Lee Auto Disk Powder Measure

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Here's a trick for all the folks that remove the hopper on auto disc to change discs... Don't...

1 Remove return spring.

2 lift up on it as if it were being pushed up in cycle.

3 at this point you can lift up on it enough that the arm that moves the disc clears the disc and you can slide it out without removing hopper.

4 to re install, reverse... just make sure you look underneath that the arm is going into proper slot.

At this point you are now going "Duh" to yourself. That's what I did when I figured it out ( I'm lying, my brother showed me )

:banghead:
 
ATAShooter...Which Auto Disc do you have...The return spring on mine is a tough little sucker. I wouldn't even attempt this for fear of breaking the plastic parts. I only have to remove one little screw and Wha-la. It's out and the next one is in and re-install one little screw. How is your way easier then that. Pray-tell...It takes me less then a minute if I have the next disc located and ready to install...:rolleyes:
 
I had to order a new hopper for mine the other day cause of the stripped threads. I didn't know about the pro upgrade, reckon I should have done that. Other than that it measures consistantly with Titegroup, but I had problems with it and the double disk with Lil' Gun. May have been my fault, but I try to be as consistant as possible.
 
Bushmaster... I have the lower line one that came with the turret press, the spring on mine doesn't attatch to any plastic parts.
 
ATAShooter...Nor does mine, but my hands do...:D

AnthonyRSS...I stripped the threads out on my hopper years ago. I just carved away the broken area and used an appoxy to reform the area that stripped. Drilled and tapped new threads. I believe that was ten years ago...:scrutiny:
 
Now, I experemented a tad this week... I've always been told that having a powder baffle is great...it meters better. Others ( few ) have said otherwise... So, I ordered a couple new hoppers from Lee ( I figured at 2.00 each, I could afford it ). On one of them I cut out the baffle.
Here's what happened:

Same disc hole used for both tests
With the baffle 5 drops were ( 2.8 wanted ) 2.9 - 3.1 - 3.4 - 3.2 - 3.0

No baffle ( again 2.8gr wanted ) 2.8 - 2.9 - 2.7 - 2.8 - 2.9

So what the heck is up? I made sure that I jar the loader around like I always do so that each stroke ( ha ha I said stroke...) was about the same.
I think I'm going to leave the baffless one on it. Only reason I thought of it, is that I do not run a baffle on my MEC 9000, and it does great.
 
ATAShooter...You are talking about that little bridge over the powder vent (port) inside and at the bottom of the hopper are you not? Hummmm Interesting....:cool:
 
Yea, I clipped it out with some bull nips and I was suprised... I thought for sure I'd find the results the other way around. Hey, 2.00 give it a try...
 
I use the double disk and the adjustable all the time. The only powder I have had trouble with is A1680 (tried some in a 30 carbine). The powder is so fine that it gets between the disk and the plate and bungs up the smoothness of the lever pull.

On my other powders, like working up a load, I just make sure the cavity is full by watching it drop into the cartridge. Yes I know, you gotta watch close, since it drops fast. If I don't see it drop, I dump the cartridge back into the hopper and do it again.

The adjustable disk is so dependable for me (with blue dot anyway) that I don't weigh the charges (when developing a load).

For instance, today playing with .303 and a Lyman 311466 gas checked, I load 5 with the adjustable set on 1.0 cc, shoot them over the chrony, record the velocities (1500 fps avg) then load and shoot 5 rounds at a target at 50 yards, record the group size, (1.32"), crank the knob out and repeat for 1.1cc (1653 fps, 1.88" group).

Tomorrow I will try it at .9cc to see what happens. If the group size goes below 1.32" then I will try .95cc and like that.

When I get all done then I might weigh a few charges just to see what they come in at. The way it is now though, I turn the knob and clock the bullets.

Why weigh?

To me it's more fun to shoot and clock than to weigh. The chrony is outside the basement door and all set up. I located it under a light so that I can even clock bullets at night. (I shoot the bullets into a stump on the other side of the light) Not to worry.

Yes, I agree, the consistancy is important. When I pour the charge back into the hopper I still rotate the turret, pull the lever like I was seating a bullet and go back to repeat. I figger every little vibration of the turret is helping to pack the powder into the cavity. Consistancy, yes, consistancy.
 
ATAShooter said:
Now, I experemented a tad this week... I've always been told that having a powder baffle is great...it meters better. <snip>
Click to expand...

Interesting data. I just wrote Lee this week to ask if they could PUT a baffle in the Pro hopper (the round one.) Reason being, there's a baffle in my Redding bench mounted powder measure, about 2 inches above the metering cylinder. That measure is DEAD consistent as long as there's powder above the baffle - doesn't matter how much above, if there's powder above the baffle then the powder in the area below the baffle is always the same height above the metering cylinder, and so puts the same weight on the load going into the cylinder each time. I thought it would be nice to add something like that to the Lee hopper
 
I reloaded for the better part of 20 years with two Pro 1000s with the Auto Disk measure. Neither measure gave me the least trouble, and both were completely reliable and accurate. As for breaking something while changing the disks, that is simply accomplished the way "ATA Shooter" describes in an earlier post....there is no need whatever to remove the powder hopper to change the disk. When I desired to change a disk or use another aperture in a disk, I removed the action spring with a pair of needle-nose pliers, moved the actuating arm to the point where the disk just slides out, either reposition the disk or put in another one, and reinstall the spring.
 
Cropcirclewalker
In an earlier post in this string I explained how to stop the powder from getting between the hopper and the disc. I don't know if it would help you because I have never fiddled with the double disc Lee.

I'm also not sure which Lee Auto Disc Powder Measure you people have, but mine is the one that screws into the LEE expander die and has a spring that rivals the coil spring in a car's suspension. Yes. You can remove it with a needle nose pliers as I have done to clean or repair the unit, However I would not remove the spring everytime I wanted to change discs. We are talkin' 'bout work here just to get the spring off not to mention gettin' it back on...:D
 
Mr. Bushmaster, I looked up through your posts on this string and can't find it.

Next, I think some of us are talking about different autodisks. Mine, like yours has a hellferstout spring. My original was rectangular red plastic with a little baffle (maybe 1/2" above the hole in it's bottom). What makes me think we are talking about apples and oranges is that my original red hopper had no on/off switch.

The only way I coulda changed disks was to remove the whole device, pour out the powder from the top of the hopper and then dissassemble the hopper from the top of the disk.

Otherwise, when I removed the disk (even if I could overpower the spring) the powder would all fall out.

The new upgrade I just bought like a year ago has a round red hopper with no baffle, an on/off valve and is attached to the mechanism with a couple of brass knurled knobs. The adjustable disk came with it.

To use my double disks on the upgrade, I hadda scrounge up some longer screws and re use the little metal spacers that originally came with the double disk kit.

So there you have it. Newer models must have a weaker spring. My setup consists of the original hellferstout spring and the new hopper without the baffle and the on/off switch.

Make sense?:confused:
 
Cropcirclewalker...That answers that question. I have the "old" (oranges) model with the "tougher then he++" spring...I'm stuck with emptying the powder forever...

My appologies...:) The string is not this one...It's "Lee Disc(k) powder Stoppage". If you can hand machine and fit. This did solve my problem with certain powders from causing my Lee single disc measure to hang up...As I have never had a double disc I don't know if it will help...
 
RobW said:
The only bad thing with the auto disk powder measure that comes with the turret press kit is, that the hopper (brittle plastic) is fixed to the body with SHEET METAL SCREWS!!! To change the disks, you have to screw them out and no matter how careful you are, the threads in the plastic crack.
Click to expand...

Not so. My shootin' bro figured out a way around that problem. A small ~10 mm wrench fits over the end of the actuating lever. Press down on the lever and the disc moves forward. Press down a little farther and the upper part of the actuator slips out of the slot in the disc. You can now slide the disc out of the loader. When you put the new disc in, just make sure the "hand" of the actuator goes into the slot on the bottom of the disc.

Don't do this with the hopper full... You'll dump powder all over your bench.

--Shannon

edited to add that we have the red rectangular hopper, and a stiff-as-he11 spring. You're using the wrench as a lever to operate the acutating lever. It works.
 
Tube ee...Welcome the best site on the internet...Have you read the above posts? This is not always true. It depends on whether you have an apple or an orange. There are two different Lee Auto discs. One with a wimpy spring and one with a spring from hell...:D

And the cracked thread area can be repaired with a file, some machinable epoxy, a drill bit, drill motor, a machine tape and two machine screws. Or you can spend around $2.00 and order a new one from Lee...:rolleyes:
 
Yup...!! That's the one...And that spring under the base is not the wimpy one. You have the same one I have and I still find it easier to unscrew one screw and swing it out to change discs. I no longer have the sheet metal screws. I repaired mine and tapped machine threads and use 8-32 X 1" philips head S/S machine screws instead...:cool: It aint pretty (well, not too bad), but it works and for the last 5 years, too...
 
Yup I have to agree with Bushmaster, one screw out and rotate, get your mind out of the gutter. I have 2 setups and have to fight with my son which disk to use. I think I will break down and buy another setup. Machine screws mmmm good idea, maybe I will use it with my spent primer catcher:D Yup that is one brutal spring!:cuss:
Reload Safe
<><
 
Rick_in_lb...I cut off the threaded area after it cracked years ago and using machinable apoxy rebuilt the area and drilled and tapped for the screws...I no mess with spring...:D
 
I use that measure for all of my pistol ammo.

Also use it for .223 and H-335 for range loads. I have to use the double disk set up for the rifle loads.

For that matter, I use the same press too. :)

So far so good.
 
ok so i know the thread is like 5 or 6 yeas old, but has anyone successfully mounted the perfect powder measure next to there lee turret press so you dont have to deal with changing it to different dies like the autodisk, if anyone has done this could you post a pic of how so? i just got the turret press (4 hole) but have not ordered the auto prime(have the hand prime and a single stage press for deprime/size) but am thinking of advancing from dippers to something quicker to utilize the presses potential, as i am only using it to flare/dip charge and drop, and seat/crimp for now.
 
you can mount the PPM with the unniversal charging die and then swap it from one turret to another easy enough.

you can't do case activated charging with it though.

you'll have to raise the ram and then manually cycle the PPM
 
so the universal charging die mounts it ontop the die??? super cool! i totally thought i would have to remove every shell after flaring to drop the charge, and since i mentioned that im currently only using the two dies that would be totally ridicules!! deprime size, switch to hand prime, switch to turret press. switch to ppm, and back to the turret to seat/crimp.... welll that is a little bit simpler with the ucd!
 
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