Lee Adjustable Charge Bar

[azphx55]

I've tried everything I can think of, but it just doesn't feed reliably, by which I mean that MOST of the time it drops 0.0 grains when set to 4.8 or bigger.

This is on a Lee Classic Turret with Pro-Disk. I'm using just the charge bar alone, not doubled up with a disk.

I've tried Trail Boss, Titegroup and Win231. I've run graphite through the system and I've tried tapping the assembly constantly.

If I remove the charge bar and put a disk in its place, I get perfect feeds.

I'm having trouble understanding how a hole in a piece of plastic can be defective to the point that things won't fall through it, and am just about at the point where I throw it in the trash and write a whiny post about it.

[Lost Sheep]

Can you post a picture of the thing in "operation"? Can you contact Lee and ask them about it? They may take it back and give you a refund?

Has it ever worked properly?

Like you, I find it hard to believe a simple, drop-through cavity measure could possibly not work.

Lost Sheep

[Mike Irwin]

Wow. Zero drop? I've never heard of anything like that.

I use my charge bar frequently, and the only issues I've ever had with it was dropping below about 5 grains of WW 231 its performance gets a bit erratic.

[sonnycrockett]

I have one........Ill give it to you free :barf:

It flat out does not work..........drops loads random weights
sometimes it does not drop at all..........P O S !

[Mike Irwin]

I simply don't understand why you guys are getting random weights and no drops.

I was getting variations in weight when I first started using it, but someone here suggested that in order to get it really consistent it had to be opened up to at least 5.0 grains of WW 231. I was trying to drop about 2.3 grains.

Once I opened it up (and quit using it to load .32 Long and really light .38 Special loads) it became VERY consistent.

It's incredibly consistent loading even low weight loads of Trail Boss, but even a low weight load requires a pretty wide open setting.

What powders are you using, Sonny?

I can't remember the last time I actually used a disk to drop powder other than for loads under 5 grains of 231. It's been a LONG time, at least a couple of years. I wouldn't be using it if it didn't work and work well.

[floydster]

The ACB works great for me for these powders throwing over 3 grs.
I use Bullseye, HP38, titegroup, 231, however it isn't the best for unique, Red Dot or Trailboss.

[DogoDon]

Agree with Mike, my Lee Adjustable Charge Bar works very consistently. I like it a lot better than the disks. I'm using it with the Lee Pro Disk powder measure on a Lee Classic Turret press, just like the OP.

Like others, I discovered that it is not good for dropping small charges unless you modify it like I did. To modify it to be able to drop small charges, you just need to fill up part of the cavity with something so that you can open the cavity up more, which aligns the cavity with the opening of the powder hopper. I used a small rectangular block-shaped piece of a white eraser, cut just the right size to fit with an interference fit in the end of the cavity. With that modification, my charge bar will drop small loads consistently.

Here's a photo of an early version of this concept. I ended up making the piece of eraser thinner to allow a greater range of adjustment, but this will give you the idea:



When I want to drop a large charge, I just remove the piece of eraser.

It's hard for me to understand why the OP is getting zero powder drop. That doesn't make sense. Photos of the setup might help shed some light.

DD

[Mike Irwin]

That's an interesting modification, Dogo. I may have to give that one a try.

[DogoDon]

Mike, just make sure that the vertical dimension of the piece of eraser is slightly smaller than the vertical dimension of the cavity, so the eraser doesn't stick above the top surface or below the bottom surface of the bar.

This little trick isn't original to me. Somebody else posted the idea on here, but he used several thicknesses of card stock. That seemed less durable and too tricky to get right, so I decided to use the white eraser instead. It works surprisingly well.

DD

[Jim243]

I too do not understand, I have used one for over 5 years now and never use the disks with my Auto-Disk. Since you are using the Pro-Auto-Disk, I would suggest you check your "wipe" and make sure it is in good shape. I use the Auto-Disk with the charge bar and Pro Auto-Disk for double disk use.


Jim

[wingman]

I've used nothing but the charge bar since I purchased the classic turret, I load 380,38, 9mm,40 and 45acp with no problems, I did when new smooth everything with very fine emery cloth I do clean on occasion and run a hopper of graphite, all in all very pleased with the set up.

[beardking]

Posted by sonnycrockett:

I have one........Ill give it to you free

It flat out does not work..........drops loads random weights
sometimes it does not drop at all..........P O S !

I'll take you up on that offer.

[GP100man]

I take my hopper & clean the edge at the drop hole with a razor blade to make it a smooth drop .

I camfer the drop hole on the disc side a little to get 100% drop from all discs.

I treat everything with powdered graphite , some discs I take a #2 pencil & cover the cavity .

I use the AD for revolver rnds . exclusively & the only powders I have trouble with when the hopper is below 1/2 full is Unique /IMR800X & Herco , then what I do is set the tumbler on the bench & run it while I`m droppin powder.

I`ve dropped Unique from the line up though !

[Xfire68]

I have had the same issue using the charge bar and no longer use it because of this problem. I use the disks which I find to be much more consistent. It would be nice if it did work like it does for some of the others are but, no luck here!

[rdmallory]

I love mine.

I load FiveSeven rounds and drop TrueBlue within .1 gr every time.

Mine is the pro with the charge bar.

You do know that the top rotates to stop the powder? You might be partially blocking the hole.

Doug

PS \\Anyone else got one to give away? Ill pay shipping

[Jim243]

If you are giving them away, put me on your list. I use them for pistol all the time and my drop is exactly the same on drop one as it is on drop 151. But I only use Win 231 for powder.


Jim

[WANT A LCR 22LR]

Post 7 and 13 are going in the right direction but aren't quite there yet.

Here is the test, with the charge bar set at minimum, look through the powder cup. You must see all of the opening in the charge bar, if you don't the black lever needs to move farther. This requires increasing the slot depth where the black lever stops against. ( a hacksaw blade works fine )

Take a little off each time and retest, if you go too far the edge of the charge bar won't seal against the base of the power cup allowing powder to spill and ultimately be swept into the cartridge.

The eraser trick moves the opening farther under the cup, the chamfer sort of the same.

[DogoDon]

WANT A LCR 22LR, I had considered your modification to fix the problem, but I ultimately decided against it because then if you want to use the same set-up with the disks instead of the charge bar, it throws off the alignment, doesn't it?

DD

[rdmallory]

I would give Lee a call. I did not have to modify anything on mine.

Their support is great.


Doug

[DogoDon]

Lee won't be able to help on the problem of the bar not working well at the very low end of the range. The problem is there just isn't enough of the bar's cavity aligned with the hopper opening to allow powder to reliably flow into and fill the cavity. Some type of modification is needed to make the bar work at the low end of the range. My mod works great and is very simple to do, plus you can instantly undo it by simply removing the piece of eraser. I'm happy with it.

DD

[rdmallory]

It is strange mine did not need any modifications to work. I wonder if there is a issue with them coming from two different molds.

I have loaded down to 2.7 grains with no issues or mods.

Doug

[WANT A LCR 22LR]

DD, no idea if the mod I made to make the adj charge bar work will affect the discs as I don't have or use them.

A quick check would be to insert a disc and see if it is centered in the opening. If is is biased in the same direction as a charge bar, milling the slot will be OK.

[testuser]

+1 one about checking your setup.

I use the charge bar extensively. It's hard to see how it wouldn't drop any powder. There have been sometimes where I didn't screw the powder through expander down far enough, which means the charge bar isn't allowed to travel all the way forward.

You have to make sure that the hole in charge bar is completely over the die when you're at full stroke. That's something that's easy to check visually.

I've loaded AA#7, AA#9, Power Pistol, Blue Dot, and Bullseye with no issue. Even down to .28 cc of Bullseye. I keep it on there permanently. I only use the disk now for triple stacks of rifle powders, so I can throw up to and over 50 grains. I have the triple disk stack set up on a different Lee powder measure.

[Sensai]

No problem with mine. I've been using it for years, just like it came with no modifications at all.