Thinking about purchasing Lee Precision Adjustable Charge Bar to tweak 38 sp. loads for several of my J/K frame S&Ws and 2 Rugers. My standard load is 3.8grs. of HP-38/158 gr. LSWC. I want to see if I can improve accuracy with the bar. Any opinions/experiences/ suggestions using this tool would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and expertise.
Lee Adjustable Charge Bar-Opinions
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Clovishound
Member
I bought one a few years ago. I used it for pistol calibers, 9mm and .38. I could never get it to throw consistently. Perhaps it works better for larger powder throws.
I have since gone to the autodrum measure and haven't looked back. It is infinitely adjustable, throws more consistently than the autodisc with the discs, and doesn't leak.
I have heard from others that like the charge bar. Maybe with certain powders and certain volumes it works well. I was not impressed.
If you are gong to stick with the autodisc, I would recommend getting a second set of discs and modify them to give in between volumes. For load development you can throw them over or under and trickle to desired weight.
I have since gone to the autodrum measure and haven't looked back. It is infinitely adjustable, throws more consistently than the autodisc with the discs, and doesn't leak.
I have heard from others that like the charge bar. Maybe with certain powders and certain volumes it works well. I was not impressed.
If you are gong to stick with the autodisc, I would recommend getting a second set of discs and modify them to give in between volumes. For load development you can throw them over or under and trickle to desired weight.
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Bosquebass
Member
IMO, put the ten bucks that the charge bar costs on an Auto Drum. The Auto Drum has worked better for me with every powder I've used it with than the Auto Disc and charge bar ever did.
This mirrors my experience exactly. Flake powders like Bullseye and Unique don't work so well with the charge bar - the disks seem to be more consistent with them. But it does work pretty well with the ball powders.
And the AutoDrum beats the AutoDisk in every way IMO.
edonwheels73
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It only works for a few powders and a few weights.
As mentioned above, save the $10 and put it toward a $40 auto drum which will do what you want and whole lot more.
On sale at MidSouth for $30.
Auto Drum Powder Measure by LEE RELOADING PRODUCTS
As mentioned above, save the $10 and put it toward a $40 auto drum which will do what you want and whole lot more.
On sale at MidSouth for $30.
Auto Drum Powder Measure by LEE RELOADING PRODUCTS
Alk8944
US Veteran
There is a reason the Lee powder measures are so inexpensive, and that is because they are junk. I am not anti-Lee, use many of their products and believe they are the best (only) of their type on the market, but their powder measures aren't one of these! Best fix is throw it away and buy a real powder measure.
The best standard production ones are Redding, RCBS and Lyman, although the Hornady does a respectable job too! Yes, they are more that the Lee, and for good reason. Any of these will be a lifetime investment! They will still be giving dependable charges for longer than you will live. You will wear out several of the cheap Lee or similar plastic or pot metal measures in this time.
The best standard production ones are Redding, RCBS and Lyman, although the Hornady does a respectable job too! Yes, they are more that the Lee, and for good reason. Any of these will be a lifetime investment! They will still be giving dependable charges for longer than you will live. You will wear out several of the cheap Lee or similar plastic or pot metal measures in this time.
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Wee Hooker
Member
I've got one and never used it. To be honest, I've always gotten tailored and consistent loads by altering a spare set of Auto Discs. Usually a few swipes with a jewelers file will split the difference between hole sizes. It's not hard to get them exactly where you want them for any load. I then label the modified discs for future ID and use.
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The charge bar works pretty well at larger throws--over 1cc or so. I didn't like it very much at all until I started loading .44 Magnum. I use it with both flake and ball powders, and haven't noticed much of a difference between the two.
It never worked particularly well at "normal" charges, especially at .38 Spl levels. It would throw squib charges with otherwise safe loads of relatively free-flowing powders.
I really wish they would make a "Mini" version, but tbh, the Auto-Drum exists if you want a variable cavity powder measure.
Alk8944 said:
I lol'd.
Dunno, they work real well for a lot of people...
dannyabear
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Simply pick the next larger size hole, and then drill and tap a 1/4"" setscrew in from the front, use the setscrew to precisly adjust your charge, I have done this to several of the disc, but as noted now I to use the pro auto drum.
carpriver
US Veteran
I used the charge bar but could never get it to give me a consistent drop. I changed over to the Lee Auto Drum powder measure. once you get your measure set it will be consistent. I have been using one for about 9 months and I am so happy with the quality of my ammo and the quality of the drops. I would recommend it to those looking for consistent loads.
I"ve used the auto disks for decades on my original turret press and then the Loadmaster, and find them to be just fine with the ball powders I prefer. (They also work well with Trail Boss, which is like big, thin washers in shape, but it's a fill-up-the-case powder so it needs large cavities, and the powder fills those pretty consistently.) I have several of the adjustable charge bars, and they too have worked fine for me as long as I'm not trying to throw too small a charge - I forget where the lower limit is, but I think even Lee recommends use only above a certain volume.
I find the disk design to be a super reliable and repeatable system, subject to the limitations of its fixed steps. For most of my handgun loads, though, I have found that one of the holes will give a consistent charge that's about right for what I need, and I haven't been bothered by the fact that I can't throw a charge that's 0.3g more or less. On those infrequent occasions when I was loading near-max loads, I used a bench mounted (Redding) measure that I could dial up to just where I wanted it. But for the bulk stuff I loaded most, the disks were fine.
I am now loading a lot of 32 revolver rounds, including 32 H&R and 327 Federal Magnum. These don't need very large charges for most loads, and the spread between minimum and maximum charge can be pretty small. So I've made my own "adjustable" disks by drilling and tapping a hole into each one of the measuring holes on a disk, and turning in a set screw that I can drive into and out of the cavity to tune it for a precise charge of a particular powder. (I have bought a LOT of disk measures over the years, and so have a spare set of disks I can modify just for this purpose.)
I work up a particular load using the bench mounted measure, making 10-20 rounds at a each of several charge levels, which I then chronograph and shoot for accuracy. When I find one I like, and want to load in quantity, I'll figure out which disk will throw just above the charge I want, and turn the set screw in or out to get the precise charge. The 0.53 disk, for example, throws 3.4g of Red Dot after I've adjusted the screw to slightly reduce its normal volume.
I find the disk design to be a super reliable and repeatable system, subject to the limitations of its fixed steps. For most of my handgun loads, though, I have found that one of the holes will give a consistent charge that's about right for what I need, and I haven't been bothered by the fact that I can't throw a charge that's 0.3g more or less. On those infrequent occasions when I was loading near-max loads, I used a bench mounted (Redding) measure that I could dial up to just where I wanted it. But for the bulk stuff I loaded most, the disks were fine.
I am now loading a lot of 32 revolver rounds, including 32 H&R and 327 Federal Magnum. These don't need very large charges for most loads, and the spread between minimum and maximum charge can be pretty small. So I've made my own "adjustable" disks by drilling and tapping a hole into each one of the measuring holes on a disk, and turning in a set screw that I can drive into and out of the cavity to tune it for a precise charge of a particular powder. (I have bought a LOT of disk measures over the years, and so have a spare set of disks I can modify just for this purpose.)
I work up a particular load using the bench mounted measure, making 10-20 rounds at a each of several charge levels, which I then chronograph and shoot for accuracy. When I find one I like, and want to load in quantity, I'll figure out which disk will throw just above the charge I want, and turn the set screw in or out to get the precise charge. The 0.53 disk, for example, throws 3.4g of Red Dot after I've adjusted the screw to slightly reduce its normal volume.
I have used the auto-disc system for years. It throws consistent charges. Sometimes when I want a charge that is not listed, I use a powder trickler on a beam scale to bring up the charge I want. I also have the Lee pro disc setup that adds a second stacked disc for tuning a charge.
