LEE Load Master
- Thread starter Odinson
- Start date
This dim-witted snob figured out a LONG time ago what works and what doesn't in practical shooting (IPSC-IDPA-NRA AP), over 20 K rounds a year and lee wasn't it. I have cast my own bullets for over fifty years, bought a couple of lee moulds in 1980's, tried them and threw them in the trash. Junk. Invested instead in a pair of H & G #68 six cavity moulds and haven't looked back since. I currently use four cavity moulds, Lyman and H & G for my .38 super, cast 2400 in 2 1/2 hrs monday, size them in a Star machine, and load them on a Dillon 1050 that is 25 years old.
Expensive? On the contrary, they last a lifetime without breaking and will sell for twice what they cost new when I'm finished. That's an investment with the same result as buying a quality gun instead of a norc. It increases in value.
I've had some success in IPSC, provincial champion six times, 1985 to 88, 91 and 92, and couldn't have done it with lee anything.
I demand and enjoy using the best equipment and have made the sacrifices to obtain it with no regrets.
If you have low expectations and demands of your equipment, enjoy endless problems and low quality and production, then lee suits you perfectly.
This dim-witted snob deserves better!
This dim-witted snob figured out a LONG time ago what works and what doesn't in practical shooting (IPSC-IDPA-NRA AP), over 20 K rounds a year and lee wasn't it. I have cast my own bullets for over fifty years, bought a couple of lee moulds in 1980's, tried them and threw them in the trash. Junk. Invested instead in a pair of H & G #68 six cavity moulds and haven't looked back since. I currently use four cavity moulds, Lyman and H & G for my .38 super, cast 2400 in 2 1/2 hrs monday, size them in a Star machine, and load them on a Dillon 1050 that is 25 years old.
Expensive? On the contrary, they last a lifetime without breaking and will sell for twice what they cost new when I'm finished. That's an investment with the same result as buying a quality gun instead of a norc. It increases in value.
I've had some success in IPSC, provincial champion six times, 1985 to 88, 91 and 92, and couldn't have done it with lee anything.
I demand and enjoy using the best equipment and have made the sacrifices to obtain it with no regrets.
If you have low expectations and demands of your equipment, enjoy endless problems and low quality and production, then lee suits you perfectly.
This dim-witted snob deserves better!
If you don't have any ideas re the priming system on a Lee LM then just say so. . . Your 20K rounds a year and your obvious acronymistic superiority won't be much help for the OP in terms of getting his press running better
This dim-witted snob figured out a LONG time ago what works and what doesn't in practical shooting (IPSC-IDPA-NRA AP), over 20 K rounds a year and lee wasn't it.
This dim-witted snob deserves better!
We are not talking about Lee moulds, and the Loadmaster wasn't around 25 years ago. Plus, as noted above, your comments are no help to the OP looking for tips to get HIS equipment running.
Not everyone has $3k lying around to buy a 1050 setup for a couple calibres.
So, do you drive a Mercedes Gwagon or Toyota Land Cruiser?
I am describing my experience with lee products in general in over fifty years starting with the two lee moulds. Various dies and moulds were given or included in trades with other items. The most recent was an undersize sizing die in .38 super purchased in an attempt to produce rounds for a borrowed custom Behlert gun with a tight chamber. How could they screw up a die, right? The nut that holds the decapping pin stripped the threads in the die the first time it was loosened to adjust the pin. A US $28.00 + shipping POS! Nothing I have tried by lee has been satisfactory, Nothing. All have been junk!
When I started in IPSC in 1982 I bought a lee 'production pot' bottom pour lead melter because of the price, $30 vs $150 for either Lyman or RCBS. Another POS, wouldn't work consistently, always leaked, etc. Spent most of my time casting trying to make it work. Waste of time. Gave it away. Bought the RCBS melter I still use today with NO problems in 25 years. My opinion that lee is junk is based on long experience, not conjecture.
Do you want to talk about bullet casting? I was a commercial bullet maker for years (Accurate Bullet Co., Wiarton, Ont) with a shop full of Ballisti-Cast automatic equipment. I made the best cast bullets and used them to win all my Provincial trophies (and several Miller Invitationals, Second Chance, Michigan championship '85, Cdn. Nationals, IPSC World Shoot '84 and '86, three gun matches, Cowboy matches, NRA Action Pistol, etc., etc.)
I loaded .223 match ammo on a 1050 with H4895 stick powder for a heavy barrel Colt I assembled that would shoot into 1/2 moa. I still have the trophies.
The best way for the OP to rectify his primer feed problems is to realize he has made a poor decision ,get rid of it and buy something that works. Ben is right, it won't even make a good boat anchor. Before the plastic primer system explodes into so much plastic schrapnel. A previous post had that experience along with pictures of the damage to his face immediately after. Lee has a warning not to use Federal primers because of this, and I believe they sell a 'blast deflector plate' to deflect the plastic schrapnel away from the operator. Lovely. Great if everyone in the room is wearing full face shields. You may not care if you are injured but how about your family? My grandaughter loves to help me load and cast bullets, does yours? Would you risk their eyesight?
I have a good friend that is having similar problems with a lee loadmaster and who has seen the light and decided to upgrade to better equipment, his choice is Hornady, I hope he gets a good one. I have an original Pro-Jector with a pos primer system that will not work. A beautiful press but it doesn't work, a pos!
I have always recommended Dillon, because it works. Because it has the best warranty in the business. No bullshyt warranty. Lifetime. Transferable. The best. Over a lifetime it is cheap. It is an investment you can use then in twenty years it can be sold for more than twice what it cost. You do the math.
You cannot even begin to learn to shoot if your equipment doesn't work. If your gun and ammo don't work you won't finish the match. And you won't be in shooting very long. It is that simple.
I find it amusing that some shooters when they realize they have made a poor decision in equipment or defend someone else who has will resort to name calling (dim-witted snob, etc etc) to defend their actions. This is the tactic used by liberals and others of the left wing whose first tactic when confronted with reason is to resort to slander and defamation of the other person. You imply I am rich, 'well-heeled', do I drive a MB or Land Cruiser? Hardly. My car is an '03 Hyundai Elantra. I have always worked for a living. I spend my money on quality equipment, not junk. It is an investment you can use, in twenty years it can be sold for more than twice what it cost.
My Dillon 1050 has paid for itself several times over by loading ammo for other people in the past. It financed the other two 1050s I had. The two 550s and two Square Deals were won at matches. That's right, seven Dillons, along with my first press, a Lyman Comet C,and Lyman All American Turret. It was an impressive loading bench. And it all worked, all of it.
If your expectations are low, enjoy endless frustration trying to get poor shoddy equipment to work, and don't mind never winning a match then lee junk is perfect for you. Good luck.
These are my opinions based on a lifetime of experience in shooting. Yours may differ.
'Shoot fast and don't f#ck up!'
Bryan Marino
That is the point. They are your opinions and you believe that Lee equipment is junk. Then you go to the opposite with Jerry Teo (MysticPrecision) who loaded for his custom F-Class rifle with a Lee Challenger press and other Lee components. (1/4 MOA @ 200yrds).
Is a Lee Load Master = to a Dillon 1050? No. Not in price, nor performance, but that wasn't the question... The OP asked a simple question about how to remedy an issue with his CURRENT press. Why do you guys have this burning need to make it into a brand bashing event?
To the OP, I hope some of the information you got here was helpful in resolving your press issue.
But I did; the only way to solve the priming problem with the lee loadmaster is to get rid of it and purchase better equipment.
Rocket Surgery
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
The difference is that the LEE challenger press isn't a piece of garbage. Not all of their products are junk, just about 75% of them. Their classic cast and challenger presses are fine, along with the turret. I make very accurate ammunition with the breech lock challenger, always have. The loadmaster, pro1000, and reloader press are so frustrating. Their pistol and collet dies are fantastic, but their case accessories? What is up with that deburring tool and primer pocket cleaner?
Just because we say the Loadmaster is crap, doesn't mean we don't use LEE equipment. I have a mix of RCBS, Forster, Redding, Hornady, and LEE products. I loaded probably 8000 9mm rounds on my turret and 700 308 rounds on my challenger last year without a single problem. I bought the turret after trying the Loadmaster, because I couldn't afford a dillon or hornady progressive and refused to use that giant piece of trash.
'86 World Shoot, YESSS! I know exactly who you are Rob! I wasn't there in person to see you win in Florida, but I wish I had. I'm more than a little honored to have you visit this forum. In fact I'm a little overwhelmed. You did darn well in Caracas, Venezuela 3 years later too (understatement of the year.) I've watched you shoot in the videos I bought over and over and over...
I would love to get your advice on 9mm production molds, lube, and loads. Do you still shoot with Brian?
Edit: I just noticed your typo about the World Shoot '84. Obviously you meant your Virginia win in '83, since the IPSC World Shoot occurs only every 3 years
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FYI Rob Leatham dominated IPSC during the 1980s and won most of the world shoots during that decade, much like Eric Grauffel has done in the 2000s. When Rob says Lee stuff is crap, I'd take notice even if he has accepted endorsements by Dillon like his friend Brian Enos has. These guys tend to endorse products they actually personally stand by and believe in. I hope Rob offers us some shooting advice here too, because I have a load of questions for him
All that said, I do own and use many Lee products without any issues, such as the Lee Classic Cast Turret Press that I use for trying out new loads and stuff because it's so darn easy to set up, adjust, and change around with a number of turrets and pistol die sets. They're so inexpensive you can own several turrets outfitted with the same duplicate caliper dies preset differently for various bullets and powders. I use the Dillon XL-650 for volume production for everyday shooting stuff.
huh?
Sarcasm?
'86 World Shoot, YESSS! I know exactly who you are Rob! I wasn't there in person to see you win in Florida, but I wish I had. I'm more than a little honored to have you visit this forum. In fact I'm a little overwhelmed. You did darn well in Caracas, Venezuela 3 years later too (understatement of the year.) I've watched you shoot in the videos I bought over and over and over...
I would love to get your advice on 9mm production molds, lube, and loads. Do you still shoot with Brian?
Edit: I just noticed your typo about the World Shoot '84. Obviously you meant your Virginia win in '83, since the IPSC World Shoot occurs only every 3 years
opcs6 is not Rob Leatham. Where on earth did you get that idea from?
FYI Rob Leatham dominated IPSC during the 1980s and won most of the world shoots during that decade, much like Eric Grauffel has done in the 2000s. When Rob says Lee stuff is crap, I'd take notice even if he has accepted endorsements by Dillon like his friend Brian Enos has. These guys tend to endorse products they actually personally stand by and believe in. I hope Rob offers us some shooting advice here too, because I have a load of questions for him
All that said, I do own and use many Lee products without any issues, such as the Lee Classic Cast Turret Press that I use for trying out new loads and stuff because it's so darn easy to set up, adjust, and change around with a number of turrets and pistol die sets. They're so inexpensive you can own several turrets outfitted with the same duplicate caliper dies preset differently for various bullets and powders. I use the Dillon XL-650 for volume production for everyday shooting stuff.
You'r right opcx6 isn't Rob Leatham, he is Bryan Marino
, I watched Rob win the worlds in Virginia, he won it in the shoot-off. I think John Shaw was second and Brian Enos third if my memory serves me. That was my rookie year in IPSC I finished 66 overall, top shooter from Ontario using a stock .45 Colt tuned by myself (there were no gunsmiths around here then that worked on IPSC pistols).Rob won it again in Orlando Fla., two years later. I don't remember why there was only two years between the world shoots but this was the exception to the three year rule. My match wasn't memorable, don't recall how far down I finished.
As far as the lee single stage and turret presses go I haven't used them but sure seem to be very light and cheap. I had a cast iron Lyman Comet (still do) so no need to try the lee.
When the progressive lee came out I noticed it was very cheaply constructed, a lot of plastic and a pull chain from a light fixture to activate the powder measure! A piece of junk!
When I started in IPSC everyone shot a Colt .45 acp except for the odd 9mm Browning high power. I soon realized my single stage Lyman Comet wasn't going to be anywhere fast enough so bought a Ponsness Warren P200, a neat semi-turret press that used a swinging shell holder to process each cartridge. It loaded excellent ammo but you had to fly to get 200 rds an hour with it. The then current provincial champion Raoul showed me his new Dillon 450 and I was hooked; it would easily load 400 rds an hour, it had a pull-push primer feed and powder measure, you had to be careful not to get out of sequence or you'd end up with a squib, very embarassing in a match (don't ask how I know this!
).Then Dillon came out with the 550 that had the automatic primer feed and casing operated shell holder, they offered an update for the 450 that speeded the process up considerably.
Next was the 550B with removable die holder and they again offered a frame update at very minimal cost.
As I said everyone shot a .45 acp and brass was very scarce, commercial ammo and brass was very expensive so most shooters bought once fired military brass, a good price back the (1983 ish) was $40 / 1000. I had 500 to 600 brass total and I would shoot it all every saturday in practice and match. The problem with military .45 acp is the crimped-in primer which would de-cap OK but was very difficult to seat a new primer, we would usually crush and waste 1 in five primers. The way to get around it was to swage each case individually, a very time consuming thing.
The Dillon came out with the RL1050. What was so great about it was the third die station that swaged each primer pocket automatically so primer loss was a thing of the past. You would put once fired military .45 acp brass in the case feeder and it would eject remanufactured cartridges with each stroke of the handle. This is the machine recommended by Rob, John and Brian and was a god-send to us back then. I still have the first one I bought in '84 or '85. It paid for itself several times over as I loaded ammo for other shooters. I still have that machine today.
When I switched to .38 super in '86 I bought another RL1050 for it with the money earned from the one in .45.
Another RL1050 in .223 was purchased the same way when I began three gun competition.
I still had the 450/550 Dillon, won a few more at matches and ended up with 7 Dillons on my bench, each dedicated to a particular cartridge.
There were other loaders through the eighties none of which were reliable or popular. Cal and Jack had Ransom machines that were very prone to produce squibs and often primer magazine explosions. Ian had an inline CH that was a PITA, he bought a RL1050 as soon as he saw mine. Nothing could match the Dillons.
Dillon never bought my loyalty through sponsorship, it was earned by their quality, speed and no bullshyt warranty.
That's where
Sorry for the mistake I didn't win the worlds in '84 or '86 or ever.
easyrider604
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Greater Vancouver, BC
Thanks for the thread hi-jack guys. Truth is, I don't care squat what championships who won, when, and how many. I just don't care.
I already know how good Dillon and H&G stuff is. Tell me something I don't know. What you guys are saying is totally irrelevant to the OPs question. Either help the OP with his problem or start your own thread.
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Did you ever get it up and running?
I ran into a HUGE problem with crimped brass that had the crimp "removed"
Some of them had enough to cause hang up's and crushed primer's, probably 3 out of 10.
I de-crimped them again and ran a bunch thru the Loadmaster and they went thru OK.
That was after I already handprimed the rest of them.
I finally did get it working on Friday evening. Loaded over 300 rounds without any problems. I changed out the little piece that slides the primer in to position, twice (had some spares on hand) and the problem seemed to be resolved.
Thanks to all that provided advice ...... even those with the negative comments too. It is good to have an opinion, albeit wrong.
Thanks again!
