I tried it......not for me

[Joel Chavez]

I tried the Loadmaster and it’s simply not for me. I’m sticking with the Lee 3hole turret for all my loading chores.

[Three44s]

Are you stuck with it or did you just try it with no strings attached?

Three44s

[1hole]

I tried the Loadmaster and it’s simply not for me. I’m sticking with the Lee 3hole turret for all my loading chores.

Okay. ????

[AndyC]

The Loadmaster is almost as bad as the Pro 1000

[dverna]

I am not a Lee lover, but the Loadmaster can be tweaked to work. I nearly bought one to prove a point but realized that was dumb....I had four Dillon’s at the time.

BTW, you can sell on eBay and get more than it is worth.

[rbuck351]

Even the pro 1000 can be made to work and although I have never worked with a loadmaster, I assume it can be made to work as well.
I have a Star universal in 38spl that I'm not real crazy about but it does work.
That's why there have been so many different reloaders made over the years. Some folks like one brand/model, some like another. It is nice to have so many choices.

[Joel Chavez]

oh i got it to work, but it’s not my 3hole turret lol. i’ll maybe save it for another day

[slim1836]

I threw the towel in on mine after trying to get it to work without something messing up. I really hate that it was smarter than me.

Back to my Hornady single stage, it's faster.

Slim

[Joel Chavez]

I threw the towel in on mine after trying to get it to work without something messing up. I really hate that it was smarter than me.

Back to my Hornady single stage, it's faster.

Slim


my biggest gripe about it is the priming setup. out of the 17 45acp rounds I loaded to test the function, 2 were missing primers. It appears that it has trouble feeding primers when it gets low on primers. Ill give it another go in a few weeks. I gotta get to actually loading and casting instead of messing with it.

[abunaitoo]

Both of them work well if you play with it.
Takes some getting used to.
But, on both, the priming system is useless.
I gave up trying to get it to work reliably.
Just prime the cases before loading, and it works fine.
I like the Pro 1000 better.

[Joel Chavez]

Both of them work well if you play with it.
Takes some getting used to.
But, on both, the priming system is useless.
I gave up trying to get it to work reliably.
Just prime the cases before loading, and it works fine.
I like the Pro 1000 better.

That’s what I concluded. I’ll prime the cases off the press and it should go much smoother.

[Three44s]

Joel,

Since it is yours you might as well hang in there as you plan on. There are videos on the net that delve into the loadmaster. I have no experience with the press but a very good friend and member who is local to me has one and is very happy with his. He’s a very bright guy and I take him seriously when he touts something.

Three44s

[toallmy]

Taking a break when I get frustrated has saved me from doing more harm than good quite often throughout my life , more so in my youth .
You can always come back to it when you are in the mood .

[dverna]

If you need to resort to priming off the press...get rid of it...or any other "progressive" that needs that in order to work. Life is too short to deal with making reloading a chore.

I had one machine like that...a Green Machine.

Watch the videos and read up on the hints. Give it an honest try. But selling it now and getting top dollar is worth considering too. A manual indexing 550 that works is only a $100 more, and it will put out an honest 350 rounds per hour without any drama.

[kbstenberg]

Joel I also gave up on priming on either machine. An i am very content to size and prime in one step on a single stage/ station press.
When i go to actually load my pistol rounds i use the 1000. With station 1 for flairing and powder dispensing, station 2 as a bullet seat, and station 3 for crimping. That is just my druthers and worth what you paid for it. Kevin

[GasGuzzler]

Adjust it 100% per instructions and be spot on with case prep and it will run perfectly in almost all cases.

[jetinteriorguy]

I too retired mine a couple years ago in favor of my Lee Classic cast turret. But I’ve recently resurrected it for 9mm but have changed how I use it. I now deprime and prime off the press, which doesn’t bother me. I just deprime with a universal depriming die and then prime by hand while watching tv. I’ve also eliminated the bullet feeder since it was the biggest problem area and caused the most hiccups. So now here is my setup, station one is sizing without the decapping pin, two is expand/powder drop, three is powder check die, four is set bullet by hand and seat, and five is crimp. As far as how smooth the machine runs, with proper adjustment it runs smooth as silk and makes very good consistent ammunition.

[robg]

i have always used a single stage press .i work in batches of 100+,size ,trim,expand,prime then when needed load em up.would i save time using a turret press as i prime off the press?

[pastera]

I replaced the hex rod with square stock ground with a more mild taper to move primers into place more slowly. Not certain if that is the reason my press primes pretty reliably or that I also run a die in the priming station but I have very few issues priming that are not easily explained by bad brass or me yanking on the handle.
If you have the newer priming components, kept clean, the press is pretty good a reliably priming cases if you operate it smoothly.

[onelight]

my biggest gripe about it is the priming setup. out of the 17 45acp rounds I loaded to test the function, 2 were missing primers. It appears that it has trouble feeding primers when it gets low on primers. Ill give it another go in a few weeks. I gotta get to actually loading and casting instead of messing with it.
You need more primers in the feeder than you will use . If yo want to load 50 put 60 in the feeder the weight of the primers pushes them down the slope so you need extras in it for it to feed . As soon as the tray is empty refill it .

[sparky45]

Fellow member here did an excellent video of his LM loading 100 rounds in 4 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9pjmuHAkBU

[tazman]

The one I had simply would not function properly for more than 50 to 100 rounds before there was a failure of some sort.
I don't want to purchase a machine I have to constantly tweak to operate.
I am now using a Lee Classic Cast turret and it has been flawless for years and thousands of rounds.

[onelight]

The one I had simply would not function properly for more than 50 to 100 rounds before there was a failure of some sort.
I don't want to purchase a machine I have to constantly tweak to operate.
I am now using a Lee Classic Cast turret and it has been flawless for years and thousands of rounds.
The LCT is my favorite press . The ABLP is as trouble free without the case feeder, the feeder is a little picky but it still gives a loaded round each stroke . ABLP uses the same index system and priming system as the LCT I consider them both to be great buys.

[BigAlofPa.]

I kicked idea back and fourth over and over. I decided against going progressive. Reason why. Is because i load a lot of hand gun calibers. And i already have the tool heads for my turret press. Be sides loading is not a race.

[onelight]

I kicked idea back and fourth over and over. I decided against going progressive. Reason why. Is because i load a lot of hand gun calibers. And i already have the tool heads for my turret press. Be sides loading is not a race.
I don't blame you , I do like the ABLP but I wish it used the turret heads off the LCT .

[Joel Chavez]

You need more primers in the feeder than you will use . If yo want to load 50 put 60 in the feeder the weight of the primers pushes them down the slope so you need extras in it for it to feed . As soon as the tray is empty refill it .

I think you hit the nail on the head buddy! I’m gonna try that and see how it goes. don’t wanna give up on it primary cuz I have so little invested in it($130) and it practically brand new.

[jmorris]

I am not a Lee lover, but the Loadmaster can be tweaked to work. I nearly bought one to prove a point but realized that was dumb....I had four Dillon’s at the time.

BTW, you can sell on eBay and get more than it is worth.

The one I had was a basket case, given to me. Turned out to be the fastest loadmaster I have ever seen.

If you want to get the most for one, right now or the next panic would be the time. They are not highly sought after.

[jetinteriorguy]

The one I had was a basket case, given to me. Turned out to be the fastest loadmaster I have ever seen.

If you want to get the most for one, right now or the next panic would be the time. They are not highly sought after.
This is what I was planning, but I figured I better have it working right and did some adjustments. Now it’s running so smooth I decided to keep it. Go figure.

[jmorris]

Well, once you get one running smoothly, it’s not likely by luck, so you should be pretty good at that point.

[GasGuzzler]

This is what I was planning, but I figured I better have it working right and did some adjustments. Now it’s running so smooth I decided to keep it. Go figure.

Told you so. Most people that get frustrated with them "not working" don't have them set up right. Full primer pocket prep and proper adjustment is all they usually need.

[Lloyd Smale]

The Loadmaster is almost as bad as the Pro 1000

yup id say you should have had a v8 (550 dillon) Dont feel bad back when i decided single stage wasnt fast enough anymore i had the same waste of money lesson but was even worse because at the same time i ordered a pro master and and pro 1000. Gave the promaster away and the pro 1000 is at the bottom of my pond out back where it does the best work its ever done RUSTING.

[hollywood63]

If your stuck with a LM and are not trying to retire off the sale shoot me what you have with a price and I might ease your burden

[gnappi]

A friend and I both got load masters way back, he wound up crushing his with a sledge hammer, I sold mine to a guy I knew warning him of the pitfalls he bought it (cheap) anyway. He never mentioned it again :-)

[Joel Chavez]

If your stuck with a LM and are not trying to retire off the sale shoot me what you have with a price and I might ease your burden

I have about $140 invested in it to load 9mm 38/357 and firty5. I’m gonna give it a second and possibly a third chance before i consider getting rid of it.

[Livin_cincy]

Adjust it 100% per instructions and be spot on with case prep and it will run perfectly in almost all cases.

This...

[slide]

There is a guy on youtube,Gunblue490, very savvy. Goes through the how to maintain and keep it running smooth. Worth watching if you are having trouble.

[Martin Luber]

The priming system is fragile and you do have to fiddle with them to get it working. My primer punch liked to hang up. Up just enough to flip the occasional primer. You can feel it when they're not seating right and pull that case at the powder station. I have to push up on the primer seat lever to get the punch to drop down. Primer trough, as noted, has to be full. As soon as I see air in the upper slot, I stop or refill. I also took out the indexer bar and manually advance. All my match pistol ammo comes off this machine. I also have a 550 and 2 Star loaders so that says something.