Load Master is better than Dillon

[UNIQUEDOT]

Like i said before i have had very few primer problems with mine and i still use the old primer units. I've read about indexing problems several times as well as priming problems and there is absolutely no way one should have indexing problems with the press once indexing is set, but mine was not set from the factory and that would have been a problem for someone not following instructions.

I don't however discount the fact that it's possible QC is horrible on the machine as it's hard to believe that so many people are incapable of comprehension. I also don't believe for a second that the LM is anywhere near the same class as a Dillon 650 NO WAY, but the instruction sheet say's it's the finest reloader made.

It still does the same thing for a whole lot less money. I would in no way be able to afford caliber changes on a 650 for the calibers I'm set up for with my LM...heck i couldn't afford them for a 550 either.

[sparky45]

I understand. I grew extremely frustrated with both the Loadmasters I owned and have since replaced with a Dillon 650. As I've stated before, priming off the press and then loading with the loadmaster produces good quality ammo. But for me, it wasn't worth the effort, I had other things that needed my attention. Buy what you like and can afford. I now have 4 presses of which two are Lee(challenger-a great press as well as a lee single stage) and I use them both every time I load. Loadmaster, just not for me.

[rbuck351]

I have a Dillon 550b and am very happy with it. I have been a mechanic, tinkerer for 45+years. Does anyone that has one of the really problem Loadmasters want to get rid of it cheap? I don't especially want one to load with as I have the Dillion but I would like to see what the fuss is all about and would like to see if I could make one work.

[sparky45]

I have a Dillon 550b and am very happy with it. I have been a mechanic, tinkerer for 45+years. Does anyone that has one of the really problem Loadmasters want to get rid of it cheap? I don't especially want one to load with as I have the Dillion but I would like to see what the fuss is all about and would like to see if I could make one work.

Just go to www.loadmastervideos.com and read their Loadmaster thread. There isn't a day that goes by that someone isn't complaining about the primer feed on that press. As it states in their videos the priming function is the #1 problem with that press. Get past that and it will produce quality ammo.

[KYCaster]

I understand. I grew extremely frustrated with both the Loadmasters I owned and have since replaced with a Dillon 650. As I've stated before, priming off the press and then loading with the loadmaster produces good quality ammo. But for me, it wasn't worth the effort, I had other things that needed my attention. Buy what you like and can afford. I now have 4 presses of which two are Lee(challenger-a great press as well as a lee single stage) and I use them both every time I load. Loadmaster, just not for me.

Same here...........I consistently had 12-15% rejects from 45ACP loaded on the LM, almost all related to primers. Having to prime cases prior to loading defeats the purpose of a progressive press.

Similar situation with the Pro 1000. I had to taper crimp on a single stage press.....why have a progressive if it can't do the job.

I replaced my two LM's and three Pro 1000's with two Hornady LNL's and don't regret it a bit.

I have a Dillon 550b and am very happy with it. I have been a mechanic, tinkerer for 45+years. Does anyone that has one of the really problem Loadmasters want to get rid of it cheap? I don't especially want one to load with as I have the Dillion but I would like to see what the fuss is all about and would like to see if I could make one work.

Sure you can make it work.

Get it adjusted properly on Monday and load a bunch of good ammo. Let it set over night and on Tuesday disassemble the case feeder and primer feeder, clean them, reassemble them, adjust them and load some more ammo. Do it all over again on Wednesday, Thursday, etc., etc.

Jerry

[dromia]

What really gets me about Lee is that even although the many issues with Lee kit is widely know, as evidenced by the myriads of "how to get Lee stuff to work" sites, they don't do anything to rectify or improve the issues.

[Wal']

What I just don't understand, is with all the bad feedback read on here & other sites, why are people's still buying & using them, [Loadmaster's]

There must be something going on I don't understand.

My mate just bought one, no problems, working well, but reading posts like this it shouldn't be.

Don't have one myself, have Hornady Progressive & a Rock-Chucker, but like rbuck351would like to find one on Flea Bay to play with.

Love a challenge & love tinkering.

[MBTcustom]

The Loadmaster can be made to work, and work consistently, but you have to know how to tune it, and make/reinforce a few parts to get them to cooperate. It takes a little tinkering and a good knowledge of how progressive operations work.
So if you are the type of person that has that bent of mind/training the Loadmaster is a no/brainer because it is cheap and made in the USA.
Now, if your'e the type of person who can't get your head wrapped around how contraptions work, then Dillon is the way to go. I'm not saying you'r stupid or anything, some of us are just very mechanically inclined and we wouldn't even be able to drive to work if we didn't do the same kind of repairs and tweaks to our vehicles. If you don't know how to work on stuff, and don't think you deserve to have to learn how, then you pay a higher price for reliability. Its the same way with your car ya know? If you can't afford to buy a new Toyota, quit your griping, roll up your sleeves and grab a wrench!

[Lloyd Smale]

they buy them because there half the price. consider everyone that goes to a casino. They all have the big dream of spending 50 bucks and coming out with a couple hundred. Problem is 99 times out of a 100 they come out without anytihng but lint in there pockets. Some guys still havent smartened up enough to know that you get what you pay for more in loading gear then about anywhere else. Lots of those lees just decorating benchs and in boxes because the owners have given up. Some sell them for pennys on the dollar. At least with a dillon or hornady you can get some money back out of them on the used market if your not happy with them. Especially a dillon. Even i recently learned that lesson. I lost all my gear in a fire and was purchasing new gear. I bought 3 hornady lnl press, two with case feeders. I bought them because they were cheaper then a 650 and came with a 1000 free bullets each. Well the bullets are long gone and i still have the presses which in my opinion arent near the press a 650 is. I got exactly what i paid for. Granted there still vastly better then the lees but i would have been alot smarter to buy myself two 650s. What you have to factor in when your buying about anything is you have to live with it for the rest of your life.

What I just don't understand, is with all the bad feedback read on here & other sites, why are people's still buying & using them, [Loadmaster's]

There must be something going on I don't understand.

My mate just bought one, no problems, working well, but reading posts like this it shouldn't be.

Don't have one myself, have Hornady Progressive & a Rock-Chucker, but like rbuck351would like to find one on Flea Bay to play with.

Love a challenge & love tinkering.

[Paints-n-cows]

I am going to throw in here.

Back in the mid 80s, I bought a Lee 1000. I was stationed in the High Desert in California and a few buddies and I were shooting a LOT of rounds....9mm, .38, .357, .41, .44, .45.

It was a pain and I wasted quite a few primers until I learned the press. HOWEVER, if you take the time to learn the system and keep it clean, your problems are minimized.

Now, years later, I have another one since the first one went with the ex. I bought this one from a guy that couldn't get it to run consistently and sold it to me as a deal with a few extra sets of dies.

Last month, I ran about 4k of 9mm in a couple of days, both cast and fmj. The month before that, it was .45 ACP. Since the first of the year, it has had over 20k of rounds run through it to include .223.

The other day in about 5 hours, I ran 1600 rounds of .40 S&W cast rounds and lost only 4 primers due to me failing to keep some errant powder flakes out of the primer slide and had two casings that got crunched.

Perhaps Dillon is the cat's meow, I don't know, never had one and probably never will.

And if you guys that absolutely hate your Lee presses want, send them my way and I will store them for you.

[UNIQUEDOT]

they don't do anything to rectify or improve the issues.

But they do... they provide an instruction manual with the press. It's up to the purchaser to read and follow them therein.

and make/reinforce a few parts to get them to cooperate.

The instruction manual even makes this point clear, but states if you don't want to do it they can modify a part for you.

I'll happily keep and use mine til a big blue one or the big red one falls from the sky and drops into my lap...i won't keep my fingers crossed waiting though.

[UNIQUEDOT]

Some guys still havent smartened up enough to know that you get what you pay for more in loading gear then about anywhere else.

This may be true with some things, but not all things. One example would be with Lee dies. just look at the engineering that went into the design of the carbide insert in the pistol die which makes cases look better than those from other manufacturers. What about the fact that they are the only die manufacturer that produces dies with all, but a certainty that there will be no internal warping by finishing the dies after they are heat treated and to top it off they have a smoother internal finish than any of the other manufacturers in their rifle sizers. If you don't want to take their word for it you can compare them to the others which is what i did. Also their newer rifle die expanders are of a design that would be hard to improve on.

Also take a look at the wonderful design engineering that went into the collet dies. BTW i have dies from Lee, Lyman, RCBS, forster, Hornady, lachmiller, and Herter's and regardless of cost none of them are any better than Lee's (most not as good when it comes to internals) even those that have copied them and all of the others that are still in production are more expensive. Now one thing about RCBS dies is they don't rust as easily as any of the others even when touching them with sweaty hands as long as they are cleaned after use and they sure don't rust in storage.

[Longwood]

My Load Master works quite well.
I took off all of the problematic stuff, added a good powder measure and now it works beautifully. Much fewer time consuming problems and mishaps.
It may not load as fast as a Dillon Progressive but for a casual shooter that maybe shoots two or three thousand rounds a year, they work great once the problems are eliminated.
It is the poorly designed and manufactured plastic add-on's that turns them into a time killer.

If I had it to do over, I would see if I could buy one without the plastic. Then use the saved money for a reliable hand priming system and measure.

[dromia]

and make/reinforce a few parts to get them to cooperate.

"The instruction manual even makes this point clear, but states if you don't want to do it they can modify a part for you. "


Your joking aren't you?

If not why the hell don't they make the damned thing fit for purpose in the first place

[Longwood]

The instruction manual even makes this point clear, but states if you don't want to do it they can modify a part for you.

that is like buying a new car then sending it back to the manufacturer to make what you want to work do what it is supposed to do.

[Longwood]

What really gets me about Lee is that even although the many issues with Lee kit is widely know, as evidenced by the myriads of "how to get Lee stuff to work" sites, they don't do anything to rectify or improve the issues.

They do not care.
Especially about casters.
They care about money.
Plain and simple.
If they cared about casters they would make sets of cast bullet reloading dies.
How could they not have heard of Cowboy Shoots?

[rasto]

I wanted to buy another press for me. Right now I have Loadmaster.
I found a good deal (550$ overseas) for Dillon 550 together with many accessories.
But when I saw operation video I changed mine mind.
No auto indexing, no case feeder, no primer feeder, expensive caliber change ...

[MBTcustom]

that is like buying a new car then sending it back to the manufacturer to make what you want to work do what it is supposed to do.

Yeah, but if I could buy a new car for $2000, you're dang right I would go through the hassle.
Not that I think that the sun rises and sets with Lee you understand, but they have a lot going for them. I do intend to buy a Hornady LNL or a Dillon 650 someday soon, but for a guy who is just getting started, Lee cannot be beat, and for a guy who is reloading because he is broke as a duck, it provides a way to get started.

[W.R.Buchanan]

This is a Ford vs Chevy discussion. There is no definative answer.

I personally am a Dillon person jsut because I think they are the best engineered machines out there.

Plus that anyone who can sell a gatling gun to the govt. is way cool!

Alot of Lee stuff is very good value. Dies small tools etc. I personally am not a big fan of their presses simply because I design machines for a iving and I don't like the way they designed alot of their machines. There are many ways to do any operation, I usually choose to do them differently.

However the Lee equipment seem to work for alot of people and that is just fine. It requires a higher degree of mechanical expertise to keep a less precise machine running, but it can be done, and if you get it right there is no reason why you should be able to keep it right.

All machines perform a function. All machines require maintenance, some machines require more than others, but that really doesn't matter if yo are willing to perform that maintence and the machine does what you need it to do.

I drive a 83 MBZ 300SD every day. It is 30 years old and cost somebody $45,000 new. It has been taken care of and maintence has been done on a regular basis. it has 276,000 miles on it as of yesterday. It will continue to run for as long as I choose to maintain it.

This car is arguably one of the most reliable cars ever built. $45 grand in 1983 was alot of money, however when looking for one of these cars I looked a t 50 of them before I found one I could work with. It was not pefect but it was close enough that I could make it right.

What I found with these cars was that people thought they were such good cars that they didn't have to mainatin them. This is a very costly attitude as if this car is not maintained it goes to ship just like any other,It just costs more to fix it. lots more!

If you compare my car to a 30 year old Ford Crown Vic that cost $4,000 in 83 you probably see alot more money spent on maintenance to keep it running for 30 years, but it could be done. You also run into the fact that you were driving a Ford instead of a Mercedes which for some is worth the extra money. I paid $4500 for mine 10 years because I believe in the second hand better than second rate philosophy.

point being unless parts physically wear out and need to be replaced, any machine will keep running until something breaks. If the part that breaks is worth less than the machine is then you replace it and keep running if not you sell it and buy a new machine.

If you look at the numbers of all of these different reloading machines that have been sold I think you find that a zillon of both have been sold.

It all comes down to,,, Do you want to drive a Ford or a Mercedes. and are you willing to pay the difference for the satisfaction, or do you just want to make ammo.

It all evens out in the end.

Randy

[Longwood]

Yeah, but if I could buy a new car for $2000, you're dang right I would go through the hassle.

I paid $1895. for my new VW in 1963.
I could have bought a new Ford for a little less than twice that.
The VW was cheap, yeah,,, but everything worked on it.
I paid $2049 for my first new Datsun pickup.
I could have gotten a Ford for a little less than twice that.
Everything worked on the Datsun.