Lee Pro Auto Disk Powder Measure - your thoughts, etc.

[Wilsknife]

I tried to find a thread about this measure. I'm looking for techniques for using it effectively, and your comments, criticisms, or questions about it.
Thanks for your replies.
:lovebooli

[mellonhead]

I have 4 of these and use them for all my pistol calibers. Which is 95% of my shooting. I use them in a single stage RCBS press and in a RCBS progressive press. I have put the adjustable charge bar in all of mine. Its just so simple to use.

Toby

[Wilsknife]

Thanks Toby. I'm still trying to figure it out. I'm going to go listen to 'Gun Talk' and maybe I'll have an epiphany.

[Wilsknife]

Any way to get consistent consistent powder drops? I'm having a .2 grain variation between 4.8 and 5.0.

[Longwood]

Any way to get consistent consistent powder drops? I'm having a .2 grain variation between 4.8 and 5.0.

That is better than I ever could expect with my Lee measure that I quickly got rid of.

[Mike Kerr]

They work very well in a number of applications. Most useful for specific pistol caliber work with Lee's Powder Thru Expander Die. I used two of them for over 100K rounds of pistol ammo back in the 90's.

When I switched to Dillon presses for most of my reloading I kept them for back up and general utility work on an old Lee Turret and a Dillon 450 I wanted to have cheap auto powder capability on. I still have one of mine. IMO they work best with the fixed Disk rather than the adjustable powder bar. The adjustable micrometer powder bar does work but can leak with some powders and is less than relaible for small powder throws. You can work them with a return spring or a pull back chain depending on what press you have them on.

Go to Lee's Web Site/ + You Tube for Lee Precision. Scratch around and you can see one on a Loadmaster or a Pro 1000 (or a newer Lee Turret with Auto Index) THey are good value for the money if you operate them per the instructions and have some mechanical aptitude and inclination for using them on presses other than Lee.

regards,

:-):-):-)

[Longwood]

I tried to find a thread about this measure. I'm looking for techniques for using it effectively, and your comments, criticisms, or questions about it.
Thanks for your replies.
:lovebooli

It would be a big help if you told us what sort of accuracy you are wanting.
For point and blast away, close in shooting they work very well.
If you are looking for long range accuracy, don't bother with them.

[Mike Kerr]

First, I assume you are speaking of pistol powder measurement. I truly don't understand ditching an AUTOMATIC powder measure for LESS than .2 of a grain variation when you may be using a powder less than ideal for that measure (Varies greatly with specific measure and powder). Especially when the equipment is new & not broken in.

I currently use Dillon automatic measures and a .1 grain variation can happen with no measureable impact on anything except it might be close on a power factor for competition rounds.

Now OVER .2 grain variation can throw you off but at .2 or under I would check to see if the mating surfaces between the Disk and the powder measure are free of burrs - rubbing smoothly on each other - mating evenly all across the disk etc. You don't want the brass screws to tight but a snug, smooth fit is needed for very fine powders.

Also keep in mind the powder funnel within the die is activating the measure and the flare or belling of the case mouth should not be allowed to become a factor.
If you are reloading pistol range brass which has not had the overall length checked like you would do on a rifle or target round then slight variations in case length can be a very small factor.

regards,

:):):)

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

+1 on what Mike Kerr said. I have used them with great success in several pistol calibers and some small rifle calibers, like .223 and .30 carbine. Like any other brand powder measure on the market, you can tune them to reduce any leakage (If they have any with the powder you happen to be using, most of mine never did.) and to increase over all charge to charge accuracy.

The methods to tune them are known and can be googled. They are a great value and if you take the time to find out via internet research what powders they like, then tune them for peak performance, then use the powders suggested, you will be rewarded with a great powder measure for a low price.

BTW, I also own or have owned Dillon, Hornady, Redding, RCBS and Lee powder measures. I have had a couple of brands besides Lee leak and I've tuned all my powder measures for improved performance. Well worth doing. Those who just say "it leaks and it's cheap junk, toss it" are missing out on a really nice powder measure for very little money.

Hope this helps.

[Jailer]

That is better than I ever could expect with my Lee measure that I quickly got rid of.

I found this with one of mine as well (I have one for each caliber I load) and discovered that the disk wasn't traveling all the way out and it would leave a small amount of powder in the disk cavity upon return. The fix is to remove the insert from your powder through expander and file a small amount from the top of the insert until the disk travels all the way over the drop hole and drops all the powder every time.

[Longwood]

The people that use them on a progressive have no idea if they are working correctly or not.
I hate having to FIX new junk to get it to do OK, instead of perfect, like it should from the Gitgo.

[Norbrat]

The Autodisk has worked just fine for me, except when I tried to use a very light load using the adjustable charge bar. That resulted in a number of loads being very undercharged, to the point I had a boolit stick in the bore.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=139522

I wasn't the first to have this issue.

http://forums.loadmastervideos.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=582

The only other issue is that I just didn't get on with the dinky chain to reset the measure. I went back to the spring which works perfectly well as long as you ensure that you don't lower the case then push it back up and get a double charge. Make sure you full stroke the handle of the press each time and you will be OK.

[evan price]

I've got a dedicated Auto Disk on each die turret. I set them to my basic load and forget it.
With powder such as Titegroup (ball or flattened ball) they are +0/-.1 grains from load to load. The Lee charts are usually optomistic, they are including a safety factor. If a selected hole says it drops 6.2 grains, it usually drops a bit less, maybe 5.8 grains. The important thing is to find the hole that drops closest to what you want and use that, ignore Lee's drop charts except as a rough guide.
I take extra disks and file them to get exactly what I want.

I never had good luck with the adjustable charge bar. I prefer to use the micro disk for small charges.

I use my Pro-1000 for any pistol and 30 carbine and 223 rifle. No problems. I use Titegroup for basic pistol ammo, #9 for the carbine and my Magnums, and H335 for the 223. All ball powders. All measure very well.

Even a flake like PROMO does better than I thought it would.

I don't like the chain, and use the spring return model. You have to be careful about double charging if there;s a problem on the press. But that's what careful work is about.

[Big brass ones]

I agree with Evan price. The secret to the lee auto disc is that it makes a good "set it and forget it" for the lee turret system, and it is not for all powders. I use titegroup allot and get good results with pistol loads. I've even used a double disc and loaded 50 Beowulf which is nearly 40 grains of Lilgun. A good system with limitations

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have about four or five at the moment. The only trouble I ever had was the first one I bought many years ago developed a burr and was catching (Lord knows how it developed a burr, I must have dropped it or something. I sanded then polished it out and that unit is still working and has been in pretty much regular use for 31 years! The others are newer, but a couple of them would be 15 years old, the youngest was bought in 2005. Not a problem with any of them.

I'm not overly sold on the new one that needs the return chain. I prefer the older ones with the big a$$ed spring. The old ones go well with the upgrade kit. I got horribly ball$ed up with the twist shut of reserviors at first, but after loading 50 odd rounds with no powder I am right on the ball with it now!

I have never measured one of the dropped charges in 30+years, apart from some of the Aussie powders and Trailboss as there were not lissted on the charts. I loaded a lot of very accurate 38Special target ammo and 44Mag ammo in that time as well.

I used to say, if it don't go in the Lee AutoDisk, it don't go! If you end up not liking it, send it to me I'll give it a good home.

The risers (for using the measure on a progressive press) and swivel adaptors make them a lot more user friendly.

[Wilsknife]

I fired some of what I loaded with the .2 grain variation. They work great. Using Bullseye and a 90 gn lrn.
Thanks for all your thoughts and insights. Keep 'em coming.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

The people that use them on a progressive have no idea if they are working correctly or not.
I hate having to FIX new junk to get it to do OK, instead of perfect, like it should from the Gitgo.

Actually they do. It's called taking a freshly filled with powder case off the press and weighing the powder. Can be done at any time. Additionally, there is the RCBS lockout die, the Hornady powder cop die and the Dillon powder check system.

As far as having to fix new "junk," I've done it with every single brand out there, including Dillon, Hornady, Redding, RCBS, Lyman, Star, Magma Engineering, C&H and Lee. If you can point to a manufacturer of reloading products whose product you don't have to tune once in a while, please do so. But based on my list, I'm pretty sure if you can, most folks can't afford to buy their product. And I'm betting even if they buy it, they'll have to tune some of them and all of them will benefit from tuning.

[Moonie]

The people that use them on a progressive have no idea if they are working correctly or not.
I hate having to FIX new junk to get it to do OK, instead of perfect, like it should from the Gitgo.

I use them on progressives all the time, only a fool doesn't check the charges regularly. That is certainly asking for trouble. In fact I've been using them on progressives for 20 years with no issues, but again, you MUST do regular checks to ensure the charge is correct. I also calibrate each lot of powder I get to ensure I am using the proper size cavity, I do not go by the chart provided by lee, it is usually close but not exact.

You have to get to know your equipment and each of their idiosyncrasies. Safer that way.

[kostner]

I agree with Evan price. The secret to the lee auto disc is that it makes a good "set it and forget it" for the lee turret system, and it is not for all powders. I use titegroup allot and get good results with pistol loads. I've even used a double disc and loaded 50 Beowulf which is nearly 40 grains of Lilgun. A good system with limitations

Have used mine for twenty years and once you have the right disk is set. Yes I'm aware of the .02+/- doesn't make any difference using W231 BE or Unique. Have fun and safe shooting:redneck:

[Cowboy T]

I have three of them, and the worst I've ever seen is a 0.2gr difference. Typically, it's within 0.1gr. This is with Bullseye, Titegroup, 2400, and H322. Haven't tried it with Unique yet. For me, they just work very well.

BTW, I'm one of those who does regularly change the cavity size depending on what I'm loading. It's a good thing to "prime the pump" by doing at least five powder drops through it first, using any ol' spare case, before you start checking measurements. My method is 5 drops w/o bothering to measure yet, then measuring the next 5, adjusting if necessary, and then repeating. Once it's set and "primed" like this, it drops consistently from that point forward.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have three of them, and the worst I've ever seen is a 0.2gr difference. Typically, it's within 0.1gr. This is with Bullseye, Titegroup, 2400, and H322. Haven't tried it with Unique yet. For me, they just work very well.

BTW, I'm one of those who does regularly change the cavity size depending on what I'm loading. It's a good thing to "prime the pump" by doing at least five powder drops through it first, using any ol' spare case, before you start checking measurements. My method is 5 drops w/o bothering to measure yet, then measuring the next 5, adjusting if necessary, and then repeating. Once it's set and "primed" like this, it drops consistently from that point forward.

Thats what I do as well, I never really thought about it, but I suppose I carried that habit over from my use of a regular powder measure. Even when I adjust the micrometer style slide on the auto disk I run at least one through.

I like your videos Cowboy T, keep up the good work. I have a query about one point in one of your videos, but I will send you a PM.

[troyboy]

I run 10 cases and only measure the last 5 as well. Mine also work as advertised.Great product.

[7of7]

I found this with one of mine as well (I have one for each caliber I load) and discovered that the disk wasn't traveling all the way out and it would leave a small amount of powder in the disk cavity upon return. The fix is to remove the insert from your powder through expander and file a small amount from the top of the insert until the disk travels all the way over the drop hole and drops all the powder every time.

I recently acquired one, that would go way to far.. I could adjust it to throw the powder, but not bell the mouth of the case.
I got to looking at it, and the drop tube wasn't installed all the way.. It was a quarter inch from where it should have been seated.. A quick trip to the vise, and it was fully seated.. It works beautifully now.. a few granules on top every now and then, and found it a bit sticky.. nothing some powderd graphite didn't cure..

[milprileb]

The Pro measure is every bit as good as the Dillon measure on my Dillon 650. On die heads now, I use the Pro for my pistol calibers. The range of charges and consistency of charges dropped for my target 45acp pistols or 9mm pistols is just fine. If I want a charge that the disks don't allow, I go back to the Dillon measure if I just got to have that specific charge of powder.

I have ZERO confidence, Zero good things to say about the adjustable charge bar that Lee sells for the Lee Pro measure. While a good idea, it does not throw charges consistently with WW231 (which meters like water) and you can forget the adj. charge bar throwing any other powder remotely near your desired charge. Don't buy this adjustable charge bar.

Beyond the adj. charge bar comments, I was shocked at how reliable and trust worthy the Pro has demonstrated itself the past 2 years of use. It does everything I need for 25 and 50 yds pistol ammo shooting in my 45acp and 9mm pistols.

[klcarroll]

I have four Dillon 450s, and I use the cheapie basic Auto Disk Measure on all of them. I am not only completely happy with them, but I regularly prowl Ebay looking for more; …..Just so that I can add to my rack of “set-up-and-ready-to-go” measures.

I have found that if THE OPERATOR does his job, and sets up the powder die correctly, they are every bit as accurate as my old RCBS Uniflow. This is particularly true with fine grained and ball powders.

Small charges of large flake powders like Unique do present a worst case scenario; .....but even then, a simple technique has worked well for me.

I load a lot of .38/200 for my Webleys, and my favorite load is 2.7 grains of Unique. In this case, the diameter of the flake is a significant percentage of the cavity diameter, and "stacking problems" can occur. To get around this difficulty, I simply give the press handle a couple of little "bumps" (just enough to jostle the disk a little) before pulling the handle through a normal stroke.

……And in the interest of fairness, I have to point out that even my old Uniflow required careful technique when dispensing similar loads: ……Large flakes in small cavities require care; …..Regardless of what brand of volumetric measure your use.

Kent

[joeatact]

I find them ok but they seem to leak when used with small ball powders like true blue

[geargnasher]

The Pro Autotdisk is just about all I use anymore, I have four of them and an updated original model that gets used on all the turret presses set up with a spring return. I grouse every time I have to load a charge weight that the Autodisk can't handle, in fact I often set it up so I can double-charge with a double disk to get my charge right, it's more accurate than my RCBS Uniflow even doing it that way with extruded powders, and that includes the tolerance stacking.

Evan Price and Cowboy T, a big +1 on your posts above.

Gear

[Oldgoat03]

I just found this site and this thread which caught my eye so thought I'd share my experience and opinion.

I agree with Cowboy T which isn't surprising since I learned about the Lee Classic Turret press and loading methods from his excellent videos. (Thanks T!)

That said I have experienced inconsistent charges with my Lee Pro Disc PM and adjustable measure when trying to throw less than 3.8 gr of W231. After some research I learned that for smaller charges I needed the Lee micros disc. I ordered one and it works great. My only question is why don't they just include it with the disc set?!?

As "CT" mentioned, I prime with the first 5 powder throws then measure the next five. From then on they are within .1 gr always. I still eyeball each and measure anything that looks off. I also do spot check measures every 10-20 rds as well. The other thing to watch is to make sure your lever pull mechanics are consitent. It seems the powder drops are affected by the machines vibrations etc.

All in all the Lee Pro Disc PM with the adj measure and discs works great for me on my LCT!

Thanks to Cowboy T and all of you here that share your knowledge with us newbies.

Bob

[Dark Helmet]

Or Auto Disc with the Pro Update kit or Pro Auto Disc- if the bottom of the hopper, disc and body of the measure doesn't fit tightly enough it will leak the finer grained powders, somtimes even flakes will get through. You can file and polish down the top of the body (the part that the hopper screws go through) down to tighten this up. On the Auto Disc measure bodies, file and polish smooth and level the parts that the bottom of the disc rides on and then tighten up the fit. You probably won't stop all the leakage but you can reduce it enough that it isn't such a nuisance with spillage and binding of the measure. Remember to take a little off at the time and check for function. :!:
Yes , coarser/fluffier powders and lighter charges thereof are harder to get consistant charge weights. Nature of the beast(s).

[Four Fingers of Death]

I much prefer the older model with the big spring. So much easir than the silly/dinky chain thingo. My friend attched a small bracket (from the hardware store, sort of like a piece of Mecchano) which he bent and attached a spring. Works at treat. I don't know why they changed that as they still list the older set up in their catalogue.

[AL.Longshot]

Ive had good luck with my Lee AutoDisk. Once its set up I usually check about every 5th round. I have the adjustable charge bar and dont like it at all. I have found that if you keep the Hopper atleast half full at all times it seems to help with the consistancy of the charges

[Four Fingers of Death]

"I have found that if you keep the Hopper atleast half full at all times it seems to help with the consistancy of the charges"

I don't think that that has been mentioned yet, but is important with any powder measure. I top mine up when I put another pack of primers in the press. Not really necessary to do it so often, but I never forget that way and let the head of powder get too far down.

[milprileb]

Lee has a micro disk? That is a surprise ! Will all them .

[Four Fingers of Death]

Lee has a micro disk? That is a surprise ! Will all them .

I bought mine in about 1985 when I was loading a lot of ammo for guys at the club. We were shooting Service Pistol (sort of like PPC) and for the 7yard series, a lot of the guys liked extremely light loads. They sounded like crackers going off. Naturally, as soon as I bought a 140DEWC mould and the micro disk, etc, etc they introduced a power factor of 120. Surprise, surprise, surprise!!!! We found ou that most of the S&W 38s and 357s we were shooting were actually more accurate with a bit of oomph behind the boolit!

The micro disk is a two piece affair and is coloured grey to stand out from the other disks. I can't rememebr the numbers, but it will drop tiny loads.

[dragon813gt]

It will drop something like 1.2gn on the small side. I almost tried using it in conjunction with another one to attain 5gn. But just stuck with one that was dropping 5.3 instead. I found that the chart they give you is close but not always correct. With the price of them I'm tempted to buy one for every caliber so I don't have to take it on and off.


Brought to you by TapaTalk.

[gefiltephish]

So many people dislike the adjustable charge bar (acb) and I do understand why. However, there is an easy fix on loadmastervideos (http://forums.loadmastervideos.com/f...opic.php?t=582). Someone above also posted that link. Read through the whole thread to be sure you understand exactly what the problem is. It's very obvious when you see for yourself in your own hands. The fix is quite simple, anyone can do it. I can't say that it works for all powders, but it works for everything I've used. I consistently get +/- .1 even down to 3.0gr of BE. I don't use less than that except for firelapping - and I weigh for each one of those.

Since so many people curse out the ACB, maybe somebody should create a sticky about the fix, on this site. I just sent a pm to Darwin at loadmastervideos to see if he objects to me posting a condensed version of that thread here.

[Four Fingers of Death]

So many people dislike the adjustable charge bar (acb) and I do understand why. However, there is an easy fix on loadmastervideos (http://forums.loadmastervideos.com/f...opic.php?t=582). Someone above also posted that link. Read through the whole thread to be sure you understand exactly what the problem is. It's very obvious when you see for yourself in your own hands. The fix is quite simple, anyone can do it. I can't say that it works for all powders, but it works for everything I've used. I consistently get +/- .1 even down to 3.0gr of BE. I don't use less than that except for firelapping - and I weigh for each one of those.

Since so many people curse out the ACB, maybe somebody should create a sticky about the fix, on this site. I just sent a pm to Darwin at loadmastervideos to see if he objects to me posting a condensed version of that thread here.

I couldn't get the link to work, even tried copying the text above and re-pasting it, but no good. I picked up a couple of the ACBs in trades, etc, but never used them until I started using TrailBoss (TB). There is no info on the chart about TB, so I used the ACB to find the load I was after, easier than emptying the measure and swapping out disks to adjust the charge until you find what you are looking for. They do leak a bit of powder, but I didn't notice that it was any worse than the normal disks. For powders that there is data available I just prefer to drop in the disk. I have been meaning to fit a Lee AutoDisk to a lock and load bushing so that I can remove and empty it easily and measure how much Trail Boss (and some of the other ADI powders) are thrown by each disk cavity. One of the many projects that I never seem to get around to doing.

[jagd1305]

I’ve found the auto disk to be a Jekyll/Hyde experience.
Sometimes it works well; others not at all.
Of the 250 38 Special loads I threw a couple of days ago, I’ve found it failed to throw a charge in 32 of them.
Into the trash with this Lee product.
Very disappointing.

[poppy42]

I’ve found the auto disk to be a Jekyll/Hyde experience.
Sometimes it works well; others not at all.
Of the 250 38 Special loads I threw a couple of days ago, I’ve found it failed to throw a charge in 32 of them.
Into the trash with this Lee product.
Very disappointing.

If your throwing it out, feel free to throw it my way. I’ll gladly take it off your hands ! P.m. me if you’re serious. I could use it for parts.

[RogerDat]

Zombi thread alert! The posts before today are from 2012 so about 17 years old. Good grief I mean 7 years old. Not a good day to calculate powder volume based on powder density eh?

Because it wasn't mentioned and I think is useful infromation Titan Reloading makes a micro disk for the auto disk powder measures. Just the ticket for small loads such as one might use in .32 ACP or .380 made using 3D printing.

The micro charge bar is great for loads that are not too small. The cavity doesn't line up well with the powder drop below a certain load threshold. There are some instructions and suggestions online to "build up" the inside of the cavity on the side that isn't lining up properly. Myself I just use charge bar for larger loads. As always YMMV

[tazman]

Zombi thread alert! The posts before today are from 2012 so about 17 years old.


OOOPs! May need to check your calculator.

[RogerDat]

OOOPs! May need to check your calculator. Yeah I went back and commented on my mistake. Pointed out this was probably a bad day for me to figure load volume based on powder density.

I could create the first 357 magnum round that can't make it more than 3 feet out of the barrel, of course we could call it the sensible gun regulation safety self defense round if I did create it. :-P

[tazman]

Now that's funny.