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Setting up a Lee Pro Autodisk


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What is your methodology for setting up a Lee PAD? I found out the hard way that just jiggling the powder hopper then filling a case 10 times will get consistent results... for jiggling the powder hopper like that. The powder charge was .2-.3 heavier in actual operation (with a flake powder, specifically 700x). With small ball powder I could get it pretty consistently to what I wanted (Titegroup / 231). I've recently made the decision to go back to small ball powder for consistency sake. Do you have any "Pro Tips" you have for getting your PAD dialed in?

For 45 I use the Adjustable Charge Bar as the 4 grain + loads seem to do well with it.

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Never had the ACB work for my loading charges.

Always had perfect success with shaking the hopper to settle the powder and throwing 10-20 charges (until measure settles down). 10-20 is required for Lee, Hornady, Dillon, and RCBS measures I have used. Once they settle, they are good to go (just don't run the powder much below ⅓ full or you might have to settle it down again.

Tips?

Don't screw the hopper to the base too tight. Watch that the hopper can not easily turn to OFF (tighten screw or place tape on hopper so it can't move), be sure the actuator arm isn't bent (happens more than folks notice and will cause the arm to bind and the disk to stick and not cycle or suddenly let go on the up-stroke).

I find that my PADs are as good as any other measure with Unique, Red Dot, Solo 1000, and other flake powders.

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What is your methodology for setting up a Lee PAD? I found out the hard way that just jiggling the powder hopper then filling a case 10 times will get consistent results... for jiggling the powder hopper like that. The powder charge was .2-.3 heavier in actual operation (with a flake powder, specifically 700x). With small ball powder I could get it pretty consistently to what I wanted (Titegroup / 231). I've recently made the decision to go back to small ball powder for consistency sake. Do you have any "Pro Tips" you have for getting your PAD dialed in?

For 45 I use the Adjustable Charge Bar as the 4 grain + loads seem to do well with it.

When I'm dialing in a charge on my PAD, I leave it in auto-index mode and cycle through between each powder drop. Takes forever.

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I've performed 3 mods.

1) I attached a custom electric vibrator to the base of the measure that actuates each cycle, makes running very light charges safe and consistent.

2) Over time the alloy bushing will wear (the steel actuator lever will dig a groove into the soft alloy bushing), and this will cause the disc to not fully extend, leading to erratic charges. To address this I removed the lever and stoned / polished it smooth so that the wear is reduced (the original lever is a pressed part and is quite sharp and jagged on the edges).

3) As per #2 above, I removed the very heavy coil spring that Lee provides, and replaced it with a much softer spring from the hardware store. This reduces the pressure between the lever and the bushing, creating less wear and a longer life. You need to experiment to find the right spring, too light and the measure will not reset.

I like the Pro Auto-Disc, I have 2 of them (modified as above) on my LNL-AP's.

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I'm just starting out with one so also interested to hear any tips. I've found mine is pretty consistent, +/- 0.05 grns and then once every maybe ~20 rounds will be off +/- 0.2 grns. I'm only noticing this since I've been working up loads and measuring every powder drop, otherwise I wouldn't catch it. Anyone else's PAD behave similarly?

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I've found my lees reliable to +/- 0.1gn which is plenty good enough for my ipsc loads. Even in my 38 super major loads a 0.1gn over or under is nothing to cause me worry. As best my testing shows me my dillon powder drops are the same +/- 0.1gn.

I've not seen as wide as 0.2gn but even that would not worry me. Any more than that and I'd be wanting to do something about it.

A powder baffle may help. Keeping it above 1/3 full seems to help too.

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I'm just starting out with one so also interested to hear any tips. I've found mine is pretty consistent, +/- 0.05 grns and then once every maybe ~20 rounds will be off +/- 0.2 grns. I'm only noticing this since I've been working up loads and measuring every powder drop, otherwise I wouldn't catch it. Anyone else's PAD behave similarly?

Using the disks, yes, I have maybe 1 charge out of 20 that is .2gr heavier, however using the Adjustable Charge Bar, it's more consistent, generally. It seems to do better with small ball powders than flake powders (TiteGroup / 231 vs. 700x)

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I've performed 3 mods.

1) I attached a custom electric vibrator to the base of the measure that actuates each cycle, makes running very light charges safe and consistent.

2) Over time the alloy bushing will wear (the steel actuator lever will dig a groove into the soft alloy bushing), and this will cause the disc to not fully extend, leading to erratic charges. To address this I removed the lever and stoned / polished it smooth so that the wear is reduced (the original lever is a pressed part and is quite sharp and jagged on the edges).

3) As per #2 above, I removed the very heavy coil spring that Lee provides, and replaced it with a much softer spring from the hardware store. This reduces the pressure between the lever and the bushing, creating less wear and a longer life. You need to experiment to find the right spring, too light and the measure will not reset.

I like the Pro Auto-Disc, I have 2 of them (modified as above) on my LNL-AP's.

Could you take a picture of the part you slicked up on #2?

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Below is the lever I was referring to in point #2.

The side that needs to be stoned smooth is the left-hand side of the rounded leg on the far right - that is the edge that rubs and pivots on the alloy bushing.

t-1414.jpg

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I'm just starting out with one so also interested to hear any tips. I've found mine is pretty consistent, +/- 0.05 grns and then once every maybe ~20 rounds will be off +/- 0.2 grns. I'm only noticing this since I've been working up loads and measuring every powder drop, otherwise I wouldn't catch it. Anyone else's PAD behave similarly?

Using the disks, yes, I have maybe 1 charge out of 20 that is .2gr heavier, however using the Adjustable Charge Bar, it's more consistent, generally. It seems to do better with small ball powders than flake powders (TiteGroup / 231 vs. 700x)

That's interesting that you've found the same thing as me. I only had it filled around 1/3 so I'll try filling it higher and see if that helps.

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