Lee load master

[orangeeclipseman]

so I've seen many mods to do but that would be the first/most important mod to do in your opinion. Thanks

[ranger391xt]

You are right, there are lots of mods you can make. I have tried some of the mods and bought a couple that had some mods already done to them.

I see the following as some of the most beneficial things you can do (not necessarily mods)

1) Reduce friction where possible.
- Polish the bottom of the shell plate and the ribs in the carrier that the shell plate rises on.
- polish the part of the carrier the case slider rides on.
- remove any burrs from the primer feeder parts.

2) Keep it clean. A dirty press can become a nightmare.
- decapping brass off press goes a long way to eliminate the crud that will cause problems.
- take the time to clean the press about every 1000 rounds or so.

3) Know your brass.
- make sure you dont have brass with crimped primer pockets or even worse a piece of brass that uses a Berdan primer.
- decapping off press, removing crimps and cleaning up primer pockets are all part of this. Once you have a batch of brass that you have prepped, dont mix it with unprepped brass.

The above is a good start to having an enjoyable experience with the LoadMaster.




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[hpdrifter]

my best mod was to to put an "adjustment" screw in the frame where the primer arm/lifter goes thru the frame. You can adjust your primer holder/lifter to be even with the primer feeder so it won't jiggle around and fall off or turn over.

4-40 screw.
263444

[orangeeclipseman]

I bought the lee app press at same time so I plan on deprime wet tumble. Then load ive been using a rcbs jr press for years

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Timely thread. When I get my cast 9mm loads where I want them I'm getting either a LM or Pro 4000.

[ranger391xt]

my best mod was to to put an "adjustment" screw in the frame where the primer arm/lifter goes thru the frame. You can adjust your primer holder/lifter to be even with the primer feeder so it won't jiggle around and fall off or turn over.

4-40 screw.
263444One of the used presses I purchased has this model along with the magnets attached to the bottom of the primer arm and the bolt to actuate the primer arm. I was going to try to do this mod to a couple other presses, but I found having the brass prepped reduced my priming issues so I never pursued it after I tried to drill the hole in a broken carrier and failed miserably.

Most of the time that I have a priming issue its becuase I short stroked the press for some reason. Short stroking can happen when a case tips over, a case rim is too thick to feed (happens with some 40 s&w Winchester brass) or the bullet falls out of the feed fingers.

One other mod I recommend is to add lights. There are a couple different styles you can find on Ebay. One is mount in the center of the turret, which requires the center to be knocked out. The other style is the UFO Led strips than adhere to the press frame around the turret. The UFO strips are much brighter.

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[orangeeclipseman]

Ranger I was going to try one of those cheap USB cameras/endoscope looking for powder charges and do the led no primer mod too

[Kenstone]

OK, for a light I needed to find a universal as I mount/swap-out presses to same spot on my bench.
I bought/use a "sewing machine" light I bought on Amazon, search it and you'll get many different lights, mine has it's own power supply/mag base/on-off switch and sell for $16 for 2 :shock:
I put some weight into and empty power jug, taped the cap shut, and put the light on top, it's very portable.

I never liked that the priming on top turned the 5 station press into a 4 station, so that 3 link chain hooked over the primer arm was my attempt at bottom priming :|
The primer feed escapement made using that chain fiddly to use so I just pre-prime now, and moved the powder measure to station 2.
263462

[jmorris]

Mine loaded the best with a Dillon collator and Hornady bullet feeder.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9pjmuHAkBU

[ranger391xt]

Ranger I was going to try one of those cheap USB cameras/endoscope looking for powder charges and do the led no primer mod tooI've done both of those as well.

For the led no primer mod the keys are A) to make sure the led is aligned right under the primer pocket and B) not have too much light from above. After I added the brighter lights to the press to see everything, it was almost impossible to see the LED light coming through the flash hole. I tried various LED's (green, red, etc) and that didnt change anything.

I also have one of the usb/wireless cameras and and a samsung tablet that I have used. One of the big contributors to missed powder charges can be issues with the pull back chain (especially with the auto drum) or using really small charges with certain powders (Titegroup is one that is bad about this). For most calibers I dont use the pull back chain any more, and have all my measures set up with their respective "autoreturn" which has virtually eliminated missed powder charges. The exceptions being calibers such as .38 Special and 356 Mag, where a double charge might not be noticeible I still use the pull back chain and the camera.

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[ranger391xt]

Mine loaded the best with a Dillon collator and Hornady bullet feeder.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9pjmuHAkBUI have watched you video with envy many times. I hate stopping to refill the case and bullet feeders becuase it disrupts my rhythm. I'm collecting parts to make my own case feeder, and maybe someday I'll get a 3d printer and do the bullet feeder.

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[orangeeclipseman]

I got the 6s shell plate had a buddy machine it to fit the 9mm case perfectly. I'm goin to see how that works

[onelight]

Timely thread. When I get my cast 9mm loads where I want them I'm getting either a LM or Pro 4000.

I have had the 1000 the Loadmaster and the auto breech lock pro / pro 4000 they each have advantages but in order of easy to setup and use for me it's the easiest is auto breech lock pro / pro 4000 - 1000 - loadmaster
On all of mine I deprime off press and prime on the press.

[mdatlanta]

so I've seen many mods to do but that would be the first/most important mod to do in your opinion. Thanks

Not necessarily a mod, but mounting the press so it is rock solid and does not move was the best thing I did in terms of getting the press to operate reliably.

[toallmy]

Installing a die in the primer station really helped any priming problems I encountered , most of my setups have a expander die in that position .

[orangeeclipseman]

Not necessarily a mod, but mounting the press so it is rock solid and does not move was the best thing I did in terms of getting the press to operate reliably.

Yes i agree I have a nice metal stand to mount it too. It will break before anything flexes

[orangeeclipseman]

Installing a die in the primer station really helped any priming problems I encountered , most of my setups have a expander die in that position .

yea im doing mainly 9mm so I found people take the 6s shell plate and chamfer it so 9mm fits and it lines up great with the primer ram

[Conditor22]

for lighting, I bought https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FEZEVQK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and emlarged the hole slightly with a hole saw.
https://i.imgur.com/PgHpwhu.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/N3heQ8I.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/KDxTnIc.jpg

[onelight]

One of the things that helped me with priming on my loadmaster is not so much a mod to the press but using a case for a setup tool take a case and open the flash hole up to the same od as the primer pocket when adjusting the press you can look down through the hole with the case in the shell holder to get perfect alignment with the primer punch.
Not my idea I don't recall where I got it to give credit.

[toallmy]

The bolt that adjust the primer depth needs to have the top of the bolt ground flat to remove those little bumps .

[ranger391xt]

You dont have to use a saw to clear the center of the turret. That center part can be knocked out with a hammer and wooden dowel (that is close to the diameter of the hole). I have done this to several turrets to install a similar light and had no issues.

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[ranger391xt]

Conditor22 - Is that a vibrating motor attached to your powder measure? would be interested to see how you have that all connected.

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[Conditor22]

the hole saw is to enlarge the bottom hole to accept the light. leave the guide bit in then enlarge the thin separating bridge so the threaded top of the light can fit through.

Tes that is a vibrating motor from a cell phone attached to the powder measure and the primer tube. at the bottom left is the actuating switch. I found the build specifications on youtube.

[jmorris]

I got the 6s shell plate had a buddy machine it to fit the 9mm case perfectly. I'm goin to see how that works

9mm, definitely another die in #2 they use a shellplate that will ft a .40 case, for 9mm! Lining up the case with an extra die, eliminated my priming issues.

[Martin Luber]

Discard the indexer rod and manually advance the shellplate, much smoother.

I have an expander plug in the priming station.

Never let primers go below the slot in the feeder.

Leave the primer dump gate at the bottom of the ram open. Put a bucket under that. If the ram fills with primers, they are hard to get out.

Keep die and shellplate nuts tight.

The primer arm will break off if you are out of alignment and the primer punch comes up.

Good luck

[jmorris]

so I've seen many mods to do but that would be the first/most important mod to do in your opinion. Thanks

I posted in a knee jerk fashion, in regard to the LM. I think the most important thing is to understand exactly how it operates. The “manual” is less than ideal but there are a number of videos that can overcome the lack of information one receives upon purchase.

Once you know what makes it tick, you will be in an exclusive group.

[ranger391xt]

9mm, definitely another die in #2 they use a shellplate that will ft a .40 case, for 9mm! Lining up the case with an extra die, eliminated my priming issues.+1

I have a sizing die (with decap pin removed of course) in station 2 for all calibers I reload (9mm, 40, 45, 38, 357...). I deprime off press, but keep a universal depriming die in station 1, just in case a a shell slips by that didn't get deprimed.



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[orangeeclipseman]

9mm, definitely another die in #2 they use a shellplate that will ft a .40 case, for 9mm! Lining up the case with an extra die, eliminated my priming issues.

Yea i don't get using same for 40 and 9. That's y i got the 6s shellplate lines up perfectly

[orangeeclipseman]

+1

I have a sizing die (with decap pin removed of course) in station 2 for all calibers I reload (9mm, 40, 45, 38, 357...). I deprime off press, but keep a universal depriming die in station 1, just in case a a shell slips by that didn't get deprimed.



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yea i bought the app press too to deprime on