Lee Auto Drum Powder Measure quality...

[Stefan A]

So, the products you all are mentioning seem to be stand alone products. Am I stuck with Lee if I want to be able to attach to the press?

 

[irishlad]

It's odd to me that some folks just cannot make the Lee powder measures run.

I have a Perfect Powder Measure, a Deluxe Perfect Powder Measure, an AutoDisc, and an AutoDrum.

I use and like them all. I will say that of the 4 measures, the AutoDrum gave me the most trouble. I did have to work with it some to figure out how to work it.

A call to Lee asking for help, some very close reading of instructions - more than once - and a bit of patience helped immensely.
The earliest AutoDrum measures had some design problems with the finish on the surface of the drums themselves (if you have the drums that are shiny, and are leaking, call up Lee and talk to them), but after some redesign work all is well.

Lee equipment has its quirks, as do all brands. Generally speaking, a heavy hand is not the way to get it to work better.

I called Lee and tried everything I found on this forum. I was loading W231 for my 380s and the manual called for 2.9-3.2 gr. They weren't consistent. The Little Dandy is very consistent. They’ve been sitting under my bench for a few years.

 

[CQB45ACP]

So, the products you all are mentioning seem to be stand alone products. Am I stuck with Lee if I want to be able to attach to the press?

I showed two adapters. They screw into the powder through die as do the Lee products and then some other mfr powder dispenser into the adapter

All that’s fine and stable UNTIL you want to index the turret. An RCBS Uniflow is maybe 10 inches tall and heavy. It doesn’t like being rotated around attached by a cheap aluminum thingy.

And nothing I know of is going to be case activated like Lee’s own products.

Get a Lee Disk thing. It’s worth a shot.

 

[irishlad]

I showed two adapters. They screw into the powder through die as do the Lee products and then some other mfr powder dispenser into the adapter

All that’s fine and stable UNTIL you want to index the turret. An RCBS Uniflow is maybe 10 inches tall and heavy. It doesn’t like being rotated around attached by a cheap aluminum thingy.

And nothing I know of is going to be case activated like Lee’s own products.

Get a Lee Disk thing. It’s worth a shot.

That's why I use the Little Dandy

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

My Lyman brass smith drop worked good out of the box. I use it for rifle loads. It would be too heavy on a turret press.

 

[Hugger-4641]

I'm one of those who is fine with my Auto Drum. Mine doesn't leak, makes full travel, and I get +- 0.1 gr with some powers and as much as +-0.4 with others.
I wonder if you have a defective drum.
I would definitely call Lee and give them a chance to help. If they can't help you fix it, they'll probably replace it.

 

[CQB45ACP]

That's why I use the Little Dandy

Don’t know anything about it but it’s no longer an issue for me. If/when I want to use a dispenser it’s the uniflow on a Lee stand otherwise it’s a dipper.

 

[ballman6711]

You could use a setup like this ^^^, drop the charge in a pan, then pour it through a powder thru die. Just a thought.

I use a few Hornady and a single Lyman with accurate and repeatable results. I can't speak to the Lee press or powder measure since I don't have or use them, but when my father reloaded he had very good results with Lee dippers.

chris

 

[CQB45ACP]

You could use a setup like this, drop the charge in a pan, then pour it through a powder thru die. Just a thought.

I use a few Hornady and a single Lyman with accurate and repeatable results. I can't speak to the Lee press or powder measure since I don't have or use them, but when my father reloaded he had very good results with Lee dippers.

chris

Yep but that’s the clunkiness I was referring to.

OP would like a more refined or automated fix is my impression.

 

[Mark_Mark]

Don’t know anything about it but it’s no longer an issue for me. If/when I want to use a dispenser it’s the uniflow on a Lee stand otherwise it’s a dipper.

View attachment 1098707

I’m green with envy

 

[troy fairweather]

I've never had a problem, mine work great and are more accurate, easier to use and leak less powder then my uni flows.

 

[Stefan A]

What about those electronic dispensers/scales? Use that along with the powder through adapter. Is that worth the big cost? I don’t really have the space to screw in something like the little dandy. But a table top scale may be good.

 

[SingleActionAndrew]

The following parameters yield an at worst 0.2 gr (usually under 0.1gr) spread per charge on one of my auto drums, individually measured ten samples at a time on a GEM

VV N310 Powder, and only ever used with N310
4.4gr target throw
Pyrex hopper
Expand first with Redding expander die
Using case activation on lee powder through die from a 45acp carbide kit
Find spot where throw completes motion but minimizing any additional flare in the lee powder through die
Don't move the handle where the disc rotates faster than the eye can track

That said, I still don't trust it. I only use it on my turret press for bespoke loads. It took a while to get working right and it has been reliable since then, but it's a lot more plastic and looser tolerances than I prefer.

 

[Hugger-4641]

What about those electronic dispensers/scales?

For rifle cartridges and test pistol loads, I use the Intellidropper and funnel thru the charge adapter. It keeps up with me on pistol rds, sometimes I have to wait a second or two for it to finish large rifle rds. It has a tuning feature that samples the powder and adjusts its feed speed in stages to get the best efficiency. It is accurate to +- 0.0 gr and it almost never overcharges, occasionally if the powder is low or clumpy, it will under charge by a tenth, but it beeps to let you know either way.
I mainly use my auto drum for big batches of pistol ammo or 5.56 and use classic 4 hole turret.

 

[ballman6711]

OP would like a more refined or automated fix is my impression.

Had the OP's question been different I would have responded differently.

What about those electronic dispensers/scales? Use that along with the powder through adapter. Is that worth the big cost?

A friend of mine is on his third one in about six months or so. He swears by them and keeps trying to get me to buy one. My gravity scale hasn't failed me yet. I think the more expensive ones might work well according to what I've read, but if you're thinking of going that route you may be able to get a progressive press for not much more. Just my thoughts.

chris

 

[CQB45ACP]

What about those electronic dispensers/scales? Use that along with the powder through adapter. Is that worth the big cost? I don’t really have the space to screw in something like the little dandy. But a table top scale may be good.

You’re really changing directions on us here. Quite frankly in my view dippers work as well as quickly and far cheaper than electronics.

 

[Tilos]

I bought an Auto Drum when it came out, but I had been using the Auto Disc measures on 3 Piggybacks, 1 Pro1000, 1 Loadmaster for many years.
I'll admit to tweaking the Auto Discs somewhat to fit my needs, but I found the Auto Drum to be way stiffer to actuate, hard to throw a test charge to weigh, leakage, and sticky to get the full stroke.
I bought the "improved" drums and a plastic parts kit, tried a lighter spring, but nothing seemed to improve the Auto Drum's function (for me).
Luckily, I had only bought 1 Auto Drum measure to "test" so it joined my 3 RCBS uniflow measures on the shelf of shame and I went back to the Pro Auto Disc.
jmo,
.

 

[RockRat64]

What I found out that helped my second drum work much better is to take it apart and wash it with soap and hot water. Then use rubbing alcohol to clean it even more. Then get some graphite dust and dust everywhere the powder goes. Tighten the nut down pretty hard, but it sill needs to be able to rotate.

 

[Stefan A]

You’re really changing directions on us here. Quite frankly in my view dippers work as well as quickly and far cheaper than electronics.

Just looking at various options - whether it be fixing what I have, or a better method. I looked into the dippers today. It's a possibility.

What I found out that helped my second drum work much better is to take it apart and wash it with soap and hot water. Then use rubbing alcohol to clean it even more. Then get some graphite dust and dust everywhere the powder goes. Tighten the nut down pretty hard, but it sill needs to be able to rotate.

I really cleaned mine out today. Still leaking like crazy.

 

[Mark_Mark]

Just looking at various options - whether it be fixing what I have, or a better method. I looked into the dippers today. It's a possibility.



I really cleaned mine out today. Still leaking like crazy.

It’s the worst powder drop EVER!

what other products you have to “ rig” to get it to work

 

[westernrover]

It is indeed a poor product. It will certainly leak H110 aka Win 296. With a larger spherical powder like Longshot, it can be adjusted not to leak, but you will need to adjust the tension on the drum to allow a full stroke. If it's too tight, it will short-stroke (not fully return) and meter inconsistently because the drum opening is partially blocked when the drum is only partially returned to face the hopper. If it's too loose, it will leak. I also found it would smash case mouths, and meter inconsistently both from load to load and with drifting over time. One of the most annoying things about it is how the assembly wobbles. If you're trying to load ammo on a Lee progressive like an ABLP/4000 or Loadmaster and you don't have another couple hundred bucks to spend, the Auto Drum can be made to work to load pistol ammo. It's usable but not pleasing to use.

There must be better case-activated powder measures. I considered the RCBS/Hornady with the linkage, but I decided to go with a Harrell's so I couldn't tell you which one is good. I went to a non-auto measure because I also stopped seating bullets on the Lee progressive. I wanted more precision for my rifle rounds and also for my revolver. I got more precision in powder metering and more precision in bullet seating. I still use the progressive to decap everything, and to resize revolver cases. The case feeder makes the difference.

I've had a LCT press in the past. It's easy to adopt powder-charging off press with a turret. I used my turret with a Lee Deluxe Perfect measure. It was decent. Don't confuse the Deluxe Perfect with the Perfect. The Deluxe has a drum machined from a brass casting. The regular Perfect has a plastic drum like the Auto Drum. The Deluxe is triple the price, but still not expensive. I even more so recommend a Redding, Harrells, or Neil Jones. As long as you're loading ball powders, that's the way to go. For stick, pay up for one of the auto tricklers.

 

[kmw1954]

I got a broken one. Boringly accurate and I spill more powder filling and emptying the hopper than what I find leaked. Suppose I should send it back so Lee can figure out why it works.

You all so tired of a Lee piece-o-carp send it to me I\ll even pay the shipping. Use one on a 3 hole turret press, Pro1000, Pro4000 and even a RCBS JR3 to drop powder into my 223 loads.

Also don't ask what I did because you won't believe me anyways.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I'm glad I never bought one of those powder measures, I expect accurate throws from my measures with what powders I run through them.

I use a Pro Auto Disc and it is very accurate for me. It's about 30 years old, came with a Pro1000 kit I bought back then. It doesn't leak with the powders I've run through it but I don't use H110 in it. I'll try it tomorrow and see if it leaks with H110 or AA9 either one. It probably does being it's so old, the wiper is probably dried out and hard. When I bought my ABLP, I bought just the press and used my old components on it. I did end up having to replace the case feeder from the Pro 1000 because it was a different design than what was used on the ABLP.
I put the old one on my APP and it works fine there.
I'll let you know tomorrow if my Pro Auto Disc leaks with these powders. I'll get you an accuracy report to with those two powders.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I got a broken one. Boringly accurate and I spill more powder filling and emptying the hopper than what I find leaked. Suppose I should send it back so Lee can figure out why it works.

You all so tired of a Lee piece-o-carp send it to me I\ll even pay the shipping. Use one on a 3 hole turret press, Pro1000, Pro4000 and even a RCBS JR3 to drop powder into my 223 loads.

Also don't ask what I did because you won't believe me anyways.

Are you using the fine Spherical powders that the OP is using?
Like I said in my post above, my Pro Auto Disc doesn't leak with what I run through it. I don't run H110 in it. I have some though.
I'll find out tomorrow if it leaks with H110 and AA9.

 

[kmw1954]

Here is the list;
AA#2
AA#5
Ramshot Silhouette
HP-38
TAC
2460
Benchmark
Varget
BL-C(2)

Of all those there was only1# of Varget and BL-C(2) all the rest over way over 4# used. The 2460 will leak from my trickler but not from the Lee Measure.