Confusion with the Lee Autodisk

[benedict1]

Scale on the way tomorrow. Glad we could all help.

Dave has given you some good words--we have all been confused and ignorant. Work at it and you will be surprised how quickly it all becomes clear.

 

[darwin-t]

Regarding your loads. I have found that with the powders I've used, the load that a given opening actually throws is what the chart shows for an opening two sizes larger. I can't apply thin to your powder though.

I don't think you'll have any problem with barrel obstruction. A squib is a round with no or very little powder. A light load should clear the barrel, but may not cycle the action properly. I've loaded some pretty light loads with my Kel Tec P11 (9mm) with no problems whatsoever.

With Titegroup 9mm 147 grain bullet I have used .30, .32 and .34 with the largest being factory equivelent.

With Bullseye I've used .30, .32, .34, .37 and .40 with same components.

Obviously the faster the powder the less leeway you have. I'm not familiar with Accurate #9.

Let us know how things work out.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

I will put my two cents also, as a fairly new reloader myself. I have been reloading about a year now, and had to learn everything from the beginning. This forum, and others like it, are extremely helpful at learning how to reload, and I would go so far as to say they are indespensable if you don't know someone personally who can already reload. Dave in Flowery Branch has very good information, and knows what he is talking about. His comments have helped me sort out several problems.

I agree with you the books are kind of hard to read, but Dave is right... read them several times. The ABC's of Reloading is actually a good book, and is where I would start.

As far as the Auto Disk goes, it is a good device, but the charts are sometimes way off on how much of a particular powder it will dispense from a given hole. I have sometimes had to go up two full hole sizes to get the powder that I was supposed to have. In general, the Auto Disk underestimates powder more than it over estimates.

That said, there is absolutely no way I would work off the Auto Disk chart without being able to confirm with a scale. That goes double for a cartridge like 40 S&W, where a little bit of extra powder can greatly increase pressure. There is not a lot of room for error with that cartridge.

 

[tube_ee]

You Autodisk, like most powder measures, doesn't actually dispense powder charges by weight, but by volume. In this case, it's the fixed volume of a cylindrical hole molded into a plastic disk. The charge tables convert this volume to a weight, based on some average density figure for each powder listed. Lee calls this "volumetric measuring density," but this is intentional verbosity and obfuscation. It's a density.

The reason that you need to check charges on a scale is that the volume of those holes isn't perfectly consistent, nor is the density of powder. The combination can result in your Autodisk throwing charges that vary quite a bit from what they chart says they will. On mine, I have cavities that consistently throw lighter than listed, and some that throw heavier. Often on the same disk. Even using the same cavity from load to load, with the same powder, the charge weights move around a bit. That's due to environmental variations. The measure is dropping the same amount of powder, but that amount of powder doesn't always weigh the same.

My Lee measure is very consistent to itself. It always throws what it throws. That may be (and very often is) something completely different from what the chart says.

--Shannon

 

[deafsg1]

Something I had not considered is the effect of weather on the weight of powder. I know to weigh the powder to see what the powder measure is throwing, but how do I account for changes in the weather? Only reload on dry days? Weight it out and adjust the amount of powder up or down to match the weight, meaning that a shell loaded on a rainy day will have less powder in it than another shell loaded on a dry day?

I'm reloading shotshells, in case anyone is wondering...

 

[evan price]

Hang on a second, accurate #9 is a slow burning magnum powder better suited for .44 mag or above. 9.6 grains sounds about right for a smaller caliber (Since .44 mag takes about 20 grains of #9) so IMHO, take a single round, load it, with appropriate protection, shoot it. I bet it has no trouble clearing the barrel. I would however investigate a powder better suited for .40 S&W besides #9.

 

[ForneyRider]

I have had good luck with Lee disk setup that came with the Pro 1000.

I now have the double-disk setup and a scale on the way.

Lee scale is like 20$. From all the complaints on the reloading sites of electronic scales, I think a plain scale will work long-term for me.

The H110 is static-y, but I read using a dryer cloth will help.

A bullet puller will help if you need to start over, but had easier time using my robo-grips. Of course, this is with a cannelure bullet. The bullet puller is like 14$.

I use a plain micrometer that I had from college days of working on my own car. But am getting a cheapy electronic one.

Pawn shops, garage sales, flea markets, etc. are great places to pick up these odds and ends.