The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - problems with inconsistent charge weights

bushmaster65 · January 23, 2014, 11:01 AM

OK, here goes,

My equipment is as follows:
Lee auto pro disk powder measure.
Lee safety scale.
Lee progressive press (used manually thus far)

Pertinent background:
Ran My first ever batch of reloads in .38 spcl back in November With 158grn
rnfp using Acurr #2.
The chart said to use disk # .30 for a starting load of 3.6 grn's.
* this barely gave me 3.1 Grns *
I moved to the # .32 disk for an advertised load of 3.8 Grns
* this gave me a 3.3-3.4 Grn charge according to my LSS so I loaded 25 rnds at this charge.*
I then moved to the # 34 disk with an advertised charge of 4.1 Grns which is .1 Grns over the max charge for this cartridge.
* this gave me a 3.5-3.6 Grn charge according to the LSS. So I loaded 25 rnds at this charge.*
*note- I had read that the Lee disk system did have a habit of throwing light charges so I decided to be a little more trusting in the LSS than the disk specs.

All rounds functioned flawlessly at the range with no discernible difference between the different charges.

The problem:
After setting up the scale and press last night, I went to the # .32 disk expecting the charge per my reloading data from Nov.
It threw a charge of 2.8-9 Grns. (not the 3.3-3.4 grns i expected)* I rechecked the zero on the scale. NP
Went to the # .34 disk and got a charge of 3.0-1 Grns. (not the 3.5-3.6 i expected) Rechecked zero on scale. NP
I went up 2 more sizes on the disk and was still only getting 3.4-3.5 Grns and I'm not stupid enough to just accept this gross difference and reload so I stopped. (hadn't even reloaded yet) cleaned up and started inspecting the powder measure and scale.
The scale goes back to zero every time I rechecked it.
The measure functions as it should but I did notice:
1-The measure is tight enough to give an audible squeaking sound when twisted on and off.
2- The rubber gasket/sleeve that causes this squeak, on occasion, was pulling some of the rubber with it, thus occluding the opening ever so slightly but returned to normal position with a very slight twist.
So Tonight I'm thinking of loosening the tension screw for that twist joint and see if that rubber gasket/sleeve isn't my problem.
Any thoughts from the much more experienced?

January 23, 2014, 11:01 AM	#1
bushmaster65 Senior Member Join Date: July 11, 2012 Location: Central Texas Posts: 140	problems with inconsistent charge weights OK, here goes, My equipment is as follows: Lee auto pro disk powder measure. Lee safety scale. Lee progressive press (used manually thus far) Pertinent background: Ran My first ever batch of reloads in .38 spcl back in November With 158grn rnfp using Acurr #2. The chart said to use disk # .30 for a starting load of 3.6 grn's. * this barely gave me 3.1 Grns * I moved to the # .32 disk for an advertised load of 3.8 Grns * this gave me a 3.3-3.4 Grn charge according to my LSS so I loaded 25 rnds at this charge.* I then moved to the # 34 disk with an advertised charge of 4.1 Grns which is .1 Grns over the max charge for this cartridge. * this gave me a 3.5-3.6 Grn charge according to the LSS. So I loaded 25 rnds at this charge.* note- I had read that the Lee disk system did have a habit of throwing light charges so I decided to be a little more trusting in the LSS than the disk specs. All rounds functioned flawlessly at the range with no discernible difference between the different charges. The problem: After setting up the scale and press last night, I went to the # .32 disk expecting the charge per my reloading data from Nov. It threw a charge of 2.8-9 Grns. (not the 3.3-3.4 grns i expected) I rechecked the zero on the scale. NP Went to the # .34 disk and got a charge of 3.0-1 Grns. (not the 3.5-3.6 i expected) Rechecked zero on scale. NP I went up 2 more sizes on the disk and was still only getting 3.4-3.5 Grns and I'm not stupid enough to just accept this gross difference and reload so I stopped. (hadn't even reloaded yet) cleaned up and started inspecting the powder measure and scale. The scale goes back to zero every time I rechecked it. The measure functions as it should but I did notice: 1-The measure is tight enough to give an audible squeaking sound when twisted on and off. 2- The rubber gasket/sleeve that causes this squeak, on occasion, was pulling some of the rubber with it, thus occluding the opening ever so slightly but returned to normal position with a very slight twist. So Tonight I'm thinking of loosening the tension screw for that twist joint and see if that rubber gasket/sleeve isn't my problem. Any thoughts from the much more experienced?