LEE Auto drum Finally out!!

Looks cool. I personally love my autodisk as it works accurately with the powders I use but changing out the disk's each time I want a different load is a bit of a pain.

I think Lee products are pretty darn great for the price they ask. I own a Dillon 1050, Hornady LNL progressive and Lee Classic turret press. The Lee turret is one I would never part with.

If I ever get a chance to reload ammo for myself again I will have to try this out.
 
Received my Auto Drum today along with the Rifle Charging Die Kit (one die each for small and large cases). I ordered it from FS Reloading on the 28th and it arrived on the 30th via USPS. $8.80 shipping and handling. $35.00 for the Auto Drum and $11.18 for the two dies.

Cleaned the Auto Drum and the dies inside and out with really hot water, no soap, let it all dry then installed it on the Lee Classic Cast Turret press using the short rifle die. The turret was set up with 221 Fireball dies.

I put a primer in a sized case and started dropping and measuring charges of Reloader #7 powder. Didn't take long at all to adjust the small drum to the charge weight I wanted ... then started weighing charges. I did more than 20 drops and could not see a difference in weight on my balance scale.

No leaks but RL#7 is not a fine ball powder, nor is it a long stick powder.

So far so good. Next test is to switch to the large drum and drop charges for the 45-70. I will use either Varget or H-4895. If that works well I will likely pick up a second Auto Drum and have one each dedicated to large and small drums. I think in the long run it will be less wear and tear to adjust the drum capacity with the key than to switch out drums. Not sure how well the plastic threads in the drum will hold up to repeated change outs.
 
The more I use this new measure, the more I like it. Today I was loading some 7-08, I was using IMR 8208, which is a fine short cut stick powder. Set to 38.5 it was very consistent within +or - 1 tenth of a grain.

The main reason for this post is I noticed that consistency was right on if I was REAL careful how I approached the pusher funnel inside the rifle charge die with the case to be charged. If I ran into it hard, the charge would be overweight, sometimes by as much as .5 high. Then, if I was real gentle on the approach to the pusher so as to not bump it at all, the charge would be light by as much as .4. Just a gentle bump would result in the target weight or just a tenth above or below, or right on.

This is NOT a new thing, any volume-metric measure with a cavity that's held in an upright position to fill will be affected by vibration. The variation in my case was held to +- one tenth or exactly on 38.5. If it was either side of that I tried again, never had to re-do more than once.
 
snuffy - The more I use this new measure, the more I like it. Today I was loading some 7-08, I was using IMR 8208, which is a fine short cut stick powder. Set to 38.5 it was very consistent within +or - 1 tenth of a grain.

The main reason for this post is I noticed that consistency was right on if I was REAL careful how I approached the pusher funnel inside the rifle charge die with the case to be charged. If I ran into it hard, the charge would be overweight, sometimes by as much as .5 high. Then, if I was real gentle on the approach to the pusher so as to not bump it at all, the charge would be light by as much as .4. Just a gentle bump would result in the target weight or just a tenth above or below, or right on.

This is NOT a new thing, any volume-metric measure with a cavity that's held in an upright position to fill will be affected by vibration. The variation in my case was held to +- one tenth or exactly on 38.5. If it was either side of that I tried again, never had to re-do more than once.
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I would get the baffle and then reset the charge to something that could be maintained under real conditions, even if that included thumping the measure on each charge. How much the powder settles will vary with powder type.
 
Last night I had nothing but problems with mine . I was loading 45acp using HS-6 . I set it all up then started trying to get it to throw the right charge . After about 10 throws I noticed it leaking quite a bit and it never threw a consistent load . I removed the powder and cleaned it out including the rotor area which was full of powder . Put it back together and tried again . Found the right charge pretty quick with no leaking . Threw another 8 to be sure and then started loading . Loaded 5 then checked accuracy (perfect) then 10 and checked accuracy ( perfect ) then loaded 15 and checked accuracy ( perfect ) .

Cool I told my self I'm just going to start cranking them out . With in 3 rounds I noticed the charge looked low in the case . I went ahead and weighed it . It was 1.3gr short :confused: Threw a few more , all were throwing 1 to 1.5gr short .:mad: . Stared pulling bullets and sure enough they are short by a grain or more ( target weight was 7.8gr ). I even got into the bullets that I thought would have been confirmed correct and they were short as well . After messing with it for a bit I realized the rotor did not look like it was rotating fully ( maybe 80%-ish ) of it's expected rotation . So then I throw a charge but leave the case up in the die then manually rotate the rotor the rest of the way . I did that a few times and it threw the charge to the correct weight .

At that point I was into a 2hr session with nothing to show for it and it was now 1am . I put the powder away , marked the loaded rounds to be pulled and walked away for the night . I have not got back to it yet but will at some point today . I'll update what I find .

I'll add that I felt I was getting to much flare at the start of the session so I adjusted the flare/powder drop die to give less flare . Right now I'm thinking that is the likely issue . The die is likely now to high and the case is no longer lifting the plunger high enough to completely rotate the rotor . Any way to adjust the flare and still have the plunger fully extend ? With out getting into great detail . These cases are my thin walled case ( R.P. - PPU - Aguila ) and they seem to flare quite easy . My thinking with out testing is the die needs to be to high in order to lightly flare the thin walled cases . I'll try some Winchester and Fed cases later and see if the make a difference .

FWIW I did at one point loosen the rotor screw thinking It might be binding and that may free up the rotor but that did not help .

Any other ideas as to what's going on ? I'll try them out when I get to the reloading room later .
 
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UPDATE

I went ahead and did some more test using different cases . all thick walled cases ( Fed , Win , Speer ) actuate and rotate the the rotor completely . While ( RP , PPU , Aguila ) do not rotate the rotor all the way by almost 1/4" :eek:

The thing that's most interesting to me is how people say you don't need to separate your pistol brass . Last time reloading I was loading the thicker walled cases and one of the PPU cases got through . I felt it right away but decided to load it and market to make sure it was the top bullet in the mag . It jammed and failed to chamber . The bullet was set back .070 . All because I loaded that case the same as if it was a thick walled case . Now I have this issue with thin walled cases :rolleyes: . It's going to be pretty hard for anybody in the future to convince me separating pistol brass in not important .
 
What caliber/gun?

You can see if the drum rotation is in the right spot to drop the charge. Also the instructions say to dwell at the top of the ram stroke to ensure all the powder flows from the drum into the case.
 
45acp -1911 & XD . Not sure how much holding it at the top will do when the whole rotor does not rotate enough to dump the charge . I will do some more test holding longer but I was not running very fast in all the other test . I did do slow and soft movements and hard bumps at top and bottom of strokes . Having it bump at each stroke made the charges heavier but only by a tenth or so .
 
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I would get the baffle and then reset the charge to something that could be maintained under real conditions, even if that included thumping the measure on each charge. How much the powder settles will vary with powder type.
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RG, a baffle would have NO effect on consistency for the auto drum. One thing I failed to mention in the above post is; I didn't put enough powder in the measure for all 50 rounds I was loading. Instead of adding some more when it was getting down to the taper on the bottom of the hopper, I decided to see what happened if I let it run out. The charge weight did not decrease until the powder had dropped below the hopper bottom!!!:eek: Putting more in brought it right back to consistent charges.

I believe it's because of the way it's built. There's quite a b ig chamber right below the bottom of the hopper. That lets the charges come from that chamber instead of the main hopper, which takes the weight of the powder in the hopper off the drum and it's metering hole.

FWIW I did at one point loosen the rotor screw thinking It might be binding and that may free up the rotor but that did not help .

Any other ideas as to what's going on ? I'll try them out when I get to the reloading room later .
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1st. I don't worry about "over flaring" any handgun case. I even have had the flare dragging on the inside of the seater when loading BIG lead boolits. The crimper takes care of the flare.

2nd. the drum/rotor screw tightness is something I too have messed with. I begin before putting powder in the hopper when changing from one to another, I put a case in the shell holder, repeatedly cycle the measure while I tighten the screw. I stop when the rotor does not follow the ram down or hangs up on it's return. That's when it's tight enough to seal up tight, but not fail to fill or dump.

I too let the ram rest for a second or 2 at the top when charging. I've done that with every powder measure I ever had press mounted.
 
I did a few more test a couple days ago . It worked perfect with all cases in all ways I tried :rolleyes: . It's pretty tough to figure out what's wrong when it does not repeat the problem . Last time it started acting up it was after 30+ cases were charged . I did not test each issue that many times and likely only threw 50 charges in total so I'm not convinced it was a one time thing yet . I'll have to do more testing before I'm comfortable using it again . I'll just throw in batches using my Hornady powder measure for now .
 
RG, a baffle would have NO effect on consistency for the auto drum.
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Not accepting that pronouncement. I expect that powder can pack into a rotor cavity the same as a slide type measure, although the apertures on a slide have dwell time under the powder and thus the advice with this rotor to pause at the powder drop pull. Looking at the measure and that sizable hopper, I expect a full hopper would put considerably greater pressure on the outlet. Baffles are meant to relieve the variance that can occur as the hopper levels and then the pressure are reduced while loading. I bought the baffle and consider it a wise investment...one less thing to be testing and worrying about..
 
Anyone try the more stubborn matchstick powders such as 4064
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Yes I tried it for a for a different forum

The goal weight was 40.7 gr and the 10 charges are as follows in order .
40.7
41.0
40.6
41.0
40.9
40.95
40.62
40.6
40.85
40.7

So I'd say it works as well as my Hornady powder measure . I don't throw 4064 much with the Hornady powder measure but if I recall . That's about how well it does throwing IMR 4064 .
 
Not accepting that pronouncement. I expect that powder can pack into a rotor cavity the same as a slide type measure, although the apertures on a slide have dwell time under the powder and thus the advice with this rotor to pause at the powder drop pull. Looking at the measure and that sizable hopper, I expect a full hopper would put considerably greater pressure on the outlet. Baffles are meant to relieve the variance that can occur as the hopper levels and then the pressure are reduced while loading. I bought the baffle and consider it a wise investment...one less thing to be testing and worrying about..
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To each his own I guess. If that were true, then my test would have shown the charge weight steadily decreasing as the powder level dropped in the hopper.

I expect that powder can pack into a rotor cavity the same as a slide type measure
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I do agree with that part though, as soon as the powder dropped below the outlet of the hopper, the charge weight dropped dramatically.

We're down to nit picking on this measure. My over-all perception is it's a very good measure.
 
Looks like the rush has slowed down for the new powder measures.
And Titan has 3 baffles in stock.
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ABSOLUTE ONE PER ORDER LIMIT
DUE TO PRODUCTION RATE
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Cow Tower, I will not be ordering the measure or the baffle, seems Lee would have tested the powder measure with a baffle and without a baffle.

F. Guffey
 
We're down to nit picking on this measure.
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I don't feel I am . Mine was throwing 1.5gr short and one of the bullets I pulled was 2gr short . I'm willing to concede the issue may be something I'm doing wrong but until I can confirm that I'll treat it as unreliable . It does not mater what the issue is . There is something not working right and until I know what that is I will not use it for actual loading . I will continue to run test until I figure it out though . It may take a while because it's not the only show in town . I have my Hornady powder measure and a pro auto disc as well as my three scales . Although I'd like to get it running . I'm not going to spend any undo time on it when I could actually be loading .
 
again, I sort cases, I match head stamps. Then there is testing equipment, I have some very fine reloading equipment I have never used, but, according to other reloaders it is good stuff.

Then there is that thing about pulling bullets only to find the powder short/missing 1.5 grains. Again when I match components I know what the components weight, when I finish loading and I decided to check the progressive presses' ability to load consistency/accurately all I have to do is weight the loaded round, after all I know the weight of each component.

I loaded 250 30/06 on my Dillon, when finished there was .7 grains difference in weight from light to heady, not a problem. I weighed the cases before I started, I knew the spread was covered by the weight of the cases. After I finished loading I sorted cases by head stamps.

Then there was the reloader that got to the range without knowing if he had powder in each case. He did not know if he had no powder in one case ir too much in another, as I said, he was doing everything he could do to pull the trigger, ir rotate the cylinder or open the cylinder. Anyhow, we fixed it for him, as soon as he was able to open the cylinder he started, again, without knowing if he had powder or if he had too much powder. We offered him all the ammo he could shoot in his Model 66 S&W 357.

F. Guffey
 
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