Lee Loadmaster might be beyond me...Should I sell it?

[Rockindaddy]

The Lee Loadmasters work if you do not prime. The priming systems are junk! Plastic injected parts that do not hold up. Went to tumbling my decapped brass with stainless pins, citric acid and Dawn dish detergent. The bright and shiny cased get dried and primed. Then they go into the Loadmaster for sizing and loading. I have had great success loading 38 Colt Automatic for my 1902's with cast 9mm round nose boolits! Have two Lee Loadmasters and various caliber heads all set up! Have been on the phone with Lee trying to fix my presses. They tell me to box em up and send them back for a 50% credit on a new press. Wish I could send them to Dillon!!!

[Rockindaddy]

Jmorris wow! What an impressive video! My ole Lee Loadmasters don't run like that. My Dillons do though. Who is Titan????

[Sig]

Jmorris wow! What an impressive video! My ole Lee Loadmasters don't run like that. My Dillons do though. Who is Titan????

Their banner is at the top. Here's a link if you don't see it.
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/rbs...2&userid=28167

[ranger391xt]

I have several load masters. I used to depirme and prime on press and used the lee bullet feeder. Depriming on press adds a lot of contaminants/dirt to the press. Priming on press can be problematic as mentioned and you can lose 3%-10% of the primers down the ram. The bullet feeder can be a pain as well.

I now have an APP that I use for depriming. I use an ACP for priming. On the loadmaster I size on station 1, Flare and Charge on station 2, feed bullet (using 3d printed in line bullet feed die) in station 3, seat in station 4 and factory crimp in station 5. I have a 3d printed case and bullet feeders that feed these presses. When things are working as they should the LoadMaster will crank out a lot of rounds in a short amount of time. To be able to do that it is critical to keep it clean and lubed because even without all the junk from depriving, you still end up with spilled powder, etc on the press that eventually needs to be removed and the various sliding parts need to be greased, oiled, etc.

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[jmorris]

Jmorris wow! What an impressive video! My ole Lee Loadmasters don't run like that. My Dillons do though. Who is Titan????

Titan, linked in #23 is a “master distributor” for Lee, the owner (plastics/die cast molding engineer) has also worked with John Lee on products they make.

I’ve never seen any others that run like that one either but it has “enhancements” over any production loadmaster but it does prove the base machine can be made (adjusted) to run well. Others you just have to take out of the box and bolt it down. That’s the difference.

[Jal5]

I deprime on a single stage press to avoid all the dirt fouling up the LM. Then clean the brass. I will spray a little lube on them before loading up the shell mechanism justs keeps them moving around the shell plate and through each die smoother. I do use the priming function- keep it full of primers again just to have everything go smoothly. A nice steady even rhythm is what I try to use- don’t force anything or try for speed. If something feels off or stuck stop and figure it out.

This press will work fine but it is finicky at times. Mine is a really old one but it will outlast me! I’d like another one setup for just large primers.

I’ve loaded mainly pistol rounds on it and 223. Bulk ammo is what I use it for. Small batch trials and rifle I do on a single stage press.

Joe


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[Mollyboy]

Talk to Lee they will let you upgrade to a Six pack progressive for a fee, the guys on the High Road forum have lots of good things to say about it.

[David2011]

Keep the Loadmaster.

The only real problem the Loadmaster has is the priming. Prime your cases separately, and then run them through the LM. You still save a huge amount of time over reloading single stage.

The complexity of progressive reloading is not any less with a different make of progressive, some are just more reliable than others.

Get yourself a single stage as well.

There are a few necessary operations that come up from time to time when reloading that can't be easily done on a progressive, so having the single stage as well is useful. For example, when you just need to load a few rounds to test a new load, it's a lot less effort to do those few on a single stage.

If your Loadmaster has other problems, like inconsistent case placement in the shellholder, or not indexing correctly, there are many good instructional videos out there to help you get it right, and the replacement parts are dirt cheap.

While the complexity is the same, the difficulty need not be. The advice to get a single stage press is golden.