LEE pro auto disk measure 10% low?????

[Bill Steele]

The only time I ever had a glitch with the Autodisk was when I left the screw that keeps the hopper from turning too loose. When I mounted the die plate I must have bumped the hopper as it was almost in the off position. When I checked the weight a the start it was perfect, after I did the first 100 the powder level started to look funky. I decided to check the throw and it was way less than it was supposed to be, that is when I found the hopper nearly off. Idiot.

I tightened down the screw on th hopper so it would not move off of full open and never had another powder drop problem with the AD.

You will like W231, I you win he lottery, give VV-3N37 a try. It is my favorite 9mm powder.

[Fishslayer]

The spreadsheet provided with the Auto Disc is a guideline only to get you in the ballpark. You'll need to verify your charge weight with a scale, which you should always do anyway. Too many variables for one sheet to provide exact information.

[bandook]

Create your own Auto Disk Cheat Sheet.

I have a notebook with one page per powder. Every time I use a new cavity, I write down its charge weight by measuring several charges (I usually return-to-hopper the first 10 by new powder and the first 3 if I'm only changing disks) and see where the majority of them land - some will fall exactly at a number and others - especially flaky like Unique - will throw about 0.1 grain 'around' a central mean. Don't know about extruded powders for rifle though...

I just use that notebook now...

(I only use the charge bar for load development - after that, I pick the closest equivalent auto disk cavity and load-em-up)

[MisterPo]

I will save you the trouble.
They told me that the autodisks will ALWAYS throw lower then advertised. THAT is how they keep you safe. Want my advice? Go get that CHARGE bar. It is the BEST $10 you will ever spend on the lee powder measure. I ran it for EVERYTHING until I found 4227 powder. Now I know that it is only good up to about 21.5gr but for everything else it works GREAT. Then you can just vary your charge by turning the brass knob.

I swear to gawd that I hate this ****ing keyboard. It is getting chucked tonight...

This. I purchased the lee charge bar a few weeks ago and love it. It works great and gives you a lot of adjustability.

[sofbak]

This. I purchased the lee charge bar a few weeks ago and love it. It works great and gives you a lot of adjustability.

What powders are you guys throwing with the charge bar? Anybody use it with Unique? How about titegroup or trailboss? These are my current three.

I tried some loads yesterday with unique, and that stuff didn't meter through the Lee pro auto disk worth a tinker's damn! I had variations of .2 to .3 grains with the medium size cavities, and finally figured out that I had to shake or tap the powder bin with some "vigor" to get that stuff to flow into the cavity. Had to check every throw on the scale-what a PITA!

I recall reading on another forum where people had resorted to taping or zip-tying a small aquarium pump to the side of the bin to add a small amount of vibration to help that powder flow and settle into the cavities. Now I know why.

If the charge bar is that good, I'm going to invest in one really soon.

[bandook]

Large flakes don't meter well (across the board) and trail boss 'flakes' are twice the size of Unique.

I'm getting a .1gr deviation (.2gr range) with Unique and Trail boss which is good enough for me. For most handguns with mid-level loads, this deviation really doesn't matter. (Your hand will shake more shot to shot than the poa/poi difference with .1 grains more or less powder)

Titegroup on the other hand is spot-on every time. Dial it in and load away.

The Charge Bar is very finicky with small loads. As you probably noticed, at small charges, there is a ledge that retains a small pile of powder that causes the inconsistency from load to load. 2 possible solutions are: 1. File/sand the 'ledge' to make it a ramp so the powder slides in or 2. Reduce the total cavity volume by filling out the flat end with a piece of carefully crafted wood or plastic. This will cause you to back out the screw a little further, but as long as the pile of powder doesn't sit precariously on the ledge, the charges will be consistent.

[sofbak]

Large flakes don't meter well (across the board) and trail boss 'flakes' are twice the size of Uniqu

Well my experience yesterday was contradictory to your claim. The trailboss metered consistently within 0.05 grains-throw to throw. No problems at all.

Which was a bit of a surprise when I switched over to the unique afterward. With the same basic shape (minus the hole in the middle), and a bit smaller in diameter, and in some of the same size cavities, the unique just wouldn't go consistently without some mechanical stimulus.....

[stilly]

This. I purchased the lee charge bar a few weeks ago and love it. It works great and gives you a lot of adjustability.

You mean I actually said something that someone else agrees with and it is right on target? COOL! I can now quit life after proving that I really CAN be serious at times.

In other news This KB is still here. Thanks for reminding me I need to chuck it. I am gonna chuck it RIGHT NOW.
s4evt
%$&twv
[no carrier]

[Cowboy T]

I got so confident with my Autodisk setup, with a load and powder I had loaded before, I would check the weight of the drop once after everything was setup and once when I was done with that batch. The charges only varied as much as the powder I was dropping. Unique varied more than most, powders like Bullseye, AA#9, W231, VV-3N37, etc. never varied more than a tenth charge to charge. The Autodisk Pro is a great design.

Your experience echoes mine. I'm currently in the middle of a .38 Special run using Bullseye powder. I forget which cavity it is, but it's whichever one drops 3.9gr of powder. I measured about 10% of the powder drops on an RCBS 10-10 beam scale. Each and every one of them was within less than 0.1gr of the target weight. I get similar results with Titegroup, Clays, and 2400.

The "volumetric density" chart will get you in the ballpark, but typically a bit low. But a scale is called for to choose exactly the right cavity. I have to go up one, sometimes two, cavity sizes to nail my actual target weight. But once it's set, that's what it'll drop, every time.

[MisterPo]

What powders are you guys throwing with the charge bar? Anybody use it with Unique? How about titegroup or trailboss? These are my current three.

I am currently using it with Accurate No. 7 and W231. I've had great success with it. I get about .1gr variation when I throw the powder. I also fill my powder measure up until it's almost full and top it off as needed.

[CalTeacher]

I run clays, universal clays, unique, blc-2, and wc844 through my pro auto disks without issue. In fact, even when I'm using my double disk kit my charges are rarely off, and if they are it's no more than .1gr.