Need Better Powder-Through-Expander Than Lee

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smoking357

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Who makes a better powder-through-expander charging system than Lee? Ideally, it will screw into the Lee expander dies and charge on the upstroke. Like Lee's system, only better. Does Lee have a competitor in this market?
 
Hornady makes a expander for thir "Case Activated Powder Measure. I tried it but it did not bell the case too good for me. There is a aftermarket expander made by a company called "PowderFunnel", http://www.powderfunnels.com/products.html that the reports says it works well with the Hornady powder measure. It screws into a standard 7/8x14 thread.

EDIT: Here's a link to the Hornady website. Their prices are high, but y0u can get them cheaper at other places. You need both the measure and the case activated powder dispenser. http://www.hornady.com/store/Lock-N-Load-Powder-Measure-and-Accessories/
 
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ready for a dillon?
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Ahhh, a Dillon cheerleader. No discussion about Lee products would be complete with out one of them posting. :D

smoking357, what issues are you having with the Lee die?
 
Better how? It can be polished and then will be much smoother.

Anyone with a lathe could make a real nice one if they had a mind to. No telling what a local shop would charge though.
 
The die is fine. I'm not changing my dies. The powder measure doesn't give a full push, leaving a slight amount of the disc aperture overlapping the deck.

I've taken the return spring out and reinstalled the chain. Without any spring tension, the disc extends fully, but I'd prefer the process to be automatic.
 
dollars to donuts you 1) have the hopper installed backwards, or 2) the disk is not installed in the proper slot for the operating lever.

I also ran up against odd combinations of extension tubes--but I never did figure out what combination didn't work properly; I got all mine running fine.

Jim H.
 
Call Lee,have them walk you thru the process.Get the micro adjustable charge bar,you will love it.
 
I had a similar issue with mine. There was excess vertical play in this piece 1210.jpg as it wrapped around the knurled nut. I got a spare just in case and peened the arms of the swivel acuator until the play was minimal. It works perfect now.
 
Jeff H said:
Ahhh, a Dillon cheerleader. No discussion about Lee products would be complete with out one of them posting. :D

smoking357, what issues are you having with the Lee die?
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He asked for something different. Not everything is a personal attack.
 
smoking357 said:
Ha! Never! I have a Lee turret press and various die sets mounted in three-hole turrets. I can change calibers in seconds. Try that with a Dillon.
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The turrets wouldn't fit, but the toolheads secured with two pins switch out easily enough.
 
That is the exact issue. There is too much slop in there that the disc does not get a full push. Lee needs to start making items out of steel and not cheap potmetal.

Failing that, I'd like to know if there's a similar, but better product.
 
I remember seeing that "tolerance" when I set up my measures, etc.--but it seems to me that I was able to adjust it out and get a full stroke every time. However, one of the things I've done with my four different measures is set each of them up with their own swivels, risers, and extender tubes.

What's the configuration you have, smoking357?

I'll scope my configurations out and see if there is a better answer than just saying "tweak" them.

Meanwhile, I would suggest that you look into the Dillon PTE / die package. It may be better made, or to better tolerances; I don't know. However, since Dillon licensed this design from Lee, they should be pretty similar.

added on edit: What press are you running your measure on?

Jim H.
 
I'll scope my configurations out and see if there is a better answer than just saying "tweak" them.
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mine worked fine on all my loads except 357mag. I couldn't quite get it to open up fully to drop a 15grain charge, about 1 grain would stay on the tray. tweaking that piece fixed the problem entirely. All the smaller loads for the non magnum rounds worked fine with the stock unit.
 
1210.jpg

Yes, this crappy part is the problem, and Jeff correctly identified the issue. The cheap potmetal wears away as it chafes against the steel actuating rod, and the slots widen, causing the system to fail to engage fully and drive to disc to its farthest reach. Having been down this road and determined that the system isn't the best, I'm primarily interested in a better means of accomplishing what Lee is attempting.
 
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Yes, this crappy part is the problem, and Jeff correctly identified the issue. The cheap potmetal wears away as it chafes against the steel actuating rod, and the slots widen, causing the system to fail to engage fully and drive to disc to its farthest reach.
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to be fair, it isn't pot metal, it is cast Aluminum so it can be tweaked a bit before it breaks. Honestly, just stick it in a vice and measure the thickness of the knurled nut and juts tap on the arms until you are a few thousandths larger. Took me less than 10 minutes.
 
Jeff H said:
to be fair, it isn't pot metal, it is cast Aluminum so it can be tweaked a bit before it breaks. Honestly, just stick it in a vice and measure the thickness of the knurled nut and juts tap on the arms until you are a few thousandths larger. Took me less than 10 minutes.
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Larger?
 
measure the thickness of the knurled nut and juts tap on the arms until you are a few thousandths larger
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What I was trying to say was: measure the nut, and tap on the arms of the AL thing until they are a few thousandths larger than the nut.
 
Lee will replace the piece for free. My brother had the same problem a few weeks ago, called Lee and a new piece was in the mail the same day. I know it doesn't fix the problem of the piece wearing, but at least it can be fix for free.
 
I took my drill & a cleanup bit & chamfered the deck a little more , did`nt hurt a thing & i see no more ledge , true the new part will solve the problem but as soon as it gets burnished in it`s the same thing .

It`s a shame lee as good as a design that they have to use such easily worn or broken material!!!

But then again to keep cost down who am I to argue!!! I chamfered mine & rolled on!!!

Lyman has a powder thru "M" die sys but ya gotta do the dump& tap thing manually!!
 
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Lee needs to start making items out of steel and not cheap potmetal.
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That is why I put all of my Lee stuff in the closet and went out and bought Hornady. I wish I had done that to start with.
 
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