Lee Loadmaster .40 S&W Shell plate

[clutch]

Anyone here use a Lee Loadmaster and load both .40 S&W along with 9mm?

I checked both Grafs site and Lees and they call out a holder that fits both cases.

There is a 0.032" difference between the rounds at the rim. What is up with that?


Thanks,

Clutch

 

[MMCSRET]

I used one for 12 years for both cartridges and it was the #19 plate, same as the shell holder that comes with the dies. Worked well for many, many thousands of rounds of both. You use different case feeders tho, small for 9MM and large for 40.

 

[Walkalong]

As an aside, I use my .40 S&W LNL shell plate to load .32-20. Works great. I use a .32-20 shell holder to prime them though.

It has never occurred to me to try 9MM in a .40 plate. That is a fair amount of difference. Glad it works for you.

 

[RealGun]

It fits the .40 better, but the 9mm works fine. For single stage work like FCD of 9mm after loading on a Pro1000, same issue as the Loadmaster, I use the Hornady shell holder, which has a close fit specific to 9mm.

The problem with .40 on a Loadmaster is that the case feed slider needs to be customized, or the cases will keep tipping over before caught by the shellplate. The large slider is ideal for .45 and the small is ideal for 9mm. The .40 is the stepchild and just doesn't work very well. It isn't just me, because others have described mods that address the same problem.

 

[MMCSRET]

Right on the slider, I modified a large one to work consistantly. I'm retired now and sold the progressives so I could use my single stage presses and return to the enjoyment of hand loading for the sake of hand loading. I savor every component I pick up and handle individually over and over, having the time to do it this way now is much more enjoyable than with a progressive.