LYMAN 55 powder measure ... a learning session

[rickk]

I bought a Lyman 55 Black Powder measure earlier this year. I haven't used it much in the last couple months because we have had a ton of rain (almost every day) and the basement is usually not a comfy place when this much rain happens.  There has been standing water in spots, and really high humidity down there most of August/September.

Anyway, I went down stairs with the intent of loading for something new that I got, and found that the powder measure was really hard to work.  I had "emptied it", or so I though, before I last used it.

I took it apart (for the very first time ever in fact) and found a few things worth noting...

It is not all aluminum and brass. There is a lot of steel in it.

When one empties it by dumping it, it does not completely empty... a small amount of powder sticks here and there.

High humidity causes damp powder. Damp black powder and steel do not do well together (like we don't already know that).

So, I cleaned it up pretty good with Ballistol and a paper towel.  There is some permanent pitting in one of the slides (the middle, "medium"  slide is steel). The main casting cleaned up reasonably well and I didn't see any pitting worth mentioning after I was done.

I left a thin coating of Ballistol when I was done.... I never did get around to loading what I was going to load for using the measure.... I wound up just using a powder flask to load the few rounds that I needed to load.

So, the lesson I learned I guess is that it not only needs to be dumped when done reloading, but also taken apart and cleaned and a rust inhibitor needs to be applied before any significant period of non-use. Of course, that also means that it needs to me wiped down again before it gets used the next time to get off as much rust inhibitor as possible.

I guess your mileage may vary, and if you live in Arizona it won't be such a big deal 

Rick

[Mason Stillwell]

good information there Rickk. However there are places in Az that has a humidity problem . Not as bad as back east but worse that when I lived in Bagdad Az.

Later Mason

[john boy]

Rick,  sprayed the inside Lyman 55 powder body with cold zinc paint to preclude any left over powder rusting the body.  After each reloading session, the cylinder comes out and is cleaned of all powder

[cpt dan blodgett]

Living in Glendale AZ I may not have much of a problem, but an oz of prevention etc.

Thanks for the warning

[Montana Slim]

Dry film lube would be an ideal coating....look for Everlube or Sandstrom.

Slim

[Bottom Dealin Mike]

RickK,

I had to check your profile to see if you lived here in Pennsylvania. I haven't seen the sun in so long, I've forgotten what it looks like. And I just about sink into my yard when I run out between rain showers to mow it.

But things are looking up...after six weeks of soaking wet weather, we are supposed to see the sun on Wednesday. So, hang in there. Sunshine is headed your way!

[rickk]

Bottom Dealin Mike,

I get your weather typically 6-12 hours after you are done with it.

Yup, it has been a wet year.... looking forward to Wednesday as well !

[Bottom Dealin Mike]

Rickk,

That's why I moved to PA.

I grew up in Vermont and Rhode Island, but I got tired of getting used weather. So I moved west to get a jump on it. 

[john boy]

But things are looking up...after six weeks of soaking wet weather, we are supposed to see the sun on Wednesday.

Yep, nothing but rain.  I've been watching the Ridgway weather for weeks now so I can get back there before the snow.  Even in May when I was there it rained for the whole week!

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Rickk

We must not live too far apart, I live in the land of the Pilgrims too. And yes, it's  been raining for three days now.

I have a Lyman 55 Black Powder measure that I mount on my Hornady L&L AP when I am loading cowboy rounds with Black Powder.

As I understand it, the housing for the rotor is cast iron, not steel. The hopper is aluminum, and most of the parts of the rotating assembly (I call it a rotor) are brass. Yes, there are some steel parts in the rotor, but the key is that the parts that rub against the iron body are brass. That way there will be no sparks from iron hitting iron. That's why Lyman calls it a BP measure, because there will be no sparking from iron striking iron. Yeah, they substituted the regular plastic hopper with an aluminum one, but let's not talk about static electricity right now.

I actually have a bunch of rotors, I buy regular Lyman powder measures cheap whenever I see them on a white elephant table. I buy them for the rotors. The rotor for the regular Lyman powder measure is identical to the one that comes with the Black Powder version. I have three rotors now. I keep them set for my standard powder charges for different cartridges. That way I don't have to reset them, I just pop in the one I want for the cartridge I am going to load. So far I have one set for about 2.2CC for 45 Colt and 44-40, another for about 1.9CC I think, for 45 Schofield, and another set for 45-70, don't remember how much it is set for right now. Now that I am loading 44 Russian I need to get another rotor for that cartridge.

I found out a couple of years ago the same thing you found out. I came downstairs one day and the rotor was frozen in the measure, it would not rotate. I always empty the powder measure when I am done with a reloading session. What I did not realize was that even after emptying the measure, there will be some fine BP dust left on the rotor. What had happened was the fine Black Powder dust left behind had attracted enough moisture that the brass had corroded and gotten frozen to the iron. After much cursing and grunting I got it out and cleaned off the corrosion. Only the brass was corroded, not the iron.

Now I always remove the rotor when I am done reloading. After I empty the powder measure I undo the one screw that holds the rotor in place. I wipe off the dust, and then I store the rotor away from the powder measure. I do not wipe them down with any kind of oil, I just wipe off the dust and store the rotors on a shelf on my bench. This has served me well even in my humid basement and I have had no further problems with corrosion in my Lyman BP measure. All my rotors are labeled for the charge they deliver. When it is time to load, I select the appropriate rotor, pop it in place, and I am off and running. Takes about thirty seconds to pop in the rotor, saves a whole lot of headaches. I never liked the idea of coating the rotor with anything that might contaminate my powder.