Hi all,
I've been using a Lee Classic Turret press for somewhere around a year and a half. By and large, it's been really good, and I can pretty much say the same for all my Lee dies and accessories.
I'm planning to move to a progressive, and the Load Master seems like the right choice as I've occasionally wished I had a 5th hole in the turret press. I have some questions about making the transition.
I've been using a Lee Classic Turret press for somewhere around a year and a half. By and large, it's been really good, and I can pretty much say the same for all my Lee dies and accessories.
I'm planning to move to a progressive, and the Load Master seems like the right choice as I've occasionally wished I had a 5th hole in the turret press. I have some questions about making the transition.
- I plan to use my Auto-Drum measure instead of an Auto-Disk since it's easier to adjust. Any reason I shouldn't?
- Does the case feed work well enough? I hear stories of broken decapping pins and I start wondering if I ought to just load cases by hand. I'm trying to figure out if using the case feed is actually that much faster. I guess it assumes the collator works well, or else you're pretty much just hand loading the tubes anyway, right?
- Primer feed is supposedly the Achilles' heel of this thing. I saw on Midway there's a new trough design for the feeders. Are these standard on new kits? Should I buy one if not? Also, any parts crossover with my Lee Safety Prime? I'm guessing the main primer tray is interchangeable, which would be pretty convenient.
- Does anyone know if the mounting holes are in the same place as the Classic Turret? I'm guessing no, but that's not such a big deal.
- I see a lot of setup tricks on various forums and comments. Are there any that I should definitely do right off the bat?
- Thoughts on bullet feeders? Worth it? Better than case feeders? Finicky?
- Finally, I notice a lot of mixed reviews with the Lee progressives, whereas the turret and single stage presses seem almost universally liked. However, this seems to be true for other brands as well. I'm OK making tweaks here and there, but my question is this: am I about to deal with way more problems than I had with the turret press? If so, can these really be avoided by using another brand? I may be willing to pay $400 or $600 for a press instead of $200 if it's really going to make a world of difference, but I'm gonna be pretty salty paying 50-100% more for all the accessories (shellplates and such) if I'm still having to make tweaks and adjustments to my expensive press all the time.