My Review of the lee loadmaster

Rancher5 said:

Congratulations, I too had great results, with LM mainly 9mm, few quirks, tho I do not have bullet seater , i like to check powder before bullet placement , use a Pro 1000 for 45's O problems still LM loads more per hour than lee 1000, yes if i was flush with money I'd own a Dillon1050, which is never going to happen, Thanks for your review.

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You can still check powder before bullet placement. Only thing that changes is you are not handling the bullet.

I do HVAC as well. I bought a LM in March, loaded about 500 rds on it so far. I made a case feeder for it as well using some ideas from bearing01 on YouTube. Had primer feed issues but haven't loaded in a while to know if I fixed yet or not.

BigBore45 said:

well i took a nap and tooled over to .223. running fine no problems with the press yet..... Ill keep updating this thread throughout the week. all i have noticed is that is is getting smoother as i load on it. i cleaned it when i changed to .223 it wasn't to dirty. have a few hundred more .223 to load and i will tool up for .357 mag. if it lasts like this, even with minor teaking, i will be over joyed with this buy!

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Your thread is starting to sound like my pro1000 threads. I have even made a few updates on it. It just keeps going.

Thanks Bang was not aware of that, why i always stayed clear Bullet feeders"

BigBore45 said:

yeah i have been following, kinda the kicker to try this loadmaster. i think most of the problems i read on the lee presses is operator error or lack of mechanical knowledge. ( which you should have if your are "building" ammunition.)

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Good deal! I was hoping that those threads would give more people the courage to give it a go.

I spent a long time knowing how crappy those presses were, after all, I read it in the internet. I used to tell people to stay away, totally spoken from ignorance.

I think much of the issues with them are because of the price point. It's attractive to new reloaders who have zero experience. Let's be honest, they aren't great presses got people who are brand new to reloading, especially those without a solid mechanical background(that really applies to any progressive).

I bet you used iskysoft software to edit that video

I am so thankful for this thread. I am not a Lee LM owner, but I do use some Lee products. I actually load on a 550b. What is making me excited is that my wife is allowing me to build a bench in the corner near her art supply cabinets/workspace, and put my 550b up. I'll now be able to get these components put together.
The one compromise is that I have to get a cover for the press from Dillon, and not leave any jugs of powder or bullets on the desk. Only tools. I can live with that.

I have said this earlier, but congratulations on the LM. I am starting to feel left out because I haven't been able to load, but that is changing, and this thread put the fire under me to get going!

i hate loading 9mm on anything(is it the tapered case ? uggg...)
but i do them by the 1000s on a loadmaster
i like doing .38/.357 on the LM
and loading .40S&W is really nice !
i load a lot of .45acp large primer and its great
but small primer .45acp is the slickest of all
like greased grease !

Good Loader. I've got well over 10k rounds through mine. I've loaded 9mm, 38spl, 357m, 44spl, 44mag, 45acp, 45 colt, & 454 casull in pistol, & 30-30, 308, & 223 in rifle. The primer seating lever broke doing the tough 223 deprime/prime, because i just put the brass in & cranked it. I did over 800 in a couple of sittings before it finally broke.
I tried the bullet feeder in 38 cal, but it didn't work well enough to mess with.

The biggest problems i've had were with the primer feed. Some get smashed or turned, or miss completely. I find after doing a hundred or more, it gets dirty & needs cleaned up. It is fussy about setup, but once you get it dialed in, you can just crank the handle & spit out good bullets. I'll stop every 10-20 rounds & make sure the primer is good, or that the crimper is right, but usually it can just crank them out.

I even used it for some 410 brass reloading, to deprime, prime, & drop powder.

I had the primer lever bolt part crack on the ram, after ~ 8k rounds or so.. probably my fault for pushing too hard when i knew there was a problem. But Lee replaced it. I had to mail in the old one, & they sent me a new one without charge.

I keep it greased up, & all the sliding parts clean & filmed with some white lithium grease. I watch the case feeder, to make sure no brass is upside down, then the primer feed, to see it's feeding right, & occasionally the powder feed, which is the most dependable part.. never a hiccup with it. The bullet seat is easy, after placing it on the case, & i usually crimp in the last station, for most calibers.

I have mine bolted to a plywood base, & that on a table, which wobbles a bit. But i find that it helps with the powder drop. When i had it on a more solid base, the flake powder wouldn't always drop consistently. With the less stable table, it shakes a bit more with each crank, & drops the powder more consistently. It was not that far off, anyway, but i measure it now & then & would see a .1 or .2 variance in grain weight. For my non critical range shooting, it has not been a problem. Ball powder drops more consistently.

I might be due to replace the primer feeders, but everything else is still tight. The case holders turn fine, & the ram slides evenly. it is nice to just drop in the loaded turrets, with all the dies in place & adjusted. I just check them check the powder load & a couple of bullet seatings & crimps, then crank away.

I have gotten cranky in my old age, & this thing proves it!

I've only used mine for .380 and 9mm. Everything else gets built on the turret for now at least. I have about 10-12000 rds through it since I bought it. It did require a bit of tweaking to get the carriage set up initially and the Lee instructions were not helpful at all for that. In fact, they steered me the wrong way by implying that the carriage never needs adjustment:banghead:

After a couple of hours of frustration, I watch a youtube vid on how to tune the carriage and 5 minutes later I was good to go.

I think the main reason some people hate these presses is a combination of weak mechanical troubleshooting skills and very poor directions and troubleshooting guides. Lee really needs to focus on that later item. The press itself is a good machine. If it came with a good set up and troubleshooting manual (with links to videos) even mechanically disinclined folks would have a pretty easy time with it.



My favorite addition to my LM was adding an RCBS tube bullet feeder. It was cheap and once I found the sweet spot it has run perfectly for all of my 9mm plated and jacketed bullets.

I cant speak on the loadmaster but for 38 super I use the pro 1000, I had a dillion but it was so used when I got it I sent it back twice for repairs and for what I paid in shipping on that I bought a pro 1k I can turn 350-500 an hour if I have all my primer trays full and no interruptions, the best I could do on the dillion was about 200, but again I got it well used or used up, and when I sold it, it still wasn't working well......good on you if the blue coolaid works for you but the lee is doing great for me

dnfd737 said:

I cant speak on the loadmaster but for 38 super I use the pro 1000, I had a dillion but it was so used when I got it I sent it back twice for repairs and for what I paid in shipping on that I bought a pro 1k I can turn 350-500 an hour if I have all my primer trays full and no interruptions, the best I could do on the dillion was about 200, but again I got it well used or used up, and when I sold it, it still wasn't working well......good on you if the blue coolaid works for you but the lee is doing great for me

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I absolutely love my pro1000. You will see my praise scattered all over this forum. It just works, plain and simple.

Yeah, I noticed my primer spring was bent on mine. I need to order new ones but haven't got to it yet

I've previously owned two Pro 1000s and one Load Master. I'm always happy to hear that others are happy with theirs.
str1

I read through thread and It still seems like the LM is hit or miss for some people. I want to start reloading and I'm ready to buy a press. Should I spend the extras $$ and get the Dillon if it means less problems and more reloading I'm in. The Dillon RL550B is the one I'm looking at.

I've had one since 2001 or so. I use it to deprime/size using the case feeder, then I use a RCBS universal hand primer to prime.

I gave up using the case feeder when running the sized/primed cases. I load cases by hand, way less stuff to go wrong.

I loaded 301 rounds of .38spl yesterday, changing over to 9mm now.

762operator said:

I read through thread and It still seems like the LM is hit or miss for some people. I want to start reloading and I'm ready to buy a press. Should I spend the extras $$ and get the Dillon if it means less problems and more reloading I'm in. The Dillon RL550B is the one I'm looking at.

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The 550 is a great press. It loads a lot of trouble free ammo in a short time. If you need more then get the 650. I've owned presses from all the major manufacturers out there, with the exception of Lyman. They all do the job, some just require a lot of fiddling. Buy as good a press as you can afford. You'll never regret buying quality. The Hornady LNL is a good option as well.
str1
edit: FWIW Amazon has the 550 for $449.99 with free shipping. You'd need a caliber conversion and a set of dies to be ready to load. Lee dies work fine. That would add about $100 or so to be ready to load. Of course you'll need measuring instruments, a scale, and manuals as well. The LNL is about the same as the 550, and the LM comes in at under $300 with dies and everything you need to load press wise.

Glad you like it.

I don't.

Different strokes/different folks