LEE Auto drum Finally out!!

[Vance]

OK. So tracking said it would be here Monday. I got it today on Saturday. I set it up on my single stage for testing it out. Really dislike that double charge prevention feature, but it can be disabled. I also don't think much of the quality of the plastic parts. I wonder what the life span of this measure will be? The main body is cast aluminum. The outside is finished OK. The parts that matter are finished well. The performance is very good. This measure proved to be very accurate and consistent.

Powder was Accurate Arms #9
Target charge was 12 grains
Results of 10 charges thrown
12.0
12.0
12.1
12.0
12.0
11.9
12.0
12.0
12.1
12.0

I then measured 10 charges all together and it came out 120.1 grains.

I then went ahead and cycled this measure until there was half a hopper of powder left to see how much leakage there would be. AA #9 leaks the most for me and there was a very small amount of leakage with this measure. The leakage was 1/4 that of what I get with the Dillon measure.

I am pleased with the measure over all. Now to see how long it will last. The plastic parts just feel brittle to me.

I did all this without dis-assembling it to clean with anything or treating it with graphite. Straight out of the box onto the press and tested.

[A pause for the COZ]

Dont worry about the plastic parts. If you notice any that would be prone to wear or breakage.
Just buy a few spare. Might cost 3 bucks.

[daboone]

A review of the Lee Auto Drum Powder Measure

I received the Auto Drum PM and the additional set of Quick Change Drums from Titan Reloading. I washed all the parts with TSP and blow dried them with a DataVac. No prepping with graphite was done, but the hopper were rubbed down with a used drier sheet. Before starting each set of measurement with each new drum and powder the unit was cycled with that powder 10 times. (Fine tuning the grains measurement took place during these cycling's)
These measurements were done with the unit mounted on a 550B cycling the case thru the sizing station and then advancing that case to station #2 the powder station. The Lee powder thru expander die or the Lee rifle powder dies were used.

Unique set for 4.0gr:
1- 4.1gr
2- 4.1gr
3- 4.0gr
4- 4.0gr
5-4.0gr
6-3.9gr
7- 4.1gr
8-4.1gr
9- 4.1gr
10- 4.0gr

Unique set for 10gr:
1- 10.1gr
2- 10.0gr
3- 10.1gr
4- 10.1gr
5- 10.0gr
6- 9.9gr
7- 9.9gr
8- 9.9gr
9- 10.0gr
10- 10.1gr


Bullseye 4.6gr
1- 4.6gr
2- 4.5gr
3- 4.6gr
4- 4.6gr
5- 4.5gr
6- 4.6gr
7- 4.6gr
8- 4.5gr
9- 4.5gr
10- 4.5gr

2400 set for 26.3gr:
1- 26.2gr
2- 26.3gr
3- 26.2gr
4- 26.4gr
5- 26.3gr
6- 26.3gr
7- 26.5gr
8-26.2gr
9-26.3gr
10- 26.3gr


IMR 4895 set for 44.8gr
1- 44.8gr
2- 45.1gr
3- 44.8gr
4- 44.9gr
5- 44.8gr
6- 45.0gr
7- 44.9gr
8- 44.7gr
9- 45.0gr
10- 44.9gr


IMR 4350
(Used the same drum as above for the IMR 4895 and it's adjustment for this set of measurements of IMR4350)
1- 38.2gr
2- 37.9gr
3- 38.0gr
4- 38.2gr
5- 38.2gr
6- 38.1gr
7- 37.9gr
8- 38.1gr
9- 38.4gr
10- 38.3gr

I felt the activating and reset of the measure was smoother than the Dillon PM. The Auto Drum's chain reset as it come out of the box needs some work for the 550B. I used alligator chips to fine tune this chain reset and it's not ideal. Any suggestions welcome.

I had no leaking of any powder tested.

Edited to correct a typo. I had listed the #1 IMR4895 as 48.8 and edited it to read 44.8.

[Mike Irwin]

Interesting that the Unique measures were so consistent.

[daboone]

I found that kind of consistency with Unique to be true with the new Lee Classic PM as well.

[A pause for the COZ]

Arrggggg. They are testing me.
I got my measure back from LEE the other day.
He did not state what he did. They did not replace it.
Just stated " You powder measure is all set to go"

Ahhh no its not. It does operate now, but only for a couple loads then the drop tube resets short of the hopper.
I will mess with it some more. Then Monday they will hear from me.
If they think I am spending another 7 bucks to ship it to them again.
hahahahahaha thats funny

[A pause for the COZ]

Ok I fixed it. I took it out to the shop and took it completely apart.
I adjusted the gears one tooth lower. That fixed it.

I did get a little test in.
set at 4.2 gr of CSB-1 ( flake powder similar to unique)

Of the ten drops I tested only two were not the set weight. and those two dropped at 4.3gr

Not bad with flake.

I tried some extruded. A5744 is my main cast bullet powder.

Set at 18.4
These were not as consistent as the flake powder.

I got no drops lower than 18.4 and one as high as 18.7
Since 5744 is a pretty thick and long strand. I think it did ok.
No crunching, no cutting, Nice and smooth.

Should work fine for my cast AR plinking loads.

[guncheese]

Originally Posted by snuffy

2 more tests with the pistol drum in measure #2. With 2 notoriously difficult to meter powders. Unique and IMR 800-X

First Unique, target charge is 6.5
6.5
6.6
6.4
6.6
6.7
6.6
6.6
6.5
6.5
6.5
6.6
6.5
6.7
6.8
6.5
6.6
6.5
6.6

Wow, .4 grain variance for unique? This was for my 45 again with the MP 200 SWC
Now for the 800 X target charge is 7.2
7.2
7.3
6.9
6.9
7.1
7.2
7.1
7.1
7.5 tossed it back, max is 7.9
7.2
7.2
7.2
7.1
7.2
6.9
7.0
7.1
7.0
Well, one high at 7.5 otherwise pretty darn even for such a hard powder to get to meter well. .6 under the 200 SWC is probably better than these old eyes can see to shoot. Pretty happy with the performance for pistols, I can see a couple of more in the future.

I'm thinking everyone would benefit from using a baffle in the hopper
I don't get any variances when running a big flake like 700X
http://www.shootersforum.com/attachm..._templates.pdf
I've been dropping 2.5gr charges of 700X for 38spl wadcutters
And with the baffle its perfection

[CowTowner]

I'm thinking everyone would benefit from using a baffle in the hopper

I have the new Auto Drum but haven't used it yet.
That said, the first thing I did, after wiping with a dryer sheet, was find the baffle I bought from Titan Reloading a few months ago for the new hopper and install it.
And it seems I'm not the only one. They no longer have it listed on the site so I'm guessing they ran out again.

[lee n. field]

Just ordered an Auto Drum for myself.

I'm torn between putting it on the Classic Turret, or using it to get the old Pro 1000 running again (from which I stole the powder measure to get the turret press running).

(Interesting. FS Reloading, which I have dealt with before and recommended, now seems to have only UPS as a shipping option. $17 to ship a ~$35 part? No thanks.)

[TMD]

I ordered one myself yesterday for my Lee LCT only for the fact that you don't have to mess with disc to change or adjust charge weights. From what I'm reading on this thread its going to be $40 well spent.

[CowTowner]

Well lookie here -> The powder baffle is back in stock at Titan. At least there's 1 in stock.

http://www.titanreloading.com/powder...-powder-baffle

[Mike Irwin]

I really like Titan Reloading's prices.

But when you factor in shipping, it's the same price for me to get the stuff through Amazon.

[Real Gun]

I ordered one myself yesterday for my Lee LCT only for the fact that you don't have to mess with disc to change or adjust charge weights. From what I'm reading on this thread its going to be $40 well spent.

I think that would be a step backward, unless you ordered the set of extra rotors to preserve your load settings and save time and frustration in changeovers. Changing disks or dedicated adjustable charge bars is just not a big deal on the regular case-activated powder measures.

[blackswamp]

I just ordered one plus I got the last baffle & ordered extra disk.

[A pause for the COZ]

I just did a run of 38 specials last night.
Just for a test I dropped and checked every load.

I checked all 100 loads. Set at 4.1gr CSB-1 ( Small flake powder)
The differences are not even worth noting.
LEE has a winner with this.

I have a few hundred more 38's to do then I will out it on the LNL AP and run some 308 win cast loads ahead of A5744.

[Mike Irwin]

Unpossible! Everyone knows that Lee stuff is cheap schlock!

Which explains why my reloading room is full of Lee products...

[StrutStopper]

It figures Lee would release this a few days after I broke down and got an adjustable charge bar so I can fine tune my loads. I'll probably pick one up anyway, especially if I decide to set up my pro 1000. I too stole the pro auto disk from the pro 1000 to use on my LCT. Never used the pro 2000, but I did pick it up cheap at a swap meet at the gun club.

[lee n. field]

Mine came today.

The hopper is removable. Interesting. Handy.

Mine came without the instruction sheet. <scowl>. Oh, well, easy enough to download from Lee.

---edit to add--

Ooop, found the manual. Fell off to one side when I opened the box.

[lee n. field]

Aaaand, got mine set up. If you've ever set up a Pro Autodisk, this is trivial.

Mounting the measure in place of the Autodisk, on the Classic Turret, was trivial. Unscrew the one, screw on the other.

Yes, I took the cutoff off. It's detailed in the manual. I don't think I need it. I do a visual check on each case anyway.

You ought to have a scale. I charged a case with the Autodisk, dumped it into the chamber of the Auto Drum, and turned the adjusting key until the measured charge was flush with the drum face. Doing it that way (suggested in the manual), the Auto Disk measured high. So, tweaking might be required.

And, yeah, I can see keeping a couple extra pre adjusted, drums around. Otherwise it's the old, tweak and weigh, tweak and weight.

I like it.

[TMD]

Got mine in the mail today and the timing was perfect because I was planning on reloading some .300bo ammo. From the looks of it and the reviews I've read it looks like Lee hit a homerun with this one. I did notice something they could have done to make it a grand slam though. Why in the world didn't they put marks on the charge bar to indicate how many cc's it is? Lee has a great slide scale that lists most powders and a range of cc's that converts to grains. This would have been a great feature especially when changing powders or charge.
Tomorrow will be a true test because I plan on making some loads with H110, A1680, and Lil'Gun.

[sghart3578]

Excellent. Looking forward to the results.

[snuffy]

Got mine in the mail today and the timing was perfect because I was planning on reloading some .300bo ammo. From the looks of it and the reviews I've read it looks like Lee hit a homerun with this one. I did notice something they could have done to make it a grand slam though. Why in the world didn't they put marks on the charge bar to indicate how many cc's it is? Lee has a great slide scale that lists most powders and a range of cc's that converts to grains. This would have been a great feature especially when changing powders or charge.
Tomorrow will be a true test because I plan on making some loads with H110, A1680, and Lil'Gun.

Where would they put such marks? When the metering plug is screwed all the way in for small charges, the marks on that metering plug/charge bar would disappear inside the drum. Lee did it the way it is to make the measure slimmer, take up less room. Other measure with that arm sticking way out to the side hit things/get in the way when mounted on a turret.

It doesn't take long to calibrate your mind that one revolution of the "key" equals 1 grain of powder. (more or less depending on powder density) So changing from one load to the next is as simple as keeping track of how many turns to make.

[lee n. field]

It doesn't take long to calibrate your mind that one revolution of the "key" equals 1 grain of powder.

That will be handy for me. One full turn of the key, to change from my .38/9mm charge of Bullseye to my .40S&W/.45ACP charge. Verifying with scale, of course.

[TMD]

I know one turn equals 1cc but when you load for a dozen different powders a marked scale on it would still be helpful
Oh and I got to use it with some A1680 this morning which is about as fine ball powder as H110. No leaks and only .1 Difference was the most I measured. Well worth the $ for this one.