Lee Loadmaster feedback

[savanahsdad]

the 2nd most exciting day in my reloading life was when I bought my Loadmaster. The 1st was when I got rid of it.

just gave up ? or did you get something else ?

 

[Constrictor]

Went blue.

 

[mtrmn]

Went blue.

THIS

Lee makes good stuff, but their progressives leave a lot to be desired and require more time spent working ON them than time working WITH them in my experience.

 

[davidalyn]

I got so tired of "fixing" and replacing the plastic parts.....I just boxed mine up and sent it back to Lee with a letter explaining why I was returning it. I did not ask for anything in return. Lee contacted me and since I did not buy it directly from Lee, they offered me the purchase price in Lee products.

 

[VeryOldDog]

I am 71 years old, and I haven't reloaded in 35 years since using a single thread RCBS Rockchucker Jr. I recently purchased a Lee Loadmaster. I put it together while reviewing the YouTube videos, and realigned the press. It is fairly simple to put together with the help of the videos. I startd reloading 45 ACP and finished 500 rounds within 3 days with only a few learning issues. Then I converted the press to 9 mm and taking my time, I loaded about 150 cartridges a day until I completed the 500 I had purchased.

I agree with what others have said about keeping the system clean. The way I do it is I use a 10 oz can of compressed air which I spray on the carrier and the primer system to blow out any collected debree. In addtion, I also put a drop of oil on the case feeder arm to smoothly set each case on the first stage of the shell carrier. A little oil on the ram and it is easy to pull the arm to move from station to station.

Now, I admit that I have pretty severe arthritis in the fingers of my right hand. So when I have all of the stations filled the resistance for me is a bit painful but manageable. So, I have processed one cartridge through each station one at a time. This is definitely not as efficient as using it as a true progressive press. However, I placing one cartridge case in the case feeder and placing the bullet on top of the case filled with powder, I can process a bullet every 30 seconds. And, that is fine with me as I have nothing but time.

I often think back about using the Rockchucker and how I used to decap all the bullets one at a time, then size, fill powder, place bullet and crimp. I shudder to think about that process compared to what I am doing today.

For some reason, that I do not understand and cannot explain, it is easier to process all five stations of 45 ACP than 9mm.

My next venture will be 223 and then 44 magnum. I am going to add the dies, shell plate, and turret for the 480 Ruger as this is one of my favorite hunting revolvers and the ammo is hard to come by and fairly expensive.

I have had the Lee for two weeks now and completed 1000 rounds of ammunition for target shooting for my wife and I. I would suggest patience; take your time; read and watch videos; don't force anything; and implement the process starting slow and building up as you go along.

Have a great day!

 

[greyling22]

old dog, have you seen the roller handles for the loadmaster? I don't know if it would help or not, but it's a thought. also a extension to work as a cheater bar might help you. and finally, especially with 9mm, use a little case lube. It take about half the effort to run a lubed 9 than it does a dry one. A 9mm case does not have straight walls like a 45. It is a slightly tapered case and as you have discovered, is much more difficult to resize. (30 carbine is the same way)

 

[wally]

great video ! press runs just as it should , and the first vid I've seen that has a size die at the prime station , same way I set mine up over 8 years ago , no tinkering need , I'd bet he read the directions !.....

Did you notice in the video how it dumped a primer on the floor when he put the reservoir on the feed tube?

I bent a scrap piece of 1/4" wide brass stock into an "L" to prevent this by blocking the primers until the reservoir is started into the tube.

My Loadmaster is setup for .40S&W, if I used it as much as I do my two Dillions setup for 9mm & .45ACP I'd replace it with another Dillon, but it works well enough if you are careful with the priming system. Unlike the Dillon, I do like that it never spits empty primers on the floor, but you do need to remember to empty the ram where they accumulate.

 

[greyling22]

I use a paperclip a bent the tip on with a pair of pliers to keep primers from escaping when I load the tray onto the chute.

 

[theslasher]

Veryolddog... Im 30 and and my wrist hurts if I dont use case lube. Especially 9mm. Spray your cases with Hornady One Shot... Then try running it progressively again. Thank me later!

 

[savanahsdad]

I use a paperclip a bent the tip on with a pair of pliers to keep primers from escaping when I load the tray onto the chute.

mine came with a spring metal retainer that keeps the primer tray lid on and holds it on the feed chute , and the direction say to use that to keep the primers from falling out when installing the primer tray, I see the new ones have a tab on the primer tray to lock the lid on , the old ones didn't ,

 

[savanahsdad]

THIS

Lee makes good stuff, but their progressives leave a lot to be desired and require more time spent working ON them than time working WITH them in my experience.

hummmm...... I would rather adjust something than replace something ,


I know here on THR the Dillon is the go to for progressive presses and you almost never here anything bad about them , however both of these pictures were pulled off here "THR" in the thread "feeling sad and blue" another poster said he had broke that same cast link 3 times , now I'm not saying Dillons are bad , But they aren't any better than the Hornady L-n-L , Lee LoadMaster, or RCBS, unless you drop 2 G's on there top of the line press , but then your in a whole other class and once your in that class I'd go looking for an old Star. " I prefer the dark blue over the handy-cap parking blue,

 

[Constrictor]

hummmm...... I would rather adjust something than replace something , View attachment 195765
View attachment 195766

I know here on THR the Dillon is the go to for progressive presses and you almost never here anything bad about them , however both of these pictures were pulled off here "THR" in the thread "feeling sad and blue" another poster said he had broke that same cast link 3 times , now I'm not saying Dillons are bad , But they aren't any better than the Hornady L-n-L , Lee LoadMaster, or RCBS, unless you drop 2 G's on there top of the line press , but then your in a whole other class and once your in that class I'd go looking for an old Star. " I prefer the dark blue over the handy-cap parking blue,

Why you gotta turn this into a bash Dillon thread? The op asked about the load master and that's what we are discussing.

 

[Boho]

Really appreciate everyone's input. I went ahead and ordered a 650 last night! Its probably overkill for how much we shoot, but all things considered it appeared to be the best investment for my particular needs. I wanted the manual case feeder with the ability to only add the whole system if I really needed to. That ruled out 550 and lock n load. I may do rifle progressively someday so SDB was out. I spoke with several Lee sellers and users and they all hand prime and I want to press prime. I got a 650 set up in 9mm, 380 acp conversion kit, carbide size dies for both calibers and the strong mount for under $750. Thanks again guys!

 

[hentown]

I foolishly and tediously loaded about 80k rounds on a Toadmaster before I wised up and bought a 650. Gave the Toadmaster to a forum member on another forum, although I told him I didn't think the press was worth the postage to get it to him.

I felt so guilty about taking any money from him, that I even paid the postage to ship it to him.

In my humble opinon, the Toadmaster is the most amateurishly-designed progressive press ever made. I'd be amazed if anybody with an education higher than about the 6th grade ever did any design work on the Toadmaster.

Any money that you think you're saving by buyin a Lee progressive will be spent tenfold on Valium.

 

[savanahsdad]

Why you gotta turn this into a bash Dillon thread? The op asked about the load master and that's what we are discussing.

did you even read my post ?
Dillon makes great stuff , but not the fix all of all presses , and yea the OP was asking about the LoadMaster and then the LOADMASTER Bashing started ,and all the "GET A DILLON" started , I was not and I am not starting a Dillon bashing thread , I'm just putting some facts out there , sorry you thought I was anti Dillon , I'm not , they make some good stuff as dose everyone else

 

[savanahsdad]

I foolishly and tediously loaded about 80k rounds on a Toadmaster before I wised up and bought a 650. Gave the Toadmaster to a forum member on another forum, although I told him I didn't think the press was worth the postage to get it to him.

I felt so guilty about taking any money from him, that I even paid the postage to ship it to him.

In my humble opinon, the Toadmaster is the most amateurishly-designed progressive press ever made. I'd be amazed if anybody with an education higher than about the 6th grade ever did any design work on the Toadmaster.

Any money that you think you're saving by buyin a Lee progressive will be spent tenfold on Valium.

ahhh bashing at it's best , HighRoad ? I wonder why the one in the video works so well as dose mine ? may be it's not the press , maybe it's ........... never mind ,

 

[savanahsdad]

Really appreciate everyone's input. I went ahead and ordered a 650 last night! Its probably overkill for how much we shoot, but all things considered it appeared to be the best investment for my particular needs. I wanted the manual case feeder with the ability to only add the whole system if I really needed to. That ruled out 550 and lock n load. I may do rifle progressively someday so SDB was out. I spoke with several Lee sellers and users and they all hand prime and I want to press prime. I got a 650 set up in 9mm, 380 acp conversion kit, carbide size dies for both calibers and the strong mount for under $750. Thanks again guys!

congratulation , so much for your budget, lol. you went from looking for a used LoadMaster to a new Dillon , I was hoping someone would have chimed in on the RCBS , as I've heard little about them , any way good luck with your new Dillon .

 

[mtrmn]

Really appreciate everyone's input. I went ahead and ordered a 650 last night! Its probably overkill for how much we shoot, but all things considered it appeared to be the best investment for my particular needs. I wanted the manual case feeder with the ability to only add the whole system if I really needed to. That ruled out 550 and lock n load. I may do rifle progressively someday so SDB was out. I spoke with several Lee sellers and users and they all hand prime and I want to press prime. I got a 650 set up in 9mm, 380 acp conversion kit, carbide size dies for both calibers and the strong mount for under $750. Thanks again guys!

Congratulations. Although I've never used a 650 it's got to be every bit as good as the 550 (and then some so I hear.) I'm sure you have lowered your future stress levels a lot. Sure you can make a Lee Loadmaster work, but the Dillons just work without being forced to. If not then 1 phone call will get you a complete new machine if that's what it takes to get you loading ammo rather than a bunch of tinkering. After all, loading ammo is the mission you set out to accomplish.

 

[jasonsch]

Sorry!! See the next post...

 

[jasonsch]

Reloading - It's all good!!

Boho, I hope you'll keep us updated with your recent purchase. At $750, I bet you bought it right off Dillon's website. I recently saw a guy with a used 650 Dillon for sale with a couple of caliber conversions for $1,350!! Maybe he had more accessories than you ordered. I bought my very first press recently too and I wanted a progressive press. I studied up on the Load-Master and the 550 and 650 Dillon. I believe the Dillon's are clearly a better press, and they should be - at more than double the price!! And the used one's I saw were not much cheaper.
So, I bought a $215 Load-Master set up for 45 acp. I have $350 in the whole set-up now and I'm happy with it. If you'd like to see it, I replied to a post with some pictures here:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=9359565#post9359565

And maybe some folks might disagree with me, but reloading isn't much more complicated than sticking things in holes. Well, precisely sticking things in holes...
And both Dillons and the Load-Master are all pretty amazing reloading machines. And yes, I had to tinker with the priming system on my Load-Master. I've loaded 2,500 rounds with it so far. And, I enjoy the time I spend reloading - A Dillon is probably faster, but I'm not racing anyone... Unless one of you Dillon guys wanna line 'em up!!
I bought a lot of bullets and primers and powder with the money I saved!
And, I actually really enjoy these kind of discussions, especially when we stay on The High Road.

 

[sexybeast]

Congrats on the purchase of your new machine.

I load a lot! Almost all of this is 9mm and 40. This week probably over 1200 rounds, getting ready for summer matches! I load on my old, semi worn out Loadmaster and I hand prime. Let me tell you where this actually may save me some time and frustration: Crimped primer pockets! Even with the 650 these will mess you up and frustrate you. So many of my 9mm WCC Nato cases have been loaded at least once and are not a problem but a few sneak in from either other shooters or from the range and have to be dealt with. There are now crimped .40 cases too, and they are not makred with the nato headstamps either. Having to stop and removed a case may be asking for a serious mistake!

Inspecting your brass is important so much more, not just cracks you should be looking for! When I handprime I can weed these out, just dumping the cases into the case feeder is looking for hang-ups.
Only machine I know that could handle these super-tight pockets is the Super 1050. It has a built in swager.

 

[Boho]

Thanks guys! There is no possible way to reply to everyone's post, but I have read them all and appreciate the responses. I think its great how everyone is happy with their equipment, and willing to share their experiences. I have reloading tools in red, green, orange and now blue boxes. Guess I'm well rounded! I even still use the Lee loader and put together a few 30-30s in honor of my grandad who got me started on this hobby as a boy. Took a 10 point buck this year using one of those loads! Thanks again!

 

[coonan1911]

I got three load masters and to be honest had a few problems over the years but since they finally got the new primer system sorted out i am loading my .357 Sig ammo and hasn't missed a beat and is quiet fast. The other night loaded 180 rounds in 25 minutes that include adding more primers.
I haven't tried the other two for a while as i still have the old priming system and they were a pain.
Well i would give it ago as my first press loading was the Lee 1000 model which i found had a lot of hang ups.
coonan1911