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Posted: 8/21/2011 11:34:39 AM EDT
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How many of you guys use a Loadmaster and enjoy it? I've been contemplating one and so I've been watching youtube and the such trying to figure it out. I see plenty of videos where it works just fine for most people, but have also seen a few vids where people have had issues with it. One in particular video I recall, the guy couldn't get a primer to seat no matter what he did with the press.
Obviously everyones experiences are different, and I know people call Lee "cheap", but I've had great luck with their products so far, and on two occasions so far, when things have gone wrong, ie I have broken something, they have sent a free replacement on them. So, if you don't mind, just tell me your experience with the loadmaster and what you like, and also what you don't like about it. Thanks for your input as usual, it's much appreciated. |
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2 Dillons, 2 Hornadys, 4 Lees including one Loadmaster. Here's an unbiased assessment. Comes with its own case feeder, is quirky to set up, once you understand it, its easy to keep tuned. Ditch the primer feed system and hand prime. Press priming with both Lee proggresives steals attention from powder drop. Great press if your mechanically inclined. If not, forget it.
Pro1000 is a better press in my opinion but its not a 5 hole like Loadmaster. Go to page 2 in Gateway threads. You will find my thread on Loadmaster tuning. There's more information that needs to be added. If you decide the Toadmaster is for you. Let me know and will finish with turret, die, and powder drop tuning. My old Loadmaster was bought 20+ years ago, 2nd hand. Be interesting to know what 6 digit round count is on the old girl. She's my dedicated .40 cal press now and still loads strong. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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First off, best place on the web for all things Lee:
http://forums.loadmastervideos.com/forums/ The LoadMaster(LM) can work well. First, you have to check everything. Regardless of what you might think, no one at Lee assembles and tests your LM. Unpack your LM and disassemble and clean the primer system, dies, powder drop, case slider etc. Then reassemble and test. All Lee products will ship with a protective grease coating - this will mess up your powder drops... Mount the LM securely. Get the primer blast shield. Don't start out with the case feeder, become very familiar with the operations first. Once you are familiar with the operations the LM is a good press. That said, I use the LM for volume runs, my Lee Turret gets much more use in prepping rifle cases, and small batch load workups. The LM will churn out a lot of rounds once you get buzzing on it. Good Luck. |
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Quoted:
First off, best place on the web for all things Lee: http://forums.loadmastervideos.com/forums/ The LoadMaster(LM) can work well. First, you have to check everything. Regardless of what you might think, no one at Lee assembles and tests your LM. Unpack your LM and disassemble and clean the primer system, dies, powder drop, case slider etc. Then reassemble and test. All Lee products will ship with a protective grease coating - this will mess up your powder drops... Mount the LM securely. Get the primer blast shield. Don't start out with the case feeder, become very familiar with the operations first. Once you are familiar with the operations the LM is a good press. That said, I use the LM for volume runs, my Lee Turret gets much more use in prepping rifle cases, and small batch load workups. The LM will churn out a lot of rounds once you get buzzing on it. Good Luck. +1 on this "Timing is everything" especially with the LM. Timing off is the one problem that will kill most LM. If the timing is off, the primers will never feed. There is a lot going on with the five station press. I agree on getting familiar with all the operations. I own two and they both run smooth. Watch the videos, learn. If you can't change a spark plug, maybe the LM is not for you. |
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Sounds simple, don't it ?
Simple issue of timing, as easy as changing a spark plug. I've got how many presses ? If it was that easy to make a Loadmaster run I'd have 5. Lookie.... I agree, it is a simple issue of timing, one that a simple granule of powder that falls into priming arm or lever can cause the Loadmaster to cannibalize it's self. That said, I defer to my previous post. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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You can if hand priming brass. Mine works without a hickup with case feeder. That is, it runs fine until it's short stroked. Half a minute or less will fix a short stroke timing issue.
It's quirky, once your mind is wrapped around it. Timing without primer feed is a non issue. The Pro1000 is pretty solid compared to LM. That said I can crank just as much ammo in an hour with Lee four hole turret vs either Lee progressive if including sizing and priming. Lee has been the only brand press I've known up until a few months ago. Lee presses can be made to run and run well but there's no sense of pretending. Loadmaster doesn't hold a candle to a green, blue, or Nebraska Husker red auto-progressive press. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Quoted:
*snip* Comes with its own case feeder, is quirky to set up, once you understand it, its easy to keep tuned. *snip* Great press if your mechanically inclined. If not, forget it. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile This is my impression of the Loadmaster. I had one for a couple years, sold it and bought a RCBS Turret. I figured if I was running my Loadmaster like a turret (No shellfeeder, no primer, half the time the powder thrower would give me trouble) might as well have a turret. I still have the Turret (With the AutoDisk powder thrower on it), and now there is a Dillon 550 on my bench, much better progressive! A good friend has a loadmaster, about 10 years old now. He's rebuilt it once or twice now, loaded a metric crap ton of various ammo on it. He is much more mechanically inclined than I am, and he has no trouble keeping his LM running. |
| I guess what I'm trying to do in a round about way is talk myself into it. I'd love a Dillon but can't justify that amount of money. All of my dies and pressed so far are Lee anyways, I have all the different calibers I'd need already, so all I need is the press itself. I understand there's no comparison between the two but the Lee is just what fits with the hobby at this point in life. |
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YMMV.. I fought the LM and the LM won.
I'm confident the simpler single stage and maybe some manual index type Lee presses are much more reliable than the LM. IMO the LM is a bunch of great ideas, but with non-robust implementation. Although I love so many of the design ideas and the "value and innovation" with the Loadmaster, but its simply not as refined or reliable as the Dillon 650 I replaced it with (or a SDB or 550 IMO). With the LM, I made hundreds of junk rounds out of several thousand total (still have containers I need to disassemble in fact). Most all were tipped/munched/missing primers. I also had issues with the index cam/rod binding and not rotating. The wear surfaces on the lee press wear too fast and have to much friction IMO, even when keeping a coat of grease and oil on them. Lee relies too heavily on plastic parts IMO (plastic parts are obviously cheap to mass produce once the molds are made). I could get the Lee to run for a hundred rounds or so at a time, and just when I thought all was good in the world, it would inevitably act up and give me fits. I ended up sanding burrs and parting lines, cleaning and replacing many plastic (and metal) Lee parts, I finally gave up and sold it. VERY HAPPY I DID, as the 650 is such a solid performer. Yes I know the 650 is not in the same league as the Lee so its not really a fair comparison, but I learned the COST of the press is NOTHING if you are actually a shooter and shoot. For example, so far I've placed 2 bullet orders (over $700 each) and a $700+ powder/primers and I'm ready to order more since I'm running low. Components will dwarf the press cost after just a couple seasons of shooting. And I'm confident the Dillon will last for decades, and the Lee would cause me decades of hair pulling and swearing and waiting for the mailman to bring me moe cheap plastic parts, even if they are free. I considered a dedicated SDB for each caliber and just leave them set up simultqaneously (still a good idea and value I think), then considered a 550, but for a little more "step up" I went XL650. With the 650 rarely do I make a bad round (maybe 1 in 1000 and its not a string of 4-5 in a row like the LM), nor do I have to adjust/tweak/tinker with the press AT ALL. It just works and works. There are a few things I want to improve on the 650 but none of my mods are for reliability, they are just for convenience/expediency. Its peace of mind walking up to it, loading the tubes and hoppers and going to town! YMMV, and as you said there are people happy with their LM's and some that are not. How many bad Dillon reports do you see? I'm now convinced its not simply blue kool aide. And like the Lee, great prices can be found on a new Dillon, you don't have to pay list price, but you do have to make some phone calls to get as deal. Your Lee dies will work on a 550 or 650, in fact I use a Lee decap/resize and a Lee FCD. I prefer a micrometer adjust Redding for seating, so nice to be able to adjust a few thousanths an have it right on, anytime. I don't care for the Dillon dies sets at all, they just sit in the drawer. Lee does make great dies! If your really serious about reloading in any volume, save a couple hundred more dollars and buy once, cry once. |
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O Quoted:
I guess what I'm trying to do in a round about way is talk myself into it. I'd love a Dillon but can't justify that amount of money. All of my dies and pressed so far are Lee anyways, I have all the different calibers I'd need already, so all I need is the press itself. I understand there's no comparison between the two but the Lee is just what fits with the hobby at this point in life. See, and I knew that. Know exactly what your coming from and figured you'd already made your decision. You just hadn't kicked your decision over yet. There's lots of support right here to make a go with that press. Have had an idea for some time about a way of improving primer feed. Not confident at all it will work, but worth a try. Tell you what. If you do buy a Loadmaster, post when you get it and we'll turn your thread into a, this is how I did it thread of your own. Will help you set up and tune press in thread. Good Luck. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Not to bash the others on here that are happy with theirs but two of my friends have had Loadmasters, and the only two I have ever known to own one. One of them bought one years ago and the other recently. Both are now running Dillon 650's and have a serious disdain for Lee products. One of them is mechanically inclined, rebuilt the motor in his truck.
I have some Lee products and all I have to say is that you get what you pay for. Look at Hornady or Dillon before buying something you have to "tune or fiddle" with. |
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XL 650 owner here, yup over here. It ain't about the size of your brain pan.
It's tenacity. Sorry your friends had a bad experience. Hell, I'm sorry I had a bad experience first go around. Once I made up my mind the damn Loadmaster was gonna work, the damn press worked. I've worked with Lee shit, crap, junk, good for nothin, cheap Chinese pot metal, pig shit presses for two plus decades. (Did I get enough Lee bashing in for everybody ?) If a guy has a budget to work with, respect it and help. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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I'm on a tight budget and after a lot of research went with a Loadmaster this spring, my first press. I am mechanically inclined, and so was pretty sure I could deal with any issues that came up. I went through all the recommended twaeaks and adjustments and started loading. After a day of messing about, I had everything running smoothly. One tweak helped a bunch, and that was to center-drill the well in the center of the toolhead and to fit a large center screw and lock nut to serve as a positive stop for the ram. It works fine. I can even load from unprocessed .223 brass to finished rounds all from cartridge feeding tube to finished rounds. The only consistent problem is that OAL swings +/- 3 thousandths on both pistol and rifle rounds. I can live with this I would make the same choice if I had to do it again.
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Quoted:
I'm on a tight budget and after a lot of research went with a Loadmaster this spring, my first press. I am mechanically inclined, and so was pretty sure I could deal with any issues that came up. I would make the same choice if I had to do it again. Same with a buddy from work , bought a return at Graf & Sons for his first press a bit of tinkering and everythings been fine, He even has no problem priming on the press. |
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I love Lee products in general (except their scales), and I'm pretty mechnically inclined, but I hate my Loadmaster. I can keep an industrial sewing machine in time and running smoothly with no manual, but the Loadmaster just required too much tinkering. It was taking away from my enjoyment. And switching out calibers was a PITA. If you count down time, I'm faster on my Lee turret press than I am with the LM.
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Okay, I am a proud Lee Loadmaster! i have reloaded thousands of .45, .40 and .223 rounds with mine. Pistol rounds are easy and seems to be the easier to load. .223 is a pain in the ass! I could probably reload faster with my single stage. If you are planing on reloading pistol only, get it. I get through 1000 rounds of .40 or .45 in a couple of hours. No time at all, really. But, if I had to do it all over again, I would spend the extra on a Dillon 650 and here's why. I have spent time and money ordering numerous spare parts and tinkering with it. I like the ability to switch out the calibers, but Dillon has the same ability. I am not a fan boy for either; I am just wanting to cut costs for practice. Do yourself a favor and invest in Dillon. I will be doing so when I can save the money for a 650 with case feeder and such.
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