Lee Loadmaster progressive press

[FF/EMT Nick]

Ok, I know a ton of you are going to say "buy the blue press, it's way better". My problem is that I can't really afford the blue press (and all the stuff I have to buy for My different caliber's).

I have been looking online at reviews, and videos of operation, and I think that the Lee is going to be my purchase in a progressive press. It looks like Lee has actually improved on the press itself recently, as far as quality and reliability, and there is a ton of new videos on how to make it run smoothly.

Do any of you have any experience with the Loadmaster? I'm looking for opinions on the Lee from guys who actually use it. FYI, I'm currently using an old Horandy single stage i got at a garage sale.

Maybe I should just paint the Lee blue when it arrives.

[MaHoTex]

I have a loadmaster and love it.
The only 2 issues I have had are as follows:
1) The indexer would not rotate enough to move to the next postion. To resolve this I drilled and threaded the plasitc part and put a screw into it to make it rotate a bit more. Works great now.
2) One of the slots on the shell plate was narrower than the others and the case would sometimes (one out of 10 times or so) not slide into position. I filed the opening on the slots to widen the 1/16" entry point. Zero failures since that.

It took me several hours to set it up, and a few more to fidure out the minor issues, but now I can easily turn out 400-500 rounds in an hour. I literally spend more time putting bullets into the feeder and sheels into the shell feeder than reloading.

Buy it and you will not regret it.

[Mikeb]

I've got a loadmaster and think it is a fine press. The weakest link is the priming system. There are a couple of small plastic (nylon?) parts that meter the primers and they can get chewed up if you get powder particles in there. So get a few spares and you are good to go. I use mine for .45acp and .44mag. I use a Rockchucker for rifle ammo. I upgraded mine to include the adjustable charge bar instead of the disks.
take care
Mike

[MaHoTex]

I agree about the priming system being the weakest link. I smashed the #$%^ out of the little arm under the shell plate and had to replace it. I just bought 5 of each part for the primer system and keep them handy incase it happens again.

The only reason mine broke is because the deprimer pin slid up and failed to deprime a case. When the new primer tried to go it it obviously would not go. SOOO, I pulled the lever to hard and tweaked it before I was able to figure out the problem. New parts were way cheap and received in a couple of days.

No issues since then.

[GSwain]

I also have one, and as long as you are mechanically inclined its a fantastic press. It can be finnicky at times, and it may not be as foolproof as some of the others, but mine cost me WAY less than a Dillon or other model. Keep it clean and lubed and itll do good for you.

[zfields]

I have a loadmaster and love it.
The only 2 issues I have had are as follows:
1) The indexer would not rotate enough to move to the next postion. To resolve this I drilled and threaded the plasitc part and put a screw into it to make it rotate a bit more. Works great now.2) One of the slots on the shell plate was narrower than the others and the case would sometimes (one out of 10 times or so) not slide into position. I filed the opening on the slots to widen the 1/16" entry point. Zero failures since that.

It took me several hours to set it up, and a few more to fidure out the minor issues, but now I can easily turn out 400-500 rounds in an hour. I literally spend more time putting bullets into the feeder and sheels into the shell feeder than reloading.

Buy it and you will not regret it.

Had to do the same thing on one of my presses, but not the other.

[Toy4Rick]

We have a Lee Pro 1000, load 9mm and 38 and so far, we have loaded over 7500 rounds with only a couple issues. The shell plate carrier cracked, Lee said it was due to dies being out of adjustment, they replaced it under warranty. Broke a decapper pin, my fault.

Primer feed is the weaker part of this system as well, however if you keep it clean then she usually runs very well. We just an air hose about every 50 rounds or so or if a primer doesn't load cuz that means some power went through the flash hole and down into the primer seating area

We can load 350-400 on a good hour, hard to beat for $139.00

Toy4Rick

[Cowboy T]

It's like I've been saying for a long time now: all the reloading companies make good gear. It simply depends on your own shooting needs. While there are certainly "beefier" presses, e. g. those from Dillon Precision, I find Lee's progressive presses just fine for the hobbyist reloader such as what I am (not IPSC/USPSA competitor or something like that).

While I don't have a LM, I do have two of its little brother, the Pro 1000. There are well over 20,000 rounds on one of mine, and about 6,000 on the other. Typically I shoot about 1,000 rounds/month, so they do see some use. While the priming system is the "weak link" in most progressives that I've seen, if you keep it clean, the LM and Pro 1K will be just fine. The key is indeed to keep it clean.

You would do well to head over to The Loadmaster Zone (http://www.loadmastervideos.net/). They have a great set of videos that are specific to the LM in case you run into any issues. Should you decide on a Pro 1000, my Web site is the equivalent for that press.

- T

[zfields]

I actually havent had much of an issue with the primer feed.

As long as you understand that the Lee presses need a little "wobble" to work well, you will be fine with it : )

[mnguyen84]

if you plan to reload rifle, dont buy the case feed. i've tried to modify the hell out of that thing but no bueno. otherwise, i have not had any problems.

[GSwain]

It's like I've been saying for a long time now: all the reloading companies make good gear. It simply depends on your own shooting needs. While there are certainly "beefier" presses, e. g. those from Dillon Precision, I find Lee's progressive presses just fine for the hobbyist reloader such as what I am (not IPSC/USPSA competitor or something like that).

While I don't have a LM, I do have two of its little brother, the Pro 1000. There are well over 20,000 rounds on one of mine, and about 6,000 on the other. Typically I shoot about 1,000 rounds/month, so they do see some use. While the priming system is the "weak link" in most progressives that I've seen, if you keep it clean, the LM and Pro 1K will be just fine. The key is indeed to keep it clean.

You would do well to head over to The Loadmaster Zone (http://www.loadmastervideos.net/). They have a great set of videos that are specific to the LM in case you run into any issues. Should you decide on a Pro 1000, my Web site is the equivalent for that press.

- T

I actually watched a few of cowboy T's videos on the loadmaster, as well as some of the others on youtube. They convinced me that the loadmaster was a great way to have my cake and eat it too.

[StaTiK]

Do any of you have any experience with the Loadmaster? I'm looking for opinions on the Lee from guys who actually use it.

I don't own one so don't think I'm biased one way or the other. But with Lee, and the LM specifically, it sounds like you're inadvertently asking for a jaded response.

The LM seems to fall into 2 camps: 1)worst POS ever made, and curses to whoever made/sells it, or 2)excellent value, works every bit as good as a blue press at 1/3 of the price as long as you have the tiniest bit of mechanical aptitude.

If you ask from guys who still use it then you're only going to get responses from the 2nd camp (the 1st camp gave/sold/returned/shot theirs). Also, I think some people hate to chime in and say it is a POS because there is a counter "Lee bashing" crowd now.

In some circles talking about a LM, positive or negative, is trolling.

-StaTiK-

[stand125]

I recently picked a used Lee classic turret press and love the thing. I started using it as a single stage since the index bushing was obviously worn out. LEE sent me 2 free of charge. LEE even knew I bought it used and still sent me the bushings for free. I now use it in the auto index mode and load 50 rounds every 13 minutes. I like that I can verify every case has powder as I am pulling the lever to index to the bullet seating stage.

[Cowboy T]

I think some people hate to chime in and say it is a POS because there is a counter "Lee bashing" crowd now.

Bashing anybody's choice of gear is of course not appropriate, at least not on a civilized forum. I would hope that CalGuns is a civilized forum.

In some circles talking about a LM, positive or negative, is trolling.

Hopefully not here! Folks, reloading presses are simply tools; they are not God. Each person must make his or her individual choice. It's like cars; we don't typically tell someone who just bought a Honda Accord, "that's a POS, you should've bought what I bought!" That is rude and why we don't do it. Should be the same with anything else.

I actually watched a few of cowboy T's videos on the loadmaster, as well as some of the others on youtube. They convinced me that the loadmaster was a great way to have my cake and eat it too.

While my videos are actually on the Pro 1000, I wish I could take credit for the Loadmaster ones! They are very well done and highly recommended. Those who do choose a Loadmaster would be well advised to check them out.

[Hooligan]

What are the significant differences between the Load Master and Pro 1000?

From reading the literature- seems the perform similar functions and the only difference is a small amount of cash.