My Load Master left me very disappointed!

[Ranch Dog]

My wife and I were leaving on a road trip so the day before I spent some time on the range going through some conceal carry drills as I have not done any handgun shooting over the last three or four months. I ended up shooting up my inventory of 9mm Luger so I told my wife, no problem, that I would load enough to fill three magazines in the morning before we left.

The components I needed; bullets and clean, prepped cases were ready, so all I had to do was fill the powder hopper on the Auto Disk and get going as the primer tray is kept very full. The bottom-line the odds of a completed cartridge was about 50% with primer seating and bullet feeding being the issue. What I don't understand is that all this was 100% when I last left it and I have noticed this before; each new session requires a different tweaking session.

After 10 rounds of mixed success I knew I would not trust the ammo for carry so I stripped the LM of dies and got busy on my Classic Turret. I've set it up so much over the twenty to twenty five years, counting the original turret, that I was ready to load ammo in about 12 minutes which included the setup of the NOE powder through expander plug on the Auto Disk which is a rather lengthy testing task. From there, I ripped out 40 rounds completing one round every 20 seconds.

I'm thinking of giving my three Load Masters the boot when I get home and may be buying one more Classic Turret in there place. That would leave my current turret on the rifle bench and the new on my pistol bench. I feel the Load Master really let me down when I needed it most after all the tweaking that was done with it. I know some are going to say prime off the press and don't use the bullet feeder but I say that sounds like a turret press to me so why not use one.

Maybe I will cool down while I'm out on the road over the next two weeks but if I were home, they would be already gone. I'm really %@*&$ off.

[Fyodor]

Well, that soubds like a few other comments about the LM that I heard over the time. This press really seems to be one of the weaker designs of LEE.

[buckeye43210]

You might want to try some of Magic Mike's modifications:

[youtube][/youtube]

You can also rig up an LED under the powder drop station to warn you if you are missing a primer. I recommend a red LED.

[youtube][/youtube]

If not, I'll give it a good home ;-)

[Ranch Dog]

I done most of the YouTube type mods and corrections but if I have to start purchasing aftermarket stuff, that does not fly with me. Either it is right or not and I'm not going to start throwing money at it. The time I've spent tweaking this thing was enjoyable but it's time that it started to reliably produce quality ammo with all its intended function or it is something that it is not and, in a nutshell, useless to me.

Like I said, I will see how I feel when I get home but If it jerks me around any more, I sell them or on eBay.

[RBHarter]

I might be interested if ya had both a 9 and a 40. (And they would set up and run 223 and 6.8) but then again I've had 1 session than ran right with no fussing around so maybe not .

[Maximumbob54]

Not that it will make you feel any better but I very nearly threw my Hornady LNL AP out the pack door a couple of days ago. It always feels like you need the patience of a saint to run a progressive. The first progressive I ever ran was a Dillon 550 and I felt like for everything to function I had to work at a snail's pace. Otherwise I would crush a case, bullets would tip over and crush cases, and the priming was just filthy on it. When I bought my own I thought the LNL AP would be better but it was just a different set of problems. A buddy of mine had the RCBD Pro 2000 that uses the APS strips and he would complain that the slightest off in timing and the press would start eating the strips and gum everything up. Sometimes I think you really just can't win. And each time I go back to the Classic Turret and stick with it all the way until I get tired of cranking the handle four times to load one cartridge. But with the turret you pretty much can't screw it up. It doesn't jam. It just works. It's just slow.

[Steve]

Too bad you are having the bad luck. I just about shot mine with my 40 but at the last instant realized maybe that was a bad idea. (It might bounce back!)

Before you get rid of all 3 you should consider keeping one of them for a dedicated decapper. One of mine gets used for that, the case feeder makes decapping really fast.

I feel the same as you do about after market stuff.

[Steve]

I know you don't want to hear it RD. But When I quit trying to prime on the loadmaster all my loadmaster problems went away. Rarely do I have any problems walking in and just running a few like you were going to do. Just ran 50 rounds to test a new powder measure, only took about 10 minutes after setting up the new measure.

When my leg isn't stopping me I shoot about 400 rounds when I get out to practice, often twice a week (used to be nearly every week before I lost my leg). My old turret press couldn't keep up with my shooting.

Long story short..... Priming is the loadmasters week point. When I keep busy at a steady safe pace I always load 400 rounds an hour of pre primed 40 S&W cases. I have timed decapping 40 S&W on the loadmaster and it took 5 minutes to decap 100, that includes loading the collator. 380 ACP takes me longer cuz my fingers are too big for those little bullets. I don't use a bullet feeder.

If someday Lee puts a Dillon 550 style priming system on the loadmaster I will start priming on the press again. But not before then.

[Ranch Dog]

Yeah but the heart of the progressive is priming and bullet handling. That is what makes it a time saver. I have used the Load Master for over 15 years without either and it is no faster than the turret when a total time on a given lot of ammo is considered.

I'm going back to the turret when I get home as depending on the LM has actually curtailed my shooting. I will work with them over the winter, without aftermarket fixes, and if I can't get a resolve to the dependability of them they will be sold.

What my 9mm Luger press needs immediately is some resolve to the rough movement of the shell plate. My other two are very smooth but not the middle press. I've messed with this a bunch and will get back to it but it is just rough. I know that I've spent over a 100 hours just following Youtube fixes that supposedly address this without resolve. I've got to use loads that are less than 70% case capacity or the powder vibrates out between the delivery and bullet seating.

I often wonder just how many LM work out of the box with the basic instructions followed. I suspect none.

[Maximumbob54]

I've got to use loads that are less than 70% case capacity or the powder vibrates out between the delivery and bullet seating.

This is a big reason I went with the Hornady LNL-AP over most other presses available at the time. The LNL-AP half indexes on the down stroke and half on the up stroke. It's so much smoother than anything I've tried that auto indexes.

I did have to polish the shuttle that moves the primers but once done it's a one time thing to make happen.

I've twice now had the powder measure unlock from the press. This is the one irk that I cannot fix. I keep putting a large rubber coated spring clamp to hold the lock ring to the press body. It works but I shouldn't have to do it.