Lee perfect powder measures?

[leadhead]

Any one here use the Lee perfect powder measure and what are your reviews?
I'm looking for a measure I can mount to my Lee powder thru dies for pistol
loads that will work on my Rock chucker press. Any info would be great.
Thanks. Denny

[toallmy]

I only use the lee perfect powder measure when dropping a charge and trickling to desired weight on a scale , I use it a lot but I know better than trusting it .
Now the lee pro - auto disk is another matter , I use it on a progressive with fine results .

[Bazoo]

I use two of them for bench mounted and I trust them. They leak fine powder like 296 fiercely. Stick powders and unique work well though.

[onelight]

The auto drum and the auto disk are the 2 Lee has to auto dispense powder with the Lee powder dies . The powder dies come with an adapter to accept a funnel if you want to use any other measure bench mounted.

[lawdog941]

The auto drum and the auto disk are the 2 Lee has to auto dispense powder with the Lee powder dies . The powder dies come with an adapter to accept a funnel if you want to use any other measure bench mounted.

As stated, the PPM is dependable, but I also trickle up for final weight. It's usually within +/- .2 on mine, but I'm little OCD on weights. But I do like the auto drum, seems to give more accurate weights.

Mike

[leadhead]

I've been watching videos on the auto drum and it looks like
what I'm looking for. Seems to get good reviews.
Denny

[BigAlofPa.]

A trick with the perfect powder measure. It lap the inside with a polishing compound. I used Mothers mag and aluminum polish. You work the drum back and forth. You will see where it has high and low spots as you check your progress. When you tighten screw that holds it together. Snug it up to where the handle shows some resistance when you rotate it. This cuts fine powder leaks way down.

[Shawlerbrook]

Some good YouTube videos rating them. Seems that they are what they are for the reasonable price.

[Bazoo]

Sweet, thanks for the tip bigAl.

[BigAlofPa.]

You're welcome. I got sick of powder falling out all over the press. Started digging for a solution.

[leadhead]

I see now that the auto drum comes with a clear bottle that
doesn't have a lid.... Is it made of plastic so you could cut it off to
dump your work up charges back in?
Denny

[onelight]

I see now that the auto drum comes with a clear bottle that
doesn't have a lid.... Is it made of plastic so you could cut it off to
dump your work up charges back in?
Denny
That measure has the same size threads as some of the 1lb powder containers so they can be used in place of the factory container to have more capacity .

[BigAlofPa.]

I like the new clear bottles. Mine have the red hopper. Hard to see the powder anymore in my press mounted one. My new lyman powder throw has a clear one.

[leadhead]

Yea, the clear plastic is nice, but why did they make it with a solid top?

[BigAlofPa.]

Yeah the solid top would be inconvenient. My new Lyman has a lid on it.

[Jniedbalski]

I like the lee perfect powder measure. I use it just for my lee cast Single stage press. It does leak a little . I put a tray under it ,but works great for me in dispensing within .1 to .2 of a grain.

[Bazoo]

Both of mine will drop right on. I give it a little knock on the up stroke, kind of a hard stop really.

[RoyEllis]

My 3 PPMs drop dead on but I kinda cheat a lil bit. They each have an electric toothbrush taped to the back of the stand, I turn it on before dropping charges. Easier to me than remembering to tap, bump etc on each throw.

[leadhead]

Well, I ordered one of the auto drum measures. It looks like all the new ones
have the clear hoppers. I'll use it for awhile and if it becomes a problem, I'll
either cut off the top or see if I can find the red hopper. I don't know if Lee
sells the red replacement one anymore or not, but I'll figure it out somehow.
Denny

[C.F.Plinker]

Lee sells replacement red hoppers for $12.00.

https://leeprecision.com/hopper-cov-round-red.html

[BigAlofPa.]

I was able to get my red one cleaned out. I can see through it again. Rubbing alcohol.

[Gtrubicon]

I have a perfect powder measure that I have set on a powder through die, it meters very consistent.

[onelight]

Yea, the clear plastic is nice, but why did they make it with a solid top?

They have an adapter for the APP that accepts that same bottle or 1lb powder containers to catch primers or bullets . I am used to the open top but could use a separate container or the powder can for charges I don't want.
So would not be a deal breaker for me just an adjustment to the process .

[cwlongshot]

Always amused at names manufacturers use...

I Wouldn't give a cent or recommend any LEE Powder
Measure or Scale to someone I didnt Like!

Not a LEE Hater. I have and use many if there products. But powder handling duties wont be from LEE "Precision".

CW

[leadhead]

C.F.Plinker.....Thanks for the link for Lee hopper.......
I already have the Pro disk setup, so I have the
red hopper I can use if I want to. Thanks again.
Denny

[dverna]

I have one and it worked OK. Kind of chintzy but you get what you pay for. I am anal about rifle loads so always used it set a bit below my charge weight and trickled up. Seemed reasonably accurate.

I still have it but stopped using it when I got an RCBS ChargeMaster. For load work up and precision shooting I still weigh every charge but I am starting to conclude it is not really that important if the charge is off by .2 gr. in a near full power rifle load. Sometimes I think we get anal from reading what the "experts" print. In fact, is seems silly to worry about deadnuts powder charges if shooting cast bullets.

[mattw]

I have been using a Lee PPM for awhile, I had to lap it in to stop leaks. It is very good for tiny charges of reasonable powders.

[leadhead]

dverna.... Your right about dead nuts powder charges.... I shot handgun
silhouette for 22 years and never weighted any powder charge. I also
found that weighing cast bullets made no difference either. I was inter-
national class in revolver, unlimited, and production class. So no, a couple
tenths difference in a charge of powder you will never notice, unless your
trying to shoot at say a 1000 yd match, and then I'm not that sure about
that.
Denny

[Savvy Jack]

Any one here use the Lee perfect powder measure and what are your reviews?
I'm looking for a measure I can mount to my Lee powder thru dies for pistol
loads that will work on my Rock chucker press. Any info would be great.
Thanks. Denny

I have not had any oddball charges or miss charges from mine.

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[phantom22]

I used the Lee PPM for years. I finally got fed up with the powder leaking issues. It works fine for stick powder like 4895, but it leaked flake powder like Bullseye to some extent, and ball powder like 296 ended up with more powder on the table than in the cases. I tried the lapping method with little improvement.

Finally switched to a uniflow. It will sometimes bind a bit with stick powders and occasionally with flake powder, but it has never leaked. Overall, a much better experience than the Lee PPM.

If you only plan to use stick powder through it, it will be fine.

[phantom22]

Also with the powder through dies....

I have had issues with some bridging in the powder through die, mostly with small calibers like the .223. More than once I've charged a case and after removing the shell I've had powder fall everywhere. This has happened with both the powder through die and the charging dies from Lee.

[toallmy]

As I mentioned earlier I occasionally get the odd charge out of the blue when using my lee perfect powder measure , ill throw 10-20 charges with reasonable consistency than ill get a 2 grain wild drop . I have used it for years , I took the time to run a pound of powder through it after dissembling and cleaning it thoroughly but it was under 20 bucks and has helped load many thousands of rounds of rifle ammunition .
On the other hand one of my younger brothers has used one since the 90s loading his 30 carbine without a problem . Over a lifetime I have spent a lot of time with a scale in front of me , as I'm sure many of you have , and have observed strange things happen .

[leadhead]

Well, I received the Lee Auto Drum measure and have been playing
with it most of the day. I also bought the 4 extra drums so I could
have different ones set up for different charges. I had one drum that
leaked Win 231 powder but not much. I took some 1000 grit paper
and smoothed the drum, and now it works fine.
All and all, I'm very pleased with it as it's throwing charges less than
1/10th grain even with Unique powder. Time will tell I guess.
Denny

[megasupermagnum]

Here and there you see a problem with the Lee powder measures, but those problems avoid me for some reason. I currently have two of their measures, the all metal measure, and the drum auto measure. I could not possibly ask for a better measure. For a few years I ran an RCBS that I got for cheap. It worked, but never great. Then I got a Lyman #55. There's no other way to put it, the Lyman #55 is junk compared to the Lee. I sold it to another member, who I hope found good use for it. The big problem with stick powders, is most measures are just crunch boxes with them. I even ripped my Lyman #55 off the table once trying to measure 3031. The Lee measures 100% cure this, they are smooth as butter. I run mostly flake powder through the auto drum, it is very accurate, more so than most. I don't have the sheet in front of me, but the few test's I've done with Bluedot powder, something like 35 out of 50 are dead on, 8 out of 50 are .1 grain off, 5 out of 50 are .2 grain off, and 2 are .3 grain off. I use lots of H110, which is a very fine ball powder, and it works great in these. In many measures the fine powders get in the barrel or drum and seize it. Both of my Lee measures work fantastic with it, do not leak, and do not bind. There is no other powder measure under $100 I could recommend other than a Lee, they are tops.

[Savvy Jack]

Here is an adapter for LEE powder through dies if anyone is interested, thought I would try one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/162492368280

[poppy42]

I had the perfect powder measure it was all right but I prefer my uniflow and Lyman 55 for my rifle loads. Now for measures that work with the power through dies I love my Autodisk pro! I also picked up an old Lee safety disk. It’s been discontinued for years. I actually think It was the predecessor to the auto disk. It works exactly like the auto disk except it’s a bench mounted! Same parts, same discs, same Hopper. The only difference is the mechanism the safety disc is not case activated it has a manual lever. Are use it for my pistol calibers that I don’t have Lee powder through dies for. Both are very accurate with the right powder. I’ve dropped hundreds of loads without so much as the .01 variation. The only Problem I have with them is you that you are limited by the size of the holes in the disks. Oh and I finally load charts are good for a guide as most of their specified drops are on the light side and you generally have to go up to the next size hole. I believe they used to make blanks that you could drill your own holes for specific charges but I don’t know if they’re still made or not.

[Savvy Jack]

I had the perfect powder measure it was all right but I prefer my uniflow and Lyman 55 for my rifle loads. Now for measures that work with the power through dies I love my Autodisk pro! I also picked up an old Lee safety disk. It’s been discontinued for years. I actually think It was the predecessor to the auto disk. It works exactly like the auto disk except it’s a bench mounted! Same parts, same discs, same Hopper. The only difference is the mechanism the safety disc is not case activated it has a manual lever. Are use it for my pistol calibers that I don’t have Lee powder through dies for. Both are very accurate with the right powder. I’ve dropped hundreds of loads without so much as the .01 variation. The only Problem I have with them is you that you are limited by the size of the holes in the disks. Oh and I finally load charts are good for a guide as most of their specified drops are on the light side and you generally have to go up to the next size hole. I believe they used to make blanks that you could drill your own holes for specific charges but I don’t know if they’re still made or not.

I have one for my RCBS Little Dandy that has a screw in it (For the RCBS Green Machine). The screw is the bottom of the "hole" so you screw the big screw in and out to set the amount of charge dropped. The problem is that when changing loads one must empty, remove and reset. It's a bit of a pain. That is one reason I switched to the Lee powder thru die and the hopper. With the quick disconnect adapter, I can just swap hoppers.

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[Three44s]

I use my PPM for coarse powders. The fine ones leak and they go in my Uniflow.

With the coarse powders I dump then on a scale and trickle them up.

Three44s

[jetinteriorguy]

I’ve not used a lot of different measures in my 30+ years of handloading. Here’s a list, Pacific drum measure, Lee PPM, Lyman 55, Lee auto disc Pro, Lee auto drum, and the Lee Deluxe Perfect Powder measure. For really good accurate rifle loads or pretty much anything the Lee Deluxe PPM is by far the best. Accuracy is excellent with any powder, easy to adjust, well made, great price wise, and you can use preset drums from the Auto Drum. For pistol loads or .223 plinking ammo the Auto Drum on the Lee Classic cast turret work great. But for most of my pistol, revolver loading I like the Auto disc pro, I just use a tapered reamer to customize the disc holes for my standard loads and it’s the best on the turret press. I don’t have the old Pacific anymore but it was a really good tool, I still have the Lee PPM but haven’t used it since they came out with the Auto Drum and now the Deluxe PPM. The Lyman 55 works good but is kind of fiddly to adjust and has such a small hopper kind of a pain, I still have it but haven’t used it in years.

[1hole]

Nothing is perfect for all times and things, including Lee's Perfect Powder Measure but, on average, it is as good as any for most workers. Thing is, I find the PPM the best measure I've ever used for tubular powders.

I'm quite frugal (okay, I'm cheep) but I get what I need. The PPM is so inexpensive I feel it's money well spent to have one specifically for the course powders but I still use my old Redding Master for everything else.

I trickle up for hot rifle loads but I just set up and dump 'em for mild loads. And, in some 55 years of handloading, I've never trickled handgun ammo because nothing useful would be gained by it. At their best, handguns are not long range bench rest shooters and anyone loading one so hot that +/- .1 gr. is all that's holding off a KABOOM! is nuts.

[dragon813gt]

Have a PPM, a couple Auto Drums and a PAD. They all have a common flaw, they leak fine ball powders. The worse offender is the Auto Drum. Both of mine leak like sieves w/ H110 and I’ve tried all the “fixes”. The PAD leaks the least. I bought a bunch of blank disks and have drilled them out for common loads. Quickest and easiest setup since there is no adjustment needed.

I can’t remember the last time I used the PPM. If I’m going to throw a charge off press I will use a RCBS Chargemaster. I will use this even when loading on a 550 if the charge is an oddball. Even Dillon measures tend to leak fine ball powders. I never had any major issues w/ the PPM and would still be using it if I didn’t have a Chargemaster.