The Lee Loadmaster defeated me

[farmerjim]

If you are going to pull many bullets, I recommend the hornady cam lock bullet puller. It is quite fast. I had about 100 308's that would not chamber. I started with the inertia puller, and after about 5 I stopped and bought the hornady cam lock puller. I ran all through a small base die and reloaded them. They worked fine.

[WRideout]

Those plastic hammer looking impact pullers I think are all pretty much the same.
At least they look like they're all made by the same company.,
but are just a different color for whoever sells them. I have green RCBS one.

You might could say, "It's fun, and it's real, but it ain't real fun to use".

The little Alum. holder things go straight into the Alum. recycle bucket.
Instead, I use the shell holder from a single stage press.
A trick with them is to hit them on something real solid like the end of a vise, or a concrete floor.
Banging them on a wooden table doesn't work nearly as well.

I keep a short block of 2X4 in the reloading room. When I use the hammer puller, I hit it on the end grain of the block. Doesn't hurt the puller, and I can stand it on the bench to use.

Wayne

[David2011]

Send it to RCBS, they will send you a brand new one. The head and handle on mine recently went 2 different directions. They replaced it for free. They did require me to send in the old one so you had to pay shipping for that.

Rosewood

Yes, I got an email back today that said just that. They're replacing a cracked Little Dandy powder reservoir without requiring that I send it in. It's still less costly than buying another one so it goes into the mail today. Their warranty is almost as good as Dillon's. The only thing I've had to send back to Dillon was a dial caliper that developed a hitch in its travel.

[Stopsign32v]

If you are going to pull many bullets, I recommend the hornady cam lock bullet puller. It is quite fast. I had about 100 308's that would not chamber. I started with the inertia puller, and after about 5 I stopped and bought the hornady cam lock puller. I ran all through a small base die and reloaded them. They worked fine.

I'm going to go grab one today at Cabelas.

[jmorris]

Having or have had progressives from Dillon, Hornady, RCBS and the Loadmaster, I can see why people have difficulty. Once I did finally had the one, I received from a discussed owner as a box of parts, running great, I also understand why people are happy with them too.



They are different than the others for sure but can be made to work.

If your priming system isn’t new and in perfect shape, get a new one fro titan.

If you are loading something with a sloppy fit in the shell holder, like 9mm, you need another die to center the case over the primer or your never going to be happy.

Take it one step at a time to get it running right, being new to the press and doing everything at once, along with resulting problems, can get overwhelming and frustrating pretty quick. That’s a great time to go have a beer and think happy thoughts for a little while…

[GWS]

I was hoping jmorris would come along and post his video of his inspirational Loadmaster setup.......if that don't help you see the potential nothing will. Obviously there's a way to make it sing!

[Jtarm]

I’m a red and blue guy, but the red is a Hornady LNL AP and the blue a Dillon SDB.

I’m not a real experienced progressive user and have jacked up my share components since starting 10 years ago (I’ve gotten fast at bullet-pulling), but, IMO, auto primer feeds are the hardest component to get right.

Of the two presses, the Dillon feed is a little better. I couldn’t figure out why I got so many high primers, though, till someone pointed out the SDB doesn’t have the leverage of a full-size press.

The Hornady works well, too, but has issues with Winchester SPPs.

The Dillon tubes are much easier to fill. That concave opening to the tube makes it simple. The Hornady requires some jiggling because you’re trying to get two square-faced tubes of the same size to align for the primers to drop.

I pondered and researched progressive presses for years before buying one. I really wanted to go with a Lee for the cost, but I’d just read too many posts about how much tinkering they required and decided better to spend the extra money on one that required (almost) no tinkering to work.

[8mmFan]

Try watching GunBlue's videos on the press.

The timing and alignment are easy to adjust.

The press cannot be slammed as hard and as fast as you can go. Figure 400 per hour. A primer cup on a turret or Single stage press has to be learned to properly seat primers.

Most problems are a misunderstanding of the directions.

^This. Go to Commie(You)Tube and search up "GunBlue490 Loadmaster." He has put two videos there: Pt. 1 and Pt. 2. Start from Square One, and set up your press EXACTLY as he does. Your press WILL work.

Yes: the priming system on the Loadmaster is at best "buggy." And I have felt exactly as you are feeling, at times. It can be really frustrating. That said, I've loaded thousands of rounds on it. Only you can decide whether to Craigslist it or not, and then get a different press. But you CAN DEFINITELY load a ton of 9mm on a LoadMaster. And don't be afraid to call Lee Precision and ask help from the Technicians. They are good, and helpful.

8mmFan

[nagantino]

I sold my Loadmaster and I’m sorry I did it. It’s the priming of course…..what a crock, but as many here are saying, you must load off the press. I only discovered this after the sale. But, I applied this to the Lee Pro 1000 and now reloading is straight forward…load off the press. And just to finish, I also discovered that if I deprime and resize, then prime without the powder die and the seating die, the priming on a Lee Pro 1000 is easy. It tells me that it’s the spilt powder granules that cause the problem. Of course, all this negates Lees claim to be a truly progressive press. That’s okay because you still end up with a ton of finished rounds.