Lee Loader

daboone wrote:Did you try the PPM drum/micrometer in the Auto Drum? My PPM is in Sugar Land so I couldn't try it out. If that works I might replace the "Auto Drum" drums with PPM's.

I will look at it tomorrow. I don't think the swap will work because the features are different on both. Look at the axle on the Auto Drum.



And that on the PPM. The "drum has a large "fin" across the width of it. Maybe Titan could market cc calibrated plug?

" Maybe Titan could market cc calibrated plug?"

I just forwarded this link to Dennis G. Let's see if he is interested.

Dennis was very responsive with this replied to my inquiry:

" Daniel, Unfortunately the 3D printing process creates parts by layering .004” thick layers one at a time from bottom to top and the resulting angled surfaces have small steps that would be too course for feeding powder. The drum would have a tendency to leak and the movement of the drum would not be smooth. The Micro Charge that I make requires secondary grinding and hand working for this reason to create the finished part. These small steps are an advantage on my powder baffles as they cause turbulence as the powder flows over them and this helps with the powder bridging and stacking, leading to more consistent drops. In the future I hope to get a small injection molding machine but the timing is unknown as we just bought a building. Molding these parts will create the type of surface needed for an adapter like the one suggested.

Dennis / Titan Reloading"

Always good to know folks. Good job all.

daboone wrote:Dennis was very responsive with this replied to my inquiry:

" Daniel, Unfortunately the 3D printing process creates parts by layering .004” thick layers one at a time from bottom to top and the resulting angled surfaces have small steps that would be too course for feeding powder. The drum would have a tendency to leak and the movement of the drum would not be smooth. The Micro Charge that I make requires secondary grinding and hand working for this reason to create the finished part. These small steps are an advantage on my powder baffles as they cause turbulence as the powder flows over them and this helps with the powder bridging and stacking, leading to more consistent drops. In the future I hope to get a small injection molding machine but the timing is unknown as we just bought a building. Molding these parts will create the type of surface needed for an adapter like the one suggested.

Dennis / Titan Reloading"

Glad he is still planning on following through on the injection molding idea...

In the interim, could we use a caliper to measure the depth of the cavity, calculate the cavity volume and then use the powder's VMD to get us close to the desired charge? An enterprising individual could produce a table of depth measurements and the corresponding charge weights for various powders...

Well... decided to dump the Auto Drums as the performance is not meeting my needs.

Went out to start a loading session for my 300 Savage for my upcoming mule deer hunt. The setup to get to the charge is ridiculous and the stats speak for themself. Mounted the PPM on the Long Rifle Charge Die and I'm good but I spent so much time trying to get the Auto Drum to settle down that I don't feel like reloading tonight.
Once hunting season is finished I will sell both of the Auto Drums I purchased.

l'll take one.
I'm surprised at the varences you're getting. For the powders I'm using Im getting much better results. However I've given up on finding a measure that is consistent with 4350 and Varget. That not exactly true The Quick Measure does those long gran powders with consistency but it is a pain to setup and use. For me the PPM and the Auto Drum are both Perfect Powder measures.

I've found anything that is +/-.5 grains for rifle loads above 45 grains doesn't make any discernable difference on my targets. I don't shoot many max loads. For those I trickle.

daboone wrote:I've found anything that is +/-.5 grains for rifle loads above 45 grains doesn't make any discernable difference on my targets. I don't shoot many max loads. For those I trickle.

You are right. In the grand scheme of things and as a percent, it is probably not an issue. It would probably be best to shoot them against each other or at least shoot the Auto Drum charges to see if they are acceptable. The SD & ES expressed in percent is pretty small potatoes.
It just bothers me that the new product isn't as good as the old at delivering tight charges. Let me get in a range session over the next couple of days and if that doesn't go well, it's yours.

Okay, I have my intial string of cartridge ready for testing today. I have a hunter out right now so don't want to start KaBOOMing. Guess I will fertilize my yard as we are supposed to get rain today.

Ranch Dog wrote:Well... decided to dump the Auto Drums as the performance is not meeting my needs.

Went out to start a loading session for my 300 Savage for my upcoming mule deer hunt. The setup to get to the charge is ridiculous and the stats speak for themself. Mounted the PPM on the Long Rifle Charge Die and I'm good but I spent so much time trying to get the Auto Drum to settle down that I don't feel like reloading tonight.

722_AD_vs_PPM.jpg

Once hunting season is finished I will sell both of the Auto Drums I purchased.

Your experience with the AD pretty much mirrors mine R.D. The one I have has been very unreliable to the point I just can't trust it. Seems to work well one day, then the next it's all over the place. Pretty much a piece of cr@# in my opinion. I've read many, many, remarks from different sites (actually I googled AD reviews) and most are the "better than sliced bread" reports, but a few have found it wanting. I've recorded my experience with it a couple times. With so many good reviews vs a few bad it tells me that the quality may be iffy and we just got a bad one. Maybe, but I'm getting better consistency with a PPM on rifle charging die using a double disk kit than I was using the Auto Drum. To bad as I wanted to use the AD on my Dillon 450 because the old hand operated dillon measure is getting a bit worn.