Lee Loader

Just a story, if it's in the wrong place, please move, or delete it.

So yesterday, I finished up my .357 and .44 Magnum loads. Today I decided to clean my presses and get ready to start on some 9mm.
I got the Loadmaster all cleaned up, and went to put the 9mm Shell Plate on, and it wouldn't go onto the carrier, It got so stuck I needed 2 screwdrivers to get it off of the carrier.
Now, this is the same 9mm shell plate I used last winter to load a few thousand rounds of 9mm, and it's been stored on a bench, in it's original packing, not touched since it's last use.
I said to myself, I must have had it on crooked. So I tried again, and got down level with it, and it was straight/level, but again, it's stuck on the carrier, won't rotate, and won't come off, without the 2 screwdrivers!
I tried a couple of other shell plates, and they fit fine and spun freely.
I cleaned the post on the carrier, again, and cleaned the hole in the shell plate, again. No change, still locks up when put onto the carrier.
So I get out my 1000 grit sandpaper and go to work on all of the bottom and edge surfaces, and the center hole. It got a little better, after 45 minutes of sanding, trying, sanding, trying...but still locked up when I try to bottom it out on the carrier.
So, I get out some 600 grit paper, and an old .270 case, wrap the sand paper around the case, stick it in the hole of the shell plate, and go to work, spinning the shell plate around on the .270 case sand paper...
About another 30-45 minutes of sanding and re-trying the shell plate, all is well, fits fine, spins freely, just like it used to, (and no, it wasn't brass, or any foreign substance coming off the plate)
I think my press may be possessed...

Nice! Way to get the job done! Maybe time to order a backup 9mm Shell Plate.

My thoughts exactly, and another .44, too!

Strange that it was good and then not. Yes, possessed like all Load-Masters. You didn't rattle enough chicken bones before you rolled the dice!

Same thing happened to me two days ago. Changing out 45acp to 9mm, forgot to change the large primer pin over to the small one. Had to pry the 9mm shell plate off the large pin. Some days I think I should just sit and look out the window....

I know just how you feel! In the middle of one of those episodes, I do that for a minute...

Ranch Dog, Strange isn't the word. I can't rationalize it at all. If it was wood, I'd say it swelled up somehow, but metal??? Any way, it's working good again, but I do believe I'll get me a spare...

horseman wrote:Same thing happened to me two days ago. Changing out 45acp to 9mm, forgot to change the large primer pin over to the small one. Had to pry the 9mm shell plate off the large pin. Some days I think I should just sit and look out the window....

Horse, you need a spare press! That was the need for my second. Separate the change-outs between primer size.

BrianT wrote:but I do believe I'll get me a spare...

Press?

That too!

Typically, after the election buying, Load-Masters can be found for some excellent prices—people who thought it looked like a good deal but never thought the component issues through.