Good idea. I have two more so I'll just inspect and reinforce as needed.put a small tie wrap around it and solved the problem , now works great but I have a small thin worm gear clamp just in case
Mine all feel about the same. I never had an issue cycling them with anything from .380 to .44mag.I own 10 Auto Drums, about half of them are too stiff (spring) the other half just right.
My trusty Lee AutoDrum PM failed yesterday. One minute, I was loading 45acp on my LCT and in an instant, powder flew everywhere while I was charging a case. Pics attached.
View attachment 226493
If only it would! LOL!Duct tape should take care of that!!!
Sudden failure. Everything seemed normal and I had loaded 15-20 cases when it popped, jarring the lid off the PM and spilling quite a bit of powder. Luckily, it did not come completely off the turret--that would have made a real mess.Before it broke, did you notice any oddities? Such as less bell mouth on the charged cases? Or was it sudden failure?
I'm sure Lee will take care of you and replace it. Your unit may have had a casting fault that caused it. Just want to point out if the powder through die is set too low that this will put stress on the Auto Drum and can cause it to fail in a like manner.If only it would! LOL!
Hope the replacement comes soon!
I will check travel on my other 2 AutoDrum units.This video shows how adjusting the die controls total travel of the drum.
When adjusted per the video in post #15, that is, without the black plastic tab hitting the top of the slot, the Auto Drum depends solely on spring pressure to flare pistol case mouths. At least, that's how mine works. Wouldn't different strength springs give you different amounts of flare?I own 10 Auto Drums, about half of them are too stiff (spring) the other half just right. I spotted this early and started using the lighter springs on handgun turrets.
It depends on how you use the PTX die. What you say is true if you use the PTX die with the funnel adapter installed or with the riser inserted between the PTX die and the Auto Drum. But, if you don’t need the riser and just screw the Auto Drum directly into the PTX die, as shown in the video, what I said in post #22 is true.I think you are mistaken. If you take the pm off the die and run a case through a cycle, the powder thru die will bell the case, just the same. At least that is the way my pistol caliber does work. If you note pistol caliber setup instructions, they can be set up to bell the case and used without an automatic powder measure at all. A funnel is all that's needed to drop powder through the die.
However, I expect a stiff actuation spring could cause case damage on a .380 case during cycling since the case walls are relatively thin. Mine have escaped unscathed.