[Ellis93]

First of all.......if you have to manually do anything to an item with auto in its name,it's not "auto". When I want to charge a case on a auto-index turret press.....it should do its job.....dump the powder and reset.....end of story. If I have the auto-drum powder measure,them the name implies it's function is....automatically done when a case is ran into the charging die. Not with this.....every time you have to reset it. Each and every damn time. That's not "auto" my friends,not at all.
And to make it burn a little more,reading the manual now,if I were to use it on a progressive press they include a hand dandy chain thingy and screw to make it work "automatically".......what about the damn auto index turret presses? Are you kidding me?!? You bunch of clowns still make them!
Reading a little more of the manual they say this is a safety feature. It keeps you from double charging your case......that's never been a problem for me with the auto disc measures I have (they're just sloppy with some powders and the reason I bought this turd) because they're on auto indexing equipment and I pay attention. How hard would it have been to fix it to just dump powder like the auto disc units.

Here's the part that just infuriates me the most.....the cfe223 I have just will not stay in the auto disc measure. It's constantly escaping and littering the press,dies and myself. Making it to the floor and making me worry over a potential hazard.
So I buy this thing.....seeing as so many gave this thing great reviews.
I fill it with powder
And I go to work
I load 150cases of 223
I lose as much if not more powder than before......POS

Enter Ellis' inspection of unit during the loading session. I drained it and took it apart. They have a wiper contacting the drum to body to keep the powder from running down and into the exit. Ok,good......but what about when the drum returns to fill again? No wiper there,so the powder clings and falls into the gearing and out the side of the drum (in between the drum and case). Again.....POS!

I bet this thing would work great for stick powders but it isn't worth a crap with this cfe223.

I guess my real issue here is I'm sick and have zero patience. I was tired of sitting in the house and figured I'd sit out in the ammo plant. Only to deal with this and think about the money I wasted.

 

[gunsinger]

Ellis93, I had the auto-dum on the lee classic turret press I sold recently. It was totally auto for me. All I had to do was set the powder and crank. As I recall, there was something you had to do to it to make it reset automatically. I think it was a small piece that has to be removed. I thought the instructions I had addressed it, maybe in the small print. It did not involve the chain.

 

[rigrat]

I have thought about trying the auto drum. Read where it worked pretty good. Guess not so much after your review....

 

[Ellis93]

Ellis93, I had the auto-dum on the lee classic turret press I sold recently. It was totally auto for me. All I had to do was set the powder and crank. As I recall, there was something you had to do to it to make it reset automatically. I think it was a small piece that has to be removed. I thought the instructions I had addressed it, maybe in the small print. It did not involve the chain.

I will reread then. I know for a fact that like it is......I hate it. If I wanted to manually do something......I'd have just saved the money and used the dippers I have on the wall.
I might have missed it thru the fog in my mind lol

 

[Ellis93]

I have thought about trying the auto drum. Read where it worked pretty good. Guess not so much after your review....

Yeah.....even if I did miss a part in the instructions,it's still a messy unit.

 

[Brother_Love]

Yes, you have remove a part to make it automatic. I am not where I can get to instructions now. Mine works great with Bullseye with very very little leakage.

 

[gunsinger]

I believe you can remove the downstroke verification device or a part of it. They've changed the directions as they used to advise you how to do it. I'd google removing downstroke verification device. Unless they modified the device to prevent this, it should work. I promise, I never had to reset anything and I had less spillage than I did with my Lee Perfect Powder measure.

Lee Auto-Drum question

 

[mascott]

I am not a fan of Lee.

 

[CajunBP]

I removed the piece under the screw and it worked for me...maybe it was newbie luck.

 

[Ellis93]

I am not a fan of Lee.

Why.....? Till now,I have no complaints. 1 breach lock 1 pro1000 1 3hole auto turret and one 4hole manual turret.
3auto disc measures 9die sets and 7 bullet sizer kits. I also have multiple molds and two different melting pots.

Add all that together and you haven't bought a basic Dillon and a few caliber changes. For the money what's not to like?

 

[Ellis93]

View attachment 44345 I removed the piece under the screw and it worked for me...maybe it was newbie luck.

I believe you can remove the downstroke verification device or a part of it. They've changed the directions as they used to advise you how to do it. I'd google removing downstroke verification device. Unless they modified the device to prevent this, it should work. I promise, I never had to reset anything and I had less spillage than I did with my Lee Perfect Powder measure.

Lee Auto-Drum question

Studying it now

 

[Ellis93]

Ok for those that say theirs are clean. This is after I wiped it out and got on here to grip about it

That's cfe223! Small stuff and it doesn't like it. On my first autodisc it bled out badly. I then upgraded to a new one with the wiper....major improvement but still had some leakage. I ran across multiple treads and customer reviews stating it worked great with the smallest of powders and most stick powder. I don't use but two kinds of stick powder and not often so that didn't concern me. I will try some flake powder in it soon. And here is what's left on my turret after blowing it off

Farther proof it's a dirty hoe.
My thing here is they advanced the sealing on the autodisc.....why not this one as well? All they have is some wimpy little bar shaped Teflon wiper. Why not a 360* seal?
I hope they didn't high five themselves to hard by coming up with that.
And the "fix".......I don't know why I didn't see it before. Guess I derived too much from the name.

Works fine without it

 

[wllmkttrll]

I got the powder drop,no problems,wore out one part they replaced for free

 

[mascott]

Why.....? Till now,I have no complaints. 1 breach lock 1 pro1000 1 3hole auto turret and one 4hole manual turret.
3auto disc measures 9die sets and 7 bullet sizer kits. I also have multiple molds and two different melting pots.

Add all that together and you haven't bought a basic Dillon and a few caliber changes. For the money what's not to like?

I have many parts that are Lee, 4 hole Turret, which is fine but I use everything else from RCBS,Redding,Hornady, and others. I have several of Lee dies and do not care for them at all. I like the lock ring on all other dies. I have 2 or 3 of the auto drums and they are just cheap! Even on the turret, It has a plastic part that rotates it and it WILL have to be replaced! I have replaced mine twice already. It seems they make a decent piece and then put some cheap crap in it. I perfer to put just a little more money and get quality from RCBS or others. YMMV and I understand if you like Lee.

 

[Ellis93]

I have many parts that are Lee, 4 hole Turret, which is fine but I use everything else from RCBS,Redding,Hornady, and others. I have several of Lee dies and do not care for them at all. I like the lock ring on all other dies. I have 2 or 3 of the auto drums and they are just cheap! Even on the turret, It has a plastic part that rotates it and it WILL have to be replaced! I have replaced mine twice already. It seems they make a decent piece and then put some cheap crap in it. I perfer to put just a little more money and get quality from RCBS or others. YMMV and I understand if you like Lee.

Like I said.....for the money,it's fine. I don't understand how Lee's die disappointed you. They have done fine by me.....except the 22tcm sizing did issue I had and the occasional decaping pin breaking ( because I screwed up and left a stainless pin in the case,I buy extra)
I can tell you I've had more issues with other mold manufacturers than Lee. Can't go wrong with their sizer lol. Round hole.

 

[BasMstr]

Ellis, I agree with the "dirty" part so far. Just got one and installed it this morning. Got it set for 3.2 grains of W231 and commenced to loading. It leaks. But, this is the 3rd powder measure I've tried, and HP38 leaked in ALL of them. Gonna try some CFE223, CFE Pistol, Varget, Power Pistol, and H4198 in the near future.

 

[Ellis93]

Ellis, I agree with the "dirty" part so far. Just got one and installed it this morning. Got it set for 3.2 grains of W231 and commenced to loading. It leaks. But, this is the 3rd powder measure I've tried, and HP38 leaked in ALL of them. Gonna try some CFE223, CFE Pistol, Varget, Power Pistol, and H4198 in the near future.

Oh you'll love the cfe223 in it lol
I dare say the autodisc was cleaner than it with double discs set up in it. With the adjustable charge bar......not so much.
I'll deal with it some more and see what happens. I may swap powders up and see how it does.