Deluxe Powder Measure

Large rifle case volumetric powder charging using the time tested Perfect Powder Measure and the new Classic Powder Measure.
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Deluxe Powder Measure

Post by Ranch Dog »

I received my Deluxe Powder Measure and Bench Stand from Titan today. I've always said that I wouldn't replace my Perfect Powder Measure, but it sure looks long in the tooth sitting next to the youngster!
Deluxe_Powder_Measure.jpg
I decided to buy the Deluxe because it uses the Auto Drums and I'm setting up a bunch of drums, over 30, for the different cartridges and loads that I shoot. I figured this measure would be a heck of a lot easier than the drum setup on the press and end the case wear I've encountered when trying to fine tune the drum. Even with the charging die and Auto Drum properly setup, about five cycles is all bottlenecked cartridge case can suffer through. If the case is freshly annealed, two times. This speed up the process of working through all the drums and save damaging some hard to find cases.
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Re: Deluxe Powder Measure

Post by daboone »

That's is a great idea, dialing in the drums for the Auto Drum on the Deluxe. Lee says my "old" Classic PM will work with the auto drum but not on mine. :cry:

I wish some smart person would come up a ingenious method to set them up without all the fiddling back and forth to get it right. Didn't you figure out how many cc are in a full turn of the adjusting screw?
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Re: Deluxe Powder Measure

Post by Ranch Dog »

daboone wrote:I wish some smart person would come up a ingenious method to set them up without all the fiddling back and forth to get it right. Didn't you figure out how many cc are in a full turn of the adjusting screw?
I've done that, and it will get you within a couple of facets, but it is not exact like the metering rod on a PPM. Here is where I did the measuring, and then I incorporated the math into my VMD calculator that I use with all my powder calculations. I was as careful as possible and used distilled water for its know SG.
ADrum_calculator_01.jpg
The only thing that I haven't done is take a number of samples to verify and average the numbers used in the calculations. I might get around that one day as it might refine it a bit to minimize the adjusting.

My VMD Calculator is a OpenOffice CalC spreadsheet that is linked with my powder database which provides the stats (VMD, SG, etc.) for the calculations. Here is how the info is presented.
ADrum_calculator_02.jpg
I stripped the Auto Disk calculator out of my spreadsheet and placed it in a stand alone "ods" formatted file. You would need the VMD of your powder to work with it. If you use Excel or another spreadsheet, it should be capable of converting the file. There are some "if" statements that select the drum and a conditional formatting statement if the overall charge cc exceeds the Auto Drum capacity.
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Re: Deluxe Powder Measure

Post by daboone »

Thank You RD for this ADrum calculator. :t I bookmarked this so when I get back to my shop I can play with this method. Sure wish I could set the drums on my Classic.
An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out.

When setting a job up for myself it must be Idiot Proof as well, as I am a bigger idiot than most people I know, and I prove it to myself everyday.
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Re: Deluxe Powder Measure

Post by Ranch Dog »

I ran the beast of all powder, Trail Boss, through the Deluxe Perfect Powder Measure and it delivered the best Stats of any delivery device save the dippers, to date.
DPPM_stats_TrailBoss_01.jpg
So far, the DPPM has been the only device that doesn't end up becoming clogged during the drop. Of course, this is with only 1.0cc of powder, so it will be interesting to see how it does with larger charges. Given that the performance of Trail Boss wouldn't be affected by the range of SD or even the ES determined, I probably will start using this with my 218 Bee and represent another win for my purchase of the DPPM.
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Re: Deluxe Powder Measure

Post by daboone »

Good news about TB in the DPPM. I've never tried it in my Classic PM but these 2 PM are almost identical. I'm sure it will work. The Classic dispenses Red Dot and Unique with amazing consistency up to 10gr. That is as high as I've tested them.

Lee PM s will be putting a big dent into the high end powder measure market. I have a Harrells that isn't as easy or convenient to use as my Classic.
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Re: Deluxe Powder Measure

Post by horseman »

I've not seen in person either the Lee Classic measure nor the Deluxe perfect measure but the Deluxe model APPEARS (pictures) to be better constructed. If so, why is the Classic 65 bucks and the Deluxe model around 35-40??? Does not compute to me. I do have a new in box Perfect PM that I've not used as I really don't have a "need" as I use a Chargemaster for most of my rifle loading but do have a couple bench mount measures "just in case", the Lee being one of those, hence my question on the two above. I did give away to a friend a Lyman 55 that I truly did not enjoy using. My other "stand alone" measure is an old Belding and Mull, and while accurate enough it's also a bit of a pain in the butt to use (read slow) with it's "adjustable" drop tube method of charging a case. So which of the two Lee measures to buy, opinions??
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Re: Deluxe Powder Measure

Post by daboone »

The difference is the Deluxe has a cast Zinc body and the now discontinued Classic is cast iron. Lee tells me that both will except the "plastic" drums. I found that they are a loose fit in my Classic.
The beauty of either, IMO, is the improved CC calibrated micrometer. On these new and improved PPMs the micrometer is much easier to read and set. It even clicks just like a Harrells PM.

I have a Lyman Gen 6 measure and like it. However I found for specific powders I use any one of the PPM style of powder measures are as accurate and maybe faster.
An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out.

When setting a job up for myself it must be Idiot Proof as well, as I am a bigger idiot than most people I know, and I prove it to myself everyday.
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Re: Deluxe Powder Measure

Post by horseman »

So the Classic is now a discontinued model. So it would seem that Lee would rather stick to the less expensive avenue of materiel. Hence a lower cost to consumer. Glad they didn't decide to do that with their cast press, however at the price point of the cast single stage it can't be beat or even close by any other brand. Think I'll look around and see if I can find one of the Classic measures. Thanks for the info Dan. Sorry if this reply doesn't make a lot of sense to anybody, rest assured it doesn't to me either......... :lol:
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Re: Deluxe Powder Measure

Post by daboone »

Honesty I'd go with the newer deluxe. There is no reason to think the cast zinc body would be less than the cast iron body. Plus you'd get the advantage of the additional drums, all be they are plastic. Anyway both come with the brass drum and micrometer which it thinks is the brilliance of the upgraded from the old PPM.
An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out.

When setting a job up for myself it must be Idiot Proof as well, as I am a bigger idiot than most people I know, and I prove it to myself everyday.
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