Aftermarket lee loadmaster quality

[gunoil]

yea, l own both dillon and lee. l like mods, l have mods on my super1050 dillon. l have a designatee loadmaster for decapping only too.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

So how much do all these mods cost in total for a single caliber setup?

And why aren't the defective turrets being returned to Lee for replacement? Do they not offer a warranty on bad new parts out of the box?

[dikman]

Good point. With the threads running off at such an angle I would have thought the turret would be classed as faulty.

[EDG]

That crummy die case Lee turret should not cost much more than $5 or $6 bucks to make. With markup it will cost you about $12.

The milled version has an aluminum puck that costs $4 or $5. The lathe & mill time is probably rated at about $2 minute.
He probably has 15 minutes for machining, deburring, cleaning and process control.

[dikman]

Forgot to mention that I checked my 3-hole turret for "verticallity" (I just made that up, if you didn't guess) and am happy to report that, like my 4-hole, it's looks fine.

[rtracy2001]

Based on my observations, non-perpendicular threads in a turret would be the exception, not the rule.

Ugly threads however, seem to be the rule rather than the exception.

Still, aluminum threads + steel dies + wrench = smooth threads eventually.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I am curious how they actually get threads into the hole that cockeyed? A 7/8 tap is big enough so that you would have to have the part held in a vise on a mill in order to hold it tight enough.

Getting the tap in the hole cockeyed would be hard to do, unless the part is not held correctly.

Someone obviously has not been beaten enough!

I believe the appropriate phrase is,,, "The beatings will continue until moral improves!"

Randy

[bosterr]

Something that my Grand Dad and my Dad used to say, a classic case of taking the exact same effort to do it wrong as to do it right!

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Okay, since no one answered my question about how much it costs to upgrade the Lee Loadmaster with these various improvements/mods, I decided to research it and find out myself.

I went to Mike's website, wrote down the costs per mod/upgrade and how much it costs to ship. I'll assume if you want all the mods done, it would enable combine shipping.

First, a list of the mods:
1. Primer system - ship your primer system to him and Mike performs the mods. Cost: $64.00
2. Turret stabilizer - Mike makes this, so he can ship it back to you with the modified primer system. Cost: $10.50
3. Shake Brake - Again, Mike makes this, so he can ship it back to you with the other items listed above. Cost: $10.25
4. Billet Turret - Made by Mike, so you can include this in your shipment. Cost: $60.00
5. Lund Cargomaster bar - You can order this shipped off of ebay. Cost shipped: $42.66
6. Case feeder upgrade to aluminum parts - websterz makes these. Cost shipped for a complete set: $45.00

Mike's mods and parts sold above total $144.75 before shipping. I'm guessing shipping total would be $6.00 (parts to him) and $13.00 for all the parts shipped back via USPS. So a total of $163.75 for all of Mike's current upgrades.

Add the Lund cargo bar and websterz case feeder upgrades to that price and you have a grand total of $251.41.

A Lee Loadmaster (prices from Titan Reloading) set up in a single pistol caliber costs $231.48. A case feeder collator costs $11.98. Total for both and shipped to my door here in Jefferson, GA: $262.92.

Add those two numbers together and you have $514.33 invested in a Lee Loadmaster.

Now my question is, once that much money is spent, will it run as smooth as a Cadillac or Mercedes and as reliably as a Ford Truck or Toyota Car?

[sparky45]

Dave; Lee has replaced a bunch of defective turrets. Just a FYI, call them and tell them that you suspect a defective turret, they'll likely replace it for free. They (Lee) knows of the problem.

So how much do all these mods cost in total for a single caliber setup?

And why aren't the defective turrets being returned to Lee for replacement? Do they not offer a warranty on bad new parts out of the box?

[.30Calibre]

Shoot. I saw this happening with my Pro1000 and couldn't understand why.

As pictured above, every so often the press would jam up because the brass case would not line up and enter the die straight. It never really happened while I loaded bottleneck pistol brass (I assume the narrow bottleneck guided the case into the die easier, even when the brass was off center), but I would screw my dies in to touch the shell plate and noticed they did not sit 100% flat against the shell plate.

I kept thinking it was maybe a shell plate carrier alignment problem on the ram, thinking the threads in the shellplate were off, kept re-torquing the hex bolts on the turret holder thinking it was lop-sided; it never occurred to me the threaded die holes in the turret were not drilled true and straight. Several sets of turrets swapped across two different Pro1000's did the same stupid thing.

Best part of this is I called Lee on two occasions and spoke to tech. I described how the cases did not appear to enter the die straight when I raised the shellplate and on both occasions they immediately blamed the brass, stating the rims (in a .45LC for example) were wrong or out of spec.

[Tom Myers]

Now my question is, once that much money is spent, will it run as smooth as a Cadillac or Mercedes and as reliably as a Ford Truck or Toyota Car?

My Loadmaster does now. And, for me, the comparison is valid as I have driven a Cadillac and also a Ford Truck.

Oh, I didn't get the Lund Cargo Bar. Just cut off an old broken splitting maul handle to the right length and I modified my case feeder blocks according to information published by Mike. So that chopped around $80.00 off the cost of the mods.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Dave; Lee has replaced a bunch of defective turrets. Just a FYI, call them and tell them that you suspect a defective turret, they'll likely replace it for free. They (Lee) knows of the problem.

I don't own a Loadmaster. I was just asking, because my experience with them in the past is they replace defective product for free. I haven't had many defective things from them.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

My Loadmaster does now. And, for me, the comparison is valid as I have driven a Cadillac and also a Ford Truck.

Oh, I didn't get the Lund Cargo Bar. Just cut off an old broken splitting maul handle to the right length and I modified my case feeder blocks according to information published by Mike. So that chopped around $80.00 off the cost of the mods.

Tom,

How many cartridges have you made using the press with all the mods? Have you had to adjust anything not related to caliber change during that time?

[Tom Myers]

Tom,
How many cartridges have you made using the press with all the mods? Have you had to adjust anything not related to caliber change during that time?

Dave,

I am not a high volume shooter. The bulk of my shooting is BPCR Silhouettete and Long Range with Lever gun side matches, in three or four different calibers. So I probably do more load development shooting than actual match shooting. That means a lot of reloading press setup changes.

Before making the switch to the Hornady Powder measure, with case activated linkage and interchangeable metering inserts for each tool-head, the LoadMaster was running smoothly without priming or OAL cartridge length problems. However I was not satisfied with the accuracy or repeatability of the Lee Auto Disk and Perfect measures. Hence switch to the Hornady. (What a difference)

The LoadMaster using the Hornady case activated measure worked smoothly and reliably as long as the powder grains were ball or flake. Unlike the Lee measures with elastomer powder wipers, the Hornady measure cuts one or more kernels of stick powder on nearly every throw. The cutting of the powder sticks would cause the measure to jerk just as the priming punch started up with the primer balanced on the punch resulting in sideways and upside down primer seating. It really was not a totally versatile setup for all of my loading practices.

Since a very recent modification, the addition of a Shake Brake, the LoadMaster press is a rock solid unit, without any vibrations from the Hornady powder throws. I have only loaded perhaps 100 load development rounds of 25-20 using SR 4759 powder and the only adjustments needed were to the Hornady metering insert. No more smashed or upside down primers.

Before the Shake Brake installation, as long as either ball or flake powder was used, No adjustments were needed. Overall Length was uniform from first to last round through the shell holders and loaded cartridge concentricity runout was considerably reduced while using the modified turrets and stabilizer plate.

So, to answer your question, since setting up the primer, carrier, plate and turret modifications, I have loaded approximately 400 rounds of 45-70, 38-55, 30-30 and 25-20 rounds and, with the exception of flipped primers when using stick powders which has stopped since the addition of the Shake Brake, have not needed to make any adjustments.

With the conversion to the Hornady Case Activated Powder Measure system and the installation of the Shake Break, I am quite satisfied with the LoadMaster and feel that the goal of an ideal loading setup, for the shooting that I do, is now very near.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Tom,

Thank you for the answers. Some comments and more questions in red in the quote.

That means a lot of reloading press setup changes. Press changeovers are always at least slightly annoying, more so for a new caliber one adds.

Before making the switch to the Hornady Powder measure, with case activated linkage and interchangeable metering inserts for each tool-head, the LoadMaster was running smoothly without priming or OAL cartridge length problems. However I was not satisfied with the accuracy or repeatability of the Lee Auto Disk and Perfect measures. Hence switch to the Hornady. (What a difference) I'm not totally surprised at that. I use Lee Pro Auto Disks for some powders, RCBS Uniflows, Dillon measures, Hornady LnL measures and RCBS for others depending on volume of powder used per cartridge and type of powder. All case activated setups. I added more powder measures when I went to a press that used a die plate instead of LnL bushings, then found out that different brands of powder measures worked better in different applications, which changed my whole reloading perspective and approach.

The LoadMaster using the Hornady case activated measure worked smoothly and reliably as long as the powder grains were ball or flake. Unlike the Lee measures with elastomer powder wipers, the Hornady measure cuts one or more kernels of stick powder on nearly every throw. The cutting of the powder sticks would cause the measure to jerk just as the priming punch started up with the primer balanced on the punch resulting in sideways and upside down primer seating. It really was not a totally versatile setup for all of my loading practices. I like the Hornady and RCBS for extruded powders, but they do tend to jerk when they cut the powder, but that wasn't a problem on the RCBS or Hornady presses I've owned.

Since a very recent modification, the addition of a Shake Brake, the LoadMaster press is a rock solid unit, without any vibrations from the Hornady powder throws. Just as a piece of useful information, you can use RCBS Uniflows with the less expensive Hornady LnL CAPD.

I have only loaded perhaps 100 load development rounds of 25-20 using SR 4759 powder and the only adjustments needed were to the Hornady metering insert. No more smashed or upside down primers. I know that's been a big issue with the Loadmaster. Good to hear.

Before the Shake Brake installation, as long as either ball or flake powder was used, No adjustments were needed. Overall Length was uniform from first to last round through the shell holders and loaded cartridge concentricity runout was considerably reduced while using the modified turrets and stabilizer plate. Now when you say modified turrets, so you mean the turret stabilizer or the billet turrets? Uniform length and concentricty are major improvements for rifle shooting, especially at longer ranges where MOA starts to count as you take longer distance shots.

So, to answer your question, since setting up the primer, carrier, plate and turret modifications, I have loaded approximately 400 rounds of 45-70, 38-55, 30-30 and 25-20 rounds and, with the exception of flipped primers when using stick powders which has stopped since the addition of the Shake Brake, have not needed to make any adjustments. So correct me if I'm wrong. You've done or had done the primer modifications, upgraded to the aluminum carrier, modified the shell plate (Where is this done?) and added the turret modification known as turret stabilizer, yes? Is that 400 rounds total or 400 rounds per caliber? Pardon my asking, but the difference in cartridge count is significant enough to provide better long term statistics.

With the conversion to the Hornady Case Activated Powder Measure system and the installation of the Shake Break, I am quite satisfied with the LoadMaster and feel that the goal of an ideal loading setup, for the shooting that I do, is now very near. That's good to hear. My interest in the Loadmaster is in setting up a press for a single caliber, one that I reload high volumes of and just leaving it in place with a case feed and probably a Hornady bullet feeder die, home made collator for the bullets at some point. Cast lead bullets, powder coat, size and run them through in high volumes of several thousand.

[dikman]

Glad I haven't got one - I'd hate to have a support leg in front like that!! (I can guarantee I'd run my chair into it!). My two presses (turret and 1000) are mounted on square steel plates, which have mounting holes that line up with those in my bench. Quick to remove and solid when tightened up. I reckon if I had a Loadmaster I'd be doing the same, although it would be a lot more work making the plate fit. It would probably require a bit of fancy cutting, but extending the steel plate forward and under the press should make it more rigid.

[Tom Myers]

Tom,

Thank you for the answers. Some comments and more questions in red in the quote.

Before the Shake Brake installation, as long as either ball or flake powder was used, No adjustments were needed. Overall Length was uniform from first to last round through the shell holders and loaded cartridge concentricity runout was considerably reduced while using the modified turrets and stabilizer plate. Now when you say modified turrets, so you mean the turret stabilizer or the billet turrets? Uniform length and concentricty are major improvements for rifle shooting, especially at longer ranges where MOA starts to count as you take longer distance shots.

My "modified turrets" are of two styles, Mike's first offering, epoxy filled, drilled and tapped and the newer machined billet. The turret stabilizer is the flat plate with die holes and set screws that remove any vertical turret movement and result in an absolute clocking alignment.

So, to answer your question, since setting up the primer, carrier, plate and turret modifications, I have loaded approximately 400 rounds of 45-70, 38-55, 30-30 and 25-20 rounds and, with the exception of flipped primers when using stick powders which has stopped since the addition of the Shake Brake, have not needed to make any adjustments. So correct me if I'm wrong. You've done or had done the primer modifications, upgraded to the aluminum carrier, modified the shell plate (Where is this done?) and added the turret modification known as turret stabilizer, yes? Is that 400 rounds total or 400 rounds per caliber? Pardon my asking, but the difference in cartridge count is significant enough to provide better long term statistics.

The "plate" I mentioned is the Turret Stabilizer Plate. The shell plates are not modified, except for polishing the contact surfaces.
That would be 400 total rounds. I concentrate on precision, uniformity and concentricity rather than volume. I realize that those requirements might just as well be achieved on a single stage or on a straight turret press. but I found that, with the constant die changes and powder measure adjustments, I was spending most of my time remembering what went where and where in the heck did I put it. Now I just switch out turret, shell plate and pre-adjusted powder measure insert.

Also, the 5 station turret is important, to me, for some of the operations.

[A pause for the COZ]

Always said the LM was a great idea just implemented wrong.
Wondered what kind of machine it would be if good materials and manufacturing was used.

I make be on the hunt for a used one now. and make good use of these services.

[Tom Myers]

Glad I haven't got one - I'd hate to have a support leg in front like that!! (I can guarantee I'd run my chair into it!). My two presses (turret and 1000) are mounted on square steel plates, which have mounting holes that line up with those in my bench. Quick to remove and solid when tightened up. I reckon if I had a Loadmaster I'd be doing the same, although it would be a lot more work making the plate fit. It would probably require a bit of fancy cutting, but extending the steel plate forward and under the press should make it more rigid.

The end requirement is to make the press solid. I would think that your idea of a steel plate extenstion would work just as well as the floor brace.

For those of us with limited space and funds, we need to make do with what is available. As you can see in the images, my press mounting system is fast and space saving but, without the use of clamps and bolting, it is a far cry from being the stable and solid mount required for smooth press operation. So, although I dislike working around the leg under the press, I do it for the greater good.