Lee Autodisk & Flake Powders

[Werewolf]

I've been reloading now for about 3 years. During that time I've used a Lee 4 hole Turret press with the autodisk powder dispenser. With ball type powders it is very accurate and very consistent.

I'd like to branch out and try some powders like Blue, green and red dot, power pistol and unique, except they are flake type powders. How accurately does the Lee autodisk throw those powders?

I'm used to measuring every 10th round with a balance scale and the disk, for all practical purposes, throws the Accurate and Hodgdon powders I use the same weight every time (or as near as I can tell with my balance scale). Will I get that type of accuracy with the Alliant powders out of the autodisk?

 

[benedict1]

Under about 3.8 gr Unique gets a little inconsistent. You'll also find that you may not get anything close to what you would expect from a particular disk cavity because the density of Unique seems quite variable from lot to lot. The lot I'm using right now averages 19 % light so I have to use larger disk cavities than expected by a bunch.

I loaded a bunch of .38 Specials two nights ago looking for 4.2 gr. I measured five charges at random during one loading sequence of about 100 rounds and got 4.15 gr on my Lee Safety Scale for each of them. I can take that.

It also seems like the older and more broken-in the Auto Disk is, the better consistency you'll get. I too find that ball powders, e.g. Win 231, meter very well with the Auto Disk, even down to 3.0 gr and below.

Don't even think about the adjustable charge bar below 4.5 gr with Unique. The cavity size is prone to 'bridging' and you can get some real short charges.

One last point--in another thread someone recommended getting an RCBS powder baffle for the Auto Disk Pro measure-it has to be bent a little to fit but apparently that helps too at the lower end of the charge spectrum.

Hope this helps. I'm sure others will chime in quickly.

 

[Werewolf]

If I am understanding you correctly you're saying that as long as the charge weights are more than 4.5 grs or so that the autodisk will throw flake powders just fine? Is that right?

 

[benedict1]

No, I am saying that anything over about 3.8 gr seems to work well in my Auto Disk setup. Actually you could try measuring 10-12 charges around 3.5 gr and see what you get. It might be consistent enough there too but I'm guessing it could vary +-0.1 gr at that low weight.

The 4.5 gr. number applies only to the Lee Adjustable Charge Bar. It doesn't seem to work with Unique well at all below that charge weight for me. Too many short drops.

Update--I have tried some Unique with Adjustable Charge Bar around 5.6 gr--it is not doing well there either, +-0.2. Be very wary with it and flake powders, certainly Unique. The ball powders should work fine.

Richard Lee does note in his book that you should not use flake powders in any cavity smaller than .4 cc. Lee literature also talks about the 'casual consistency' of Unique, but I can't remember where I read that.

 

[wrangler5]

I've been using the disk measures for decades, usually with ball powder, with great relilability and consistency. When I decided last year to try Universal Clays for my 9mm loads, I USUALLY got consistent charges with the disk. BUT - every now and then (one in 50, maybe one in 100 rounds) I'd get a VERY light charge, only 1/3 to 1/2 normal. Next round would be just fine again. I found no predictable pattern to the light loads, but they would stick a bullet in the barrel every time and I finally just moved on to Power Pistol. (I would have just gone back to Accurate #5, but it's been out of stock around here for nearly a year.)

I use a Loadmaster, and while I CAN see into the case before I put a bullet in at the seating stage, I didn't like the CERTAINTY that I was going to get some light charges of Universal in the course of loading several hundred rounds. And I didn't like the pressure of the absolute necessity to carefully inspect each case to be sure I caught the light charges. A squib in the middle of an IDPA stage can be a real hassle, or a real disaster if you think it's just a dud, rack a fresh one into the chamber and let fly.

Lee suggested swapping out the elastomer wiper between the hopper and the disk, and sent one along for the purpose, but it didn't seem to make any difference. There may just be something incompatible between Universal Clays and the disk measures. Power Pistol meters just fine. I can't speak to any of the other powders you are thinking about.

 

[benedict1]

I am at a loss to explain this also. I am sort of stuck on Unique because I bought too much, too soon, as I got excited about loading for handguns. I have used it for years in 20 ga shotshells for skeet with great consistency, but of course, that is a 16 gr charge from a much larger hole. I also always use a powder baffle on my MEC loader. So now I'm staring at an 8# and half of a 4# container. If I had it to do all over I buy 12# Win 231. But,----------------

I have loaded several hundred different rounds on a test basis so far with both the Auto Disks and Adjustable Charge Bar. I am convinced that below about 3.5-3.8 gr there is big trouble ahead with short charges and Unique. I have ordered a powder baffle. I've been told that the RCBS item can be bent to fit the Auto Disk Pro powder hopper. I have ordered some mica to lube the elastomer.(Note above Richard Lee's warning about small cavities and flake powders. Apparently, with Unique, the cavity volume should be even larger for a warning.)

Right now I am loading 9 mm with 4.6 gr of Unique and .45 ACP with 5.7 gr. They don't seem to be a problem. I just tried to set up the Adjustable Charge bar again for about 5.4 gr Unique and it just doesn't work well. When I look down the powder hopper I can see that the slot in that bar doesn't line up well with the drop tube. That is part of the problem. It is too short, or the slot for the actuator rod is misplaced in the underside of it. It is going on the shelf for any flake powder.

I hope some other guys with lots more experience than I have will chime in on this. Unique is just too good a powder to be put aside. I pray that the powder baffle will help. So far, at the volumes I'm throwing, I don't see that certainty of a short round in a set of 100-200 rounds.

 

[countertop]

When loading with unique on my Lee 4 Hole Turret, I always rap the side of the powder dispenser with a srewdriver to ensure that the flake powder settles in the auto disk.

It works better than the alternative which is pretty wide variety in your loads loads (10-15%).

 

[benedict1]

Good idea. I have done that in the past but seem to have gotten out of the habit. I used to do it all the time when I was loading single stage shotshells. The progressives usually have enough vibration to settle the stuff.

This problem of short charges is not unique(no pun intended) to Lee equipment. An un-named progressive press I had which I returned for a host of reasons also threw a few shorties in the two weeks I struggled to get it to work.

The Lee System is about as simple as it gets, short of manually weighing and loading each charge, which sort of brings us back to the days of muzzle loaders.

I guess I'll lube, hit and vibrate and risk a short charge with flake powder on occasion. I still think that staying above 4-4.5 gr will minimize the whole thing and below that go to ball powder.

Unique is such a good powder; I hate to give up on it.

 

[Rico567]

I loaded a lot with several Auto-Disk measures over a number of years, and it was always very accurate with any powder I used: 231, 700-X, Clays, 540, Universal. About the only issue that came up was with the 540, which is a ball powder (and therefore measures quite accurately) in the shape of flattened disks. They are flattened enough for some of them to slip out between the disk and the powder measure housing, so there would be a gradual accumulation of powder grains sifting out. Of course, this was also true for my 540 loads on the MEC shotgun reloader.