Lee Loadmaster??

[RAM4171]

I know it's not a dillon, but it looks much better than the pro1000.
Anybody have any experience or opinions?

[MoJo]

No it's not a Dillon but it doesn't cost as much. I've been using one for about seven years now. The primer feed is a little finicky you need to keep several primer sliders on hand the powder measure works well and there are a few places that need lube the instructions don't tell you about. I got into mine for about $300 and have put about another $250 into it and can load 5 pistol calibers and three rifle calibers. If I had it to do all over I would still buy the Loadmaster or go with a Hornidy lock 'n load. Dillon is too proud of the blue paint for my wallet.

[rm9792]

when I started reloading I went whole hog and bought it with the case feeder, bullet feeder and auto powder measure. I have the 5 position turrets. Overall I like the unit but here are some issues:
1. The case feeder never has worked. I spent hours trying to get it to go then gave up and push the little black thing by hand.
2. The primer feeder tray is crap. It is a weak nylon setup that easily gets mangled and you dont know till you have loaded a few bad primers. It is a cheap (price) part and I ended up buying a half dozen as spares. Ditto for the tiny black slider that actually grabs the primer and moves it into place. Buy a dozen of the proper size ($1 each).
3. Setup is going to take hours. Go to youtube and look at the videos and setup along with them. You have to time a lot of stuff to get it to work right. Once set up though it generally stays timed.
4. I did wear out the arm or channel or something that moves the bottom rotating disc that carries the cases to each station. I have to manually pull it out each time then when the main crank goes up it pushes the tray to rotate the cases.
I have gotten rhythym down that all this goes fairly smoothly and can do about 700 primed cases an hour. I have to prime/deprime in one step then powder/bullet/crimp in a second go round.
I did load probably 10k plus rounds (.45/.50AE)before all the issues started so it easily payed for itself. Now for the pluses:
1. 1 crank of the handle gets you a fully done bullet each time if it is working properly. You can get a LOT of bullets in a short amount of time.
2. Powder measure is very consistent, less than .1 grain between loads on average.
3. Buy multiple turrets and you can change calibers in minutes. Also, I drilled out the center of the turret and mounted a small LED flashlight in it to shine light down on the cases. Makes it very easy to watch whats going on and to keep an eye on your powder loads.
4. The main unit is very heavy and sturdy so it should last a lifetime, just have to replace the little parts.

[RAM4171]

Thanks mojo. Found some on eBay for $250 or less, that incnlude dies and case feeder. If you've noticed any of my other posts I'm a beginner trying to decide on my first press. I'm fairly mechanically inclined and have watched the set up videos online. I talked to a "master reloader" the other day and he was dead set on selling me a Rock chucker supreme. I'm only planning on loading for pistol plinking.

[Jumping Frog]

Well, I have to say my experience has been much different than rm9792.

I have no problem with case feeding or priming. I might have one or 2 primers per thousand get munged. I am still on my original primer feed system. I have loaded almost 20,000 rounds on it in the last 3-4 years (I lose track of time). Last time I benchmarked it, I averaged 450 rounds per hour at a nice relaxed pace, while visually verifying the powder level in every case and watching the seating/crimping results.

Anyone wanting to try Loadmaster has a terrific resource available at loadmastervideos.com. There is a great forum and well as a ton of setup videos. Made the learning curve painless for me (and I was one of the original members).

I know that Dillon has the lifetime warranty and Loadmaster does not. But if my Loadmaster was completely destroyed tomorrow, I could buy two more of them and still have less money in it than a Dillon. Warranties aren't free - they are built into the price.

[philbo]

I picked up a lightly used Loadmaster a couple of years ago from another member here who had obviously gotten frustrated with it. Took about 30 minutes to set up in a friends garage (had one in operation already) and it's been cranking out ammo ever since. As mentioned there are some small parts you'll want to have extra on hand, but the case feeder and priming system work well on mine. Real advantage over the Pro 1000 is the Loadmaster uses a 5 hole turret as opposed to a 3 hole like the Pro 1000, and the LM's ability to handle rifle calibers. As already stated in the thread on the Pro 1000, Initial setup and tuning is not for the easily frustrated. Once you learn how the system operates it makes good ammo. Well worth the $100 it cost.

[ske1eter]

Thanks mojo. Found some on eBay for $250 or less, that incnlude dies and case feeder.

You can get it set up complete for one caliber here -> http://www.factorysales.com/html/xcart/ ... ldmas.html for slightly under $220.

I've loaded probably close to 10K on my Load Master and had a few issues with the primer slider getting caught and bent a bit. Definitely, check out the YouTube videos to assist in getting it set up as the manual is pretty worthless on that point.