WyrTwister

Read some of my replys about the Lee LoadMaster on on other threads . Or email me . God bless Wyr

I looked at the BL-550 . Thought I could slowly upgrade it to the " standard " 550 , as funds became available ? Best I could tell , I would end up paying a lot more , part at a time , than the " standard " 550 would cost , complete ? Then I figured out the 550 is not auto indexing . ( I got used to the auto indexing on the Lee cast iron turret press . ) Then I discovered the price of the Dillon case feeder . I looked at the Square Deal press . Figured out it is hand gun only . Figured out it used proprietary ( expensive ) dies . I already had dies . Read up on the Lee LoadMaster . Found help forums & help videos . Bought the LM . Had some bumps in the road at first ( many self inflicted ) . Six months down the road , I am glad to have the LM . It is running good . And the caliber conversion cost is lower than the other progressives I looked at . And it has auto index and a caset feeder . God bless Wyr

My primer system came with the plastic washer . My cousin figured out that if you adjust the sizing die up or down in the turret , you hit a sweet spot where the Safety Prime hands the primer over to the Lever Prime , slick as a button . I think you could add steel washers to the plastic washer & achieve the same thing ? God bless Wyr

My cast iron turret press works great . If you worry about play in the turret , has anyone considered how much play there is in the shell holders ? Mine indexes fine , but I do seem to remember you can turn the square nut at the top of the index rod to fine tune it ? Never had to . LIGHTLY lube the turret , index rod and the little square plastic " ratcheting " part . It does make a difference if the little square part is upside down . Which die is " hanging up " the brass ? God bless Wyr

Steve , The square deal b won't load rifle. So it's of no use to me. Besides, in many ways this is superior to the 550 as far as my needs go. The 550 will cost $430, the lee turret will be about $150, it will allow me to make small batches at about 150 rounds per hour. Caliber changeovers are fast and ridiculously cheap and it's portable enough to bring to the range for load development. I already have one 650 with plans for another so I can keep one set for each size primer. This will be used for stuff where the speed advantage of the 650 isn't worth the setup time and expense. If I could find a 550 cheap it might be different, but there are never any used ones around there never seem to be. There is one thing that continues to impress me about this lee. It's that there seem to be plenty of dillon shooters who use this press for load development. Many wouldnt take a loadmasters or pro 1000 if you gave it to them, but they have nothing but good things to say about this little press. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk For a press to take to the range , consider the Lee Hand Press . And the cast iron turret press mounted permanently to the bench . God bless Wyr

I now have 2 of the Pro Auto Disk measures . My cousin has the standard Auto Disk . I like mine better . God bless Wyr

The Lee cast iron turret press is just about the greatest value going . Add the primer system http://leeprecision.com/xcart/Safety-Primer-Feed-Small-and-Large.html And the disk measure http://leeprecision.com/xcart/Pro-Auto-Disk.html And it is even better . God bless Wyr

Yep , Works fine with flake or extruded powder . I bought the Lee disk powder measure because I was loading ball powder in .223 & the PPM leaked to the point that it was un-useable . I have since read that the " cone " of the PPM can be lapped to the body of the measure , with a mild abrasive & help or cure the problem . Have not tried it yet . God bless Wyr

The Lee cast iron turret press is a great press , add the primer system & the Lee disk powder measure and it is even better . It is just about the best value going . The LoadMaster is a good press ( after you have learned the basics on a single stage or turret press ) . IF you have the time , patience and a little mechanical aptitude to learn the press . Mine is running fine now , but I had some bumps in the road at first . Also , Lee has improved the priming system . God bless Wyr

Each to his / her own . My LoadMaster is running well . God bless Wyr

The Lee cast iron turret press is one of the greatest values going . But , to start out , how many rounds do you see your self loading a week ? Month ? Rifle ? Handgun ? If the round count is low , get a Lee single stage press . High , Lee LoadMaster ( only if you have the time , patience and some mechanical aptitude to work with the press ) . In the middle , the cast iron turret press . Actually , I recommend a beginner start with a single stage press . Even the little Lee C-Frame press . God bless Wyr

I check the tightness of the shell plate knurl nut and the knurled screw holding the turret , every 25 - 50 rounds . Gave up on finger tight and went to using a pair of pliers . :-( Tap the primer tray every 2 - 4 rounds . Visually check the amount of primers left . If having problems , adjust the carrier plate . Lube the things that are suppose to be lubed & keep the lube off the parts that are not susppose to be lubed . Check / sort for military / crimped primer pockets . For calibers that this applies to , check / sort for " non-standard " primers . If something looks wrong , STOP and investigate . If something sounds wrong , STOP and investigate . If something takes more force than " normal " , STOP and investigate . On Lee dies , if you see the de-priming rod pushed up , STOP and investigate . If you are like me and just throw the empty brass up into the red plastic collator as you sort the brass , watch to see if any brass head down the clear plastic tubes upside down . Watch for smaller caliber brass " nested " inside a larger size brass . Watch for any other foreign objects in the empty brass . Try to keep everything as clean as you can . Especially powder powder spills . Do not screw the dies too far into the turret . Let the ram bottom out on its own stops , not against the bottom of the dies . When you swing a case retainer out , to allow you to remove and inspect a case , the opposite end of the case retainer swings in . If over done , the opposite end of the case retainer can lock down the shell plate . God bless , Wyr

I'll help anyway I can. I know first-hand how frustrating it can be. I don't mind working to fix problems. I do mind Hornady treating me like I am too ignorant to use their press, and people that want to say "I don't have any problems with mine." when I am looking for solutions. There are many good people on this forum that have been a lot of help to me, and I am sure they are more than willing to help anyone that asks. I still do not have everything working right on my LNL AP. I am going to polish everything that moves and make whatever modifications that I need to get it to run. I asked one of the hornady techs about an idea I had for modifying the primer punch assy. He said if I modified anything it would void my warranty. I told him the warranty is worthless since the press does not work, and they were un-willing to help. I can't get a straight answer on where their equipment is actually manufactured. I'm guessing somewhere in asia. The only other reloading equipment that is this pooer in quality (that I have personal experience with) is Lee. Both Lee and Hornady have some brilliant ideas, they just execute them poorly. At least Lee doesn't charge full market price. Don't get me wrong; Lee makes some real good stuff, i.e. the factory crimp dies, the classic cast press, the classic turret press, the auto-prime (hand-held priming device), and yes, the breech-lock system. It is a cheaper way compared to Hornady's LNL bushing system, but it won't back-out. Now Lee is offering this system on their classic cast press. I wish they would offer it on thsie classic turret. Hornady makes stuff I like. Their Concentricity Tool is great. I like their cam-lock bullet puller, stuck case remover, OAL gauge kit, case prep center (even though it is quite pricey), and their LNL powder measure (it is quite accurate, but be careful it has sharp edges in it). I like some of Hornady's bullets as well. I just wish Hornady's quality was as good as it was 20 years ago. I also wish they were not so short, rude and condecending on the phone. Not all of them are like that, but it only take one, or two to make you take your business elsewhere. I do not own a Hornady press , but you all have my sympathy & I hope you all get these problems fixed . I have the Lee cast iron turret press . No need for the LNL or " Breech Lock " . For what the inserts cost , I simply buy another turret . It is one of the best values in presses going . Best of luck . God bless Wyr

Lee makes a micro disk , but I have not used it . Also an adjustable disk , I am using it for 21.0 grains of WC846 & .223 . But I read it is not as good at the small charge levels ? I often use the double disk kit to " fine tune " the charge weight , but do not know if 2 disks will work that well for that small of charge ? Order another set of 4 disks or a double disk . For a charge you often use , slowly ream the closest disk to what you want until you get it on the money . MARK IT ! The spare disks are not very expensive . God bless Wyr

More and more , I use a Lee universal de-priming die . God bless Wyr

Tim thanks for the tip , forwarded to a buddy for future use I put the sizing die on station 2 also - it didnt help that much. I went to hand priming and then loading rounds on the LM - What pushed me to sell it was the constant issues with the shell indexing and the lack of case feeder for .223 - I would have gotten a 550 but the lack of case feed pushed me to a 650. I can tell that if you let the carrier adjustment get off , it adversely affects primer function . I re-adjust the carrier alignment every so often , but indexing has not really a problem . I try to check the shell plate knurl nut and knurled screw that holds the turret , after every 25 - 50 rounds . Tap the primer tray ever 3 - 5 rounds . Do not screw the dies down too far , allow the ram to come up as far as it can . So far I have been using Winchester primers . But when I run out I will probably start using Wolf . Do I bought the explosion shield . God bless Wyr

I have the Lee cast iron turret press . It is much stronger than the older , die cast Lee turret presses . It is a great value ! God bless , Wyr

I have read the adjustable charge bar has problems with small charges ? I am using mine on my Lee cast iron turret preaa with WC846 surplus powder & .223 . Close to a max setting , but it is working very consistantly . God bless Wyr

I currently have 5 Lee presses . A few of the lee products are not so good . Most are good . Some are great . God bless Wyr

I have used Lee dies for years . I have no idea as to the answer to your question ? I set the seating depth to what I want and merrily go on about reloading . Never thought or worried about it . God bless Wyr