Lee powder drop/case flare

[Reefinmike]

Well, I just started a 600 round run of 38s, first time in a couple months but for whatever reason I cannot for the life of me figure out what I did. I'm using a lee turret press and a 4 die set of lee 38/357 dies. On the powder through expander die, I have a auto disk riser and the standard auto disk powder measure... The standard setup.

The problem- either 1/3 of the powder "chamber" on the auto disk does not clear the hopper for easy visual inspection that it dropped all of the charge and I have the perfect flare for barely accepting a .358 lswc, Or I screw the die down enough and the disk goes far enough to drop the full charge but it flares the case out a ton and doesn't feel or sound nice as I try to seat the bullet.

This was somewhat an issue last loading session, but seems to be getting worse. I can adjust the flare and how far the disk throws out to my liking, but the measure is off center and runs into the safetyprime.

 

[Certaindeaf]

It sounds like you need a swivel adapter.

http://leeprecision.com/swivel-adapter.html

 

[Reefinmike]

Ooh, thanks for that link. I wonder how strong it is to resist the inertia between indexing? Sometimes things go loose as you swing em around. If lee were to make the auto disk riser just a half inch higher, it would completely clear the safetyprime and there would be no problems to speak of...

 

[Certaindeaf]

It works pretty good resisting inertia. You can lock it independent to/with the properly set die so it'll clear the safety prime. It's also easy to swap the measure to other turret rings.

 

[dickttx]

After using a riser and two risers I got tired of the PAD swinging around as the turret rotated.
I removed the riser and attached the PAD directly to the expander/flare/powder drop die. All it does is kiss the safety prime magazine a little lower than with the riser, but it is not a problem.
Much, much more consistent powder drops.

 

[Reefinmike]

After fidgeting around, I think I figured the swivel adapter will make things easier, but won't help with my problem. The issue is that I cannot make the disk push out far enough without flaring my 38 cases out to accept a 45 bullet . It's almost as if I need to lengthen up the series of steel tubage the powder drops through on its way into the case.

 

[dickttx]

You have figured out that the depth of the die in the turret controls the range of the disk. I have found that adjusting the die in or out so that the disk hole is centered over the drop hole almost always results in the correct amount of flare, but apparently is not working for you.
One question, and no insult intended, is the lever that moves the disk in the slot in the bottom of the disk? As you probably know, the slot is directly under the disk number.

 

[dickttx]

To amend my post #5, I have the Pro and it comes with the swivel.

 

[Certaindeaf]

It sounds like you don't have the measure actuating arm in the disk slot right or something.
The swivel helps with alignment/clearance issues though.

 

[Hondo 60]

Are you using the a Lee Pro Auto-Disk Powder Measure???

If so, the hole on the hopper is NOT centered.
Maybe you need to turn the hopper around?

 

[Mobuck]

I had a similar problem while loading some 357 years ago. I ended up cutting a chamfer in the powder measure body so that all the powder in the measure cavity would drop. W/o the chamfer, there was a slight ledge which held powder. That in itself was not so bad but it was also inconsistent.
I find that the LEE stuff lends itself to some "customizing" if that's what it takes to make it work better.

 

[Reefinmike]

Hondo- not the pro, the cheapo one. and you made me double check, but yes, the disk was properly seated

mobuck... that seems like a real simple solution. Ive noticed quite a bit of diy needed so far. small pistol primers tend to go everywhere but where they should, so I had to tape up the right side with electrical tape. I had a good bit of 231 spillage from between the autodisk and the hopper, and win748 or h335... forget about it, those little granuals bound the thing up within 3 charges. I had to take a razor and shave off a very thin layer of plastic where the hopper screwed onto the rest of the dispenser. zero leakage and zero primers on the floor now!