of the bullet drop so you can double check that the case has powder before placing the bullet. To me I find the visual inspection of the case before placing the bullet ideal as I can not only confirm powder but I can also assure the case is not cracked or deformed. I understand that you did that for 70 rounds but that is only a fraction of the loads that you find suspect. I also do see the appeal of a "fully automated" loading process but it just takes one squib followed by a full charge round to cause a big problem.

Agreed, and it was easy enough- did not disrupt the "flow" too badly

I think in the near term that is how I will load.

I may look into a Dillon powder measure that can attach to the Photoescape expander/ PTU

Look in every case. God gave you the best tool for inspection. Loading fast is not the way to go.
Angle a mirror if you need to.

Agreed, working much better with me checking every load. I like the mirror idea as well

Playing with the autodrum a few years ago I found I had to not run it too fast for it to perform as expected. The Dillon don't care how fast I go. I've never tried one outside a Dillon press though.

The Dillon measures have a time requirement to allow the powder to fall through the tube into the case.  That’s why some autodriven machines add a hesitation when the ram is at the top.  This gives time for the powder to flow.  Also, some who load larger calibers add extra powder measures in the progression.  If you have to add a hesitation of 2 seconds for 24 grains then a hesitation for 40 grains (223 vs 308) might be as high as 6 seconds.  Putting a second powder measure helps here.   Not that pistol charges are huge, they do have a small charge dropping a long way.  So, if I was autodriving my loading, I’d add a hesitation of about 4 seconds minimum.