Imperfect powder measure

[Kilroy08]

Has anybody figured out a way to get the Lee PPM to not pee powder all over the place? I have taken it apart, cleaned it, tightened the screw even more, cussed it, drank a beer staring menacingly at it, cussed it some more, and continued to sip my beer while looking at it sideways. That and the stupid toilet chain for the return on it!

I'm about this close to relegating it to the box of shame and slapping my Uniflow on my press!

[462]

My solution to eliminating the Lee drippiness was to replace it with a Lyman 55. It doesn't drip nor leak any type of powder.

Occasionally, I will use the Lee for stick powders, though.

[thenaaks]

I lapped the insides using an automotive polishing compound. Mine had mold marks that you could feel with a fingernail. Now it only leaks a very very tiny amount. Maybe a grain of h335 every 100 rounds.

[Recluse]

I've had the Lee perfect powder measure for 25 years and have yet to mount it on a press. It's mounted on the reloading bench itself, by the single-stage press. Once I got it broken in (ala running three to four pounds of powder through it per the instructions), I've never had a moment's worth of trouble out of it and it has been the most consistently accurate powder measure I've owned.

Right on its heels is the Hornady powder measure followed by the RCBS.

The only Lee powder measure I use on any of the presses is the disc measure system.

:coffee:

[Frozone]

I have a bunch of em. I lapped every one. They don't leak powder BUT...
There is a elastomer wiper at the base of the powder drop chamber.
That creates a ledge that will hold a small amount of powder on it when the drum is rotated.
If you tap the body each time it'll shake this loose and you don't get the little dribble.

One of these days I'm going to trim the thing and see if I can fix that.
I even ordered extra wipers just so I could screw up a few times.
That was several years ago, and I've never gotten around to doing it yet.

When you lap the body use a coarse grit to start and remove all the low spots - they show up readily once you get going.
Those low spots will fill with fine grain powder and that is what causes the PPM to bind.
Oncethe low spots are almost gone, use finer grit to finish things up - I started with valve compound @ ~ 180grit and ended with 330 grit.

It'll amaze you just how well the thing works after you lap it.
Best measure out there once you do the job.

Remeber Most LEE stuff is in 'kit' form.
You have to finish them - they only come assembled because that's the best way to make sure all the parts are there.

[MT Chambers]

That's a good one! "Most Lee stuff is in "kit" form!!!!

[ukrifleman]

I've had the Lee perfect powder measure for 25 years and have yet to mount it on a press. It's mounted on the reloading bench itself, by the single-stage press. Once I got it broken in (ala running three to four pounds of powder through it per the instructions), I've never had a moment's worth of trouble out of it and it has been the most consistently accurate powder measure I've owned.

Right on its heels is the Hornady powder measure followed by the RCBS.

The only Lee powder measure I use on any of the presses is the disc measure system.

:coffee:

+1, my LPPM is bench mounted like Recluse's and has never given me any trouble. I used it straight out of the box without any problems, powder leakage is minimal and it throws consistant charges with most powders.
ukrifleman

[Mike Hughes]

I never could get my PPM to completely stop leaking. I was useing mine on a Load Master progressive press. You mentioned that you have a uniflow. I bought a case activated linkage kit and mounted it on the LM and it works great. A lot of the LM problems are the result of spilled powder. they are a bit pricey, but well worth the money spent. I can load hundreds of rounds without a spec of spilled powder. I actually have 2 of these setup on different presses. One of the presses is setup with the rcbs kit which is $69.99 at midway. The other press has a Hornady linkage kit which is $55.99 at midway. They are almost identical and function equally well.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/802477/rcbs-uniflow-powder-measure-case-activated-linkage-kit
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/591344/hornady-case-activated-powder-drop

[mdi]

I lapped the insides using an automotive polishing compound. Mine had mold marks that you could feel with a fingernail. Now it only leaks a very very tiny amount. Maybe a grain of h335 every 100 rounds.
I've done this. I also lubed mine with powdered graphite., but like most scales it preforms according to the powder it's measuring. My PPM would hold less than 1/10th grain of W231 all day long...

[jonk]

One of these days I'm going to take mine apart and lap it.

However, as it sits, it is simply the finest powder measure money can buy for extruded stick powders. 10 charges of 4895 all dropped at either 48 or 48.1 grains, verified on a digital scale, and dropped smoothly at that. Whereas the Uniflow chopped and ground and had variations of up to .5 gr.

OTOH, the Uniflow shines with ball or flake powders, whereas the unmodified lee grinds away and binds.

So until I fix the Lee's problem (and I haven't yet in 12 years) I just use different measures for different powders.

[kenyerian]

Jonk is right on. I have a redding, an uniflow and a little dandy and the Lee works better with stick powders than any of the other three . However if I am using ball of flake I will go with one of the others.

[Rory McCanuck]

I lapped my PPM and it is much better with fine ball powders now. Maybe not "perfect", but pretty good.
I use a CH measure for the fine ball powders, now, and relegate the PPM for the sticks, where it really shines.

[XWrench3]

i bought a RCBS little dandy for pistol powders. because the lee "Perfect" powder measure leaked so bad, it was adding powder to my loads. and i use stick powders for rifle loads. found out the hard way. extra recoil and cases deformed from some of my pistols due to excess pressures from the extra powder. i am thinking if someone got seriously hurt, and sued Lee over it, the problem would get fixed before they left the Lee factory. but PLEASE do NOT try this because of my post. your fingers, hands, arms, and more importantly eyes are worth way more than what any law suit could ever award.

[Kilroy08]

I cheaped out when I got my Loadmaster. For 2/3 the price of a case activated powder drop I could get the Lee PPM and matching charge die.

When I first got in to reloading I did a "reallocation of assets." Dad bought a Rockchucker starter kit (press, scale, measure, case lube pad, 1 set of dies) back in the late '70s early '80s and never used it. I set it up, then a month or so later realized the need to step up to progressive.

My goal was to keep on hand a full single stage set up for load development and progressive for production.

In hindsight, I should have bit the bullet and got the linkage kit for the Uniflow.

[ROGER4314]

I have 4 RCBS, 2 Lyman 55's, 1 RCBS Little Dandy and two Dillon RL550B measures. The Lyman 55's are my favorite!

I like the Lee manuals, tools and dies but don't care much for their presses, scales or powder measures. I'm sure folks have great luck with them but they don't inspire confidence in me. That's my 2 cents worth.

Flash

[Horace]

Get a Redding powder measure!

Horace

[Le Loup Solitaire]

In addition to the accuracy factor, but more important yet is the issue of safety. So saving money isn't worth the compromising of either and just never mind what is written on the box. You don't stint on fixing the brakes on your car so why fool around with any other type of equipment that might cost you your well being. If you want to tinker with molds or presses to get them to work, that is your decision, but when it comes to powder measures and scales, make sure that you have the most reliable in terms of how well they are built, reliability and dependability. Old saying, "better safe than sorry". LLS

[r1kk1]

I had a PPM for a month. Back it went.

Take care

r1kk1

[13Echo]

I have and use or have used for rifle loading an ancient Redding, an MVA B&M type measure, RCBS, Lyman, and Lee PPM. They all work, they all have their quirks and problems, and all deliver an equivalent level of accuracy. The Lee is a joy with extruded powders, but not so much with fine ball, at least till I lapped the mating surfaces with valve grinding compound. If I were on a very restricted budget I would not be unhappy with just the Lee PPM.

Jerry Liles

[Ewald]

Words can not describe how much I hate my PPM whilst loading 223 with WC 844. I also keep mine mounted on the bench. I broke it in per instructions. It isn't very smooth. The lever arm is to close to the powder drop tube. I'm constantly checking throw weights because of spillage. Somehow I make it work, but it consumes a lot of time.

However I it does fine with Bullseye and 40ish pistol calibers. I remind myself I bought it because it was cheep. Sooner or later I will replace it with something better. Until then, I will make it work.

[429421Cowboy]

I must be one of the guys that doesn't care for the PPM with any powder, even stick. Not a bash on Lee, i use plenty of their gear. I just think as Ewald said, the lever is too close to the body, in never feels smooth even after much use, it still is rough and has high spots, plus you have to tap it good or it will leak all over the place. I just plain prefer the Uniflow for powder measure.

[bkbville]

My PPM works smooth, and it is consistent as all heck with stick powder. It will spill ball powder on occasion and I find I have to tighten it up and it works after that.

Flake though - specifically Unique - I can not trust the thing. I'd like to buy something that would do unique in a trustworthy manner.

[Frozone]

No volume measure will do Large flake powder well.
It's the shape of the powder. The shape allows the powder to bridge and create voids in the volume.
Think about it one flake on edge with a flake on top and bottom can take up the same space as 3 times the flakes stack up.
( my ascii art is not good but.....)\

__ .................................................. ...== (the dots are space holders - the program chops the extra spaces)
| .................................................. ..... ==
__ is a lot lighter in the same space then == is.

One thing that can improve the performance is a vibrator.
On my LEE Disk measures, I have small cell phone vibrator motors epoxied onto the bodies.
They gently shake the measure, and this give Much more consistent throws.

I haven't tried it but I think the same thing would help any measure with large flake powders.

[newton]

Interesting to read all of this. My wife bought me a PPM for Christmas. Until then, I only used the dippers. I have only used Unique, Herco, and Red Dot in it though. Those are the main powders I use for my major reloading projects. It has never leaked anything. If anything, I feel like the settings are WAY off from what the "cc" should actually be compared to my dippers.

However, it does throw the charges very close to each other. I do tap it a couple times on the up stroke, then a couple on the down. Its just a routine I made up. A pain to get the charge weight set, but I ran 200 cases of 38 special threw it and never had to adjust it once. I would check the charge every 10th case. It was my first big batch and I wanted to make sure it was working good.

I find it is a LOT faster than dippers, even having to tap it. Sure it might not be as easy and nice as just having to lift the lever up and down. But for the money it serves its purpose just fine. Most of my other powders are used in such small batches that I will just stick to the dipper method probably, but I might not also. That waits to be seen.

[ROGER4314]

Back in the days when I used dippers, I had a small container of powder, ran the dipper through it then swept off the top evenly with a piece of cardboard. It dropped very consistent charges.

Flash