Lee Loadmaster

[Swamprat1052]

A couple of years ago a friend of mine bought a 6mm Remington and I had a set of dies for it and no rifle. I sent them to him and he sent me a box full of stuff. There was a Lee Loadmaster (well not complete) in it. I wasnt loading pistols so I just put it in storage. Now that I am into casting and shooting a 45 Colt I dug it out the other day.

Well I finally got me a Lee Pro Auto Disc Measure and a 45 caliber powder through expander die (got the die used on GunBroker). I put it all together on the Loadmaster yesterday and about 4 pm yesterday I would have given the whole durn mess away. But I went to the Lee site and reread all the instructions and watched the videos and went back in and reset every thing on it. I am using my Hornady dies and know it would work better with the Lee dies. I especially need the Universal Decapping Die and the Factory Crimp Die but I got the thing working last night. I loaded about 100 rounds on it last night and went and shot them today. I had a couple that the primers were too high on from when I first got started but everything else went bang. And shot pretty good too. Tonight I did another 150 rounds without a hitch. For pistol ammo I really like it. I do too much case prep on rifle ammo to use it for that but for ammo to burn up in a handgun I'll be using this.

Lee is a pretty good engineer, the simplicity of this press will amaze you. Its a cheap rig but it's simple but and also complex. But once I got it set up It just plain works. I guess it was a pretty good trade after all.

Swamprat

[richbug]

It is a great press for someone who understands how things work. The primer system will give you fits eventually. I can't even begin to fathom how many rounds I have run through mine. Cases and cases and cases of primers have fallen prey to it.

I have loaded rifle with mine, but I always get in a hurry ad spill powder everywhere which makes the thing crash. Big deep cases like 38 special and 44 magnum work best on mine since they keep the powder spillage to a minimum. 9mm is also problematic due to case volume versus powder charge.

I run a decap die in the 1st position, and resize in the second. This keeps the primer lined up with the casing better than the little retaining clips can. If you need a universal decap die, just use any sizing die that has a larger body diameter than the case you are using. Any magnum rifle die will work well for a 45.



If you just want to sit down and pull the handle, buy something else.

[redbear705]

Go to Youtube.com and search loadmaster.

There are GOOD vids on there that are very explicit and helpful!

JR

[johnp]

When Lee stuff works there are not many things finer. Just finding that sweet spot will drive a man up the wall sometimes.

[400cor-bon]

I still use an old Lee turret press.
I hand deprime, then resize and hand prime cartridges and then Lee takes them from there

[rbwillnj]

I loaded a whole lot of rounds on a Lee Loadmaster in 9mm, 40 S&W, 38 Special, 45 ACP and 45 LC, but eventually I gave up. The primer system drove me nuts.

[Lloyd Smale]

your best solution is going to be to put it up for sale and use the money to put toward a dillon square deal. I know the lee guys will jump on me for this but ive owned both loadmasters and pro 1000s and while there both a headache the loadmaster was even worse. I bought my first dillon and liked it so much ive bought 5 more of them. Dont get me wrong they break too and sometimes need a little fiddling with primers ect. but nothing like the lees. The day i got my first square deal set up i cranked out 2000 45acps without even one hiccup. I dont think i ever loaded more then a couple hundred on a lee without fiddling with something. Its to bad lee wouldnt put just a bit more engineering into these presses. Especially the loadmaster. Its actually a hell for stout press, much stronger then a square deal and can do rifles too. Even if they had to sell them for a 100 bucks more with a few improvements. Ive ran a number of hornady progressives too and there a pretty good press. I prefer the dillons but then im used to there idiosyncracys and operations so they come more natural to me. But either will serve you well.

[Swamprat1052]

Lloyd, I know the Dillons are better presses, theres no doubt about that. But since I got hurt on the job a couple of years ago and have been unable to work I dont think a Dillon is in my future. Thats the reason I got into casting, no money. I bought all my equipment used, most on ebay, and have yet to have to pay for lead. I may not have the absolute best and up to date gear but it all works. The primer is the weakest part of this Loadmaster and I am gonna just have another one on hand along with parts. They are cheap. As long as this works as well as it does now I am gonna use it.

Swamprat

[Lloyd Smale]

sorry to hear your problem! One solution may be to buy a decapping die and decap all your cases and reprime them with a lee hand tool. then pull the decapping pin out of your die. IF its a lee die just break it off and then load them on the press as you would normaly. It would be a bit slower but a guy could get a hand press and sit and watch tv and deprime and reprime cases ahead of time.

[Bret4207]

Swamprat- This is a little off topic, but a guy I know is in the same boat as you- can't really work at his trade and with the Workers Comp Investigators keeping an eye on him he can't risk being seen attempting much else. Gotta keep the family fed and bills paid, so he's become an Ebay seller in a big way. He says you can sell absolutely ANYTHING on Ebay, just takes time. He hits yard sales, junk yards and flea markets and resells the stuff. Not a lot of money, but keeps the wolf away from the door, and is so far under the radar tax-wise. It's the new "underground economy" of the late 60's/early 70's. He also is making and selling fishing lures using an old Netcraft spinner making kit and scrounged parts. Just an idea.

[slughammer]

When I was using a PRO 1000, I found that there was a magic number of primers that worked best. Any more than 60 in the flip tray and they would bind. Any less than about 8 in the feed trough and there wasn't enough mass to push them in. Once there was only a few left I would add an allen wrench to the back of the stack to help push them forward. For the last (3) I always found myself pushing each one in. This is something you only have to deal with at the end of a run though, fill the tray with 60 primers each time it gets empty until then.

[Swamprat1052]

Thanks Bret,

Yeah I have been looking into the ebay thing and also Auction Arms and Gunbroker. I appreciate the advice.


Slughammer, my primer feeder works well with a full box of CCI primers but I agree that you have to keep more than just what the chute will hold in it for them to feed. Other than that once I got it set and timed right it has worked really well. Thanks,

Swamprat

[Pepe Ray]

For me the primer feed was only a minor worry.
My biggest problem was remembering to dump the spent primer reservoir. Had several major jams till I finally figured it out.
Pepe Ray