What do you do when you loose confidence in your equipment

I don't know if it works or not,
BUT,
A friend of mine has a cell phone vibrator motor attached to his powder thrower.
Says he gets more consistent charges since the powder doesn't hang up.

I would think vibration would have a tendency to pack powder...
But that's my THEROY since I haven't tried it.

The guy does use a progressive and cranks out rounds quickly, and he does use a baffle in the powder bin.
 
Jeep Hammer:
I don't know if it works or not,
BUT,
A friend of mine has a cell phone vibrator motor attached to his powder thrower.
Says he gets more consistent charges since the powder doesn't hang up.

I would think vibration would have a tendency to pack powder...
But that's my THEROY since I haven't tried it.

The guy does use a progressive and cranks out rounds quickly, and he does use a baffle in the powder bin.
Click to expand...

I tried it and it did work. I also use a baffle in my RCBS Uniflow. What happens is exactly as your theory. The powder, even stick and extruded powders do pack more firmly for given micrometer settings. However, I did see improved repeatability which is what I want. I have since moved to a RCBS Chargemaster Combo which I really like but applying a minor constant vibration using a cell phone or similar buzzer / motor does work.

Ron
 
but I also know that I can't detect even a variation of 0.5 grain in most powders by eye..
Click to expand...

That right there is the issue that leads to

An inconsistent powder measure would creep me out.
Click to expand...

I also agree that it's a heck of a coincidence that my other wise reliable Hornady measure acted up . That may very well have been on me . I don't have any specific reasons as to why but I do use a baffle and have used it for 4 years now with no issues . I have not cleaned it in all that time so I'll do that . How ever I had the theory that the powder cast off it self would keep it lubed and running well .

As for the Lee products and why I bought them .The Lee classic turret press was a no brainier really . The powder measures really had nothing to do with cost . They seemed like the right fit at the time . I had just bought the LCT and wanted something that would work with my Lee dies in 45acp & 9mm , I use Redding or Hornady for all my rifle dies . My issue was I had no real understanding how to get my Hornady powder measure to auto drop on the Lee classic turret press . The little research I did at the time seemed to indicate I would need to attach a mechanism that would actuate the rotor and still was not sure how it would hook up to the Lee die . I figured I'd need a different die to use it and at that point was a little confused as to what to do . I also did not want to have to undo all that crap to use it manually when I wanted to load rifle .

That lead me to the Lee products that were ready to go with the equipment I had . The pro auto disc for the most part worked OK but the fact most of my intended charges fell in between the options I had made it pretty much useless to me . I can't see the point of using it when I'm looking for 7gr of powder but the disc only gives me the option of 6.4 or 8.1 . So that got put up and I was again looking into getting another powder measure like my hornady that I could dedicate to the LCT press . Right around that same time the Lee auto drum came out and that seemed like the perfect answer . Very good reviews , adjust my charge to anything I want and ready to go just plug and play . The $35 price tag didn't hurt , If I didn't like it or it did not work I would not be out much .

I've not really given the auto drum much effort in trouble shooting . I looked at it each time it failed but nothing more . I just grabbed the Hornady and finished what I was doing . So that one needs a little more of my time before I completely give up on it . I used it to do small batches or load development but the two times I tried to really load volume with it , it failed .

I'm open to recommendations for a powder measure like my Hornady that will work on the Lee turret press . But I need to be walked through all the different parts I'll need to make it work so it throws the charge automatically .

Thanks

P.S. I agree that the weight of a product does not mean it will work well . I also have worked with tools in one way or another my whole adult life and can say with out question that the heavier tool is almost always made better . There are exceptions for sure but I often buy the heavier tool if I don't have personal experience with the tools in question . Now maybe our definition of better differs like A heavy drill sucks when working over your head all day . In that case I'll take the light one ;)
 
Last edited:
I use Lee for my hand guns! I use The Lyman #55 for my rifles and a Pact High Speed Digital powder dispenser for target loads.I have three of the 55 set for different calibers and three Lee auto disk with the adjustable charge bar and micro disk. The ADJ charge bar I use them most of the time and my 55 most of the time. GOOD LUCK
 
Look inside your Hornady measure and see if it has any "casting snags", if it does, sand and polish it smooth. Above and below the rotor.

Mine was terrible, I wound up using my porting equipment to polish it out like a mirror, it worked flawlessly after that, but I shouldn't have had to do it.

Around here, tools and/or equipment that doesn't work right and can't be "brought in", end up in a landfill or lake or possibly saved to make something else out of.
 
Lee auto drum

I just picked up the Lee auto drum.....So far so good in that it will throw the same charge + or minus a Half a grain or so in my experience.. I was having the same issue with the pro disk.....I have a loadmaster and since I don't prime cases with it I put the powder measure in station 2 and added an rcbs lockout die in station 3...So far everything is working well and I have much more faith in what I am doing and in my equipment. :D
 
UPDATE-ish

I went ahead and bought the charging bar for the Pro auto disc . It came in today and I ran some limited test using HP-38 . It worked quite well with a +/- of about .1gr with a lot of the charges being spot on . I had some leakage but really not much . I saw a flake here or there fly out . I knew not to even bother with the super fine powders in the pro auto disc .

So I'm encouraged with these limited test . I only threw maybe 40 charges . 20 at a random charge at first just to see consistency . I then dialed in for 5.9gr and it was spot on most of the time . I'd say 13 or so of the 20 were dead on and the rest .1gr less
 
Last edited:
With Lee having a lot of cast plastic, consider (or not) honing the mating surfaces so they are actually 'Flat'.
Stops a bunch of leakage and hanging where powder creeps into mating surfaces.
 
Metal god I will relate my experience and you can take it as you wish.

Recently started hand loading for 9mm so I was taking everything very slowly, checking each step while learning and getting a feel for the equipment. I have a Lee Auto disk measure and found the same things you have. Using HP-38 powder there are only 2 cavities in the disk that fell between the starting load and the max load, .3 gr apart. Not what I wanted but very consistent in what it was dropping.

So I started working up loads, hand measuring each charge. With HP-38 I started at 3.9gr and loaded 15 then moved to 4.0 at 15 then 4.1 and 4.2gr. all at 15 rounds. Then I did my rest fire. 3.9 was to weak and wouldn't lock the slide back on the last shot. The rest functioned very well. The whole thing is that I could not tell or feel a difference in shots between 4.0, 4.1 or 4.2gr. The max load for this round is 4.4gr which I didn't load. Now would I be able to feel a difference between 4.0 and 4.3? Maybe.

I also could not visually tell a difference in charges of .2gr difference with this powder.

Now I too bought a Lee Auto drum for the adjustability. When I received it I did a lot of drop tests with it at different weights with the HP-38 powder and I'm saying hundreds over a few days. What I found was it to also be very consistent. On a rare occasion I would get one that was .2gr heavy. A few would be .1gr heavy and some would be .1gr light but the majority were right on. The light and heavy did not follow one another they were random.

So was this inconsistency me, the powder or the measure? I would guess a combination of all three. Now as I do not regularly load to max I am more than comfortable loading this round to 4.2gr of HP-38.
 
kmw , My auto disc was way off on what I wanted to throw . When working up loads I weigh each charge and chrono when testing . My thing right now is to load up 10rds of each charge weight . So a typical load development would look something like . 4.2 , 4.4 , 4.6 , 4.7 , 4.8 , 4.9 , 5.0 . I'll then shoot 7 of the ten at 15yds trying to shoot a small group off a rest . The last 3 go over the chrono . As when testing my rifle loads . This method usually produces one charge that groups better then the rest . That load is typically the load I'll want to duplicate when I go back to the bench and start loading in volume with one of the powder measures .

In the case of the Pro auto disc and at the time with the powders I was using . I don't think there was one load that got as close as .4gr of the intended charge . When and or if I though maybe I could still use that charge the auto disc was giving me . I'd look at my load development notes and see how that charge did during testing . Not once was I satisfied of the likely results I'd have so that one got put away .

So then I bought the auto drum and all my test went well as yours did and I tested everything from long stick to the finest ball All was good . Even when I started actually using the auto drum it seemed to work well . Then that faithful night it failed . It not only failed but it failed bad . It did not miss the charge by only a few 1/10 . It was off by as much as 2gr of a 6gr charge . At the time I was using HS-6 I believe . It then failed again a short time later by letting powder leak into the gears and drum area .

Fast forward to a few days ago and I'm really back where I started . I've now run multiple test with both the auto drum and the auto disc using the charge bar . Both appear to be working great again . "yea so" they both worked before only to disappoint .

I am how ever encouraged with the charging bar and the auto drum is , what it is . We'll see if it keeps working correctly ???? I hopeful on that one because I lubed it with graphite and it does appear to rotate more consistently while still being tight enough not to let powder leak . Time will tell .

I may try to load some up tomorrow and see how the both do . I'll update the next time I try either .
 
Metal god, Good luck and I for one would be interested in hearing any updates you have and if your results with the drum improve. Also interested in hearing more about the HS6 as the is the powder I was thinking of trying next.

I've worked production maintenance for the past 30 years with just about every type of filler one can imagine and the one thing I can state for certain is no mechanical filler is 100% accurate.
 
Takes work

The following are just strictly personal experiences from a moderate re-loader that may or may not apply to other people's situations - no guarantees.

I only have Lee products; the LCT with Pro Auto-Disk and the the Auto Drum. From the git-go when I started reloading, I used dry graphite powder and cycled it thoroughly. There is a very thin coat inside the hoppers all the way through the riser. If I start getting inconsistencies, one of the procedures I do before continuing is recycling graphite, if I cannot determine another cause. However, I do not have to do this too often and it doesn't take long.

On the Pro Auto-disk, I use a powder check die and measure every 10th round on the scale. It has been +/- 0.1g with the majority dead on. When it gets more than that (every several months), I cycle dry graphite powder again, and it returns to normal. So far I've had consistent results regardless of various pistol powders.

The powder check die has caught no-drops. It turned out that the disk was getting stuck before reaching the fully dispense position. A thin film of dry graphite powder between the disk and the dispenser fixed that problem up. Yeah, I have dry graphite powder around ready to go. A little goes a long way.

The Auto Drum took a little more time to figure out. I've only use it on 9mm with HP-38, HS-6 and Longshot powders. As the OP stated, the problem was when the drum did not rotate the full 120 Deg, you get inconsistent (primarily less) drops. When I followed Lee's instructions EXACTLY, the problems went away. If I deviated just a little e.g. setting up the powder charging-case belling die because I wanted to minimize belling, it was a 'no-go'. I was not getting the full 120 Deg. Also a no-go was using a case previously belled, it did not get a consistent full 120 Deg. I had to carefully resize the case before going back to powder dispensing.

Now one of my checks for every drop is the full 120 degree rotation - I had to mark up the Auto drum. This is followed by a visual exam of the drop in the case. This is to check for obvious changes in the drop. Last, I measure the drop for every 5th round. So far, if there is a complete 120 deg. rotation, it does not deviate by more than +/-0.1g with most being dead on.

As mentioned before, I thoroughly ran graphite powder throughout the hopper, including the mouth that holds the hopper, all the way through the riser. I've only had to hand tighten the knob that holds the drum, and I've not had any bad leaks. Just had to make sure there is no lingering smokeless powder sticking on the drum. You want a clean interface when mating the drum to the dispenser.
 
I have been using a Lyman #55 for 30+ years. I had noticed as had been mentioned powder grains do seam to make a difference but mostly with the hopper low. I believe the baffle would make a difference and plan to get one.

The #55 has fine settings and is made of all steel and brass. Then the knocker to gives a vibration when loading and un loading the volume chamber.

The vibrations do shake out the last granules so I was thinking that I would look into taking my old vibra-tek brass cleaner and hook it up to get the #55 to be more efficient.

Metal god thanks for bringing up a good thread for us to think about.
 
HS-6 Pro auto disc with charge bar

I loaded some 9mm using HS-6 and the Lee auto disc with charge bar . I found it pretty sensitive as far as getting it to drop the exact weight I wanted . I had to settle with .1gr more then I wanted . Should not be a big deal and if I was willing to tinker with the charge more I'm sure I would have got it . It took about 15min to get to .1gr over my intended charge and confirm it was throwing it consistently . Over time I'll likely get to know how much to turn the screw for each powder used as it relates to fine tuning the charge .

Once it was dialed in I went ahead and started loading . I loaded 50rds on the LCT press checking the charge every 5th charge . The intended charge was 6.9gr and none were under 6.8 or over 7.0 so it stayed with in +/- .1gr with 5or 6 of the weighed charges being pretty much right at 6.9gr . I found on this pass if the charge was off it was heavy by .1gr . I believe only one charge was 6.8gr . Now this is once again a limited test but I am encouraged with the results .

I have some new powders and bullets I need to test and hope that will be this weekend . I'll then test the Auto drum on those combo's .
 
Metal god it was nice of you to post updates. Have you been able to test fire yet? Especially the HS-6 results as I am really leaning towards using that next.

So what is your impression of the charge bar? Sounds to be pretty consistent. Will it adjust down enough to throw 4.0gr of HP-38 or smaller?
 
Yes I've used/tested HS-6 in both 9mm and 45 acp . I dont have any notes in front of me but i know i have loads for 9mm 115gr PLRN and 45acp 230gr LRN .

Are you looking for some specific info on HS-6 in a certain caliber ? I have 2 quick observations with HS-6 . 1) It's on the slow end of pistol powders so you can get good velocities . 2) the fact it's slower has me wanting to use the heavier for caliber bullets . It's pretty good and clean burning with that 230gr LRN load i use it for . How ever the 115gr 9mm load gives me some case scorching with soot down the case body a little ways .

Hope that helps
 
No particular load, just how it's performed in the 9mm and how well it meters in the measure. I had heard from others that it does better at the higher load levels with heavier bullets.
 
It meters pretty good as my recent test showed . I'm going to test it with 147gr PLHP this weekend . I have high hopes for that combo .

So what is your impression of the charge bar? Sounds to be pretty consistent. Will it adjust down enough to throw 4.0gr of HP-38 or smaller?
Click to expand...

The little I've used it I like it a lot . My research on the charge bar came up with staying above 4gr is best . Which for me is fine because I plan to use it primarily when loading 45acp .
 
Did you disassemble and clean your Auto Disk before using it?

I get excellent results with the two AD's I own but they came new with oil on the workings. Cleaned them with really hot water and used a bit of powdered graphite in the areas that needed lube.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top