Lee Disk powder measure on Dillon press?

[wrangler5]

On another thread it was mentioned that Lee disk powder measures will work on Dillon presses (the 450 and 550 were mentioned specifically.) I have a Lee Loadmaster with 6 heads for different calibers, all with their own powder measure. I think occasionally about switching to a Dillon 650 for its (presumably) more reliable case feeder and straight tube primer feed, but the cost of the fully equipped heads has always been a stumbling block.

Dillon powder measures, in particular, add a substantial amount to the cost of a separate head for each caliber. (I know I could move a single measure from head to head, but I'm not used to doing that and don't want to have to start.) But if my Lee measures are transferable, that would change the economic analysis.

Anybody know for sure if the Lee measures would fit and work on a Dillon 650 tool head? Do you use the Lee expander die, or fit the Lee measure to a Dillon die? Any limitations on specific calibers that do/don't work?

Thanks for sharing any experience.

 

[loadedround]

I cant' readily answer your question but bear in mind that the Dillon 650 will come with a powder measure when purchased.

 

[wrangler5]

I know it comes with one. It's the other five I'm thinking about if I want to duplicate what I have now - 6 heads set up and ready to go. At Dillon catalog prices that would be $325 for five more powder measures, so if the Lees that I already have would work, that would be money to apply elsewhere.

 

[1911user]

Yes, they will work (if you are happy with their current performance). You'll need to use the lee expander die instead of the dillon powder die and caliber specific expander insert. That means you may be able to save money by not buying the dillon expander; each part in a conversion kit can be purchased seperately from dillon and for people who load several calibers it often saves money by reusing common pieces.

 

[wrangler5]

Thanks, 1911user. I am satisfied with the Lee disk measures, plus I have 'em all calibrated and marked for the particular powders and loads I use, which would be nice not to have to do over. The ability to simply switch disks when going from a light 44 Special-equivalent to full power 44 Magnum load is also something that's worth keeping, I think.

 

[Rico567]

This is a neat idea- in my experience, the Lee Auto-Disk powder measure is as accurate as any I've used, including the Dillon. My only question would be if the Lee expander die has enough "reach" to be screwed in far enough for the expander to do its work on the Dillon. Easy enough to find out.

 

[bouis]

I decided to give this a shot. I got a set of a .38/357 Lee dies (the four die set) and the $30 lee disk powder measure. Total cost was about $60 from Midway.

Install is real simple; the dies just screw into the Dillon press and the powder measure chain works great. I used a spare white plastic plug (you know the one) to secure it to the shellplate platform.

The lock rings are not so great. They have a rubber washer on the bottom and are apparently not supposed to be very tight. I didn't have any spare Dillon rings so I locked them down snug (but not too tight) with a big socket. The bullet seating and crimping adjustments are very easy to do and can be made independent of the seating of the die, which is nice.

The powder measure works reliably and is definately easier to change than the Dillon. The disk idea is only okay, because, for example, there wasn't one that could do 2.7 grains of bullseye. It's not made for fine adjustments but does come with a "lot" of pre-settings.

But I already had my Dillon setup for that, so I picked out the setting from the manual for 17 grains of 2400 and set the dies up for .357 mag. Unfortunately this only gave me 16 grains of powder, so I moved to the next disk up, and, go figure, that was 17 grains. Manual misprint? Make sure you double check this thing.

I like the disks though because there's no question that you'll get the same charge every time. I dropped and measured a lot of charges and it was always consistent, but then 2400 is a very easy powder to measure. The belling die is probably better than the Dillon because it stretches the case mouth deeper but more smootly. But the bullet seating die has a very narrow opening, though I didn't have any problem with the JSPs I was loading.

Anyway for the price advantage I give the Lee stuff 2 thumbs up.

PS Since Lee doesn't mind me reproducing this, here's the list of charges and powders... warning: attachment is "huge" -- 300kb.

 

[1911user]

A trick to using the lee dies in a dillon toolhead is to remove the rubber o-ring and reinstall the lockring upside down. Often there are only 2-3 threads exposed on the die for the lockring and the upside down position results in more threads being used.

 

[bouis]

Oh, going back to the first post of this thread. In case you don't know the plug I'm talking about, here's a picture...

I'm sure if you told Dillon you needed a dozen of 'em, they'd help you out.

 

[jmorris]

In an effort to save a few $ and not have to reset for every caliber or major/minor loads, I purchased extra powder dies & powder check dies (and the V notched parts) for each tool head and every load has it's own preset powder bar they cost a lot less than the complete measure and only one screw to replace.

 

[YellowLab]

The Pro Auto Disk is not really designed for small loads (<4 grains)... as you found out the fixed cavities, are well, fixed.

There is a micro charge bar for 2-3 grain loads, as well as an adjustible charge bar. The adjustible charge bar is again, not recommended for light loads.

 

[wrangler5]

In my experience with the adjustable charge bar, it is fine with small charge levels IF you are using spherical powders. But even flake powders the size of Clays can, occasionally, block up and give a squib charge. For example, I get reliable and consistent charges of under 4 grains with both the disk and micrometer charge bars using Power Pistol, and I had similar luck with the Accurate pistol powders (##2, 5, 7 & 9). But not with Universal Clays.

 

[YellowLab]

The adjustible charge bar does work, but not for small amounts of all powders. Lee has a warning with the charge bar about inconsistant throws. Mainly because at very small CC measure the cavity is very cresant shaped and will not fill consistantly.

I would stick with the micro disk rather than risk the adjustable charge.

 

[wrangler5]

I'm familiar with Lee's warnings about the adjustable charge bar, and will admit that YellowLab's approach is probably the safer one. My only point was that with the fine spherical powders, that essentially flow like water, I have not experienced any problems with the adjustable bar throwing inconsistent charges.