Help w/Lee Pro Auto Disk Powder Measure etc.

[Dead-Nuts-Zero]

I have some new sets of Lee pistol dies and after learning of the auto powder measure option thru the die, I wanted to learn more about it. Well, seems as the more I looked the more confused I became. I have looked at the supply house websites, read the reviews, looked at Lee website and did a search on this forum. Seems this system works well and is very accurate in most opinions. However, I find many comments talking about several variants in these systems. Lee has the Pro, the Pro-Update and several additional and optional parts to use with these systems. This is where I get confused.

Can anyone give me an idea of what exactly I would need to get the best results for 9mm, .380, .38 and .40 handgun loads? If I get the Pro model, will I need any of the extra parts or replacement parts to make this work well on a Lyman turret press?

It sounds like this system is very accurate and does a good job & saves time for the small investment. I have never been to hot on Lee products but I have read many good comments. Any help would be great.

[DAVID NANCARROW]

I use the pro model with the swivel and the adjustable charge bar. I tried the basic model with the disk stacks, and I can tell you that if you go with the basic model and and change the disks often, you will crack the hopper. The Pro model has the thru bolts molded in and uses brass thumbscrews. The disk stack will get you very close with your pistol loads, but there are times, depending on the powder choice where one size is not enough and the next size up dumps too much.

The Lee powder dies are standard thread, and will fit your Lyman press without extra parts. I use mine on my Rockchucker, and its a nice step saver to be sure. Just follow the directions in the setup, which is easy to follow. Nice to be able to flare the case mouth and drop the powder with one pull of the handle.

The only thing to watch for is to clean the die body occasionally and make sure the disk returns completely when you push the handle up. After a while, you will get a bit of gunk around the linkage and the powder drop will not drop the full amount of powder you have dialed in. Also, do not use aerosols such as gunscrubber around the plastic hopper. Most of the time, I spray some rem oil on a red rag and wipe down the linkage, making sure that none of it gets into the inside of the powder drop tube or the inside of the die.

The other thing to know is that despite the elastomer wiper they brag about, on some small diameter ball and flake powders, the unit will leak a very small amount of powder. I notice that with W231 and Blue Dot more so than Accurate #5 for example.

[JDG]

Get the Pro Auto Disc. Be sure to wash it with soap & water, to remove all the static. Some people use unsented drier sheets, to eliminate the cling. Mine drops very close to the stated weight of powder, some powders better than others, but some times you fall in no mans land, and need the adjustable charge bar(sold seperately). Good powder measure, and a big time saver on my turret press. My measure came with every thing I needed to use it.

[Dead-Nuts-Zero]

Thanks for the info. I am trying to push it just a little because I have an order going it and some of it I need asap. Today I researched this Pro idea and it seems like I saw that the adj. powder measure came with the Pro unit. However, I just looked again at the Lee site and it's not. Does anyone know if it is included for sure or not in the current package?

And what about the micro Disk, has anyone an opinion on this item for loading small powder charges with the Lee Pro?

Thanks again for your comments!

[goose2w1]

The adjustable charge bar comes with the pro update kit for the reqular square hopper. The pro dispenser just has the 4 disks, the adjustable bar has to be purchased seperatly. The adjustable bar is nice if you need it. Check out http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi-data...uct/AD2302.pdf to see if the powder disks meet your needs first. And yes the pro kit has everything you need (but the die of course) to start using for pistol cartridges. Hope this helps.

[tube_ee]

I use the Lee Auto-Disk. If it's limitations work for you, it works quite well. The hopper screws onto the base with steel screws into plastic threads... bad idea.

There is a solution. Use a small open-end wrench (I use a 10mm, the same that fits the plunger locknut on my RCBS bullet seating die) and slip it over the end of the little actuating arm. Lever the arm downward, which moves the disc forward. There's enough overtravel in the arm to push the disc out far enough so that you can grab it and slide it out of the unit. Grab your new disc, slide it into the tracks in the base, and push it back until the slots in the bottom of the disc line up with where the tab on the actuating lever come up through the base. Slowly release the wrench. The disc should slide back into the podwer measure and return to it's rest position under the hopper.

This will make more sense once you've tried it. I haven't removed my hopper since my loadin' and shootin' buddy figured this out.

Mine is consistent to within the uncertainty of my scale, with powders it likes. With Bullseye, it was around +/- .1 grain. With Green and Blue Dot, I'm getting more like +/- .05. My Hornady scale only reads in .1 increments, so that's a bit of a guess, but I'm very happy with Green Dot as a .38 Special powder, and as a 12 gauge powder, so I'll keep using it. 3.3 grains under a 158 LRN Bear Creek bullet. Oddly, my best Green Dot load with this bullet is lighter than my favorite Bullseye load, even though Bulleye is faster. Go figure. 10.3 - 10.6 Blue Dot makes for a nice midrange .357 Magnum load with the same bullet. The Blue Dot loads have been a bit more variable across loading sessions, but just as consistent within a session. I assume that that's because, with more total powder, the same % variation (due to humidity and such) shows up larger on the scale. 10% of 10.x > 10% of 3.x, ya know.

In any case, I like mine. With small-flake powders like Bullseye, it leaks a bit, but with the Dot powders' larger flakes, it's less of a problem. The newer versions have improved wiper seals and threaded brass inserts in the hopper, so some some of the issues I've seen may well have been fixed. Older units are upgradeable, and I'll either do that, or buy another one.

I hear ya about the no-man's-land issue, but I've always picked the lighter of two options, and that's worked well for me. If I was pushing max loads, like fast-n-heavy .357 deer loads for my Marlin, I'd trickle them one at a time anyway, so it hasn't bothered me much. The adjustable charge bar might be the solution there, but the consistency of a fixed cavity has some advantages for more normal loads.

It's not perfect, but it works for me. For the loading I do, I'm not sure spending more money would get me much more. YMM, as always, V.

--Shannon

[amamnn]

I use the Lee pro auto for all my handgun loads and it can be more accurate than most people believe. If you work a tiny bit of fine ground mica through it before you use it and thereafter maybe once in every dozen uses, depending upon the powder used, it will be so accurate, no one will believe you when you tell them.

[Rico567]

A remark re: changing disks in the (original) Auto-Disk measure. I had two, mounted on my two Pro1000s, which I used for the better part of twenty years. In that time, I NEVER ONCE removed a powder hopper to change a disk.

Disk replacement procedure:

1) With a pair of needlenose pliers (or equivalent tool), grasp the powder disk return spring at the rear, where it hooks onto the back of the measure housing, or where it fits into the notch on the activating lever.

2) Pull the spring out enough so that it clears the housing, and carefully release the tension on the spring. Set spring aside.

3) Slide disk out, until the end of the activation lever that fits into the slot on the bottom of the disk clears the disk.

4) Slide disk completely out of the measure, noting how the small projections on the bottom of the disk fit into grooves in the measure housing.

5) Select appropriate disk; make sure the cavity you want is facing in the proper direction. Slide disk into measure.

6) Reattach spring. Voilá.

Note: If you're stacking disks to get a heavier powder charge (which I never had to), you will naturally need to remove the hopper. If you're going to be doing this regularly, it only makes sense to consider buying the Pro Auto Disk measure per the above post, since it's better designed to do this.

[benedict1]

amamnn--where does one get powdered mica? I just started using the Auto Disk Pro and though the disks work fine for the most powders, and really great for ball powders, I am having trouble with Unique at smaller volumes in both the disk and adjustable charge bar. Does the mica help with that kind of problem?

Basically it's throwing short charges even though I rap the powder measure to try to break up any 'bridging' of the flakes. This happens at charges of less than about 3.4 gr of Unique. Makes me think that something is hanging up in the transfer from the hopper to the disk/bar.

Someone mentioned that it might be that elastomer wipe is peeling back, catching on the adjustable bar cavity or on the the disk cavity and the powder hangs up there. If I take the hopper off after a short charge there is a pileof powder sitting on the disk/bar just behind the hole in the disk/bar. Would mica help that, if that's the problem?

[amamnn]

YEP--I had those problems at first too although not quite so big a leak. I did two things to fix it. I used the mica--you can get it from Midway or any of the reloading suppliers--Frankford Arsenal markets a good mica--4 oz. is plenty. The same suppliers can sell you an RCBS powder measure baffle. I use one in my Lee Pro Auto as well as my RCBS measure. What it does is relieve some of the pressure that is exerted downward by a full powder reservoir, thereby, reducing the tendency of the powder to clump or bridge. I had to bend it out a bit to fit the Lee equipment, but it works fine in there.
Also, do not try to be gentle with the Lee, they designed it to stick a little on the ram's return to the home position. The idea is to rattle the reservoir a bit.
I'm using Unique until I die since I bought a half a ton when I used to shoot trap and skeet before I was disabled. I get great consistent loads after fiddling for about a dozen test drops. Since I've fixed the problems, I have had 2 of my friends come to see the thing work. They were infidels before, but now they're true believers with Lee Pros of their own.
Good luck, I'm sure it will work for you too.

[benedict1]

Thanks. I will get the mica and the baffle.

I also bought enough Unique to quell an uprising! I still shoot skeet, a little 20 ga. now and then, but otherwise at 3-6 gr per charge I'm gonna' be Unique-ing for about 20 years, or forever, whichever comes first!

Re one point you made--throwing 12 or more test charges--what is this doing for you? Getting the powdered settled after reloading the hopper? I'm not sure I get that part--Also, what's the smallest charge of Unique you can throw reasonably well? 3 gr? 3.5 gr? or ??

[YellowLab]

The adujstable charging bar is not good for extrememly small throws. Lee sells a special micro disk for small throws. The adjustable charge bar at small volumes forms a 'football' shape that does not fill properly. This is a known issue and the adj. charge bar's instructions do address this.

Get the micro charge bar for those small charges.

The PERFECT POWDER MEASURE (the one without the disks) can be used for small charges, as it is complete adjustable from 0 on up to like 150gr. Only problem with the Perfect powder measure is that ball powders generally leak.

[benedict1]

thanks. I ordered the little disk.

[amamnn]

I think it takes about 12 charges to get everything settled down. BTW, I am using the charge bar only when I load 4 grains of unique in a .32 H&R mag load. I also use it for .32 acp and have had no trouble since making the changes noted in previous posts.

[amamnn]

I want to correct a possible misinterpetation. When you use the mica to seal up your measure, you only need a TINY tiny tiny bit. 4 oz. could be a lifetime supply.

[Wrangler5]

I've been using the Lee disk measures for years on both their turret press and the Loadmaster. They are VERY reliable and consistent measures within some of the parameters mentioned here - specifically, small charges of certain powders and the adjustable charge bar. I use both the disks and the adjustable bar - I prefer the disks if one throws the charge I want, otherwise I use the adjustable bar.

I just added the double-disk kit to one of my (many) disk measures, to handle 223 loads. Lee's suggested combinations based on calculated volumes of particular powders were not precise, but got me in the right ball park, and adjusting up a few steps from where I started got me EXACTLY the charge I wanted, VERY consistently over the course of about 60 rounds. I was using Accurate ball powder, which measures beautifully of course, and which leaks a little bit (like most ball powders in these measures.) But I'll happily reload 223 in quantity on my Loadmaster using the double disk measure, once I figure out the best accuracy load.

[benedict1]

Now that I have the mica on the way I ought to ask just what it does? What does it do? Richard Lee talks about using it to condition the Lee Perfect Powder measure in his book. What does this stuff do?

[YellowLab]

The .223 is about the largest rifle I load with the Pro Auto Disk. I use IMR 4895.

For my .30-06 the Perfect Powder Measure, perminately attached to my .30-06 Loadmaster head is used.

For all you fellow Lee progressive users do yourself a HUGE favor and set up 1 toolhead per cartridge. Lee equipment is inexpensive enough that you should should have dedicated toolhead for each calibure. I have 5: .45 ACP .30 Carbine .223 Remington and .30-06 springfield and .30-06 springfield set up for blanks.

I used to swap dies, powder measures etc.. and wondered why I had such a hard time getting consistant press runs and cartridges. Spend the little bit of $$$ now and enjoy the benefits.

[Dead-Nuts-Zero]

I just got my Lee Pro Auto-Disk Powder measure.

In setting it up, I have some questions that maybe someone can help me with.

I am mounting the measure on a Lyman Turret Press using the Lee through expanding die (it's a Lee 4 die set).

The measure install directions say I need to have the Spring Return Lever and Bead Chain for a non-Lee press.

Because I purchased the measure as a seperate unit, it came set up with the other lever. I have tried it (dry run only, no powder) as is, with the lever that came on it, and it looked like it would work ok.

Question, why do I need to change to the other Spring Return Lever with the pull chain?

What is the function of the pull chain? Is it a safety return/trip device?

Thanks for any replies you may have.

[CrustyFN]

The pull chain is for a progressive press where the dies don't move and the spring return is for a turret press where the dies have to rotate. I use a Classic turret with the spring return on a pro auto disk and it works very well.
Rusty

[Dead-Nuts-Zero]

CrustyFN

So If I understand, the regular spring arm (the short arm that does not have the extended arm with holes in it for the bead chain) what I use and is ready to go as is?

2nd question, I haven't had the time to look closely, but it appears that when I secure the measure into the top of the die, it is all ready to go?

The powder drop tube comes in contact with the floating part inside the die that expands the case mouth and trips the measure. Should it work properly without any adjustments?

I am thinking that as long as it's a Lee Die and Lee measure, it should match up properly when the powder measure is secured to the top of the die. No further adjustment needed. And I assume that because I already have the die adjusted to expand like I want, there is no other die adjustment needed.

As mentioned in other post, mica is used to keep things working well. My supplier has been out of the mika (other than the larger containers) so I will be running it dry without lube for now. Is there a need for any other type of lube like the Remington Teflon spray that dries?

Sorry for all the questions. Seems to me that the Lee instructions could be a little more detailed and some of their photo's could be larger to show more detail. This would help the goofs like me that can't figure it out.

Thanks for your help!

[rwilson452]

CrustyFN

So If I understand, the regular spring arm (the short arm that does not have the extended arm with holes in it for the bead chain) what I use and is ready to go as is?

Good to go but run a few just to be sure

2nd question, I haven't had the time to look closely, but it appears that when I secure the measure into the top of the die, it is all ready to go?

Yep. If your using the disks you will find they drop a charge that is a little lighter than their chart would indicate. I run about 4 charges thru it then weigh the next four to see what is being dropped.

The powder drop tube comes in contact with the floating part inside the die that expands the case mouth and trips the measure. Should it work properly without any adjustments?

Yep

I am thinking that as long as it's a Lee Die and Lee measure, it should match up properly when the powder measure is secured to the top of the die. No further adjustment needed. And I assume that because I already have the die adjusted to expand like I want, there is no other die adjustment needed.
no adjustments

As mentioned in other post, mica is used to keep things working well. My supplier has been out of the mika (other than the larger containers) so I will be running it dry without lube for now. Is there a need for any other type of lube like the Remington Teflon spray that dries?

You can use dry powdered graphite lube. The same stuff a locksmith uses. hardware stores carry it.


Sorry for all the questions. Seems to me that the Lee instructions could be a little more detailed and some of their photo's could be larger to show more detail. This would help the goofs like me that can't figure it out.

The only dumb question is the one you didn't ask.

[Dead-Nuts-Zero]

Thanks C & CrustyFN


It's great to have this source to ask questions! It's even Greater when I can get helpful answers within a few hours or even within minutes.






Hopefully I will find the time tonight to get this project underway.


Thanks again to all!!!


CrustyFN - Is it possible you shoot a CZ 452? I have one and really like it!

[CrustyFN]

No I don't have a 452 but I would like to. I hear they are an awesome gun. I do own a CZ 75BD Police. JMO but I think it also is an awesome gun. The only problems I have had with it were rounds that I loaded to long. I just shortened them a little and they were fine.
Rusty

[Dead-Nuts-Zero]

To CrustyFN -

Sorry, I ment to ask rwilson452 if he had a 452.

But because you answered my question, I have to comment that I attempted to order the very same (75BD Police) model you have but my guy could not get it from his distributor at the time so I ended up with the 452 .22lr in it's place. Now the 75BD is still at the top of my list. It will make a great x-mas gift to myself! Glad to hear your positive thoughts on the gun.

Back on topic.....

I have been working on getting everything set up to run some .40 w/Unique and found that the disk chart is about 3 or maybe even 4 holes off (on the short side) but ran out of time to get it tweeked. Does this sound right to you Unique users???

I am looking for a drop of about 5.5 gr. to start off with 180 gr. Rainier. I still need to check data and my notes, but this should give me about 10% below starting point.

I can already see that if this Pro works like I think it will, I should be very pleased just as everyone has said (above post) an may put my 550 on hold a while longer.

Thanks for all the help everyone!