Shotgunworld.com

Here's a problem I've never had before. I've been reloading for about 40 years. I decided to try some Alliant e-3 powder in my 12 ga and I can't seem to get it to measure consistly. It will drop 16.3 gr two or three times and then drop approx 4 gr !!! It appears to be pluging up in my PC red baffle . I even filled the bottle with the baffle attached and dumped the powder back into the bottle and all of a sudden the flow would drop to a trickle, as if it was pluging up !!! Any ideas ??
Thanks
Tom

I suggest that you remove the shot bottle and the PC baffle from it. Examine the baffle to insure that there is no new obstruction and then pour your powder through one of these to catch any possible foreign material.


If nothing else you will eliminate one possibility, and you will then have a powder-shot sorter for future foul-ups.

Curly:
Thanks for the idea !! I did check the baffle for an obstruction, but found none. I'll try checking the powder next !!
Tom

Tom,
Curly has the right idea. If that powder is clumped up, it certainly can plug up the works. Running it thru a sifter will eliminate the clumps and should solve your problem.

DLM

For whatever reason(s), e3 has the reputation as a 'problem powder' with a lot of inconsistent drops - regardless of the machine.

The 'standard procedures' most of us learned (a hunnert years ago, back when dinosaurs were still fartin') with the 'old' powders: empty the powder back into the jug at the end of the reloading session, shake the jug good before filling the loader, keep the loader half+full ... etc. seem to minimise it's 'clumping' and 'bridging' tendencies and irregular drops.


GS

I've used about 16lbs of E3 so far without any metering issues. That said, I recently disassembled a few shells to reclaim the components and found the E3 molded in a solid mound under the wad. I'll be on the lookout in the future for clumping in the bottle.

open a factory sts or aa that has a dud primer and you'll find the same kind of powder clump in them too

First I've heard of this, after going through at least 5 8lb jugs of e3. Things change a little in the winter when it gets very dry in the basement, but I can usually rest assured which bushing is going to give me what amount of powder.

OP, loose the baffle.

~Michael

Thanks everyone for the great info !!
Michael:
I did load a box without the baffel and will try it tomorrow to see what happens !!
Thanks Again Everyone
Tom

So did you check for clumps/ Did you verify that you were getting the same safe drop without the baffle? Anytime you change anything in the powder metering area, you should verify your drop weight.

Curly:
I weighed about ten drops and they were all within .2 gr and weighed the last load I loaded and it was the same !! I haven't checked for clumps, yet !! ( I will ) I found it interesting that with the baffel, it dropped about .3 gr heavier when it dropped the correct amount !!
Thanks Again
Tom

Fclasser:

I had exactly the same problem when switching to e3 from Clays (MEC 8567). I was using the red plastic baffle at the time and, after switching to e3, I was getting one or two bloopers per box. I did all the grounding tricks and still had the problem. Removing the red baffle and screwing the powder bottle directly on the reloader solved the problem. Drops became consistent +/- 0.1 grain. There was no sign of clumping in the bottle or in the keg. I suspect the problem was bridging, since good drops followed bad ones. If a clump was stuck, wouldn't it stay stuck? Anyway, put the baffle on the shelf when loading e3. Other than that, I have had great consistency with e3, including nicely grouped speeds on the chrono.

Born_2_Shoot

Born 2 Shoot:
I loaded a box without the baffle and will try it tomorrow at the club. It sure baffled me as I load Clays, RD, 20/28, American Select, 410, Universal all using the PC red baffle with excellent results !! E-3 really had me baffled and still does as to why it has problems when using the baffle !!
Thanks Everyone
Tom

Clumps will break then all is well.

Check your powder drop tube for spider webs

I ran into problems with metering consistency with E3 too a few years ago, and as a result never bothered to buy any more. There are too many other good powders that are a lot less problematic....