How long does it take to wear out a Lee Auto Drum Power Measure?

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Prof Young

New member
See pic below.
Two on the left have a cracked barrel. Took about five years of reloading to break them. Barrel on the right is new. You can buy the part from Lee. Apparently I'm not the only one who has broken them.

I usually check my measure of powder every dozen rounds or so. I discover the broken barrel when I do the check and it is measuring seriously lite. It usually takes some falderal and fiddle dee dee to realize that the barrel of the measure is broken. The crack becomes more visible as I try to adjust the load and pull the handle a few more times.

A whole new drum measure is about $55. The barrel's cost about $12. So I bought two this time and will be ready for the next time.

Here hoping there is a video on the net that shows how to switch the parts to the new barrel.

Are we having fun yet?

Life is good.
Prof Young
 

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I have a couple of them as well, but neither have cracked. I will keep an eye on them for sure.

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Once I got rid of my lee perfect powder measure that was anything but perfect I learned to appreciate the cast and machined powder measures for their durability and accuracy. My RCBS measures have been going strong for decades. My lee measure leaked with ball powders, got loose or would bind up too easy. The RCBS will just crunch through stick powders. No problem.
 
Obvious flaw.
Seemingly common failure.
Causing dangerous load conditions.

Why are you continuing to chase the same demon, when you know it will bite you again?
Move on to a proper tool.
 
I have two that just sit on the shelf. When they first came out I really liked and used them a lot. But, since all my progressive/turret loading is pistol only I’ve since switched to the Pro Disc which works worlds better than the Autodrum. I do all my rifle loading with the Deluxe Perfect Powder measure. I work up loads with the brass drum, then set the plastic drums to the final load and use this for rifles.
 
Hmmmm . . . good point . . .

I don't have the leak problems that Lee seems to be known for. But yeah, I should be looking at different systems. Geez . . .
Life is Good.
Prof Young
 
Repair not hard . . .

So I took the parts from one of the old one's and used the new barrel. It's not all that tough. I did find a video on the internet about how to take one apart. The most tricky part is getting the gears all lined up and in the right spot. Used it to make a handful of rounds and it's working fine.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
FWIW, I have an old Lee auto disk that I've been making run for years. I had to do some hand filing to stop it from leaking, and I've epoxied threaded rods into the hopper and it attaches to the base by tightening nuts onto the rods from underneath. Honestly it can be a very accurate measure. Lee could some minor design changes that would probably add $10 cost to final product, but it would be ready to use and work well without tinkering.

Which I've found Lee equipment to be generally serviceable... if you like to tinker
 
I had a Uniflow for 40 years and replaced it with a Chargemaster 5 years ago. Price, in the absence of value, is not a consideration.
 
They have a warranty, but it's not lifetime because of the low price. However, they do sometimes send things for free that are out of warranty. May depend on what it is, and as long as people aren't abusing that, it probably pays them in customer goodwill.
 
I know Lee doesn't offer a lifetime warranty. However, I think a casting failure should be warrantied. Also if this is a known issue with their product, they should replace at no charge.
 
Is the perfect powder measure far from perfect? Yes! I started with Lee anniversary kit and now am an RCBS snob. You can buy 50 year old RCBS equipment that will outlast anything new from Lee.
 
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