Lee Pro Auto Disk and Ramshot's Tac

[tkcomer]

Hey all. I'm having some difficulties with my Lee Pro Auto Disk powder measure with Ramshot's Tac. I'm loading 223 and with the measure stationary, it throws a consistent 25.9grs. Put the measure in motion with the turret press and now it throws 26.3 to 26.4grs of powder. I knew the measure "jumped" a little when in motion, but not this much. Rattle the measure a little and now it will spit out 26.9 to 27.1grs. That's the part that scares me. 26.7 is the max with the 52gr bullet I'm using. I use this setup mainly with pistol shells, but I've never seen a jump this big. Any idea whats going on?

 

[strat81]

The powder may be settling. The vibration from running the turret may be causing the settling, along with time. The powder will "pack" as it sits.

I've never seen a 1+ grain jump like that. It's usually around .2 or so, depending on the powder.

 

[tkcomer]

My last load was 25.1grs and the rifle did have some ejection problems. Decided to bump it up to 25.9grs. Like I said, I did notice the jump in powder when the turret goes into motion with that loading. But not that much. It was more like a .2 or .3 increase. Can't remember if I shook the measure like I did this time. I did that because I was planning on priming on the press this time versus using a hand prime. Looks like I'm back to hand priming and using the RCBS Uniflow. I was trying to speed this process up with this setup. I might be back to square one.

 

[ForneyRider]

I get +- .1-.2 gr off, from time to time, with the Lee Auto Disk Pro with my powders.

W231, Power Pistol, H110 have been really consistent in the Auto Disk.

I haven't used Tac or any Ramshot powder.

H-Varget has been pretty good in Auto Disk, that would work with your .223.
But I am not running max loads, so I am comfortable with the charge being .1gr off.

I wonder if you can put a funnel on top of the powder charge die and pull charges over from Uniflow measure. Or can you just rig the Uniflow on top of a powder charge die? I have been contemplating this for the Pro 1000.

 

[Branspop]

I don't use Ramshot powders, but I put an RCBS baffle in my Lee Pro Auto Disk and it smoothed out the metering of some powders.

 

[tkcomer]

I've heard of the baffles. Not sure if it would reduce the variance that much. I've seen a post on how to mount the Uniflow on the Lee turret, but I'm using the Uniflow as a stand alone unit now. Gotta give this 20 year old Uniflow credit. It is spot on every time with this powder. Now that I think about it, this might give me more consistent groups now that I know just how much off the Auto Disk was.

 

[strat81]

25.1gr of TAC is a decent load... I wouldn't expect ejection problems with it. What issues were you having?

 

[jfh]

My experience with the Lee measure is about like the others--e.g., it will vary a hair with handgun powders.

I've just started reloading .223 and am using H-335--with an older aftermarket charge bar (i.e., capable of throwing nominally 25-gr load), I find excellent charging accuracy with that--again, plus-minus .1 gr.

No matter the powder, I do the following, however:

1. I fill the measure.

2. I tap the hopper a few times, and I operate the press several strokes to settle the powder.

3. Then I throw at least five charges--ten with powders I am not familiar with--and weigh each one to see how the charge varies.

I've found that some powders tend to creep up, while others tend to creep down--but again, with no more variance than about +- one tenth.

So, you might want to check your set-up procedures if you are not getting consistent results after you've settled the powder.

Jim H.

 

[tkcomer]

I think part of my problems with the gun might be clip related. The gun was not ejecting the shell fully. But then twice, the bolt locked back before the last round was loaded from the clip. That's what tipped me off I may have a clip problem. The gun was shooting solid 3" groups with this load at 100 yards, the same as my loads for the Hornady 55gr FMJ bullets.

I've never had the "creep down" problem with the Auto Disk. Stationary, it throws pretty consistent measures. Putting it in motion is where I'm seeing the inconsistencies. Even in motion it seems to throw fairly consistent charges, just more than stationary. Rapping on the hopper to simulate a primer that's tough to go in is what scared me. A one full grain jump in powder with Tac is unacceptable to me. And I have a lot of Tac powder. I use Unique in light loads for my 30-30 and I can't make it jump that much when testing. Nor can I make it jump that much with my pistol loads. But it will jump a little when rapped on. My Uniflow is rock solid no matter what I do to it. Guess I'll have to stick to it for my 223 loads.

 

[flynlr]

been using my lee disk set with ramshot tac for about a year now And i can get 25 grains every throw I still check every 10th cartridge but its 25 grains all the time.

 

[strat81]

It's not a clip. It's a magazine.
Go to www.44mag.com and pick up a PMAG or two and a D&H or NHMTG mag with Magpul followers.

 

[tkcomer]

I have plenty of mags. This one worked great in the other gun. I just went ahead and used the Uniflow to load the 223s. Then set up to load 357s with True Blue powder. No matter how hard I smack the hopper, it will not vary more than .2grs. Go figure.