Lee LoadMaster

[verney]

Read several good threads about Lee LoadMaster's pros and cons. Even with it's problems I'm thinking about buying one (don't have money for Dillon 650 right now). I have couple of questions:

Is it possible to mount a different manufacturers powder measure to the press?

How bad are those priming problems? Does it work if you clean it regularly?

[Lloyd Smale]

ill get jumped on here but id recomend you keep going with what you have and save your money for a couple more years and pick up a 550 or a hornady lock and load. even keep your eyes open for a used one. Dillon and hornady will warantee anything on the without questions even if your the 10th owner so dont be afraid of used.

[Swamprat1052]

I had a friend give me a Loadmaster and after fooling with it, greasing it, and adjusting it, mine works. I have loaded quite a bit of 45 Colt ammo without a hitch. Folks cuss em, and mine may crater today but so far so good. If you google it, there are several videos on Utube and other places that show you how to adjust and set it up. I followed those and have no complaints with mine. I took my primer assembly apart and filed down all the rough spots in the slide and the part that moves the primer into position and it works smooth as butter. Like I said it may crash and burn today but so far it hasnt.

Swamprat

[R.M.]

Listen to Lloyd. The priming mechanism is a ***. I like most other Lee equipment, but the Loadmaster is a waste of money. I picked up a Dillon 450. Kinda makes the Lee look like an Edsel.

[DanM]

My loadmaster works pretty well. The priming mechinism is working very well now, but has been a problem in the past. The powder measure system is great. No trouble and accurate charges dropped. The built in case flairing is very handy. It has made a lot of good bullets over the years. Lee support is top notch. Yes, I would rather have a Dillon or a LNL, but the Loadmaster supports my habit just fine.

[verney]

Listen to Lloyd. The priming mechanism is a ***. I like most other Lee equipment, but the Loadmaster is a waste of money. I picked up a Dillon 450. Kinda makes the Lee look like an Edsel.
I did my homework and I'm aware of the priming system problems. Was thinking for Dillon 650 not 450 (can't find it from Dillon price list, discontinued?).


ill get jumped on here but id recomend you keep going with what you have and save your money for a couple more years and pick up a 550 or a hornady lock and load. even keep your eyes open for a used one. Dillon and hornady will warantee anything on the without questions even if your the 10th owner so dont be afraid of used.
Dillon would be very nice but can't afford it right now. Hornady is not considered due to bad customer service experience.

Problem is I need more speed to my reloading right now, not two years from here. My reloading speed is limiting my shooting. Problem calibers are 7.62Russian, 223Rem and 22Hornet (for pistol). Traditional pistol calibers can be loaded with my Dillon Square Deal.

[Lloyd Smale]

i hate to say it but i actually had more problems with the loadmaster then i had even with the pro 1000s. Ive ran the hornadys but never owned one. I thought they seemed like good presses and ive had real good luck with customer service from hornady. But nobodys customer service compares with dillons. Only one that comes close is rcbs. i would think for the money a new loadmaster is going to cost you could come close to picking up a used 550. To me honest if i couldnt swing one id pick up a lee turnent press and load on that till i could. I know guys get them to run but I never did. could be too that i crank out LOTS of ammo. Maybe a guy that was happy with cranking out a 100 rounds at a time could live with the constant dinking around. But when i load its usually a 1000 rounds or more at a time and it sure is nice to rattle them out without the press choaking! A 650 may be a little complicated for a beginner and there about useless without a case feeder and thats more money. A 550 is definately the way to go for someone just breaking into progressive loading.

[verney]

RCBS customer service leaves nothing to be desired. I will consider RCBS but price is about the same as Dillon 650 but with manual indexing. I really was hoping for auto indexing.

[Lloyd Smale]

Im a dillon man through and through but have to say if you want a auto indexing press youd be well served with a square deal but they dont do rifle rounds and if i had to pick between the lock and load and the 650 i would put it this way. If i was going to go with a case feeder id go 650 and if i couldnt afford a case feeder id go with the lock and load. The 650 was designed to be used with a case feeder and is awkward without it the lock and load case feeder was more of an afterthought and the press works well without it.

[verney]

I have a Dillon Square Deal on reloading bench, it's rifle caliber rounds that are the problem. I'm not considering Hornady.

[Swamprat1052]

I must be leading a charmed live. I ran about 300 rds of 45 Colt ammo through my Loadmaster last night without a hitch. It even PRIMED them. I had problems at when I first set it up, but I took the primer assembly apart and Leemented it. Filed out all the chutes and grooves the primer and primer slide worked in and got all the grease and gunk out of the whole assembly. Got it smooth and it has worked ever since. Dont know how long it will last but they are cheap. I dont know how it will work out with your rifle ammo though, I do way too much case prep on bottle neck stuff to use a progressive press. If you have a Dillon Square Deal for your pistols I doubt you'll be satisfied with the Loadmaster. They get the job done but arent in the class with the Dillons. I never said that. I cant afford a Dillon now and the Loadmaster is adequate. I dont load hundreds at a time and usually am not in that big of a hurry. Its a lot faster than single stage and I am having good luck with it.

They do require some set up time and adjustment and some of it seems pretty rinky dink but its simple and if you put in the time to figure it out, it works. Like the Lee molds it dont come from the factory ready to just blow and go. They need tuning. The grease fittings on them arent there for show either and you need to keep the indexing rod greased with something. I use Super Lube Synthetic grease, its clear. I think I got it at an auto parts house. Comes in a little squeeze tube. I use it on the indexing rod and the inside of the center hole of the shell plate. I use lithium grease from a gun on the grease fittings.

Once I got mine set up an working I can reload straight walled cases all day long with it. It takes more time keeping the bullet tubes and primer filled than it does loading the cases. It aint for everybody but if you will spend the time with it, it will load your ammo.

Swamprat

[R.M.]

Let me get this right. You filed and greased the pile of plastic that is supposed to be a primer feed mechanism???????

[Swamprat1052]

I took the primer chute apart, filed out some burrs that were in the chute the primers slide down with a needle file. At the bottom there is a slide that takes the primer to the shell plate and positions it to be pressed into the case. There were burrs and rough spots both on the part that carries the primer to the plate and the chute it slides in. I cleaned them out with the needle file. CAREFULLY. Those burrs kept the primers from sliding into position and made the whole primer operation rough and jerky.

I didnt grease any part of the primer assembly. My press was one that someone else gave up on and they had greased everything. There was grease on the plunger that seats the primer and the bottom of the primer assembly. I cleaned that all out real good and cleaned all the grease that was under the shell plate. Then LIGHTLY applied the Super Lube to the indexing rod and the center hole on the shell plate and the indexer. I repeat no grease on the primer assembly.

Here is a link to a really good set of videos explaining use and set up of a loadmaster. It sure helped me.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Lee+LoadMaster

Swamprat

[Lloyd Smale]

guess thats kind of my problem with a lee progressive. the loadmaster is less expensive then a dillon but still isnt a cheap piece of loading gear and for what they charge for it, it should work. I should take a day of tweaking and filing and a vidio to show you how to make a *** run right. Lee is a funny company. Everyone else improves there product over the years. Lee is the type of company that either thinks theyve got something better then they do and have never actually loaded on one themselves or there only consern is making money and could care less if there presses have design problems. Its a dirt shame as the load master could be made into a hell of a press with some improvements. Its basicaly a stouter press then a 550. There attitude was summed up to me one day when i was talking to them on the phone. I suggested they should look at cataloging some of the group buy molds designed here and there answer was that there designs were proven designs that were better designs then any other mold maker was putting out and they sold just fine and there was no need to add other inferior designs. I about spit out my coffee when they said that!! I told him the typical life of one of his progressives was that a loader bought it, struggled with it, sold it for next to nothing or gave it away to get rid of the headache and it was passed on to the next guy and about half of them end up as dust collectors or in the trash. Just the fact that you can buy a 550 for 500 bucks and three years later sell it for 400 bucks or you can buy a lee for 300 bucks and hardly give it away in a year says something to me. Alot of guys buy them figureing there not going to need that much production anyway and will save a few bucks but when they find how fast and easy progressive loading can be, increase the ammount of shooting they do and find the lees just dont hack it when your cranking out thousands of rounds of ammo. When they go to upgrade they found they about threw there money away. A guy can buy a 550 find he needs more production and sell it for a decent price to help pay for an upgrade to a 650 and truth be told theres only a handfull of shooters that REALLY NEED more production then a 550 is capable of. The enigneer at lee (if there even is one) needs to sit down for a couple days and rethink that press and make a silk purse out of a cows ear!!

[DLCTEX]

I like the loadmaster and load all my pistol ammo on it. It took some tweaking and learning to fill the primer tray as soon as the last primer enters the top of the chute, but it works well for me. I didn't buy it new, but at a bargain on Ebay as the former owner had dropped it and couldn't make it feed the cases. I had it working in 30 minutes. I do recomend the pull back chain be installed on the powder measure and the spring be removed to aid in preventing double charges. Dale

[quickshot]

ok I guess I'll weigh in here. First off I am not a Lee rep. or anything like that. I don't get a commission or free stuff etc like that. Now with that all out of the way... if you look at all of my benches (currently 3 of them scattered throughout the house) you will see a metric crapton of LEE gear. In fact the only gear that I have that is not RED is a set of neck sizing dies for the 54r (RCBS) and the original 2 cav 45 and 38 molds that BruceB so generously donated to get me kicked off in casting.(thanks again BTW). I have a loadmaster and I love it. I did have a small burr on the primer slider when I got it that caused me a few issues. that took all of 30 seconds to fix with my pocket knife. Hell it took longer for me to take the slider out than it did to fix it. I basically unboxed the press, bolted it to the bench and set up the dies and went to work loading. It has served me faithfully for the last 2 years and many many thousands of rounds with narry a hitch. If the primer system hiccups that means that I forgot to clean my press and that is something that we all do from time to time isn't it? Cheap/simple what more could I ask for. A full caliber conversion (shell plate/powder measure/dies/turret) cost me around $100 depending where I shop. Another thing that we all must remember is the loadmaster as well as all presses despite the color paint they have on them are machines. Last time I checked all machines needed a little tweaking from time to time. (ever had to do brakes or timing chain or even set the distributor cap on your vehicle before?) Sorry for being long winded here but I guess what I mean to say is look at your situation and your budget and decide what is right for you and son't get caught up in the red vs green vs blue vs orange color war.

(steps off soap box and dawns asbestos bikini) That is my 2 cents and it is worth just about that. If you do get a Loadmaster and have some issues with it PM me and I'll help you get is straight.

[verney]

I'm having second thoughts about the Lee LoadMaster. Even though I'm pretty sure I could use it for years I'm now considering the RCBS Pro 2000 -press. I didn't consider it yearlier because it wasn't auto indexing. Now manual indexing is actually starting to sound like a good idea as it means I'm in full control (in good and bad). Even with manual indexing my reloading speed would hugely increase and I'm big fan of RCBS.

[Prowler]

Listen to Lloyd. The priming mechanism is a ***. I like most other Lee equipment, but the Loadmaster is a waste of money. I picked up a Dillon 450. Kinda makes the Lee look like an Edsel.

The priming mechanism is exactly as described above, a ***. If there is any variation in case depth, it will not seat primers fully, leading to misfires. I bought one because a friend used to work for Lee. I quicky replaced it with a Dillion 650. In IPSC, I couldn't afford a misfire due to incomplete primer seating. Save up and get a Dillion.

[Scott_In_OKC]

I've got a Loadmaster and had some issues with the initial setup. Once I got it dialed in, I've had zero problems with it. YMMV.

[Phunahm]

Like I said in another post 12k in the Load Master no issues with primer.......