Lee Pro Auto-Disk Powder Measure and Hi-Skor 700-X!

I have been making a chart of what weight charges the auto disk actually throws. With Hercules Bullseye (Yep I still have some) the disks throw lighter charges than the Lee Chart shows [Lee Chart - Cavity .32=3.0gr.] actual is 2.8 gr., [Lee Chart - Cavity .53=5.0gr.] actual is 4.6gr.

I get similar results with Hercules Unique, it's about 2 to 3 tenths under what Lee's chart shows.(Alcan 5 too old not on Lee's chart)

I was expecting about the same difference with Hi-Skor 700-X. I was looking for 5.5gr. and Lee's chart shows cavities .71 at 5.3gr. and .76 at 5.7gr. Expecting 2/10 to 3/10's less than the Lee chart showed I went to cavity .76 and got 4.7gr. In order to get close to what I wanted I went cavity .88 and got 5.34gr.

NOTE: I threw out the first 3 charges each time and recorded the weights of 8 and averaged to get my weights.
When throwing the 700-X charges for cavity .88 the 7th record charge apparently bridged and that charge only weighed 0.9gr.

Has anyone here had this (bridging) happen with 700-X?

I was going to load some .45 Colt on my pro 1000 (I call it a semi-progressive) press. After getting the lite charge I will load on a single stage.

Brooks

Last edited by bgokk; Yesterday at 03:40 PM. Reason: spelling

bgokk Endowment Member NRA
The second amendment is the guarantee for all the other amendments...........

Boolit Master Join DateNov 2005LocationNortheast PAPosts357

700X dosen't meter through my auto disk either. Very inconsistent.

No longer use an AutoDisc but a few years back I tried mounting one on my Dillon 550 for .38 Spls. 700X gave me essentially the same problems as you've experienced until I jury-rigged a temporary fix by duct-taping the vibration unit from an old 'personal massager' to the powder reservoir. Eventually, I went back to the Dillon measure using a set of fixed cavity charge bars, each drilled/reamed to a specific volume...much like the Lee Powder Dippers.

Bill

"I'm not often right but I've never been wrong."

Jimmy Buffet
"Scarlet Begonias"

Boolit Master Join DateJun 2008Posts681

When taking such samples, we often are not sampling from actual loading sequence, that is, we are cycling the measure without all of the vibes and shakes of really operating the press with all of the stages being accomplished. I find that I get very close variances if I tap the powder hopper with dowel rod while it is relaxed (powder filling the cavity) and again at the base while the measure is on the dump part of its cycle. 700X, Unique, and even the worse offender for me, TrailBoss. Stick powders, I would not even try.

prs

Has anyone here had this (bridging) happen with 700-X?

I was going to load some .45 Colt on my pro 1000 (I call it a semi-progressive) press. After getting the lite charge I will load on a single stage.

Brooks

I've loaded 45ACP with Red Dot and 700X. I had an RCBS powder thrower with both cylinders. The wider one made for larger charges worked better, but not to my satisfaction. I ended up hand-measuring until I could find a ball powder.

Vibration, as already noted, will increase charge weights and consistency. Sources include hair and beard trimmers. The vibration source should be applied consistently, both in duration and pressure.

Last edited by HangFireW8; Today at 03:25 PM. Reason: grammar

Boolit Master Join DateFeb 2011Posts413

I weighted the charges in my lee shotgun loader and found it dropped lighter chargers.

After looking at some books i measured all of the bushings,done while loading shells,and found the bushing that gave the right weight of powder.

I understand that cycling the press needs to be the same every time but it seems that they tend to drop 2-3 grains light.

YMMV

When taking such samples, we often are not sampling from actual loading sequence, that is, we are cycling the measure without all of the vibes and shakes of really operating the press with all of the stages being accomplished. I find that I get very close variances if I tap the powder hopper with dowel rod while it is relaxed (powder filling the cavity) and again at the base while the measure is on the dump part of its cycle. 700X, Unique, and even the worse offender for me, TrailBoss. Stick powders, I would not even try.

prs

prs,
I tried your tap & tap with a short piece of dowel and it worked great. The #.88 cavity without the taps as in my OP had the 0.9gr throw and without it averaged 5.34gr. Using a light tap at the top and bottom of the press stroke the avg. for 9 throws was 5.5gr. I had left the powder in the hopper overnight so I did not count the first 2 throws (They were 5.7 & 5.75gr). The heaviest of those averaged was 5.6gr the lightest 5.45gr.

Thanks for the tip. I should have thought of something of the sort, because I had an old Herter's powder measure and always did a double bump at the top and bottom of each throw.

Thanks again!

The only thing around here that vibarates is a tiller in the rocky Ozark soil.

Brooks

bgokk Endowment Member NRA
The second amendment is the guarantee for all the other amendments...........

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Abbreviations used in Reloading
Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt"

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