Lee Presses
The Lee cast iron turret press is probably the greatest value going !
The Lee LoadMaster I received in June , is a good press with a steep learning curve ( at least for me ) . I had my ups and downs with it . A lot of the problems were self inflicted . There is a lot of things going on at the same time an many need to be watched .
There have been some major changes to the priming system , in the last several months . I am using the second generation priming system . After initial break in , it is running pretty good .
I like it much better than gen one . The current one is gen 3 B .
Right now , the only complaint I have about the LM is it sure gobbles components .
Of course , it spits out a lot of ammo in doing so .
A progressive is much more suited for straight wall calibers .
Due to the nature of bottle neck rifle calibers , it is less productive for them . This is due to the brass prep that is necessary .
If you are only shooting the same brass , over and over , ( no military and / or range brass added each trip to the range ) in one and only one gun , maybe not so much . If you use the Lee collet die .
I am glad I have my LM .
I am way too cheap to pay the cost of the other progressives . And , then look and compare the cost of the caliber conversion parts !
I am lucky , I already had the dies . And , with my C&R FFL discount , it cost me $ 30 to convert to one of the other calibers I load for .
I currently can load for the following calibers on the LM .
9 x 19mm , .38 Special / .357 Mag , .44 Mag , .45 ACP , .45 LC , .30 Carbine , .30-30 and .223 .
I can not say anything good or bad about the other progressives .
I can say the following ;
If your ego demands you to buy what others perceive is the best , skip the Lee LM .
If you are all thumbs and have little or no mechanical aptitude , skip the Lee LM .
If you have little patience to work with the machine , skip the Lee LM .
If you can not follow instructions or directions ( oral , written or visual ) , skip the Lee LM .
Or if you perceive you do not have the time to do any of the above , skip the Lee LM .
God bless
Wyr