45ACP w/ Load Master

[trixter]

Saturday, I ran 150 rounds of 45ACP through the Load Master, no hickups. I sure do like this thing. After I was done with the session, I cleaned it and lubed it and checked all of the settings again ready for next week.

[Roundnoser]

There are some that love / hate Lee products for one reason or another. My first progressive was a LoadMaster. I sold it to upgrade to a Dillon 1050. I loaded 9mm, 38 spec., and 40 SW with it, and rarely had a problem. No complaints.

Also, your last sentence says it all about the LM...Keep it clean and take care of it, and it will provide years of good service.

[zomby woof]

I found the .45 to load the best on my LM. Big case, big boolit and they feed great.

I ran 1000 30 Carbine this weekend. I had one case with a primer problem. I did two mods that helped. One was to the case collator and the other to the Gen 2 small primer feeder. It ran great and I was able to speed through this many rounds quite easily.

I recently switched to STP oil treatment to lube the case feeder rod, indexer and shell plate. NICE!

[trixter]

Hmmm I may have to try the S T P thing. Grease seems attract gunk too quickly.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

[ronbo40s&w]

I load 40 s&w with mine and the only issue is fixed. The case slider for short brass is too short to support a 40. The one for .45 is a little too high. So I duct taped an allen wrench to mine (short one) and it's perfect. Zero case feed issues now. They use to tip over sideways when the tube was full.

I use wheel bearing grease on the rod, but i put it inside the plastic ...um...thing...and reinstall it and screw it down tight with the top screw and adjust it with the bottom one. Very smooth and just the right amount of "stick" to work perfectly. Can't even feel it stick on the lever, but you can see it. I use a q-tip to apply the grease inside the square section of the plastic. I also use wheel bearing grease on the indexing rod (easy does it), shell plate nut o-ring, ejector clip thing where it sits in the hole, a tiny dab on each post underneath right where the index rod hits, a tiny dab where the primer lever hits the bolt on the left side of the press and a very small drop of 20 w fork oil where the primer arm pivots...again, easy does it on all lube except the main ram. I keep it almost wet (not wet enough to drip) until the session is over. wheel bearing grease and some 20 w fork oil wiped off after each session.

God Bless!

Ron

[Jumping Frog]

Nice lube ideas.

I've got no complaints with my Loadmaster. After almost 25,000 rounds (only about a thousand jacketed, the rest lead), it is still going strong.

Biggest factor with a LM is it must have a rock-solid mount with zero play/wriggle, or it won't be consistent.

[Gee_Wizz01]

I have mine set up for 9mm, and I have had no problems once I learned how to adjust it properly. I cranked out over 1500 rds in a couple of afternoons.

G

[WyrTwister]

Saturday, I ran 150 rounds of 45ACP through the Load Master, no hickups. I sure do like this thing. After I was done with the session, I cleaned it and lubed it and checked all of the settings again ready for next week.

I had some what of a bumpy start & steep learning curve with my LM .

Many / most of my problems turn out to be self inflicted . Plus some bad habits I have had to start un-learning .

If you load range brass , be careful of all military calibers . Crimped primer pockets . Plus , with .45 ACP , BEWARE of brass with small primers .

Other than that , the .45 ACP case is just about perfect for the LM . The case is almost the exact height for the tall case slider .

I suggest a powder that is bulky enough that an accidental double charge will spill out of the case , alerting you of the problem .

Remember , you MUST sort your brass , well . This will save lots of greif .

I have thousands of rounds through the LM . Glad I have it .

God bless
Wyr


PS The newer primer assemblies have helped a lot .

[WyrTwister]

I found the .45 to load the best on my LM. Big case, big boolit and they feed great.

I ran 1000 30 Carbine this weekend. I had one case with a primer problem. I did two mods that helped. One was to the case collator and the other to the Gen 2 small primer feeder. It ran great and I was able to speed through this many rounds quite easily.

I recently switched to STP oil treatment to lube the case feeder rod, indexer and shell plate. NICE!


I use a small wooden block " extension " duct taped to the tall case slider , with .30 Carbine & .223 . The last 2 - 3 may tip over , in each clear plastic tube . Have not solved that one yet . I just pick them up and right them . No big deal .

Actually , if you keep adding brass to the collator , the problem never raises its head .

God bless
Wyr

[jungleman9941]

once you get it dialed in, it should run like a champ. (mine did)

[zuke]

Have mine set up for 45 Win Mag, and it just purr's along.

[RobS]

Nice lube ideas.

I've got no complaints with my Loadmaster. After almost 25,000 rounds (only about a thousand jacketed, the rest lead), it is still going strong.

Biggest factor with a LM is it must have a rock-solid mount with zero play/wriggle, or it won't be consistent.

This and keeping things clean which is similar to other progressives.

[prs]

I put no oil or grease on the case feed rod, the shell plate, or the index rod. I do put a tiny drop of oil on the center pivot to shell plate joint; otherwise as Lee instructs. Four pistol and two rifle calibers, many years of great service.

prs

[shotman4]

Most all problems will be from dirty brass. If you clean the brass first. it will take care of the lube issues

[DLCTEX]

I have no problems loading 45acp except the noted small primer cases#*/#$#! Did I say I hate them?

[gunoil]

this video is good;
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/B10CA69B-A10C-48B2-B024-22ED87E83B31-239-000004CD27F36429.mp4
iphone makes it look like its moving 70% more than live!

LLM again;
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/C8A54062-1BA8-4CCE-8B8C-69DCC5EDF6B1-239-0000020769DDE7D0.mp4

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/4EB7B037-8BCB-4BF6-9E74-8CDBD736901A-740-0000006B27065BA2.jpg
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/9D73A53C-9E60-40F3-BFD7-FDAD17B23951-4980-000005E6199317B3.jpg

[1bluehorse]

Interesting mount for your "chain drive". Is that something you did, and if so how do you have it attached to the press?

[DLCTEX]

Gunoil: What is that bullet feeder. I have seen it in several places but can't find any info on who makes it or how it works. Saw one on a turret press and am intrigued by it.
The best fix for my LM is the latest edition of primer feeder and slide. Lee finally fixed it. They sent me the large and small versions free of charge.

[VHoward]

I'm glad to hear they fixed the primer slide issue. I had a LM for a few months. Spent the whole time fiddling with the primer system trying to get it to work. I gave up in frustration, sold it and bought a Dillon Square Deal B. My primer issues followed me to that press. I loaded 100 rounds of 9mm on it with no issues. Left it and came back the next day and the primers would not feed. Called Dillon and went through trouble shooting with them and could not get it to work. They sent me a new primer feed system to put on it and the same problem. Dillon then sent me an entire new press. That one worked as it should and still does to this day. They provided a prepaid return label for the defective press.

I have had good customer service out of Lee also.

[Moonie]

I've been using the latest small primer feeder on mine for 300 AAC Blackout, working great, out of a few hundred it has only had 2 sideways and no other issues. I'm ok with that.

[WyrTwister]

I've been using the latest small primer feeder on mine for 300 AAC Blackout, working great, out of a few hundred it has only had 2 sideways and no other issues. I'm ok with that.


If you avoid the common user mistakes , the newer primer assemblies work OK .

But they will not fix user errors . And I have made plenty of them . :-)

God bless
Wyr

[sparky45]

The real problem with the Loadmaster is it's cheap construction. The Ram looks huge, but it's a thin hollow constructed tube prone to fracture. Considerable slop in the priming system and pretty much a thin casting in some of its critical areas. There's a guy over on Loadmasters site that has tweaked and milled and manufactured his own parts for the Loadmaster press and even he has admitted that the QC from Lee is what is causing the LM's problems. WyrTwister, God love him, is a user of the press that will defend the press to his last breath, and I'm O.K. with that, but the LM ISN'T for the novice or the mechanically challenged. I assure you that problems will occur with the operation of this press, usually starting with the primer system. I speak from the perspective of a former owner of the Loadmaster press (actually had two of them, slow learner) who experienced ALL of the failures of the press and/or my inability to engineer fixes that are listed else where on the Internet. I now drink the Blue Koolaid and have been able to reduce the dosage of my blood pressure medicine.

[WyrTwister]

The real problem with the Loadmaster is it's cheap construction. The Ram looks huge, but it's a thin hollow constructed tube prone to fracture. Considerable slop in the priming system and pretty much a thin casting in some of its critical areas. There's a guy over on Loadmasters site that has tweaked and milled and manufactured his own parts for the Loadmaster press and even he has admitted that the QC from Lee is what is causing the LM's problems. WyrTwister, God love him, is a user of the press that will defend the press to his last breath, and I'm O.K. with that, but the LM ISN'T for the novice or the mechanically challenged. I assure you that problems will occur with the operation of this press, usually starting with the primer system. I speak from the perspective of a former owner of the Loadmaster press (actually had two of them, slow learner) who experienced ALL of the failures of the press and/or my inability to engineer fixes that are listed else where on the Internet. I now drink the Blue Koolaid and have been able to reduce the dosage of my blood pressure medicine.


If you are happy with Blue , then I am happy for you .

" LM ISN'T for the novice " . I agree , but I personally do not consider any progressive press a good choice for a novice .

" or the mechanically challenged " . Again , I agree . Or for a person with little patience or a short attention span .

I seem to have gotten over the most of the learning curve ( knock on wood for luck ) with the LM . It just keeps on churning out ammo . But to be honest , I have not been loading much lately . The best rifle / pistol range around here sold & I have not found a real good place to shoot . :-(

So I have scaled back reloading . :-(

Some people drive Cadillacs , some Fords and Chevys . We are Ford & Chevy people .

Some people use Blue presses , some Lee red . All the presses I use are red .

I could have never afforded to get back into reloading if it was not for Lee .

I would have never bought a progressive press , if it was not for Lee . I could not have justified the $$$ for one of the other brands . And certainly not afford the price of caliber conversion parts , for the other brands .

And I got a case feeder thrown in with the kit . It too is not perfect , but it will churn out a lot of ammo . I bought the whole LM kit , dies , case feeder , press & powder measure for = or less than a lot of the automated case feeders sell for .

Oh , did I mention the LM is also auto-index ? And 5 hole turret ( most often only 4 holes are used ) . And I load 100 primers at a time in a primer tray , in a minute or so .

So , if you have the cash to spend & want Blue , go for it . It is your $$$ , spend it as you see best & be happy .

God bless
Wyr

[sparky45]

I agree with pretty much everything you said. I was blessed with a job that allowed me to afford a more expensive (an in this case = quality) setup, however, I started with Lee Challenger; Lee Pro 1000 (which I feel is superior to LM) and then went to the Loadmaster because of my desire to shoot more. Turned out to be a very bad decision on my part (at least for me) much frustration, ruined primers, failures to index properly, ect. The Dillon 650XL with case feeder is the ideal setup for me and has greatly reduced my stress level while reloading. BTW, I drive a Toyota, a quality issue for me. It's 5 years old and just flat runs everytime I turn the key. Also, the Dillon 650XL is also a 5 hole Die Head. In short, I wasted money on most of my Lee presses, but I still use a couple of them everytime I reload.

[xs11jack]

WyrTwister, I am chiming in on the bullet feeder request for information on what it is and how it works.
Jack

[Recluse]

I agree with pretty much everything you said. I was blessed with a job that allowed me to afford a more expensive (an in this case = quality) setup, however, I started with Lee Challenger; Lee Pro 1000 (which I feel is superior to LM) and then went to the Loadmaster because of my desire to shoot more. Turned out to be a very bad decision on my part (at least for me) much frustration, ruined primers, failures to index properly, ect. The Dillon 650XL with case feeder is the ideal setup for me and has greatly reduced my stress level while reloading. BTW, I drive a Toyota, a quality issue for me. It's 5 years old and just flat runs everytime I turn the key. Also, the Dillon 650XL is also a 5 hole Die Head. In short, I wasted money on most of my Lee presses, but I still use a couple of them everytime I reload.

My first press was a Rockchucker, back in the 70's courtesy of my dad. It did everything I wanted it to do except too slowly. When I caught the competitive shooting bug, aka IPSC, I decided I needed a progressive but the old-timer reloaders told me I'd hate progressives because "you give up too much quality control and they're dangerous."

Seeing as how I was a young, underpaid and starving federal LE type, I forked over $99 for a Lee Pro1000. I was shooting .38 Special (minor category) in IPSC out of almost totally stock S&W 686. I still have that Pro1000 and to date, it has cranked out over 100,000 rounds of .38 Special, 9mm and .380ACP in the past 25 years according to my reloading logs and record-keeping. An armorer where I was assigned gave me two 8-lb kegs of surplus W231 and I got to keep every piece round of ammo that Uncle Sam generously bought for us to stay in practice with. My only cost was primers, and back then you could get 5K of Winchester SPP for $40 with my LE discount.

I kept that Pro1000 cranking non-stop. I did learn that it HAD to be mounted to a VERY solid, unmovable surface to work well. Anything less and I wanted to shoot the thing. A year or so later, I bought the Challenger press as I'd given the Rockchucker away or traded it or something and was wanting to get back into rifle and magnum reloading.

I still have that Challenger and am ordering the new steel linkage for it. It has been the workhorse on the bench for two decades--push-through sizing, de-capping, sizing, priming and all single-stage loading duties for over a dozen calibers.

After leaving finishing graduate school and leaving Uncle Sam, I was getting paid much better in the private sector and along came a Dillon 550. Problem was, I had grown hugely spoiled to auto-indexing and while I admired the Dillon, I never warmed up to it. Any and all mistakes that occurred were 100% my fault. It left the bench.

Now, years later, I added a Lee Classic Turret because everyone has ballyhooed it and it has an auto-indexing feature that I am spoiled to. As the usual odd guy out, I'm only lukewarm impressed with the Classic Turret, namely because the first one I got had the shellplate holder mismounted and the cases wouldn't fee into the dies without having to manual place them in the correct position.

Sent it back, got another one and it has the same problem, albeit not as severe. I know folks who have zero problems with their Lee stuff but I guess moving forward I have this little storm cloud following me when it comes to red label stuff.

My issues with the Classic Cast single stage are documented here and while Lee made good on it and the press works as it should, I look at it everyday when I'm in the reloading shop and it is a reminder that you DO get what you pay for.

I pretty much figure by this time next year, both of the "classic" presses will be purged from the bench. I'm looking at a (Dillon)650 as it has five-station head and auto-indexing and will handle a (grossly overpriced) case feeder. Might consider putting another 550 on the bench seeing for the lower volume stuff. Will pick up a T7 and Big Boss or Co-Axe for the rest of the single-stage stuff.

I'm a Chevy truck guy who bought my wife a new (Toyota) Avalon for Christmas a few years ago, fly a Cessna airplane and run a Sea Ray boat. I don't like Escalades, sneer at Lexus, ignore (most) Beechcraft owners and would never shell out the bucks for a Cris Craft. I like getting as much value in return for as much quality as I can get out of each dollar I spend. I do not like buying something new with the expectation that I'm either going to have to hold my breath that it works as advertised straight out of the box or that I'll have to spend several hours tinkering with it or adjusting it or finishing the factory's job.

:coffee:

[B.C.Jay]

WyrTwister, I am chiming in on the bullet feeder request for information on what it is and how it works.
Jack

Looks like www.mrbulletfeeder.com or the earlier version called KISS bullet feeder by RAK systems.
That's my guess so far. :)

[gunoil]

the black bullet drop die is mrbulletfeeder.com

the chain mod was on youtube. Just a piece of aluminum laying around bolted to shell holder with a longer screw and starwasher and nut. I also put larger chain on for local plumbers warehouse.

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/A39F98C4-F976-4002-AF38-54621DEA034F-4980-000003D0E3BAD66A.jpg
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/A6DA02F7-231D-4031-851F-9B88FCCEE4CD-4980-000003D0DFC1D6EF.jpg

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/28A0E58E-7ABA-414F-B599-9E4705EA2AF1-4506-000004A578CD8C9D.mp4