Need help with Lee powder measure

[wilit]

I finally decided to try and get my press set up. I've got a Lee Classic Cast Turret press and I'm using the Lee dies. I've got the Auto-Disk powder measure (like the pic below) and I'm trying to use the adjustable charge bar to meter out some Win 231 for my 9mm loads. The range I'm trying to throw is 4.3gr to 4.8gr. The problem I'm having is, when I set to micrometer to .40cc (Lee says that should be about 4.3gr) the charge bar doesn't pick up any powder. It won't pick up any powder until it's set to .48cc and then it throws a 5.7gr charge. Anyone else ever have this issue?

[Bill Steele]

I have read about others that complained the adjustable charge bar was not accurate at low charge weights. It has been a long time since I used a Lee AD, and even longer since I used one with a charge bar, so I can't tell you what loads I used it on where it worked, I do know it never didn't work for me. Wish I could be more helpful.

I can tell you that I found a good load with W231 and every gun I ever loaded it for using the fixed cavities that came with the AD, just another angle if you can't figure out the charge bar issue. W231 was one of the powders the Lee data for weight vs volume was pretty accurate, Unique being the worst.

Good luck, have fun.

[Sputnik]

I've found that with the smaller charges and/or low dose powders like Titegroup (I have not used W231) the adjustable charge bar is not the way to go. Its just not designed well for throwing small charges. Just go with the standard auto disk cavity that most closely corresponds to the throw you need.
You may need to try more than one cavity size and weigh the throws to find the optimal sized cavity for each recipe. The numbers in the Lee manual tend to the low side for the auto disk measurements (safety I guess).

[Faded]

I use the charge bar with W231 successfully, but I don't recall what the numbers are set to. I am loading my 124gr 9mm at 4.3gr. There is a +-.1 float at times, but it holds pretty well. I will look it up this weekend when I get back in front of my press.

[waxer]

I just received this powder measure earlier in the week and had to play around with a couple cavities to get the right measure for my 9mm. What I ended up was with a .70cc cavity and it measures out 5.4gr each and almost every time I cycle it. I ran a test and did 3 sets of 5 cycles each. 4 of them were right on the money @ 5.4gr. The fifth one spit out 5.5gr. When you average it out, that's a 5.42gr average, which is just fine for me.

I also purchased the double disk kit for when I'm loading rifle loads and it just gives you many more options. So play around and test out some cavities to see which one gets you where you want to be.

As to be expected, the instructions that come with Lee products are very lacking. But a quick visit to youtube solved that problem.

[sofbak]

I just recently ran some W231 loads with the adjustable bar for .45acp. Mine seemed to be pretty consistent from throw to throw. I usually checked it every other load or so. Here are my settings and results:

bar setting: .458 charge weight: 4.35 grains
bar setting: .49 charge weight: 4.65
bar setting: .528 charge weight: 5.0

Without seeing your setup, I have no real idea why it won't throw at the lower settings. I did notice at times that I had trouble reading the scale on the bar accurately. Could that be your issue?

I recall that getting the bar seated on the small tab that slides it over the die was a bit of a trick. My first attempt had it on the wrong side of that tab. It still moved when the lever was pulled, but did not travel far enough to drop the charge through the die. Maybe check that as well (?).

[Divernhunter]

Never had that trouble since I have always used a RCBS Uni-Flow measure. Actually I have 2 with one set-up with the small drum and another set-up with a large drum. Gives me very accurate throws with either one.

The best advise I can give is to toss the lee and buy a RCBS unit. You can often get them cheap on ebay. Be sure to get one with both drums or 2 of them with a large and a small drum.