My Lee Auto Drum

[patjmc]

Well, I've had my Auto Drum for a little while now and am pretty happy with it. I've loaded 9mm and .45 with W231 with good results but mostly load .357 with 2400. Since I'm still testing it some I weigh about every 10th charge and it stays within .1 gr. The only thing that I have noticed that I need to keep an eye on is something that I believe all powder measures can suffer from, and that is after 25 or 30 rounds the vibration of using the measure can pack the powder a little and raise the throw by about .2 from what I'm aiming for. I try to throw 13.5 gr of 2400 so if I start out and it's throwing a few 13.4's by the time I'm done with a 100 rounds I'm throwing some 13.6's, which is perfectly acceptable for my plinking ammo. If I were to start out with every throw at exactly 13.5 then by the end of 100 I'd be throwing some 13.7's. I use the Lee 4 hole turret (the cheaper one, not the classic) and with the turret running around it shakes the powder around pretty good.
Anyway I'm really happy with my setup and my results. The Auto Drum works great for me. I like it better than the Auto disk I was using.

[Steve]

Try a baffle in the powder measure so it will always be the same amount of powder resting above the drum.

[daboone]

I collect PMs. I have 7 of the critters. 2400 is an easy consistent metering powder in all of them. But I've noticed, not with just the Auto Drum, that creeping measurements, one way or the other, is not uncommon.

This is pure speculation on my part but I think as the ambient temp and or humidity in the room changes and or the rapidity/frequency of the at which the PM is operated will cause this drift. Of course it could be the operator just being inconsistent when I should have slowed down or taken a break.

[Old Scribe]

I agree with Steve. I made a baffle for my PPM a long time ago and it helped it throw more consistent charges. I put it in my Auto drum when I began using it and no problems so far.

[patjmc]

I have a baffle in my Auto Drum. I'm not sure it's needed since there is a built in baffle arrangement already. In my experience baffles help keep the powder charge from getting lighter as the powder is used up in the hopper. It definitely helps that with my bench mounted Hornady PM with that tall stack on it. I'm very happy with the Auto Drum and don't think a PM on top of a turret can be any more accurate than this. .1 grains is a very few granules of powder. I really wish someone made an affordable digital scale that read to .01 gr so you could tell better what was going on.

[Ranch Dog]

I really wish someone made an affordable digital scale that read to .01 gr so you could tell better what was going on.

The problem with digital scales are that they are very fickle, I doubt that I would trust one at the .01 grain level. At least scales at the price point a typical reloader would be willing to buy. I've owned several and about all I use them for is weighing bullets or obtaining an average charge from five or ten powder drops from powder disk or measure. I've just not found them consistent.



I've set my Safety Scale up to with marks to indicate ½ a grain either side of my established load. This was setup with a check weight set. For rifle reloading, I drop all my charges with the Perfect Powder Measure, setting the rotor's metering chamber to the cc of the load. Each drop is checked on the SS before it is dropped into the case and it is very rare to see a charge outside the ½ mark. If it is, it is returned to the Hopper. With handgun reloading I use the disk measures but I do check every 10 charge the same way to make sure that everything is good.

[62chevy]

I copied what RD did to his scale and it's a pleasure to use too.

[rdover]

I wonder if it could be a combination of things. Humidity, static, creep, powder, etc.
I have a Auto Drum and dispense 4.0 of Shooter's World Clean Shot (I must be the only one using it, never see anyone else mention it, but I like it real well).
Three nights ago, loaded 200 rounds, left some powder in the hopper, didn't load any the next night, last night, pulled the handle, 4.0 right on the button. I used to check every 10th round, found it was so consistent that I went to every 25th. I VERY rarely get any weight other than 4.0.
Static can make a big difference. I take some used dryer sheets and put it in the hopper when there's no powder in it, store it that way. Most of the time when I quit loading for the evening, I'll put one it, on top of the powder.

[Old Scribe]

Good points to ponder. I also put half a dryer sheet into the drum before I put the AD away.

[62chevy]

I need to try that dryer sheet trick in my powder handling equipment.