Lee Pro Auto-Disk Powder Measure and Hi-Skor 700-X!

[bgokk]

I have been making a chart of what weight charges the auto disk actually throws. With Hercules Bullseye (Yep I still have some) the disks throw lighter charges than the Lee Chart shows [Lee Chart - Cavity .32=3.0gr.] actual is 2.8 gr., [Lee Chart - Cavity .53=5.0gr.] actual is 4.6gr.

I get similar results with Hercules Unique, it's about 2 to 3 tenths under what Lee's chart shows.(Alcan 5 too old not on Lee's chart)

I was expecting about the same difference with Hi-Skor 700-X. I was looking for 5.5gr. and Lee's chart shows cavities .71 at 5.3gr. and .76 at 5.7gr. Expecting 2/10 to 3/10's less than the Lee chart showed I went to cavity .76 and got 4.7gr. In order to get close to what I wanted I went cavity .88 and got 5.34gr.

NOTE: I threw out the first 3 charges each time and recorded the weights of 8 and averaged to get my weights.
When throwing the 700-X charges for cavity .88 the 7th record charge apparently bridged and that charge only weighed 0.9gr.

Has anyone here had this (bridging) happen with 700-X?

I was going to load some .45 Colt on my pro 1000 (I call it a semi-progressive) press. After getting the lite charge I will load on a single stage.:sad:

Brooks

[tomf52]

700X dosen't meter through my auto disk either. Very inconsistent.

[Kraschenbirn]

No longer use an AutoDisc but a few years back I tried mounting one on my Dillon 550 for .38 Spls. 700X gave me essentially the same problems as you've experienced until I jury-rigged a temporary fix by duct-taping the vibration unit from an old 'personal massager' to the powder reservoir. Eventually, I went back to the Dillon measure using a set of fixed cavity charge bars, each drilled/reamed to a specific volume...much like the Lee Powder Dippers.

Bill

[prs]

When taking such samples, we often are not sampling from actual loading sequence, that is, we are cycling the measure without all of the vibes and shakes of really operating the press with all of the stages being accomplished. I find that I get very close variances if I tap the powder hopper with dowel rod while it is relaxed (powder filling the cavity) and again at the base while the measure is on the dump part of its cycle. 700X, Unique, and even the worse offender for me, TrailBoss. Stick powders, I would not even try.

prs

[HangFireW8]

Has anyone here had this (bridging) happen with 700-X?

I was going to load some .45 Colt on my pro 1000 (I call it a semi-progressive) press. After getting the lite charge I will load on a single stage.:sad:

Brooks

I've loaded 45ACP with Red Dot and 700X. I had an RCBS powder thrower with both cylinders. The wider one made for larger charges worked better, but not to my satisfaction. I ended up hand-measuring until I could find a ball powder.

Vibration, as already noted, will increase charge weights and consistency. Sources include hair and beard trimmers. The vibration source should be applied consistently, both in duration and pressure.

[plainsman456]

I weighted the charges in my lee shotgun loader and found it dropped lighter chargers.

After looking at some books i measured all of the bushings,done while loading shells,and found the bushing that gave the right weight of powder.

I understand that cycling the press needs to be the same every time but it seems that they tend to drop 2-3 grains light.

YMMV

[bgokk]

When taking such samples, we often are not sampling from actual loading sequence, that is, we are cycling the measure without all of the vibes and shakes of really operating the press with all of the stages being accomplished. I find that I get very close variances if I tap the powder hopper with dowel rod while it is relaxed (powder filling the cavity) and again at the base while the measure is on the dump part of its cycle. 700X, Unique, and even the worse offender for me, TrailBoss. Stick powders, I would not even try.

prs

prs,
I tried your tap & tap with a short piece of dowel and it worked great. The #.88 cavity without the taps as in my OP had the 0.9gr throw and without it averaged 5.34gr. Using a light tap at the top and bottom of the press stroke the avg. for 9 throws was 5.5gr. I had left the powder in the hopper overnight so I did not count the first 2 throws (They were 5.7 & 5.75gr). The heaviest of those averaged was 5.6gr the lightest 5.45gr.

Thanks for the tip. I should have thought of something of the sort, because I had an old Herter's powder measure and always did a double bump at the top and bottom of each throw.

Thanks again!

The only thing around here that vibarates is a tiller in the rocky Ozark soil.[smilie=l::redneck:

Brooks

[supv26]

My Lee auto disk throws light charges as well. I've just made some notes for my record book to show which disk cavity to use with each load. Most of the time for me and with certain powders/calibers it's just the next size bigger hole in the disk, but don't rely on that.

[35remington]

The Lee throwing light charges with large flake powders is just as expected, including the bridging. Reread the instructions. They specifically advise against going too small in cavity diameter with these sort of powders.

So yes, in effect, everyone has had this happen, including the manufacturer of the measure. And me.

[leadman]

I have found that wiping the inside of the measure with a dryer sheet helps throw more consistent charges with flake powders. Here in Phoenix the humidity can get into single digits this time of year.

[kidmma]

I used 700x in a Little Dandy measure dropping about 3gr. It tended to bridge in that situation also. I got sqib type loads at times. Velocity was all over the place. 2-300fps differences.

[35remington]

The "dryer sheet trick" won't help in this instance. It's a function of cavity size and powder granule size.

[mpmarty]

I've used 700X for many years in my 550 without problems. 7.0gr is a favorite for a cast rifle load in 7.5 Swiss.

[DCP]

I use a RCBS powder baffle in mine helps a whole bunch in getting consistent charge every time.
Weight powder in the measure is always the same.

I just use Lees charts as a starting point