Lee autodrum issue.

Loading Blue dot. I am getting about .3 grain variation. The issue seems to be that the drum is not rotating fully and fully emptying. I can push it by hand at the top of the stroke and it turns a little further and the loads seem to be about .3 grains higher when I do that (9.7 target). Can this be fixed or adjusted out? Fairly new to this powder measure.

 

I have found that I have to take the drum out of the body and clean it because powder will hang it up.

 

You may have the drum tightened down too much.

Take the powder hopper off and look down the Auto Drum from the top as you are activating it with a case. Loosen the screw that holds the drum in, then gradually tighten it. You want the cavity in the drum to go all the way out if sight so powder is dropped and then return to where it started. Keep tightening until it starts hanging up then back off a little so you have full movement and, hopefully no leaking.

Dave

 

Being that it is an "automatic" or press operated measure, my first thought is improperly adjusted linkage/activating adjustments...

 

Thanks for the replies. I did screw the die in a little further. That helped. I got better results. There is a little slop between the plastic axle on the drum and the metal gear that it fits into. It is sorta hard to run this issue down because one cannot see the powder drop or the position of the hole in the drum either when it is under the powder hopper or over the drop tube. Or see if there is really any powder left in the drum after the drop.

 

Never mind...looks like you got it solved.

 

Use a white paint marker and mark on the outside of the body and drum were the holes are.

 

GOOD TIP!

Yes, the important point is to have the powder measure screwed into the die far enough before you set your case flare. There is a travel stop on the PM that you should not allow to bottom out, or else it may cause premature failure of the metal PM body. (I have experienced this and Lee replaced my PM)
The trick is to fully screw in the PM and then evaluate if the stop "hits" the end of travel when cycling an empty case. If it does so, then back out the PM from the die slightly so it still makes full travel, and then tighten it down with the knurled locking adapter ring. Once the PM travel slider is confirmed and set, at that time you should set the amount of flare on your cases by moving the die in or out and locking it in place when satisfied. If the PM is set properly in the die, it should not require any more adjustment when setting flare on your cases.

This illustration from the Lee set-up instructions make this clear:
Note the slider drop tube indicator (arrow) that Lee says "must not be allowed to make contact with top of slot."
The LAD will work and be trouble-free if care is taken on set-up. It's not "fiddly" but must be set up properly.

 

People beat me to the good advice. I would reiterate that when I don't get a full turn, it's been because the drum is tightened too much. With Blue Dot, you shouldn't have a problem with leakage even when the drum is pretty loose. H110 is a tough one. There's just no way to keep it from leaking bad on an Auto Drum. I try to screw the drum in tighter to stop the leaks, but then it just won't turn all the way. My drum works well with large ball powders though like Longshot, Lil'Gun, H335. It does ok with flake powders too but measuring them by volume is always going to be a little inconsistent because they can either fluff or settle.

I don't use the expander in the Auto Drum. I expand separately (with a Redding expander die). I do this primarily because it allows me to set the expansion exactly where I want it without it affecting the powder measure actuation. I also do it because it allows me to expand with case lube when I'm resizing before I clean the cases. I also found that when I did expand in the Auto Drum, cases would frequently stick when pulled out and "bang" and rattle the powder measure and toss powder around in the funnel. So on the Auto Drum, I always use the short rifle adapter (90668) for handgun cartridges and rifle alike. I like powder charging and bullet seating to be precise without the banging that unlubed brass forming causes.

 

Sorry to resurrect this thread from Sunday but I had to clear the snow away from my reloading shed and while I was up there I took some pics to clarify what I was talking about in post #3. If you aren't getting free travel of your Auto Drum as shown in the pictures, the Clamp Knob on your Drum is too tight. I mark the body of the Auto Drum with black marker to show proper travel. I just put the white tape on so travel would show better in the pictures.






Dave