Any Lee Load-Master Users Out There?

[1bluehorse]

I've had a few Loadmasters (4) at different times over the years....most issues with them are set-up problems as in index problems or case feeder issues...these can generally be "fixed" very easily, and once taken care of rarely re-occur...HOWEVER the priming system can be a nightmare.....I know, I know, there's lots of folks out there that say they load thousands of rounds with never a primer problem....o.k., good for them...of the four LM's I owned the priming system was always the problem...not all the time of course, maybe a couple flipped, turned, crushed, (well you get the picture) every once in a while....I had one LM that was almost perfect with large primers (that's all I was loading at the time) and was a pleasure to use, maybe one mishap in a thou or so....shoulda kept that one....but the priming system on the LM is THE issue....but it's my understanding that for 100 bucks or so spent with Magic Mike (Mikes Reloading Bench) will eliminate the priming problems that (IMO) are the LM's inherent problem...when the LM is working good it is fast, smooth, and fun to use....I just could never bring myself to fully trust it (the priming, as in load a couple hundred rounds and start putting them in cartridge cases and find a couple upside down primers) but I didn't have MM's primer system upgrade either so....rambling I know, but just be aware that that system can/will be an issue.....other than that, pretty darn good press..

[firebrick43]

I owned a loadmaster and mainly reloaded 45 colt. I did many of the mods on the loadmasters videos and even came up with one. I got the priming system working fairly decent crushed a primer maybe every 1500 or so primers. But I never get consistent seating depth. Slightly high primers would run thru my rugers but would drag in some 1873 clones I reloaded for.

The other issue was changing it over to other calibers. Everything else needed tweaked and tweaked.

When a nice 650 came up for sale I bought it and never looked back. Sort of wished I could of saved the hassle and money and skipped the turret and loadmaster and gone straight from my single stage to the dillon. Hind sight is 20/20

i still use lee dies on my dillon and has a classic cast o frame that I love. I the engineer that came up with the loadmaster was a genius in designing cheap plastic parts to do two or three functions, they are just finicky unlike the more complicated but consistant and durable dillon.

I would like like to beat the tech writer that writes for lee

[brtelec]

I have a Loadmaster and like any progressive the key is patience and understanding. If you understand that the key is taking your time on initial set up, things go well.

[garym1a2]

I have a Lee Hand press, challanger, Classic cast, Classic cast Turrent, pro1000, Loadmaster and as of Christmas a Dillon550. The Classic presses are great for what they are. The pro1000 and the Loadmaster I could never get to prime on press. But, if you feed them primed brass they fly. The Dillon 500 is set up for 45 ACP and its rock solid, the priming system works well, the powder hopper holds a lot of powder and seems very repeatable on bullseye and just works. My only complaint on it is the speed is kind of slow. Maybe twice the speed of the Classic cast turrent. For 9mm/223 I get so many crimp in primers than I just prime off the press, for 9mm the pro1000 is great as a decapper and also to load ammo once its primed.

[Moonie]

I've got a LoadMaster, a Lee 4 hole turret and a Pro1000. I go back and forth on priming on the LM, usually don't just because it's easier and I did have a chain explosion once without the shield. Kinda gunshy about it now, even with the shield in place. The Pro1000 just hums right along but is limited in stations. You really do need to have decent mechanical ability and patience to have just about any progressive, sure the Lee's probably require more of each.

The mustache hides the small scar from the primer bits, thankfully I always wear safety glasses when reloading.

[Foto Joe]

Well, well, this has been interesting...The responses have been considerate and well thought out and I appreciate that. I really didn't expect the positive input but then again we who use Lee products have a tendency to keep our heads down unless we're pretty sure we're talking to like minded reloaders.

After reading the responses and also looking at how many Cabela's points I've got saved up the decision has been made a little easier. I fully agree that Lee products can take some patience and tweaking to get 'em to run the way the engineers thought that they should. Having said that I would never recommend anything over a single stage Lee to a stone beginner, it would just be a great way to put somebody off of reloading altogether. Of course I'm of the belief that NOBODY should start reloading on ANYTHING other than a single stage. I got my oldest daughter started reloading last year on my turret with supervision and then for her 36th birthday I bought her a single stage breach lock. She said "Why can't I just use yours?" My response was that she needed to learn the basics before I taught her the tricks. I've always had good success with my turret and my single stage but I will agree that even the priming system on those is extremely finicky, just get that Safety Prime System a little out of adjustment and you'll be on your hands and knees with a flashlight looking for 4¢ primers.

Last nite I headed over to my buddies house to supervise loading 38 Specials and have an adult beverage, this is the buddy who owns the Dillon 650. I'd never seen this contraption in operation so I was interested in finding out how the expensive progressive performs in the real world. After seeing how much fiddling he had to do with that thing to get it to spit out 38's consistently I'm not impressed, especially when it comes to loading primers. On the other hand a couple of weeks ago he was over at my house while I was punching out 44 Mags on the turret and I think it kind of opened his eyes to how quickly the turret can spit out cartridges albeit with a LOT of pulls on the handle.

So I guess this morning I'll talk to my red headed boss and get her blessing to wipe out my Cabela's points for a new press. I've got about three weeks left before I have to pack up and head back to Wyoming and work (sorry about the four letter word) and hopefully I'll be able to get the bugs out of the Load-Master while I've got plenty of time on my hands. In the meantime I've got plenty of reading and videos to watch on Mike's Reloading Bench.

[jmort]

"The responses have been considerate and well thought out and I appreciate that."

I agree. Glad you made a decision.

[xvigauge]

I have been accused of being a Lee basher, but that is not entirely true. This may go a little off topic and I apologize for that, but here goes anyway. I have owned various Lee presses over the years and have never been really satisfied with them. If all you are going to load is informal plinking hand gun ammo in quantities, then the Lee progressive is fine and it works for many handloaders. I do a lot of case forming and none of the Lee presses I have used have been satisfactory for that. I prefer and use the green presses. I don't care at all for lee dies with the one exception of the crimping die. It works great and is priced right. I love the accuracy and simplicity of the Lee Safety Scale. I also love the Lee powder dippers. Their hand priming tool works, but it eventually breaks and there are better ones out there. Overall, I am about 40% favorable toward Lee products. Of course, YMMV.
xvigauge

[Foto Joe]

I do a lot of case forming and none of the Lee presses I have used have been satisfactory for that.

Yeah, that's apples and oranges I'm afraid. If I were that far into it I'd probably be using a different color press too. As far as the scale is concerned, I was afraid that I'd die of old age waiting on mine to settle down. I found an RCBS at a local gun store that had been on the shelf for a decade, covered in dust with no box with a $50 price tag on it. I didn't ask questions, it went home with me.

[websterz]

I have two Loadmasters on my bench. One runs nothing but .45acp and the other one bounces between 9x19 and .40S&W. I decap on whatever press I will be loading with and hand prime all of my brass. I got rid of the plastic case sliders and crank actuators and replaced them with my own aftermarket parts in aluminum. Both presses are a joy to run now and can easily do 400+ rounds an hour as long as I don't run out of brass or boolits.

[1bluehorse]

My reply to the OP was an honest appraisal of my experiences with the LM (as it seems others were also without any bias)....however, I keep seeing remarks in other replies that bother me a bit....such as "you have to have patience and understanding with ALL progressive presses", and the OP's response about his buddy "with the 650" having to "fiddle" with that "contraption" to get it to spit out some 38's....and my personal favorite from LM owners, "all progressive presses have issues but the guys that buy the expensive ones are ashamed to admit it because of the amount of money they spent"....so to me that is "reverse bashing" and is at best, maybe, an uninformed opinion...I explained my issues with the LM's I've owned pretty fairly I believe, now I'll tell you the recurring/constant/or even occasional issues with my "other" progressive presses....an old Dillon RL 450....issues... none....two (have actually owned four) older model RCBS Ammomaster Auto's...issues....none...I've personally never owned a 650 but my BIL does and I've used it....great press, solid, dependable, he's had no issues with it that he's mentioned. People buy Lee because they're less expensive, that's the only attraction to the Loadmaster...that's why I bought them....but..IF... the LM was the same price as say a LNL, or Dillon 650 I doubt we'd even be talking about it here.....JMO....I understand the price point, been there, did that....but please don't try and tell me the Lee LM is as "good" as other progressive presses, it ain't....that's why it costs less....so put me on your "hate" list or flame away I'm ready.....

[firebrick43]

1bluehorse, thank you for saying what I have been thinking. My dillon has been flawless and takes no tinkering. The only thing I ever have a problem with is crushing a case once in a blue moon and it's typically my fault for short stroking.

I certainly would have sold it and kept the loadmaster if it was no better. I would love to know what the "tinkering" the BIL had to perform.

As far as the primers? Less than a min I have 100 loaded in the dillon tube. I do use a lee flip tray as it does work better than the dillon.

[shoot-n-lead]

I have had the Lee progressives, matter of fact there is still a 1000 that belongs to my son, mounted on our bench. However, there is a blue press mounted to that same bench that is the only progressive that I will touch. I had my FILL of primer issues with the Lee's...and as someone else said, some folks seem to have no trouble with the priming...believe me, I had my share and someone else's with those that I have had. And, despite what any of them say, the priming system on the Lee presses is not comparable in reliability and consistency, to the Dillon system. So, it is caveat emptor...those priming systems can be a never ending nightmare.

The above said...give it a try...sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

Good luck with it.

[Beesdad]

I own and operate 6 LMs, 5 of which were purchased used from folks who could not get them to operate properly. Most described issues with the priming system...

When I received each press I cleaned it, installed it on a stable mount and installed the latest generation primer assy. in each. All have run exceptionally well for me. In fact I just completed 3.5k rounds in the last 2 days utilizing 3 different LMs and I had a total of 2 primer insertion issues, one was seated sideways and one was totally missing. IMO the former owners did not take the time to understand the functionality of their press or read the instructions...

I also utilize 2 Pro 1000s and 4 SS presses.... And yes they were all purchased used..

[Foto Joe]

People buy Lee because they're less expensive, that's the only attraction to the Loadmaster...IF... the LM was the same price as say a LNL, or Dillon 650 I doubt we'd even be talking about it here.....JMO....I understand the price point, been there, did that....but please don't try and tell me the Lee LM is as "good" as other progressive presses, it ain't....that's why it costs less....so put me on your "hate" list or flame away I'm ready.....

I think you're quite fair piece away from the "hate" list. I do disagree with you on the first part though about price being the only reason to choose Lee, although it is a MAJOR factor there are other things to consider. Let's say the priming system works like a fine Swiss watch just for grins, if it does or I can make it do so then the primer reloading is one of the reasons I'm looking at Lee. Another attraction to me is caliber changes, I load seven different large bore pistol cartridges plus 9mm for my daughter when she doesn't have time to sit down at a press. The ease of caliber changes on the Lee was a big plus for me especially since the majority of what I load takes large pistol primers and changing out primers will be an infrequent process. The brass feed system believe it or not is another reason, I've sat by a 650 with an auto brass collator and that thing makes a lot of racket, it's almost as annoying as running an overloaded tumbler while I'm sitting at the bench.

I do also tend to agree with previous posts that state "all progressives take tinkering" but I'll add to that "all multiple stage presses". I used to be a serious shotgun competitor and loaded on a fully automated progressive with an air ram that was foot pedal operated and you had to watch that monster like a hawk or you'd have powder and/shot all over the floor, I could load a box of shells in 45 seconds but I needed to be on my game. As far as my buddy and his 650 let's just say I wasn't overly impressed with his loading practices in general. The powder weight drifting that he was having problems with probably had a lot to do with the fact that he was trying to throw 4.4gr of Unique consistently.

I ordered the Load-Master from Cabela's in 38SPC on Friday (I've already got the dies sold to a friend who just bought a Henry in 357) and I did so with no illusions of grandeur on the operation. In fact I'll be sitting down and priming three different calibers this week simply so I can set the press up without the primer feed system and get used to the general operation of the beast without distraction. Some will think I'm making extra work for myself and why did I even bother with a progressive but it's my way of familiarizing myself with the less complicated parts of the machine first before I start dissecting the less simple aspects like the priming system. I've read enough horror stories to know that I don't want to go after this thing with an arrogant attitude or it will do its best to humble me. Besides, I'm not as smart as my wife and kids think I am.

[r1kk1]

Foto Joe,

I'm not impressed with your friend loading on a 650. 38 Spl and Unique powder are a reliable and very boring operation on any machine in my experience. I bought two progressives in the 80s - a Square Deal (pre B model) and a 450. Pulled them out of box, mounted them to an oak bench, read instructions highlighting any useful information, adjusted dies and began loading. No tinkering, just boring reliability. Shooting IHMSA, I bought additional primer tubes, additional tooling for the next cartridge or caliber change. The 450 became the 550 with a frame change and recently the SD became a SDB. Being rebuilt from Dillon cost me 45.00. I traded it for an original Star Lubrisizer with lots of extras, while the 550 has stayed with me through the decades, additional additional shellplates, toolheads while on using four measures each with a separate charge bar. I added a JDS QM to the machine. The hybrid 550 is mounted to a Strong Mount, any other press is mounted to Pat Marlin RockDocks. These are on a 1-½" maple bench top.

I have eave three friends in Oklahoma that I introduced reloading to. Funny thing each one chose a different progressive. Steve has a 650, Mike has his RCBS 2000, Nate has his LNL. We meet up at each other's house with components and reload what we need and to get caught with what's going on. I was at Nate's house and his LNL was giving me indexing fits. I found the problem. He kept adjusting indexing pawls, but he really needed a stiffer bench. We fixed that and issues went away. He has adjusted pawls in over a year. We kid each other about our choice of press as only good friends can. All these machines are very reliable other than adjusting dies and powder measure drops.

Getting back to the thread, Vaquero, Gunoil and Beesdad are very knowledgable about the LM. Lee is on its third generation priming system. The LM has the least amount of different shellplates compared to the rest of the market. Depending on your needs Foto Joe, this may not be important to you. Mike's Reloading Bench, Pat Marlin, Dan with Inline Fabrication offer products for the LM. Vaquero has a ton of rounds through his LM. I have tons through my 550. I load from .17 caliber to .50 caliber stuff on mine and its definetly well into the 100k round count. There are people who on this forum loaded far more on their 650s and 1050s than I. I noticed that the RCBS 2000 can load as many different cartridges as the 550. I collect Encore, Contender, and 110 barrels so versatility is paramount for my needs. I bought six Encore barrels based on 405 Winchester and 30-30 wildcats in the last two months.

BUT, I will NOT tinker or be forced to fix a part that any factory should have taken care of in the first place! I do business with all the major reloading companies and the only company I've sent stuff back and told them to keep and refund money is Lee. I have their hand press and do buisness on their custom services side. That reminds me, I need to look at their limitation on the rifle FCD as I need a few for some wildcats. I scan their pages for one off custom moulds and have around 25 of them from single cavity to six. My favorite cast boolit is a 255 grain 44 mag dropped from a six cavity custom Lee mould.

If RCBS releases as many shellplates for the new ProChucker as the Pro 2000, I will buy one. The 550 will stick around as its earned its placed on my bench. I have been staring hard at the Pro 2000 then RCBS releases what appears to be one heck of a press. Foto Joe, what I dislike about any progressive minus the LNL is the ability to use my favorite lockring on all die stations. All the other progressives have some tight die cramping going on.

take care

r1kk1