Upgrading from Lee Classic Turret to Lee Loadmaster

A

adrenaline681

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
Location
Vancouver, BC
Hello, I've been reloading 9mm with my Lee Classic Turret and recently i purchased some new dies for 223 and started loading this aswell.

It has come to a point that its taking too much time reloading 9mm and I've considered upgrading to a progressive press.

For what I've been able to read, the Dillon 650 and 1050 are the best but they are too expensive for what i need right now.
I thought that the Lee Loadmaster has a reasonable price and would work just fine for now, I thought I could use this to reload 9mm and leave my turret press for 223.

I've seen that BudgetShooter sells the Loadmaster kit for 9mm and for 223 but I already own the 9mm and 223 Lee dies and i own 2 sets of Lee Autodrum powder measure.

I was wondering what parts that i have already purchased for my Lee Turret i can reuse for the loadmaster and if there is a better way other than purchasing the whole kit and having a duplicate of the dies and powder dispenser.

Any advice of the best way to upgrade without buying extra duplicate stuff?

Thanks
 
Honestly, hearing from people I know that have them and have used them for a while, pass over them. The Lee progressives are very finicky compared to others and make progressive loading more frustrating to learn. I'm not going to push Dillon blue as I have never even touched one but I have an RCBS pro2000 and if you can find a used one they are excellent presses. Hornady is pretty good as well.

Just save your dollars for a few months, save the frustration and get something you can enjoy using. I upgraded slowly from the Lee stuff and good equipment make reloading an enjoyable endeavour.
 
I have the 4 hole turret and the Loadmaster. I use the Loadmaster for pistol rounds only. I now have switched to the Lee Classic Breech from the turret to do rifle rounds, 223 and 308.

Unless you are using new or your own once fired 223 brass, you'll find you need to swage or ream the primer pockets of some brass, and you'll find this out during the priming phase. In my experience, I would be single staging all my steps for rifle rounds anyways, so no Loadmaster for me.
 
I went from the Classic Turret to the Dillon 550c. You can easily load twice as much ammo with the Dillon in the same amount of time and the build quality is much better. I use my Lee dies in the 550 without issue
 
adrenaline681 said:
Hello, I've been reloading 9mm with my Lee Classic Turret and recently i purchased some new dies for 223 and started loading this aswell.

It has come to a point that its taking too much time reloading 9mm and I've considered upgrading to a progressive press.

For what I've been able to read, the Dillon 650 and 1050 are the best but they are too expensive for what i need right now.
I thought that the Lee Loadmaster has a reasonable price and would work just fine for now, I thought I could use this to reload 9mm and leave my turret press for 223.

I've seen that BudgetShooter sells the Loadmaster kit for 9mm and for 223 but I already own the 9mm and 223 Lee dies and i own 2 sets of Lee Autodrum powder measure.

I was wondering what parts that i have already purchased for my Lee Turret i can reuse for the loadmaster and if there is a better way other than purchasing the whole kit and having a duplicate of the dies and powder dispenser.

Any advice of the best way to upgrade without buying extra duplicate stuff?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I have a loadmaster. I went through a similar process as you, except I started with a single-stage instead of a turret. I already had my dies for all my calibres (I shoot 9mm, 357, 45acp, 44 magnum and 50AE), so I ordered a 223, which I didn't have at the time, but I bought an AR since then so I'm all set-up already. I tried to get a "blank" kit, but it doesn't exists.

Essentially, all the kits contain roughly the same stuff, except for the case dispensing stuff and the shellplates. The case dispensers are made of 2 parts, and to make a long story short, there's 3 types: small, large and rifle. Rifle is a small diameter tube with a large case slider, so if you have a small and a large, you can make a rifle (I had to buy all 3 to figure that out). But in any case, no matter which kit you buy, you can get the right dispenser for 30$. For the shellplate you need the right one for your calibre, and they cost about 30-40$ each. If you buy a 9mm kit, you'll get a 9mm shellplate.

So here's the thing: if you already have dies and don't want extras, you can get a kit for another calibre from x-reload. They have 357 and 45acp in stock (and 9mm). They are about 50$ less expensive than BudgetShooter and depending on where you live, you might save on taxes (I ended up buying from BudgetShooter because I saved on provincial taxes, but it might be the opposite for you). If you buy a kit for, 357 or 45acp, you'd need a 9mm shellplate (19s) and a small case feeder. Then you'd have everything for 9mm, and the other calibre. If you ever want to use it for 223, all you'll need is the shellplate(4s). If you really have no interest at all for any calibre other than 9mm, then go for a 9mm kit (whichever is least expensive, there's no benefit from one retailer to another) and sell the extra dies and the auto-disk.

I use exclusively auto-drums with my press, which you already own, so no expensve there. Ditch the auto-disk or sell them on the EE, the drums are better.

People will tell you to buy a dillon, and the dillons are probably better, but you'll be out 1000$ instead of 400$. I make 400 rounds/hour with my loadmaster, and even if I could make twice that with a dillon (I doubt it), it still wouldn't be worth it for me. 3 hours of reloading, a couple times a year and I make 5000 rounds/year, which is enough for my pistol needs. Just like for everything else, there are thousand of satisfied Lee customers who you'll never hear about. You can be sure you'll hear everything about Dillon's satisfied customers though, their motto has changed from "buy once cry once" to "buy once brag about it forever".

On a side note, there's one optional thing you might want to add, and it's a hornady powder cop die. Since there's 5 station on the lee but only 4 dies, you have a free station to add either a powder cop or a bullet feeder die. I chose the powder cop for 9mm, and nothing at all for the other calibres.
 
I'm not going to get into a big debate here but I have two Loadmasters and have used them for years. Can they be finicky...yes. Are they junk....no. Lots of online help available and replacement parts are cheap. Once you get familiar with it (as is the case with all progressives) you will be able to quickly & easily diagnose the few problems that will arise. Dillons are fine presses but you're going to pay and pay big for that quality. A 650 WITHOUT the case feeder will run you over $1000. Dillon accessories are expensive. The Dillon 550 is also decent but a 'progressive' that you have to manually advance seems counter intuitive. And Dillons do break down. Some people would have you believe they're indestructible but they're not and will have problems as well. No progressive is perfect.

As for your parts, keep the 223 dies for loading on your Classic turret as well as your auto drum measure. The auto drum will also fit the Loadmaster and if it comes with one you can sell one. They are a great powder measure (read the reviews). The Loadmaster will come with dies but you can sell one set & recoup most of your money.

I also have a classic cast turret that I use for loading my smaller volume pistol calibres and do all my rifle loading on my RCBS Rockchucker.

And read the sticky on progressives by acrashb. Great review.
 
VinnyQC said:
I have a loadmaster. I went through a similar process as you, except I started with a single-stage instead of a turret. I already had my dies for all my calibres (I shoot 9mm, 357, 45acp, 44 magnum and 50AE), so I ordered a 223, which I didn't have at the time, but I bought an AR since then so I'm all set-up already. I tried to get a "blank" kit, but it doesn't exists.

Essentially, all the kits contain roughly the same stuff, except for the case dispensing stuff and the shellplates. The case dispensers are made of 2 parts, and to make a long story short, there's 3 types: small, large and rifle. Rifle is a small diameter tube with a large case slider, so if you have a small and a large, you can make a rifle (I had to buy all 3 to figure that out). But in any case, no matter which kit you buy, you can get the right dispenser for 30$. For the shellplate you need the right one for your calibre, and they cost about 30-40$ each. If you buy a 9mm kit, you'll get a 9mm shellplate.

So here's the thing: if you already have dies and don't want extras, you can get a kit for another calibre from x-reload. They have 357 and 45acp in stock (and 9mm). They are about 50$ less expensive than BudgetShooter and depending on where you live, you might save on taxes (I ended up buying from BudgetShooter because I saved on provincial taxes, but it might be the opposite for you). If you buy a kit for, 357 or 45acp, you'd need a 9mm shellplate (19s) and a small case feeder. Then you'd have everything for 9mm, and the other calibre. If you ever want to use it for 223, all you'll need is the shellplate(4s). If you really have no interest at all for any calibre other than 9mm, then go for a 9mm kit (whichever is least expensive, there's no benefit from one retailer to another) and sell the extra dies and the auto-disk.

I use exclusively auto-drums with my press, which you already own, so no expensve there. Ditch the auto-disk or sell them on the EE, the drums are better.

People will tell you to buy a dillon, and the dillons are probably better, but you'll be out 1000$ instead of 400$. I make 400 rounds/hour with my loadmaster, and even if I could make twice that with a dillon (I doubt it), it still wouldn't be worth it for me. 3 hours of reloading, a couple times a year and I make 5000 rounds/year, which is enough for my pistol needs. Just like for everything else, there are thousand of satisfied Lee customers who you'll never hear about. You can be sure you'll hear everything about Dillon's satisfied customers though, their motto has changed from "buy once cry once" to "buy once brag about it forever".

On a side note, there's one optional thing you might want to add, and it's a hornady powder cop die. Since there's 5 station on the lee but only 4 dies, you have a free station to add either a powder cop or a bullet feeder die. I chose the powder cop for 9mm, and nothing at all for the other calibres.
Click to expand...

Hi Vinny thanks for the great explanation, i sent an email to budget shooter and Henry told me he would be able to sell me just what i need so i wouldnt have duplicates. Is there anything else you suggest me getting apart from the press and the powder cop?
How do you get the shells into the tubes with the right orientation? i saw people using some sort of red collator but they were having issued getting the some shells upside down.
 
I've got Dillon and Lee progressive presses. The Dillon is definitely better finished, and needs less tinkering - but it does need adjustments or occasionally some fiddling, they all do.
The Lee needs closer attention paid to everything all the time - which I don't mind, but it's not for everyone. If you tend to be very mechanically inclined and don't mind more tinkering then the LEE will do fine for you. But there is no question the Dillon is a higher grade machine.
 
adrenaline681 said:
How do you get the shells into the tubes with the right orientation? i saw people using some sort of red collator but they were having issued getting the some shells upside down.
Click to expand...
The way they are dropped ito the collator is they key. You drop them around the outside rim and lightly swirl the collator. 99% will drop in the right way. Some cases like 38 Special almost never feed upside down. 45 ACP are the same. 9mm are a little less consistent.

The problems arise when people drop them too close to the tube holes and don't give them a chance to orient base down before they drop into the tubes.
 
ted_dent said:
The way they are dropped ito the collator is they key. You drop them around the outside rim and lightly swirl the collator. 99% will drop in the right way. Some cases like 38 Special almost never feed upside down. 45 ACP are the same. 9mm are a little less consistent.

The problems arise when people drop them too close to the tube holes and don't give them a chance to orient base down before they drop into the tubes.
Click to expand...

Does this collator come with the Loadmaster kit? or it has to be purchased separatelly?
 
jethunter said:
I've got Dillon and Lee progressive presses. The Dillon is definitely better finished, and needs less tinkering - but it does need adjustments or occasionally some fiddling, they all do.
The Lee needs closer attention paid to everything all the time - which I don't mind, but it's not for everyone. If you tend to be very mechanically inclined and don't mind more tinkering then the LEE will do fine for you. But there is no question the Dillon is a higher grade machine.
Click to expand...

Reminds me of a scene(s) in a Movie. at 1:00:40 and at 1:07:20
 
adrenaline681 said:
Hi Vinny thanks for the great explanation, i sent an email to budget shooter and Henry told me he would be able to sell me just what i need so i wouldnt have duplicates. Is there anything else you suggest me getting apart from the press and the powder cop?
How do you get the shells into the tubes with the right orientation? i saw people using some sort of red collator but they were having issued getting the some shells upside down.
Click to expand...

Get the case collator. It works. Mostly. I'd say for 9mm I have about 1 case out of 40 that's upside-down. Maybe less. With larger calibres it pretty much never happens. When it happens, you just pick it up with your finger and place it back.

Personnaly I prime my cases outside of the press, with a hand primer, while watching tv. The priming hand on the press works, but there's no "out of primer" warning, so it just starts making a mess when there's no primer. If you don't have one, I'd suggest the Lyman, but they all moslty work fine.

The powder cop isn't necessary, but with 9mm I like it cause it helps avoir double-charges and squibs. With large calibres you can't have double loads and it's easy to see squibs. If you're careful you won't have double loads though, the only one I've had was my fault, not the press fault. Anyway, it's up to you, but personnaly I like it.

I think that's pretty much it. I bought larger bins from the hardware store, bu that's it. If you forget small accessories, amazon usually has them, so you can get them free shipping.
 
The case feeder comes with the press. The ones sold by themselves are there in case you want multiple calibres I think. Like, if you have a 9mm kit and then want to expand to 45acp, you buy the large case feeder with the shellplate and the dies.
 
VinnyQC said:
The case feeder comes with the press. The ones sold by themselves are there in case you want multiple calibres I think. Like, if you have a 9mm kit and then want to expand to 45acp, you buy the large case feeder with the shellplate and the dies.
Click to expand...
Sorry, you're right. That's what I thought he meant. Small primer calibre Loadmaster (e.g. 9mm) comes with the small case feeder assembly and tubes. To switch to large calibre cases (e.g. 45 ACP) he would need the large case feeder assembly. The collator works for both large and small cases.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom