Smith & Wesson Forum

Go Back   Smith & Wesson Forum > Ammunition-Gunsmithing > Reloading
o

Notices

Reloading All Reloading Topics Go Here


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 10-16-2009, 05:00 AM
scooter-2 scooter-2 is offline
Member
lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure;  
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: indy area
Posts: 36
Likes: 2
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default lee auto disk powder measure;

does anyone use a lee autodisk on a progressive press? i just got a progressive press and a lee powder measure. i am curious to know how accurate it is? i use unique powder. i know different powder meters differntly. i will be using the lee powder thru expander die with the measure on the die. looks like an easy setup. any comments helpful. thank you; scooter-2
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 10-16-2009, 05:19 AM
bubbajoe45's Avatar
bubbajoe45 bubbajoe45 is offline
Member
lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure;  
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: East TN
Posts: 940
Likes: 173
Liked 343 Times in 85 Posts
Default

I have a Lee Turret press and use the Autodisk through the expander die, however I don't think that the Turret is considered a 'progressive' press. Nevertheless, it works great and I use Unique more than any other powder. Never more than a tenth off and once it's set, it is very rarely off at all. I check (weigh) every 5th round for 20, then every 10th thereafter.
What doesn't work is the Turret gismo! I have gotten tired of replacing the little nylon ratchets and just campaign batches of 20 to 50 rounds at a time through each step of the process. This method seems to actually be faster for me.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 10-16-2009, 06:27 AM
617fan's Avatar
617fan 617fan is offline
US Veteran
lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure;  
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western KY
Posts: 212
Likes: 0
Liked 8 Times in 5 Posts
Default

I have found it very consistent with some powders and a little less with others. Overall it works fine unless you need a charge that measures "in-between" the disc sizes. Just remember to turn off the powder hopper and run a few cycles into an empty case BEFORE changing discs.
__________________
"Give me Liberty..."
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 10-16-2009, 06:37 AM
tbury's Avatar
tbury tbury is offline
Member
lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure;  
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Central Kentucky
Posts: 577
Likes: 16
Liked 54 Times in 23 Posts
Default

I find that stick powders tend to hang up in the disk, even short sticks like Varget. This may be the die as well as the autodisk. For these powders I use a funnel and watch the powder go into the case.
__________________
Revolver luvin' Mountaineer
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 10-16-2009, 08:21 AM
Charles's Avatar
Charles Charles is offline
Member
lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure;  
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Near Chattanooga
Posts: 290
Likes: 20
Liked 61 Times in 30 Posts
Default

Scoot, I use it for pistol and find it to be reasonably accurate as others have said. Bubbajoe, I had the same issue with my turret (although the plastic ratchet has lasted tens of thousands of rounds in both my Lee Pro 1000's) so I just pulled the rod out and now I manually index it. I can get 180 or so rounds per hour this way.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 10-16-2009, 08:58 AM
Treeman Treeman is offline
Member
lee auto disk powder measure;  
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Colorado
Posts: 392
Likes: 5
Liked 60 Times in 44 Posts
Default

I don't use a progressive but I love the Lee autodisk measures for pistol cartridge loading. Many people complain about metering Unique but i have not found it that problematical unless yuo are trying to do tiny charges. Unique seldom throws off more than half a tenth of a grain in a five grain charge for me.....and with Unique that small variation doesn't even show up in the velocity numbers. One thing that is important with any measure is conssitency. If yougently cycle the press and dump powder and then slam it through multiple cycles and dump powder again you will get variations in the drop- With bulky powders like Unique there can be fairly large variations. If the press operations are consistent between drops the drops tend to be pretty consistent also.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 10-16-2009, 10:14 AM
marlin.357 marlin.357 is offline
Member
lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure;  
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Southern Maryland
Posts: 302
Likes: 6
Liked 22 Times in 19 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bubbajoe45 View Post
What doesn't work is the Turret gismo! I have gotten tired of replacing the little nylon ratchets and just campaign batches of 20 to 50 rounds at a time through each step of the process. This method seems to actually be faster for me.
Mine works great, but you can try taking the ratchet mechanism out and just turning the turret by hand.

Also, the turret might be dragging causing the ratchets to wear prematurely. Try unscrewing the nut on the shaft a bit to get more clearance and realigning the turret. I got about 4000 rounds out of my last ratchet.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 10-16-2009, 10:18 AM
dave b dave b is offline
Member
lee auto disk powder measure;  
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 602
Likes: 765
Liked 403 Times in 119 Posts
Default

My Auto Disc seems to work good, but the discs seem to be off from the chart anywhere from .5 to a whole grain. I calibrated my scale too.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 10-16-2009, 11:36 AM
marlin.357 marlin.357 is offline
Member
lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure;  
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Southern Maryland
Posts: 302
Likes: 6
Liked 22 Times in 19 Posts
Default

In my experience the discs always throw a little light according to the chart, but there may be an exception, ALWAYS weigh.

I also find it handy to make up my own chart for each powder I use, that way when working up a new load there is less trial and error.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 10-16-2009, 01:49 PM
deanodog deanodog is offline
US Veteran
lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure;  
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: KY
Posts: 3,568
Likes: 4,478
Liked 1,189 Times in 509 Posts
Default

I have replaced my discs with their adjustable slide or disc and find it much easier and mine has been very consistant and it serves for those in between disc loads. About $10.00 from Lee.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 10-16-2009, 06:21 PM
bubbajoe45's Avatar
bubbajoe45 bubbajoe45 is offline
Member
lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure;  
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: East TN
Posts: 940
Likes: 173
Liked 343 Times in 85 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by marlin.357 View Post
Mine works great, but you can try taking the ratchet mechanism out and just turning the turret by hand.

Also, the turret might be dragging causing the ratchets to wear prematurely. Try unscrewing the nut on the shaft a bit to get more clearance and realigning the turret. I got about 4000 rounds out of my last ratchet.

Yea, when it works, it works great! A few times I've gotten 600 or 700 rounds out it or so. Other times, it only lasts 100 or 200. But when it starts to go south, it takes longer to get anything done. I'll look into the dragging issue, but I kind of like completing each step independently. Also, I use an AutoPrime, rather than the press setup. When Turreting (new term I just made up), this complicates things as priming takes place outside of the press. once I tried the following: resize one set of cases while charging, expanding and seating another set (I decided this was not safe - I was very careful, but just too scarey). So, it was 1 crank to re-size, switch to a primed case and then 2 cranks toward a finished cartridge. I won't do this anymore.
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 10-16-2009, 07:46 PM
Jellybean Jellybean is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 2,698
Likes: 6
Liked 351 Times in 243 Posts
Default

I had a Lee pro 1000 years ago with the Auto Disk attached. It would hang up on a regular basis and throw partial charges. It also had a problem with consistant accuracy due to the excessive vibration from the Lee expander dies rough operation. I eventually threw it and the press in the trash can.

Since you already have it though, there is a double disk kit you can get to have more flexibility with your charge weights and a micro disk in case you want to throw small charges of powder. As others have noted their charts aren't reliable and you should use a good scale if you are going to work with higher to max charges of powder.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 10-16-2009, 08:38 PM
Dale53 Dale53 is offline
Member
lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure;  
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Southwestern Ohio
Posts: 2,337
Likes: 209
Liked 1,195 Times in 457 Posts
Default

I have two Dillon 550B's with three Dillon measures and three Lee Measures. The Dillon's are blessed with a mechanical return - no hangups there, regardless.

My Lee's are the Pro Auto Discs. I restrict the Lee's to easy to measure pistol powders like 231 or Bullseye because they do NOT have a mechanical return but rely on spring pressure, only. They do a fine job with the proper powders. The Lee's are particularly good with very small amounts of powder (as an example, 2.0 grs.Bullseye in the .32 S&W Long target wadcutter load).

FWIW
Dale53
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 10-18-2009, 03:52 AM
scooter-2 scooter-2 is offline
Member
lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure;  
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: indy area
Posts: 36
Likes: 2
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default reply; lee auto disk powder measure;

thanks to all for replies. you were very helpful (as always). to charles; i have an rcbs piggyback for my rockchucker. it was given to me by a friend, who passed on a few weeks ago. i have taken the auto indexing rod out of it also. i like using it in manual mode better than auto. i think it is easier to control. thanks to all again. scooter-2
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 10-23-2009, 06:20 PM
Wee Hooker Wee Hooker is offline
Member
lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure; lee auto disk powder measure;  
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: New England, USA
Posts: 4,466
Likes: 3,066
Liked 4,289 Times in 1,608 Posts
Default

I've used one on my turrent and latter 2 Pro 1000's. As others mentioned, it works well with most ball and flake powders. Stick powders can slow things downa bit though. The key is to keep the hopper at least 1/2 full and make sure the press gets a good shake with every handle pull.
BTW. 5000+ trouble free rounds before I replaced the ratchet on my Turrent. Both style Lee presses served me very well and are no more problem prone that the Dillon square deal that I (mistakenly ) replaced them with.
__________________
Dave
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
bullseye, cartridge, rcbs, wadcutter

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Light Red Dot loads from Lee Pro Auto Disk powder measure. Trooperdan Reloading 13 04-25-2017 10:41 AM
Lee Pro-Auto Powder Measure Disk Selection Filibogado Reloading 19 05-14-2013 04:06 AM
Lee Auto Disk Powder Measure badguybuster Reloading 4 12-20-2011 09:45 AM
Lee Auto Disk Powder Measure alphabrace Reloading 4 11-30-2011 10:09 PM
lee auto disk powder measure ? scooter-2 Reloading 7 08-22-2010 09:45 PM

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
smith-wessonforum.com tested by Norton Internet Security smith-wessonforum.com tested by McAfee Internet Security

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:49 PM.


Smith-WessonForum.com is not affiliated with Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: SWHC)