First stab at progressive reloading

Silverado

Silverado

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I've recently started progressive reloading for my 45ACP. Having never used anything other than a single stage press before, this was a very steep learning curve for me, but I got it all figured out in a few hours.

I chose the Lee Loadmaster kit, for the simple reason that a major part of reloading is cost savings, and the Loadmaster came it at $339 plus tax, and had EVERYTHING in the box needed besides components. (The only extra I purchased was a Factory Crimp Die, which was less than $20, and not strictly needed, but I like them.)

After unpacking the box and sorting the contents, I got to work. Mounting the press is a no brainer; bolt it down.

The indexing action came pre-adjusted, and worked fine. The most arduous part of setup was getting the case feeder working properly. I feel the reason is that the parts diagram, coupled with the instructions, leave some clarity to be desired regarding which part is which. After some trial and error, it got it going AOK.

The priming system worked perfectly right out of the box. (Admittedly, I did wreck one of the primer sliders in the first 5 minutes, but after reading the directions again, I realized this was entirely my fault. In any case, they include some spare parts, a primer slider among them.)

I've seen that most people complain about setting and adjusting the bead chain that returns the powder measure. I had no problem, however I did break the chain when I tried to remove the powder measure without raising the ram; again, my fault. :slap: Lee thoughtfully provides a joining link for the chain.

As for the powder measure itself, the only 'trouble' I had was that there was not a load listed for the powder I had on hand; Hodgdon Longshot. After 2 or 3 tries with various disk cavities, I found the right one.

A note from my experience with Lee powder measures: being made of plastics, these come from the factory with some 'stickiness' which I believe is static electricity. They require a few dozen charges to be thrown before they smooth out. After that process, the measure threw an exactly consistent 6.4 grains, time after time as measured on my digital powder scale.

After messing with the dies to get them set to my liking, I tried a few rounds. At first I loaded each case by hand, to get a handle on the movements of the press at various stages. Once I had a comfortable understanding of what the thing was doing, I installed the case feeder and was off!

Needless to say, it was a revelation to be able to cycle out round after round of shiny, perfectly consistent pistol ammo in such quick fashion. :dancingbanana:
Each and every one measured exactly the same with a digital caliper, and weighed within .5gr of each other on the scale. (I've had bullets vary by several grains before, so no worries.)

My only minor gripe is that there seems to be an area of high friction at the mid point in the lever stroke. It is not due to the case feeder, as it is consistent with the feeder connected or disconnected. I believe it's in the ram/frame somewhere (which I did fully lube) and will likely disappear with use.

The biggest surprise to me was the force with which I need to lower the lever. I did realize that in 3 of the 4 dies, a sizing operation is taking place all at the same time. (These are of course carbide dies.)

TWO QUESTIONS FOR HIGH VOLUME RELOADERS:

Is is advisable to lightly lube the dies or brass to ease the amount of force required, even with carbide dies? (I was using brand new brass if that makes a difference.)

How many times can 45ACP brass be reloaded?

All in all, I'm VERY pleased with the Lee Loadmaster kit. The price will be recouped in quick fashion by the cost savings, and having never used any other progressive, I suppose I'm not 'spoiled' by the nicer/more expensive units available. On that note, all my other loading equipment is Lee (except the digital powder scale/dispenser, which is Lyman,) and I find all of it to be easy to use and produce excellent ammunition. :popCorn:

My next venture will be to purchase the required parts to use this for reloading 223 ammo for my AR15. I'll give an update at that time!
 
You only have to lube if your arm gets too tired to keep loading, or if you're some sorta sissy. You ain't a sissy, is ya? ;) :D

45 ACP brass will last forever if you don't use nuclear loads. Some people have been loading the same cases since the sixties, the headstamp has worn off and they're still going strong.
 
Wow, I assume you're serious about the case life? That's really something.

As for being a sissy? I don't reckon I am, but I do like smooooooooooooth...
 
i've got one as well- 1 ) you never need to lube with carbide dies- 2) a couple of bucks buys a heck of a lot of ball chain at tire or any hardware store-
3when and if you decide to go 223, you need the SMALL primer system , and you'll have to change your CASE FEEDER and re-time it- typically the loadmaster doesn't use a case feeder for rifle rounds, but you can sub in a case feeder for a 9mm( there's a bushing in the cylinder and plate that you need) and seat the screw and nut a lot further up- since the 1000 is available in 223, there's no reason you can't use the same parts in the loadmaster
my other suggestion would be to put a lube die/decapper in station1 when you go 223, then your resizing die in station 2, and be aware that you may not have enough capacity in your powder measure for 223 unless you go to a double disk kit - i put a dillon powder measure in mine, because i don't like having to refill every 10 rounds or so- 25 grains of ww748 empties the hopper pretty quickly
 
What is this lube die/decapper you speak of?

I have a universal decapper, but I assume you mean something different?

As for the other parts, thanks for the summary.
 
rcbs- it has a felt wipe you impregnate( no jokes here) with sizing fluid - lube if you will- it also has a decapper , so remove the decapper from your sizing die- as the brass goes through the die, the felt wipes the case down- it's better than rolling or spraying- costs about 40 bucks- and you don't get excess lube on the case- then the case is already lubed when you go to station 2
 
That sounds like a good die to try. Does it also lube inside the case neck? On most dies, the decapper pin is integral to the expander, but I don't see how that could hurt...

Oh wait, the Loadmaster primes at the top of the stroke, right? I suppose the pin could be cut/ground off...
 
Silverado said:
TWO QUESTIONS FOR HIGH VOLUME RELOADERS:

Is is advisable to lightly lube the dies or brass to ease the amount of force required, even with carbide dies? (I was using brand new brass if that makes a difference.)

How many times can 45ACP brass be reloaded?
Click to expand...

1) if you find the effort too high, a light mist (less than half what you'd normally use) of spray lube makes everything easier, especially with the factory crimp die.

2) basically forever.
 
Originally posted by Silverado: "Is is advisable to lightly lube the dies or brass to ease the amount of force required, even with carbide dies?"
Click to expand...

Just try it. Once. You'll be a believer.
 
Silverado said:
That sounds like a good die to try. Does it also lube inside the case neck? On most dies, the decapper pin is integral to the expander, but I don't see how that could hurt...

Oh wait, the Loadmaster primes at the top of the stroke, right? I suppose the pin could be cut/ground off...
Click to expand...

no it's not- take a GOOD LOOK at the top of any sizing die- you'll see a VERY LARGE NUT- THIS HOLDS THE DECAPPING PIN/STEM - hold the die with a wrench, undo the nut, and the STEM WILL DROP OUT THE BOTTom- and, no , the die does lube die does NOT lube the inside of the case mouth- i never have- and have yet to get one stuck that way- and i've been reloading for over 30 years, 308, 223, 338- and with more than just lee- i also have used rcbs and dillon- and i still have the dillon-for 308 and 338- the lee 1000 for 223

maybe the FIRST THING TO DO IS TO REALLY LOOK AT YOUR PRESS AND UNDERSTAND HOW EACH STEP WORKS- ACTUALLY WATCH HOW THE HANDLE MOVES THE PLATE INTO POSITION WITH THE BAR AND THE CAM, AND HOW EACH STATIONrPERFORMS IT'S FUNCTION- how the primer feeds, how the carrier bears against the bolt to make the primer pin come up( it's clear over on the left side at the back), see how the carrier pulls on the chain to return the powder measure to zero, , and for god's sake get an injector for the little ball-bearing oil hole on the left- i got a hypo from my doctor and ground the tip off the needle- you also need to grease the ram and under the shellplate - it's in your manual
 
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LOL thanks for the admonition tstar, I sat like a monkey running that handle up and down a hundred times watching each little part, so I've got a handle on how each works.

Lube the hole and grease nipples? Check. I did that after I bolted 'er down.

As for the die/decapper/priming issue, I beg to differ, and so am confused.

The decapper pin IS integral to the expander. I don't mean integral to the sizing die; of course I know how to remove it via the nut on top.

If I remove that, when the lubed and decapped case from the RCBS die in station one moves into the sizer in station 2, without the rod in the die, it will be sized on the outside, but not have the neck expanded on the downstroke.

Also, the Loadmaster does seat the primer at the top of the stroke, so unless I'm mistaken, I would have to leave the expander rod installed, but grind off the decapper pin only, CORRECT?

If I've got that wrong, I'd appreciate your clarity.

Thanks for the help and ideas tstar and others... :wave:
 
sorry about that- took a completely different slant from what you were saying- now that i can see properly, yes, you're going to need a "broken" decapping pin/expander or an rcbs die( they have removeable/replacable pins) in slot 2-if you lower your handle to the bottom so the carrier is raised all the way, you'll see that the bolt that pushes DOWN on the lever that raises the priming pin -that's the bolt on the left side- the one you should have had to adjust to get your primers to seat properly- and she primes on the DOWN stroke, meaning as you lower the handle, the carrier rises, engaging the bolt which pushes on the lever, which pushes up on the pin with the primer on it, seating the primer
before you go jumping off the deep end on the 223, however, i would first ask the techs at lee themseleves- they've been pretty good to me and i've basically rebuilt one of these from the ground up with their help- it was a floor model that everyone had played with before i got it, but i already had dies and powder measures- just wanted that 4th and 5 station for the 44 mag- the 1000 was getting to be a pita because you had to run the round though a seperate press to get the factory crimp( the 1000 has only 3 stations) - info@leeprecision.com- tell them what you want to do, and you want to put a lube die in at position 1, and they'll tell you if it's feasable
 
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Silverado said:
I would have to leave the expander rod installed, but grind off the decapper pin only, CORRECT?
Click to expand...


Yes.

Also, 223 is normally a two- pass deal. First pass is just lube/decap/size, then you take the cases and trim them, then the second pass is prime/powder/seat/(maybe crimp).

If you have known brass with known growth rate you can run it all in one pass, but with range pickups you have to trim.
 
Thanks tstar, and acrashb,

I thought we were on the same page, just needed clarification.

I've had excellent help from Lee in the past on tech questions also.

Given that the AR eats an awful lot of ammo, it's simply a question of when and how, not if I will go progressive for it.

Looking at Lee's catalogue, I see that if the Loadmaster is ordered for a rifle calibre, it is equiped with the Perfect Powder measure instead of the AutoDisk.

Looking at the conversion, with the shell plate, case inserter, primer assembly, turret and double disk added up, I might just pop for another Loadmaster for the 223. At the end of the day, time is money LOL

I will look into the lube die though... sounds like a clever tool.
 
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