Alliant Power Pistol

G

Great Crouton

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Calgary
I'm in a bit of a love/hate relationship with this powder. I'm new to reloading so it's the only pistol powder I've used. I bought it as my Lyman manual suggested it based on the bullets I bought in bulk.

Love: It shoots well, the cartridges I produced with it seem to be more accurate than the factory reloaded ammuntion I usually buy in bulk. Also quite like the flash it produces

Hate: How it meters through my thrower! I loaded 100 new rounds last night and I would check the weight every 10 rnds or so and frequently it was a bit above what I was expecting. Was looking for 6.6 grains but a number of times it was at 7 or 7.1. Max listed in the manual was 7.

I'm using the Lee Classic Turret press with the included thrower and loading for .40

Does anyone have any suggestions on a powder that flows through the meter a bit more consistently or is this common with most pistol powders?
 
Tight group and w231/hp38 meter great. I think unique has a bit of the same issues power pistol does. And yes it's allient.
 
Pistol Power meters EXTREMELY well in my Lee Auto-Disk.. @7.4grains for my .45ACP.

I'm a little more rough with my Turret press, so that the thrower gets shaken around a bit. Powder usually settles and throws consistently.

Also, I used the Case deburing tool that came with the Classic Turret press kit to Debur the top of the disk holes. Gave them a SLIGHT Chamfer.

Did you take the dies and the thrower apart and clean off the oil on all the Metal parts?? May be a good idea to do so. It may help.

EDIT:
I switched from Win231 to Power Pistol, and noticed a large increase in accuracy. I would suggest you stick with it, unless there is something that is known to group better.
 
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Interesting....no idea why I was getting such odd results. The only die I've had to take apart and clean is the actual powder through expanding die, I noticed a light coating of oil on the outside of the case as it came out. Put it back together and still I was getting some heavy charges. I did take the thrower apart, it's all pretty dry in there. My only concern with the thrower (other than the obvious) is that a fair bit of powder seems to stick to the throat of it (the gelatin feeling part) I've wiped down as much as I could with an un-used bounce sheet but wasn't sure if any of the agents on the sheet would not be good for the powder so I really only wiped down the outside of the hopper and that's it.

Ideally I'd like to stick with it as other than running through my meter, I liked the results I got at the range.
 
Great Crouton said:
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Interesting....no idea why I was getting such odd results. The only die I've had to take apart and clean is the actual powder through expanding die, I noticed a light coating of oil on the outside of the case as it came out. Put it back together and still I was getting some heavy charges. I did take the thrower apart, it's all pretty dry in there. My only concern with the thrower (other than the obvious) is that a fair bit of powder seems to stick to the throat of it (the gelatin feeling part) I've wiped down as much as I could with an un-used bounce sheet but wasn't sure if any of the agents on the sheet would not be good for the powder so I really only wiped down the outside of the hopper and that's it.

Ideally I'd like to stick with it as other than running through my meter, I liked the results I got at the range.
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Maybe give the bottle a little shake before dumping the powder in the hopper?
Do you only have one bottle? I've honestly never had a problem with any of Alliant's powders.

Even filming the muzzle flash they are all VERY similar, which leads me to believe that the powder functions very consistently.

Do some fiddling around with your thrower.. Maybe try to give a bit of a rougher cycling on the press?? You have the same exact setup I do.. And I don't have a problem. :/
 
Also, What Auto-Disk are you using? I'm using .66AD for 7.4Grains.
I assume you're using .61AD or .57AD? I would use the .57AD and try a few 'Go Rounds' with the turret press.. Try being just a LITTLE rough with it, so it wiggles the powder.
 
I have had some experience with my lee pro1000 throwing inconsistent charges and a lot of powder sticking to the powder container and the white rubber "wiper"(Soft rubber piece). This was partially do to oil residue and partially from static electricity. Cleaning takes care of the oil and using graphite powder (either the spray or powder) that you can get at Canadian tire will eliminate the static. Just spray it inside the powder holder and the rubber wiper and let it dry for a couple of minutes. Without the static your charges should be more consistent.

Also bullseye is a good powder that meters very well.
 
Ya, my basement is a little dry now that I think of it, especially in winter. It's usually around 26% at best. I'm going to try to humidify the room a bit more. Think I'll also try the graphite out as well. I'll give it another rip this weekend after trying those two out.
 
Great Crouton said:
Ya, my basement is a little dry now that I think of it, especially in winter. It's usually around 26% at best. I'm going to try to humidify the room a bit more. Think I'll also try the graphite out as well. I'll give it another rip this weekend after trying those two out.
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It should be fine? I have my press in my upstairs room..

If you're still having problems, give me a PM, maybe we'll work something out and you can buy yourself a new one and ship me the old one. :p
 
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That's very kind, thank you! I'm going to try out a few more rnds of reloading but I'll letcha know! It HAS to be something I'm doing wrong but can't imagine what....


And to answer your question a few posts up, yes, those are exactly the discs I'm using. I'm going by memory here but I think the .57 one I used first when going for 6.3 grains (came out at 6.4 if I did my math right) and the .61 one I used for getting a bit closer to the load max of 7 grains.
 
Power Pistol meters very well in my Lee auto-disk and Hornady measure, I bet once you get yours acquainted with graphite you'll be happy with the results.
 
How long have you had it for?

Also.. Make sure the hopper is turned all the way open??
Make sure there is no lube down the drop tube.. ?
 
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