Lee Bullet Feeder for RCBS-3 ?

[JohndeFresno]

I have an old reliable RCBS-3 with a Piggyback progressive turret setup on it. I love the ease and reliability (and economy, since I bought it and its dies and plates second-hand for a song). But I have read Mr. Lee's very product-centered book, "Modern Reloading", and have to admit that his Bullet Feeder (Model SS40726) for my .44 Mag sounds really interesting.

Does anybody have experience with putting the Lee Bullet Feeder onto an RCBS Piggyback setup, or similar progressive press? I see where the Lee product was made specifically for two of their products, but Midway and other suppliers do not seem to address whether this $28 device would work, or even fit over, my press. Any input is appreciated, of course!

 

[Rockstar]

I have some experience with putting a Lee Bullet feeder on a Lee Loadmaster. The bullet feeder is a p.o.s. Think about: You have to load the bullet feeder one-bullet-at-a-time. What are you accomplishing, even if you get the p.o.s. to work?

 

[wrangler5]

I have used a BUNCH of Lee equipment for 25+ years, almost all of it quite happily. But the bullet feeder is the glaring exception. Like Rockstar I tried to put one on a Loadmaster to feed 9mm FMJ but gave it up as a bad job and sold the thing on Ebay (with full disclosure.)

The feeder does have a tube that you can stack bullets in, but the instructions warn you that you have to experiment to see how many bullets you can actually stack in the tube before the weight of the stack becomes too much for the fingers of the feeder to move the bottom bullet out of the stack and into line with the cartridge case. I never got to the point where I could get the thing to load 3 bullets in a row, so never got to experimenting with how many more I could stack up. With 44 Mag bullets I'd bet you couldn't stack more than a half dozen even if things were working properly.

The bullet feeding actuator mechanism is a vertical rod that works through a plate that screws into an attachment point on the Lee ram. Its location is critical to the smooth operation of the mechanism. You'd have to be able to fix an attachment point for this plate on the press you use.

Keep in mind that you also have to use the Lee seating die, as it has a tapered base that will spread the bullet feeding fingers without breaking them. But if the (plastic) fingers aren't perfectly aligned with the cartridge they will be smashed between the shell carrier and the bottom of the die. I recommend ordering several spares (they're cheap) at the time you order the feeder unit (don't ask how I know this.)

I suspect that the Lee bullet feeder was designed to work best with 357 lead wadcutters. The FMJ bullets I tried to use kept slipping out of the fingers - if they had been lead instead of shiny copper, and straight instead of tapered, they probably would have held better.

If it looks like it's going to be a long winter where you are, you like complex mechanical challenges and have a high threshold of frustration, this might be a worthwhile project. Otherwise, you'll almost certainly load a lot more rounds quicker if you just keep putting the bullets in by hand.

 

[jmorris]

I fit one to my 650 and it worked ok after a lot of tweaking. Used the 100 round adapter and it would work with a stack of 25, 230grn .45’s , with new “fingers”. The down side is the plastic construction; the fingers lose tension after a period of time. There are other finger type bullet feeders available; goastholster.com has one for the 1050. I finally gave up on the lee and switched to a GSI unit, it works all the time, every time. More important than the feeder is the need for a collator, I made mine and saved $600-$800, without it you’re still placing bullets by hand.