Lee 6000 Six Pack Pro - Primer Issues

[bibatoad]

I have the 6 pack Pro ... while it can make nice ammunition when it behaves, I seem to constantly have issues with the priming station ... usually it's the primer gets flipped on it's side somehow and then crushed into the primer socket. This happens almost 10 times out of 100 so I'm wasting 10% of my primers. I have no clue how or why the primers flip on edge but they aren't like that when they are in the pickup tray going into where the ram is ... they seem to be getting flipped when going onto the ram. Any ideas how to fix this?

Something that might help is to chamfer your primer pockets, this sets up the primer to more easily enter and align itself into the pocket. Also check to see if this is a common problem and see what others are doing to fix the issue.

 

[Odinson]

I use my loadmaster all the time it’s my main press
I bought a second one just as they discontinued it to have as a spare
The priming system on it sucks I will agree to that, I also don’t care for the indexing rod setup and the little spring/ejector plate on the shell plate
The blast shield was for if you use federal primers as they had a tendency to go off and explode the entire priming tray. Federal primers were more sensitive then other primers
I think Lee should have redid the shortcomings of the loadmaster by making revised parts that you could upgrade your press with and they would have had a decent unit
Now that it’s discontinued getting parts will be an issue

I can tell everyone that is pretty exciting for a moment or two when a primer goes off. They were not evenly distributed. Had to order a new primer tray and primer feed. I also ordered the blast shield.

 

[ranbur]

I had a string of half the feed slide go off on my 1000 once, woke me up for sure ...

 

[ForgedTurbo]

Here's the Odd Thing: Thousands of Rounds on the Load Master, no problems. (9mm / 223 / 308 / 450Bush)
You want the updated Primer Feed though, that's important. Tons of sideways primers with the old Primer Feed.

 

[Deathrawt]

I’ve yet to pop a primer on the loadmaster but I don’t use Federal primers either
I would have went with a Dillion 650 years ago but I load almost 40 different cartridges/calibers and the loadmaster is easy and cheap to change from one to the other
You just need the shell plate and a different turret, plus both primer feed assembly’s. I use a charge master lite for powder charges and manually insert the case and bullet
Caliber changes on the 650 are expensive from what I’ve seen

 

[tigrr]

I bought the Dillon XL650 set up for 9mm and one set up for 45acp.
I had 4 plates and dies set up for the lee pro 1000. I rarely had a good string of reloading with the lee pro 1000.
I have had a really good reloading time with the Lee classic cast 4 hole turret press for 12 rifle loads, just change dies and shell holder. And I own a Lee single stage for removing primers or some other process that would take longer on the turret press for rifle loads.
I had 8 presses and am now down to 5. 1 is a bullet resizer only.

 

[Deathrawt]

I have a classic cast turret as well for doing the larger stuff that I only make a few rounds of and it’s been a good press
With 375 h&h though for some reason I have to use the small primer punch as the large one doesn't push the primers in quite far enough and they stand proud
Same with 9.3x62
It’s a minor inconvenience though
Ya if I ever have the need to load up thousands of rounds of 223 or 9mm then setting up a Dillion for that caliber and leaving it set up for it would be the way to go

 

[bearhunter]

Here's the Odd Thing: Thousands of Rounds on the Load Master, no problems. (9mm / 223 / 308 / 450Bush)
You want the updated Primer Feed though, that's important. Tons of sideways primers with the old Primer Feed.

Do you properly inspect/prep your cases before running them through your press?

If not, you're either using commercial cases with properly chamfered and usually very consistent primer pockets.

As mentioned above, many folks are using mixed manufacturers cases, and some may be milsurp, or range pick up.

One thing I do, especially with pistol brass that is new to me, is wash the cases in soap and water, dry, lube, resize/decap, then individually run them through my press onto a primer pocket swager.

This is a homemade affair, made from an RCBS swing in single primer seat arm. I replaced the primer anvil/cup holder unit with a swaging button that I turned out on my lathe. It's quick and easy to uniform the primer pockets this way.

RCBS also makes a primer pocket uniforming tool, but it's slow and tedious, unless it's chucked into a hand drill or drill press. It takes a bit of practice to get it right every time, and if you don't hold the case tight, it will get spun out of your hand. But it works.

Not all primer pockets are created equal. Mixing North American made cases with European or Asian cases will always lead to issues.