I tried the Loadmaster and it’s simply not for me. I’m sticking with the Lee 3hole turret for all my loading chores.
I tried the Loadmaster and it’s simply not for me. I’m sticking with the Lee 3hole turret for all my loading chores.
In Christ,
JC
Are you stuck with it or did you just try it with no strings attached?
Three44s
Quote Originally Posted by Bret4207
“There is more to this than dumping lead in a hole.”
The Loadmaster is almost as bad as the Pro 1000
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.
Don Verna
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.
oh i got it to work, but it’s not my 3hole turret lol. i’ll maybe save it for another day
In Christ,
JC
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
JUST GOTTA LOVE THIS JOINT.
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.
In Christ,
JC
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,
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
Quote Originally Posted by Bret4207
“There is more to this than dumping lead in a hole.”
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 .
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.
Don Verna
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
Adjust it 100% per instructions and be spot on with case prep and it will run perfectly in almost all cases.
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.
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?
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.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |