I melted my Chargemaster

[Missoulaz28]

I have been working up a load for a buddy's 9mm over the last couple weeks. Got some test loads done up a couple weeks ago and finally got to shoot them over the weekend, all is good so far. I use the Chargemaster to do work ups on the turret press before setting up the progressive. So the Chargemaster has been sitting for two weeks full of Bullseye waiting between sessions. After getting a batch of ammo done tonight I start to clean it out to start another batch of rifle ammo and run into an issue, the Bullseye has melted into the plastic. i'm not worried about the clear hopper, it can be replaced, the entire powder funnel is caked with a layer Bullseye now. I can't get it off, it's embedded into the plastic.

Any body have a suggestion to remove the Bullseye? I've left rifle powder in it for extended periods of time before without an issue, I guess Bullseye is potent stuff.

[Stampede]

That's a nasty surprise.

To "neutralize" the powder, i would suggest you clean it with a very hot soapy solution first. This might clean it as well. If that doesn't clean it, you can use turpentine/benzine. Please do some small testing first, the chemicals can weaken or damage the plastics.

Although water is so good for the metal parts i see no other way to neutralize or loosen the powder. I had nearly the same problem with pre filled cases (no bullet on top), i never do that again. The powder attracted moisture from the air, i rinsed the cases in the kitchen sink with soapy water and came out nicely.

Perhaps somebody else has a good tip that you and i are not aware of yet.

Peter (Stampede)

[Ickisrulz]

This happened to me a year ago with Bullseye. After time the powder melted into the plastic hooper on my Uniflow. No amount of cleaning got it out and RCBS sent me the piece for free. Live and learn.

[imashooter2]

Nitroglycerine is a heck of a solvent isn't it?

[Hip's Ax]

I'd e-mail RCBS and ask what to do.

[milprileb]

RCBS will respond, don't hesitate to contact them.

Thats not normal for this item so there must be a soft mushy plastic
lot in the production line.

No doubt, yours is not the first so they will make this situation right.

[Ickisrulz]

RCBS will respond, don't hesitate to contact them.

Thats not normal for this item so there must be a soft mushy plastic
lot in the production line.

No doubt, yours is not the first so they will make this situation right.

There's no problem with their plastic.

The one I melted on my Uniflow was 15+ years old. The lady at RCBS was familiar with the results of leaving the powder in the hopper and said, "Oh no, you can't do that." If I remember correctly when I posted my problem here others had heard of it or had it happen to them.

RCBS did send me a hopper at no charge though.

[no34570]

That is the first I ever heard of that happening.
How about trying a bore powder solvent cleaner,Ed's Red comes to mind????
Just a thought?

[Missoulaz28]

RCBS said I could send it in and get it taken care of for $45. I'm going to do that since even if I get the powder out it's still messed up. I can't get a pic to come out worth a darn, so no pics.

[noylj]

I know Bullseye does not weld itself to the plastic hoppers of the Hornady and Dillon powder measures (or at least the lots I have used haven't).
Two powders that clump in powder measures and the CM (and would probably weld themselves to the plastic also) are Power Pistol and TiteGroup.
Both of these I have to "poke with a stick" to get them to unclump and flow down the discharge shoot.
This puts them down very far on powders I want to use...

[nicholst55]

Back in the day, it was well known that you couldn't leave powders like Unique in a powder measure with a plastic hopper - not because it would etch (or worse) the hopper, but it would kill the powder! Skeeter Skelton related an incident when he was Sheriff of Deaf Smith County, TX, and had loaded some hot .44 Special ammo for one of his deputies. Said deputy responded to an incident where a cow was struck by a vehicle, and not killed outright. He went to put the cow out of its misery with his .44 Special, only to have 2-3 bullets just 'dribble' out of the muzzle when he fired them! The rancher was singularly unimpressed, and finished the cow with his .22 LR truck gun. Skeeter determined that having left the powder in the plastic hopper of his powder measure was the culprit. Similar misadventures were reported by several other gun writers of the time, and that little bit of lore entered the reloading 'info bank' of the time.

Seems like some lessons have to be relearned every so often.

[Patrick L]

I'm somewhat suprised RCBS is charging you. I'd call again and see what a different tech says, and if they say the same thing ask for a supervisor.

[Missoulaz28]

I'm somewhat suprised RCBS is charging you. I'd call again and see what a different tech says, and if they say the same thing ask for a supervisor.

I'm happy with paying $45 to get it fixed, way better then the $200 to replace teh dispenser alone. This was 100% my fault, I didn't expect RCBS to do anything about it.

[cheese1566]

I have had excellent results with the RCBS warranty and free replacement parts.

The only exclusion is to electronic based gear unless it is under the one year warranty and deemed to be workmanship and/or parts fault.

[slim1836]

One may get in trouble sending powder through the mail without paying a HAZMAT fee.

Slim

[tomme boy]

Something is not right. I have left BE in my CM for over a couple of months and it poured right out. Sounds like they changed the make up of the plastic. I have had my CM for about 9 years now.

[jonk]

Considering powder comes in plastic jugs, it is obviously a materials engineering issue on RCBS's part, not a 'powder destroys plastic' thing.

FWIW my Lee 12 gauge reloader only ever runs red dot and I always keep some in it at the end of the day. Had powder in it for 3 years now, no soft plastic or powder break down. Must just be the plastic on the RCBS unit.

[cajun shooter]

From the answers that have been posted, I can tell that we have some younger reloading members. That is not meant as a put down on anyone, but just tells me that you were not loading in the 60 and 70's or before. This was a very common mistake made by new reloaders for years. All the reloading manuals had warnings about leaving powder in the measure as it would eat away the plastic reservoir. This was such a common event that the gun store I worked for in the early 70's stocked the new replacements for the Lyman and RCBS measures.
You would see powder measures for sell on gun show tables that had reservoirs so dark brown that they appeared to contain powder. So don't call the companies and tell them that they have bad plastic as you will only expose yourself as a real neophyte.
Always remove your powder after a session or buy the metal reservoir meant for BP.

[tomme boy]

Plastic like everything else has come a long ways since the 60-70's. RCBS knows about this if it really is a problem as others have said. If it has been going on for this many years and they knew about it and have not fixed it yet, I would hold them to it. There is no excuse for this in this day.

[Ickisrulz]

Always remove your powder after a session or buy the metal reservoir meant for BP.

Sinclair also makes adapters so you can attach a powder bottle directly to the measure in place of the hopper.