Does anyone use a Lee Auto-Disk powder measure with their Turret/ Challenger press?

IM_Lugger · September 24, 2005, 06:00 PM

I’m wondering if it’s accurate, are there a lot of spills? Does it speed up the presses a bit?

Russ5924 · September 24, 2005, 06:29 PM

Are you talking about the one that uses the Black disc's If so I have and use three of them.Have found them to be quite accurate but have found that they error on the light side.Most if I remember were about .5 or hafe a grain off depending on the powder you used.They did spill some powder but very little no more than any other.I load only pistol so for me is a lot faster but it has to be used with the lee dies

IM_Lugger · September 24, 2005, 07:08 PM

Yes that’s the one btw I have a Challenger press and load for pistol only as well (I’m just starting here

)

Do you have the regular auto disk or the deluxe one? If I want to load for 9mm will it accurate enough (I’m loading more expensive calibre as well)?

Wrangler5 · September 24, 2005, 08:57 PM

I've used the Auto Disk measures for over 20 years on both my turret and Loadmaster presses and they work just fine. I have one on each turret and each Loadmaster head. I'm set up to load 9mm, 38/357, 44 Mag, 45 Auto, 45 Colt, 45 Auto Rim and 308. (I use the Auto Disk for all loads except when I'm working up a load making 10 or 20 rounds at stepped powder weights, where it's just simpler to use a bench mounted measure and a loading block, rather than try to adjust the progressive every few rounds.) Russ 5924 is right that the disks usually will not give you as much of a particular powder as the Lee charts say, but they will give you very consistent loads with most of the ball and flake powders that you're likely to use in handgun loads.

My only negative experience with the Disks was with Accurate Nitro 100, which I could not get to meter consistently, but then it is a very bulky yet very light weight powder designed in part to fill up the old blackpowder cases like 44 Special and 45 Colt. My bench mounted powder measure has a much higher column of powder over the loading cylinder, and a much more direct path into that cylinder, and just gave more consistent loads with N100. However, after this experience I simply stopped using that powder, and used others that work fine in the Auto Disk.

On the Loadmaster heads I've mostly installed the Pro upgrade kit, for its powder shutoff feature and the thumbnuts which make hopper removal (to change disks) MUCH easier. Also, the Pro unit has a soft gasket, which cuts down even further (but still does not completely eliminate, at least not with fine grain powders) slight powder leakages. Over the course of loading 300 rounds, for example, you might leak enough powder grains to make up 1/8 to 1/4 of a single charge - it's more unsightly than anything else.

The Pro upgrade kit also comes with the adjustable charge bar, which lets you dial in VERY fine changes in the charge being thrown, and also eliminates the need to remove the hopper to change settings - just dial in the new setting, settle it in with a few cycles and verify it with a few more, and you're good to go. The Pro upgrade (and the Pro unit that you buy separately) have a chain pullback lever in place of the spring unit that comes on the standard models, but you can use the spring version if your press doesn't have an attachment for the chain. (The chain looks cheesy, but it does its job perfectly and in about 10 years with the Loadmaster I've never had the chain break - just another example of Lee's ingenuity at work keeping costs and mechanical complexity down.)

September 24, 2005, 06:00 PM	#1
IM_Lugger Senior Member Join Date: June 27, 2004 Posts: 2,011	Does anyone use a Lee Auto-Disk powder measure with their Turret/ Challenger press? I’m wondering if it’s accurate, are there a lot of spills? Does it speed up the presses a bit? __________________ "I feel the Beretta is a great character, it's so strong and elegant. The other guns look dumb to me." - John Woo

September 24, 2005, 06:29 PM	#2
Russ5924 Senior Member Join Date: February 18, 2005 Posts: 1,874	Are you talking about the one that uses the Black disc's If so I have and use three of them.Have found them to be quite accurate but have found that they error on the light side.Most if I remember were about .5 or hafe a grain off depending on the powder you used.They did spill some powder but very little no more than any other.I load only pistol so for me is a lot faster but it has to be used with the lee dies __________________ Russ5924

September 24, 2005, 07:08 PM	#3
IM_Lugger Senior Member Join Date: June 27, 2004 Posts: 2,011	Yes that’s the one btw I have a Challenger press and load for pistol only as well (I’m just starting here ) Do you have the regular auto disk or the deluxe one? If I want to load for 9mm will it accurate enough (I’m loading more expensive calibre as well)? __________________ "I feel the Beretta is a great character, it's so strong and elegant. The other guns look dumb to me." - John Woo

September 24, 2005, 08:57 PM	#4
Wrangler5 Senior Member Join Date: September 18, 2005 Location: Missouri Posts: 326	I've used the Auto Disk measures for over 20 years on both my turret and Loadmaster presses and they work just fine. I have one on each turret and each Loadmaster head. I'm set up to load 9mm, 38/357, 44 Mag, 45 Auto, 45 Colt, 45 Auto Rim and 308. (I use the Auto Disk for all loads except when I'm working up a load making 10 or 20 rounds at stepped powder weights, where it's just simpler to use a bench mounted measure and a loading block, rather than try to adjust the progressive every few rounds.) Russ 5924 is right that the disks usually will not give you as much of a particular powder as the Lee charts say, but they will give you very consistent loads with most of the ball and flake powders that you're likely to use in handgun loads. My only negative experience with the Disks was with Accurate Nitro 100, which I could not get to meter consistently, but then it is a very bulky yet very light weight powder designed in part to fill up the old blackpowder cases like 44 Special and 45 Colt. My bench mounted powder measure has a much higher column of powder over the loading cylinder, and a much more direct path into that cylinder, and just gave more consistent loads with N100. However, after this experience I simply stopped using that powder, and used others that work fine in the Auto Disk. On the Loadmaster heads I've mostly installed the Pro upgrade kit, for its powder shutoff feature and the thumbnuts which make hopper removal (to change disks) MUCH easier. Also, the Pro unit has a soft gasket, which cuts down even further (but still does not completely eliminate, at least not with fine grain powders) slight powder leakages. Over the course of loading 300 rounds, for example, you might leak enough powder grains to make up 1/8 to 1/4 of a single charge - it's more unsightly than anything else. The Pro upgrade kit also comes with the adjustable charge bar, which lets you dial in VERY fine changes in the charge being thrown, and also eliminates the need to remove the hopper to change settings - just dial in the new setting, settle it in with a few cycles and verify it with a few more, and you're good to go. The Pro upgrade (and the Pro unit that you buy separately) have a chain pullback lever in place of the spring unit that comes on the standard models, but you can use the spring version if your press doesn't have an attachment for the chain. (The chain looks cheesy, but it does its job perfectly and in about 10 years with the Loadmaster I've never had the chain break - just another example of Lee's ingenuity at work keeping costs and mechanical complexity down.)