LEE Auto drum Finally out!!

great, I will order for y single stage this week. thanks for the post regarding the product. I am very excited.

since I have blown my weekly gun wad, and will not be ordering till this weekend. if any f you guys/gals receive yours beforehand, please give us an honest review using some different powders....like flake to ball to extruded. would love to see the results on it consistency. it's hard to beat the cheap PPM in terms of consistency, hope this is as well or even better.
 
It does reset and dispenses powder with each each cycling of the ram on progressives. I'm thinking it will be an unbeatable PM for the 550B and the Lee LM or Pro 1000 progressive presses as it has a chain link reset so it doesn't need to be done manually.
 
I do want to be careful when I get on the roads, I have to watch for those delivery trucks. Then there is all the noise, I open a drawer then select a powder measure, pick me! pick me!

F. Guffey
 
so the disconnect thingee can be removed or disabled, correct? In my case, I see it as something more likely to be a problem.

I already visually check each case for a sane amount of powder
 
I couldn't wait for mine to be delivered, so I stopped at Titan Reloading on the way back from a VA appointment in Milwaukee. I live in the teeming metro Oshkosh area, so Hartford is just 7 miles off interstate 41. The bright young man behind the counter at Titan, began to sell me on Lee equipment. I said "I own nearly as much Lee stuff as you have on display in your store." Nice store in a strip mall just off the main drag in Hartford.

Okay, when I got home, I switched the small drum out for the big one. I also got a spare 4 hole turret for my LCT, I planned on using it right away to load 7-08. I wanted Varget for powder so I poured about ½ way full in the hopper. The first throw was 37.3, 2 turns on the plug got me 39.5., my chosen load for the Hornady 139 grain spire point. I started loading, noticed vast variances in the drop weight, and powder spilling on top of the turret and press. Taking the measure off and taking it apart revealed powder sticking to every surface inside the housing, inside the drop tube, a mess. Turns out there's some sort of thin grease on all surfaces.

Denatured alcohol to the rescue! A good bath and wiped it down finished with an air hose. I've had a can of micro-fine black graphite around since day one of my reloading hobby. A Q-tip dipped in it, spread on all inside surfaces got things working. Varget does NOT have graphite in/on it!

Today the online order arrived so I again switched the small drum for the large AFTER cleaning with alky and some graphite. I loaded some 7-08, weighing every charge. WOW vast variances! As low as 39.0, as high as 40.5! I clearly can't trust it for that powder in that cartridge. Varget has given me trouble in the past, when using a powder measure. I'll do another test with H-335 tomorrow.

The 1st one was switched back to the small drum, then put on my 45 ACP turret. Using WW-231 , it was easily adjusted to my 5.5 load for my own cast SWC from a MP brass mold, the H&G #68. No leaks, and was boringly accurate. Out of 30 rounds, only one was 5.4 and a 5.6.

A couple of things.
1. There's no marking for on/off for the powder hopper. So I put one there with a sharpie.

2. If you're going to shut off the powder to take the drum out to change to another one, run cases through the measure to use up the powder that's under the valve of the hopper. Failure to do this makes a mess and wastes powder.
3. Clean it with mild solvent before use. if you have some graphite by all means use it.

4. If you have some dryer softener sheets, use them to wipe the hopper and measure down to control static.

The folks at Titan said they ordered 500 of these drum measures, got them on Friday. I was there about noon on Monday, they only had 120 left! I almost asked if Lee gave tours of the factory, since they are also in Hartford. But dadgummit I had a new toy to try out, couldn't wait to get home! Maybe next time I go the Milwaukee.:):D
 
Yes, you can easily remove the safety button or re-install it.

I removed mine and noticed you can also remove the auto-riser since it now misses the primer feed.

I did a 100 rounds with it tonight and I love it. All of my drops were right on with a handful being within 1-3 tenths of a grain off. This is using CFE 223 for my 308. I see no leakage yet.
 
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Got mine yesterday. Mounted on manual 3 hole turret and Dillon 450. Reset button is a pain. Removed and mounted a flag made from painters tape on chamber thumb screw to be an obvious indicator that drum functioned. Set charge for 2.7gr Bullseye. Threw 10 charges and weighed the total at 27.1gr. Repeated test, 10 charges for 27.2gr. Third test, 27.1gr. I'm happy.
 
So............. What's the advantage to the drum vs. the pro auto disk? You guys have captured my interest.
Click to expand...

Well lets see----, adjustable from 0 to 80 grains of most powders In-Other-Words no steps like the disc measure. Uses a large and small drum that's easy to set AND remove without removing the measure from the press. Compact design takes up less room and light weight. Safety design of a lock-out that HAS to be d-activated to actually throw a charge, or can be removed for the auto turret so each ram stroke charges a case. Progressive presses will use the bead chain included to d-activate the safety lockout for each ram stroke. Leak proof! That alone is worth every penny. Costs only $45.00,(list price from Lee), I got mine from Titan Reloading for $35.99 + $2.35 tax. Order one online for a total of $44.29 if you're a Wisconsin resident.

Notes;
The hopper shut off allows you to remove the drum to replace it with another one set for a different charge weight or different powder. HOWEVER there's powder under that valve the has to be worked through the measure before removal of the drum. Failure to do that will mean spilled powder along with a few choice words! (cussing)!:mad:

There's a thin film of some sort of grease, maybe Vaseline, inside the measure. Clean it first with some mild solvent, I used alcohol. I also used some black graphite to help reduce friction and dissipate static. Most powder already has graphite on it, but it takes passage of a lot of powder to coat the measure's inside surfaces.

There's a kit available with two extra drums, large and small. These could be marked with type of powder and charge weight.

For rifle loading, you'll need a rifle charge die. If you're using the auto disc now, you can simply replace the disc with the auto drum measure. For the turret, you'll need the riser so the measure doesn't interfere with the safety prime. OR if you remove the safety lock-out, the measure will clear the safety prime.
 
I ordered one this morning off Amazon.com. It was $45.00 but free shipping. It seemed the link above for $39.95 did not include free shipping and would cost your in total more than $45.00.

Anyway, there were only 4 left after I placed my order on Amazon. I am not sure but think it is the same retailer.

Mine should arrive next week. :)

Thanks for the Heads-Up.
 
It design for metering and dispensing is basically the same as the Lee PPM. The PPM and it's upgrade the Classic PM are excellent for dispensing consistent accurate powder drops. So I'm betting it will handle extruded powders like IMR or H4895 very well.
 
I ordered one this morning off Amazon.com. It was $45.00 but free shipping. It seemed the link above for $39.95 did not include free shipping and would cost your in total more than $45.00.

Anyway, there were only 4 left after I placed my order on Amazon. I am not sure but think it is the same retailer.

Mine should arrive next week.

Thanks for the Heads-Up.
Click to expand...

Shipping for 2 day priority mail was $5.95 for me, that would bring it up to $41.94. (Price on the Titan reloading page is $35.99) If you're in Wisconsin it would jump to $44.94 because of state sales tax. Oh well, it's still a great price for a great measure.
 
I just finished loading some 7-08 with 2 powders that could be/are used for it, H-335 and H-4831-SC. Procedure was to size and prime a shell, place it on RCBS digital scale platen, then hit the zero button. That tares the case to zero so whatever is in the case after charging shows up as the actual charge weight. That eliminates dumping the powder in the scale pan, and the chance some of it may/will cling to the inside of the mouth,( sprayed with Midway case lube gets some on the inside of the necks). You’re never sure you got it all out of the case.

The 335 is as follows. Target was 39.0 grains
38.8
39.0
39.0
39.1
39.4
39.1
39.0
39.0
39.4
39.1
39.4
That’s a .6 grain swing over 12 charges. Not as good as I expected for a fine ball powder. I also noticed a bit of leakage on top of the turret and press top, which was clean before starting.

H-4831 SC weight selected was 47.0 grains
47.0
46.6
46.7
46.9
46.5
46.9
46.9
47.3
46.8
47.1
47.1
46.9
46.9
47.1
46.7
46.8
So 17 charges again .6 grain variance. No leaks

Anybody have any ideas for some other powders? Suitable for 7-08?
 
Went to titan to purchase this measure. $35.99 + 10.55 shipping = $46.54. Cancelled that transaction. Went to Ebay and searched for this measure and found Titan's listing for it. $44.99 + free shipping. Bought that. Titan's own web site lists it for the lowest price I've seen, but the shipping takes it higher than their ebay listing.
 
Amazon

I purchased mine through Amazon, $45 and it arrived in 5 totals days (one day earlier than promised). Shipping was listed for free, but as other people have posted, the list price on Titan and shipping was in the $45 neighborhood. So either way it seems like it doesn't matter, Titan's website or Amazon. (Unless you get points...!) The Auto Drum is coming from the same place.

How critical is the graphite step when cleaning the hopper? I don't have any. Will the alcohol rub down be enough?

Thanks!
 
Vance when your ordering from Titan, It gives you options for shipping.
The lowest priced is never the default. I usually use Priority mail 2 day.
Mine came to $7.76 but I ordered more stuff than just the measure.

Oh I did get my measure.. Un fortunately I received a defective one. It is completely locked up. As if the parts did not fit and they made them go in anyway.
So its on its way back to LEE for replacement.
Should get mine ( A new one I hope) next week.

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