Lee adjustable charge bar not accurate

khuengo · May 2, 2006, 11:51 PM

I just bought a Lee adjustable charge bar for my Lee Pro 1000 and followed instruction carefully but always found that the charge bar throw a charge less than it was supposed to. If I want to have a 6.2 grains charge, I had to set it to 7.2grains ( I did check carefully with Lee scale). I tried with both Bullseye and W231 and got the same results. Do you guys experience this problem? What would you do to fix it?
Thanks

Wrangler5 · May 3, 2006, 12:05 AM

I've used Lee powder measures for 20+ years and have never taken their markings as anything but a starting point and reference number. Use your scale to see what a particular setting throws in YOUR press with YOUR operating technique, and adjust as necessary. Once you've dialed in your desired charge, you can record that setting and go back to it in the future. Even then, whenever I put in a new powder I have always made it a practice to throw 5-10 charges (to get the powder in the hopper settled) and then measure what the device is throwing today. It is not unusual to find that the same setting you were using last week/month now gives a 0.1 or 0.2g different charge. I assume it's the powder gremlins at play.

khuengo · May 3, 2006, 12:07 AM

Wrangler5, thanks for your answer. I was afraid that I got overcharge but now I just take your advice.

MADISON · May 3, 2006, 09:34 AM

You are exactly right!
No powder measure throws what is published. Hornady told me the measure manufactures put an 11% safety zone in their listing. Plus, you can expect up to .03 [3 thenths] of a grair veration in what is thrown. You have two options:
[1] Average what is actually thrown.
[2] Use a "little dribbler" to put in what is missing.

May 2, 2006, 11:51 PM	#1
khuengo Member Join Date: February 16, 2006 Posts: 50	Lee adjustable charge bar not accurate I just bought a Lee adjustable charge bar for my Lee Pro 1000 and followed instruction carefully but always found that the charge bar throw a charge less than it was supposed to. If I want to have a 6.2 grains charge, I had to set it to 7.2grains ( I did check carefully with Lee scale). I tried with both Bullseye and W231 and got the same results. Do you guys experience this problem? What would you do to fix it? Thanks

May 3, 2006, 09:34 AM	#4
MADISON Senior Member Join Date: January 1, 2000 Location: Roanoke, Virginia Posts: 2,678	Lee adjustable charge bar is not accurate You are exactly right! No powder measure throws what is published. Hornady told me the measure manufactures put an 11% safety zone in their listing. Plus, you can expect up to .03 [3 thenths] of a grair veration in what is thrown. You have two options: [1] Average what is actually thrown. [2] Use a "little dribbler" to put in what is missing.

May 3, 2006, 12:05 AM	#2
Wrangler5 Senior Member Join Date: September 18, 2005 Location: Missouri Posts: 326	I've used Lee powder measures for 20+ years and have never taken their markings as anything but a starting point and reference number. Use your scale to see what a particular setting throws in YOUR press with YOUR operating technique, and adjust as necessary. Once you've dialed in your desired charge, you can record that setting and go back to it in the future. Even then, whenever I put in a new powder I have always made it a practice to throw 5-10 charges (to get the powder in the hopper settled) and then measure what the device is throwing today. It is not unusual to find that the same setting you were using last week/month now gives a 0.1 or 0.2g different charge. I assume it's the powder gremlins at play.

May 3, 2006, 12:07 AM	#3
khuengo Member Join Date: February 16, 2006 Posts: 50	Wrangler5, thanks for your answer. I was afraid that I got overcharge but now I just take your advice.