Load Master is better than Dillon

[Jerry11826]

This is a post I made on the Glock Talk site - It was the last in about 47 replies conerning the Dillon equipment I was / am trying to sell - It sure started a furball - I thought it might be some fun here also - I put my money where my mouth is - If you want to but some Dillon Equipment for what I think are give away prices send me a PM. Have fun - Jerry

This thread has become a discussion of Lee Load Master Vs. Dillon equipment. I was just trying to sell some stuff. Why don't we end this? I appreceiate all the responses.

Since I started this, maybe I can have the last word.

Dillon is great equipment - I bought my first Dillon on their invoice #374. dated 2/29/1984. (Kept the invoice inside the manual) It is the 450 I am trying to sell. It came with the .45 ACP conversion and I ordered and additional .38 Spec conversion. The total invoice, shipped COD was $206.00. Guys, that means I have been using Dillon equipment for 28 years. During that period that machine or in combination the other two Dillon presses I have / had (sold the 550) have reloaded 500 to 1,000 rounds per month. Do the math - that is at least 168,000 rounds. I know a little something about the Dillon equipment I have owned. I doubt there are many members of this forum - that can document their experience back further than I.

I have only broken one part, the plastic primer magazine follower rod and that was my fault. I did wear out the wave bushings on the SDB. Dillon did not only send me two sets of replacement bushings, a complete new style primer feed assembly, but I asked for and received a replacement auto index assembly - all for free. Now is that good service or what!

All of my Dillon machines have had occasional primer mis-feeds. Either up-side-down primers or the dreaded primer in the cup sideways. I say dreaded, because that meant getting out the hex wrenches to loosen the primer feed to clear the jam. I don't think I am alone. A couple of years ago Dillon began offering a set of hex wrenches that came with a bracket that mounts to the press. Their claim - "No more hunting for the right wrench". Why do you think Dillon is doing that?

However, unless you have tried to load 500 rounds per month on a single stage press, as I was doing before I bought the Dillon - you cannot understand the pleasure I had in getting a loaded round every time I pulled the handle. Clearing the occasional primer jam was nothing compared to the production increase afforded by my Dillon equipment. Up-side-down primers were / are a non-event. Didn't even notice them until I was boxing the ammo to take to the range.

If I were going to use Dillon equipment, knowing what I know now - I would have purchased only the SDB and the RF 100 primer filler. With this setup I can load nearly as fast as with the Lee and you get that great Dillon warranty and customer service.

Now that I have stated the above, the Lee Load Master - in my experience - only about 2,000 rounds - is not only significantly faster than the Dillon equipment - it is less subject to primer feed problems and best of all is much less expensive! It is not just a better reloader for the money - but better reloader period.

Thanks to all that responded - if you want to purcase any of my remaining equipment please contact me soon - as it will all be going to E-Bay.

Thanks,

Jerry

[shotman]

since Lee is here now maybe they will take nots on the problems that the Load master has i have had one since they came out . Everyone that has one will agree that they are, for the most part a good unit. The primer feed is a problem and the shell feed is a problem. I got the boolet feeder and then had to buy ALL new dies because the seat die is different> It will not feed cast tumble lube boolets i sold it. The dillon 650 is a good unit but is a pain to change cal. The prices for cal change is way out of range, the pins are a pain. I the pins were steel [i did make a 3 side steel that works good] you can remove them with a magnet[ would help when you drop one] The Load Master is not strong enough to load rifle ammo. But that is why i have 4 presses shotman

[dromia]

Glad your happy with your Lee.

I'm a Hornady L-n-L AP person myself after dire sales service from Dillon.

I'm now going to withdraw and bunker down deep.

[KYCaster]

I predict you'll soon be cursing the Lee primer feed.

Jerry

[Shiloh]

Dillon is the only progressive for me. It has served me well for years.

Customer service has been nothing short of outstanding. When properly adjusted, it works smoothly and flawlessly.
I clean the primer bar and around its track of spent primer residue every 600-700 rounds.
After that it's good to go again for trouble free production of ammo.

Shiloh

[Kraschenbirn]

Jerry...

Don't have the original invoice on my first Dillon (a 450 like yours) but it's about the same vintage as yours (mid '84) and still bolted to my reloading bench, right between my SBD and my Bonanza "68" single-stage. For the first dozen years, it averaged around 15,000 rounds per year (used to run through 10,000/yr just for IHMSA and NRA sillywhets). Wore out a primer feed and broke a couple of small parts; all of which were replaced by Dillon without question. These days, since I've pretty much given up competition shooting, it mostly stays set up for .44 Spl 'cause I only have .45 ACP and .38/.357 die sets for my SDB.

Bill

[Marc2]

Have a Dillon 650 from 1999. Rebuilt in 2004 for the cost of shipping to Dillon. Great machine. Also own several Lee presses that have given good service through the years. Would like to see Lee make a version of the Pro 1000 on the Classic Turret frame and include four stations.

Marc

[shotman]

there was post about { I think the Lee turret] of squareing the primer feeder that type primer feed looks to be better than the one used on the Load Master Is it? shotman

[Lloyd Smale]

I had both a load master and a pro 1000. I dont know how many thousand cuss words came out of my mouth operating those to presses but id be it about equals the ammont of good ammo i got out of them. If i couldnt afford a dillon or horndady progressive id buy a good turent press and load with it before id EVER consider a lee progressive again. All i can say is if you think the primer feed is better on a lee you havent loaded any serious ammont of ammo yet. Wait and tell me what you think after its loaded 10000 rounds. Ive got 5 square deals and a 550 and a couple of my square deals have round counts that are will into 5 figures and if i really had to make an honest guess it well could be 6 figures. I hear all the time people on this forum and others say the lees are great and just as good as a dillon or horn. What i find is theses are people thats idea of cranking out a ton of ammo is making two boxes to shoot tomamarow and then maybe do it again next week or month. Maybe that cheap lee crap will work for someone like that. But if your idea if shooting brings your round count up to 500 rounds a week or more good luck with one of those *** presses.

[StrawHat]

I, too, have a 450 from the early 80's.

It has kept me in 38 Special ammo through 12 years of very active PPC compettiton. 1000-2000 rounds per week. Plus it reloaded for me as the assistant range officer when I was in Law Enforcement.

I have been tempted to change to a 550 but why mess with success. My brother has a Square Deal in various calibers and likes them. I'll stay with the 450.

[Shiloh]

I had both a load master and a pro 1000. I dont know how many thousand cuss words came out of my mouth operating those to presses but id be it about equals the ammont of good ammo i got out of them. If i couldnt afford a dillon or horndady progressive id buy a good turent press and load with it before id EVER consider a lee progressive again. All i can say is if you think the primer feed is better on a lee you havent loaded any serious ammont of ammo yet. Wait and tell me what you think after its loaded 10000 rounds. Ive got 5 square deals and a 550 and a couple of my square deals have round counts that are will into 5 figures and if i really had to make an honest guess it well could be 6 figures. I hear all the time people on this forum and others say the lees are great and just as good as a dillon or horn. What i find is theses are people thats idea of cranking out a ton of ammo is making two boxes to shoot tomamarow and then maybe do it again next week or month. Maybe that cheap lee crap will work for someone like that. But if your idea if shooting brings your round count up to 500 rounds a week or more good luck with one of those *** presses.

This post sums it up. Game set match!

I was on vacation two weeks ago. 650 rounds of .45 ACP loaded, fired, repeated.
Thats just the .45!! Shiloh went to the range 5 times on the nine day vacation,
and shot a lot of reactive plates with the .45 and .38. Plus the '03 and Krag on the 200 yard range.

The LEE, although a good unit for a casual shooter, will never hold up in the long run. DILLON!!

Shiloh

[Jerry11826]

Lloyd, Shiloh - Now your getting into it. On another forum, one guy sent me several PMs that were just short of threats! - How can anyone get so "worked up" about another persons opinion of a reloading tool - What happened - did the Lee delivery truck back into your recently restored GTO.

All I said was, Dillon is great equipment, that I used for many years with pleasue - but after tryng the Lee, I liked the Lee better and am trying to sell the Dillon.

Kraschenbirn, you said you had an SDB, did you like your SDB - I liked mine. I thought it was great -I suggested on another forum that a man that shoots straight walled pistol cases only shoud definately consider the SDB over the 550. This caused an immediate respose. Many respondents suggested anyone that could rate an SDB over a 550 had to be an idiot, communist or worse - "Only a fool would prefer an SDB over a 550".

Yea, well - is this a great country or what?

Jerry

[Cayoot]

I reloaded thousands of rounds per year from 1979 to 1989 on an RCBS Jr single stage press. Then I found an ad where Lee was selling factory re-built Turrent Presses for about $45 (IIRC).

That one press changed my reloading life! I used it for 7 years. I can't even begin to guess how many .38 rounds and .45 acp rounds I cranked out (I was heavy into Bullseye competition then).

Then one day I bought a Hornady LNL Progressive. This was as big of a change in my reloading life as when I switched to the Lee Turrent.

Well, to make a long story short, I have given a Lee turrent to each of my 2 sons.

On my reloading bench now sits 2 Hornady LNL APs (one set up for large primers and the other for small primers), one RCBS Turrent press (for experimenting on different loadings) and, finally, my original RCBS Jr (that I purchased when I was a spry, 17 years old).

That old Jr is as good as the day I purchased it, but now it is regulated to pulling bullets.

I've tried Dillion, it is a good machine, but I'll take the Hornady over anything else.

[Kraschenbirn]

Kraschenbirn, you said you had an SDB, did you like your SDB - I liked mine....

STILL like it...A LOT!! Load all my bulk quantity .38s and .45 ACPs on the SDB and my .44s on the 450. I use one of my single-stages for load development (small quantities!) and then switch to one of the Dillons to load up a working supply.

Bill

[DLCTEX]

I have never used a Dillon, but my Loadmaster has many more than 10,000 rounds on it and is still cranking them out. It took some tinkering to get it (and me ) going to my satisfaction, but I bought it used from an individual who had dropped it and thought it was ruined because he could not get it working again. In my last run of 500 rounds, the only problem was caused by me going to sleep and letting the powder run dry. I do have a high mechanical aptitude (tested) and am able to make things work that others can't, but I think anyone can make it work if they follow the directions in Lee's videos and manuals. There are many really great ideas found on Lee equipment, and many of them are amazingly simple. DALE

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

With all those videos and stuff out nowadays, there's plenty of information on how to setup a Loadmaster and a body ought to be able to get one running pretty smoothly fairly quickly I'm thinking. I've been looking to pick one up cheap from some angry customer and turn it into a .45ACP ammo generating machine.

Regards,


Dave

[Nick10Ring]

StrawHat:
Where did you shoot your PPC matches? I shot PPC for about 21 years and made the Governor's 20 for 20 years. Now I'm into rifle(high power)..I shoot Garands and an AR(Bushmaster). I used to belong to the OPCPA. I also use Dillons, I have 2 550's and loaded thousand of .38 wadcutters on the older one.

Nick10Ring

[Ranch Dog]

I had a friend buy me a complete Loadmaster with all the bells and whistles if I would keep him in ammo (all at his expense). Heck of a deal. He shot the hell out of his 45LC for about a year and then lost interest. So I now have this nice press that cranks out my 45 ACP stuff. I've been busy with my mold business for two years now and the pistols have been off to the side but I'm casting bullets for them and getting ready to put it back to work.

My experience has been about like Dale's but I didn't look at any of the videos as they didn't have them at the time. It took a little thinking (which I enjoyed) but it ended up working great. I kind of lost interest in the press as there isn't much "reloading" to it. You are more of a tube filler, handle puller, and ammo stacker. My daughter actually made most of the ammo for the fellow.... pull, push... not much to it. The bench must be securely attached to something as it will walk!

[Ranch Dog]

Geeze guys, these posts always get the wheels turning in my head and ends up generating a never ending list of "to do's"!

I've been eyeballing that press as I go about my normal work thinking that I should be using it to do my 444 Marlin work as everything is set in stone as far as my load development is concerned with my TLC432-265-RF and TLC432-300-RF. I need to finish up my pressure testing charts but my personal loads were done years ago now. You know, each year box up a hundred of each or so. Why not do it on the Loadmaster. Well I tried it, just an initial test, and it shucks those 444 cases like it was made for it. I had to use a longer bolt on the case feed tube assembly but the 4 tubes hold 32 cases. I've already used the bullet feeding tubes with both of these bullets and the 44 so I don't anticipate any problems with bullet feed. I do use Liquid Alox but my stored bullets are coated with mica and are slicker than snot. I will let you know how it goes in a couple of weeks!

Hmmm, shooters always bugging me as to why I don't offer loaded ammo. May be I should check into the license requirements!

I will need to order the Universal Charging Die so that I can switch from the Pro Auto Disk to the Perfect Powder Measure as even the double disk cannot drop the appropriate charge for this case. VTDW gave me his PPM so I have one that can stay mounted on the LM.

Shame on you guys, always creating another project!

[timtonya]

Seriously? ? The loadmaster better than a dillon?? Are you SERIOUS???? I have one and im tired of tinkering with it all of the time. Im wanting a XL650 next year and I only load 100-200 rounds of 40 S&W and 45ACP. And I wont be buying the casefeeder. I don't care about speed or numbers. I want a press that will load and not waste my time. And the conversions aren't much more than the Hornady LnL ap. Especially if hounding buy the powder measure. Just loosen it and move it to the next toolhead. With the Hornady, you still have to buy the bushings us the casefeed components that dillon provides with the conversion kits. I honestly don't care how much its gonna cost next year to buy a dillon xl650.