H110 and 2400 in the Lee Pro Auto disc?

[Rule3]

Is it just me or does anyone else have a problem dropping consistent weights with these powders? I realize it's not the greatest powder measure system out there, but it works pretty well for most of my powders and I load a lot of different calibers.

These powders are very fine (small particle size) and I would think they would fill the disc volume hole evenly.

I get weights that vary by 1.0 gr or more. I can accept a .1-.3 variance bit not that much, especially with H110.
Verified on a Dillon (Ohaus) beam balance

Powders like HP 38 and Win Auto Comp are almost perfect every time.
Even large size powders like Blue Dot or Unique meter better.

I wrote Lee and they said I should not expect the same exact weight every time and should trickle the powder, or try a different powder.That makes no sense on a turret press

I might as well go back to single stage. In fact they said large extruded flake powders meter the worst. I just weighed and loaded 50 rounds using Blue Dot and they were all right on.

I ran the H110 through a RCBS Uniflow and it was perfect every time. But that means going to batch loading for any Magnum loads using these powders.

No, I can't afford a Dillon.

 

[clutch]

Your last comment makes me think you are running this on a progressive press. Is that so?

I'm not impressed with the lee measure, I have one, I won't use it.

Clutch

 

[RidgwayCO]

I've had no problem metering 2400 nor H110 in my Pro Auto Disk measure. On the money plus or minus .1gr every time.

My only suggestion, is to make sure that the hopper is mounted facing the correct side. When I put it on reversed, it gives big errors in powder drops (which is my first clue I put it on backwards...).

 

[Funshooter45]

I have never had a problem with the H110. It is nearly always spot on, with a variation of maybe 0.1 gr once in a great while. 2400 is not quite as good. I see a variation of +/- 0.1 gr a lot, but rarely any more than +/- 0.2 gr. Overall, I don't have any problems at all with the Auto disk being consistent with pistol powders.

 

[Bula]

i use lots of 2400 in mine. Works very well, you making sure the powder is good and settled? I run it about 10 times, rolling through each die, then resizing and dumping the charge back into the hopper. Stays very consistant for me.

 

[KingMedicine]

I run 2400 with my Lee disc and it runs short of what they say it will, but always hits normally .1 from the same ammount every time. Good enough for my normal practice rounds.

 

[Rule3]

I should have mention this is on a Lee Classic Turret Press. Yes, it is mounted correctly, I have been using it for quite a while. It works fine with other powders. I have the regular disc, double disc, micro disc, charge bar etc.

I have no problem with it being "off" the stated values, as it varies by powder lot, temp, humidity etc. Some powders are what the chart state some are way off but once you find the right disc I write it down.

With the H110 and 2400 I found the right disc and started loading and checking each on the scale, 2 or 3 were spot on then a wild one and so it went.

I can not see or find a reason for it. It should fill the hole, wipe it flush and drop. Should be the same every time??

 

[RidgwayCO]

Well, the only other thing I can see is your location in SW Florida. Could it be a humidity issue (clumping)?

 

[Rule3]

Well, the only other thing I can see is your location in SW Florida. Could it be a humidity issue (clumping)?

Nope, Inside with the A/C on. It was 88*F today.I poured it out of the hopper into the RCBS Uniflow hopper, no clumps. Works fine in the Uniflow.

I don't understand it either.

 

[Hammerdown77]

Are you sure the cavity in the disk is making it all the way over the drop hole in the base? With my Auto Disk, using the larger cavities, the travel of the disk would not completely bring the cavity all the way over the drop hole, so that there was a slight "shelf" on which powder could remain as the rest was dropped. This would cause some fluctuations in charge weight. I had to take out all the o-rings and friction washers in the riser and base assembly to get the extra throw on lever arm.

H-110 flows like water in my Auto Disk. Dead nuts every throw. It flows almost too well, as I usually have more spilled powder all around the disk after loading 100 rounds. 2400 does fine, too.

You might be fighting a static problem. I usually get erratic throws until enough graphite has been distributed on the internal surfaces of the hopper and the rest of the works. If you give the base of the dispenser a few taps with your finger right before you charge the case, do the charges start to settle out?

 

[Notoast]

With the powder hopper off, look down through the base, riser, and die for gunk. Maybe run a dry patch through there to make sure. Since you have the double disk, have you tried the other disk with the same hole size to rule out a problem with the disk? You might also see if you can work out a double disk set up to get about the same charge. Look for one hole that's just under half the charge you want and see if it can be used with the next adjacent size (bigger hole goes under the smaller hole).

 

[RB98SS]

Maybe this.... http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=458124 is happening.

 

[Rule3]

Thanks for all the suggestions and link to the other thread. I will look at it more closely tomorrow.

I have been using the system for well over a year in pretty much all calibers and several different powders. It's just these two small ball powders that are giving me grief.

Last night I loaded 50 rounds 158 gr lswc with 10.0 grs of Blue Dot (still trying to get rid of it)
Now those big flakes metered fine. The opposite should be happening. The H110 as mention flows like water and should fill the hole up nicely

Shot those today, worked fine but still get blasted with grains of powder, but that's another issue, almost gone

 

[Rule3]

Well I checked the discs this morning and starting with disc .61 The little shelf starts. This disc and larger do not completely go over the drop hole leaving a little shelf on the main body of the powder mechanism as shown in the linked thread.

I really do not understand how that can be the problem with a fine powder like H110? How can it "pile up" on that little shelf, it would seem it would just roll off.

Big flake powder maybe a few flakes would hang and then be swept back??

 

[RB98SS]

Well I checked the discs this morning and starting with disc .61 The little shelf starts. This disc and larger do not completely go over the drop hole leaving a little shelf on the main body of the powder mechanism as shown in the linked thread.

I really do not understand how that can be the problem with a fine powder like H110? How can it "pile up" on that little shelf, it would seem it would just roll off.

Big flake powder maybe a few flakes would hang and then be swept back??

Something is awry, you should not see any ledge with the .61 disk. This only happened to me with the largest disk -- 1.09 thru 1.57 and really only caused issues with the two largest holes.

Check your setup.

 

[Red Cent]

Pick up a fish aerator for about $10.00-12.00. Tape it to the side of your powder holder and plug 'er in. Settles any powder.

 

[suzukisam]

I had a similar problem one time.. my die had gotten some oil or something in it, I had bought them used and in haste I didn't clean them good and the bushing in the charge through die was not making full travel..just a thought, both those powders have worked just fine for me..

 

[wow6599]

I use 2400 all the time with zero issues.......measures fine for me.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

You said powders like HP 38 and Win Auto Comp are almost perfect every time so I'm wondering why you are having a problem with H110 since it's also a Ball Powder.

W231 = HP-38 and W296 = H110, all 4 meter the same for me...

 

[Rule3]

I spoke with Lee today and I am returning the Pro Auto Disc to them. Something is a miss with it. According to them it should not leave the little "shelf" on the main body even when using the largest hole in the discs.

He said you need to seat the die deeper to have more of a flare on the case to get the unit to work correctly but I tried that and it will destroy the case mouths after a few times. I have it set to just flare enough to seat/start the bullet as it should be. It is set this way for every caliber.

I visually watched it without the hopper and it leaves a little shelf with each disc starting at about .61 and above, H110 as you say should meter the best. I manually filled the disc cavity (without the hopper on) and watched it dump but leave a tiny bit on the lip or "shelf".

Real pain for a $30 powder measure.

I'll go back to loading each individual case with my RCBS Uniflow. Even the Lee Perfect Powder measure works really well, just a lot slower.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Sorry you're having so many problems. I just haven't run into the problems you are seeing.

 

[dickttx]

I had that problem but adjusting the die in or out of the turret will center the disk hole over the drop hole. Adjusting this did not create a problem with the amount of flare in the case mouth.

 

[Rule3]

Thanks for all the replies. I have it boxed up and it's in the mail today. I'll let Lee figure it out.

I Chrony'ed 50 rounds yesterday and the results were dismal. Velocities all over the place.

I have enough loaded up to last a day or two.

 

[Rule3]

Update, fixed and returned.

Well I received my Auto pro disc Measure back from Lee today, really fast return.!

I seems that the spring return lever had chewed a groove into the swivel adapter. They replaced it and also sent me a spare swivel. I just tested it with the largest disc opening and it fully covers the drop hole in the main body.

They sent a nice letter along with explaining what was done.

So 2 thumbs up for Lee.

 

[Hammerdown77]

OCD1, I just noticed mine is doing this again on the large hole discs (haven't used them in a while). I remember at first when I got this measure, this happened, but turning the die in a little bit (increasing flare) fixed the issue. Now, I can turn it in until it splits the case mouth, and I still have a ledge. It's similar to the picture in the link someone posted earlier. I'm considering taking a Dremel to it just to bring the mouth of the hole back a bit.

Did you take a picture of the "groove" that was chewed into the swivel adapter? I noticed when I take the spring off the lever, I get full travel, but then when I push backwards on the front of the arm with my thumb (to simulate backward spring pressure), there's a "hitch" in the travel and it doesn't go the full distance. For the life of me I can't figure out why this is, or what the hitch is, and I've been moving it back and forth and staring at it for 30 minutes now.

Just as a test, I put the non-swivel adapter the measure came with originally back on to see if I still had the limited travel. Yep, same as the swivel adapter.

I really don't want to send it back to Lee if I can just fix it with a Dremel in a couple of minutes, but I'd be interested to hear more about what they did.