Lee Loadmaster 9mm 1000 round review w/ UPGRADES & MODS Galore

[MuayThaiJJ]

I've had a month to play with the Lee Loadmaster, my first reloading press. It's been a fun experience and I take a lot of joy in reloading my own ammo.

Here's my Lee Loadmaster with upgrades/mods galore. Very happy with how it runs. The total up front cost is equitable to a barebones Dillon 550XL.

 

 

[Absocold]

For the price, hey, look at me, FOR THE PRICE, the Loadmaster is a good press. For small runs it's outstanding since a full caliber changeover, including primer size change, takes about two minutes and the parts for each conversion cost almost nothing. Shockingly it makes pretty decent ammo.

 

But then, a day will come that you either get sick of fiddling with it or you will witness a 750/1050 just flat work and work and work with no fiddling and you'll realize it's worth missing some meals so you can afford quality gear.

 

I have two of them but they are my least favorite press to use. One is on permanent de-priming duty and the other is for loading small batches. I wish I could justify replacing them with better stuff and give them to someone who already dislikes me so I don't lose a friend.

 

Someone once gave me a Lock n Load Ammo Plant. We no longer speak.

[MuayThaiJJ]

Haha fair enough, yes a buddy has a 1050 and it smokes. I acknowledge that. As a first press I am happy with it. As the years go by I may try the blue kool aid

[erwos]

On 4/18/2021 at 10:40 PM, MuayThaiJJ said:

Haha fair enough, yes a buddy has a 1050 and it smokes. I acknowledge that. As a first press I am happy with it. As the years go by I may try the blue kool aid

I was you. Then my Loadmaster broke horribly, I bought a 650, and I realized how much of my life I had wasted on trying to make that Loadmaster work correctly, versus the 650 which just kept trucking with very little drama.

 

(Now I have a Mark7 Evo, but that 650 still does quality work when I need it to.)

[MuayThaiJJ]

How many rds or how long did you use the LM?

[CocoBolo]

I tried a Lee Load Master so long ago I can't remember what I did with it, its at the bottom of a lake or I sold it.  I did manage to crank out a few thousand rounds, but it was a constant battle against the machine, you don't forget things like that.  I bought a Hornady Lock and Load, while some will bash it cause it ain't blue, I have loaded 100's of thousands of rounds on it.   One day my sponsor asked me if I'd like a Dillon 650, huh, you kidding me, well I took it home and discovered the truth about big blue.   It was a learning curve, I broke more parts on it than the Hornady, it took a good while to learn all of the things that go wrong and how to remedy them.  I acquired a second Dillon 650 in a gun deal.  The time came when 3 was too many, I sold a 650 kept the Hornady, and if I could only have one it would be the Hornady.  To be fair the Dillon is a few rounds a hour faster and a little smother.   The Dillon is more complex and harder to get right, once right its good till something breaks.  Keep the powder out of the primer punch and the Hornady hums along,   The Dillon can be filthy and still keep going, then something goes out of whack, the primer wheel, the indexing or the case pusher.  I tried the bullet feeder thing and it wasn't faster than grabbing a hand full of bullets at a time, and the noise was distracting.  Bottom line if your time isn't worth anything get a Lee and a bottle of valium, but if it is, you can't go wrong with a Hornady or Dillon. Only get the Dillon if you get the case feeder, feeding it manually is like trying to bottle feed a badger.  I got lucky I won a Dillon case feeder at the Double Tap Championship. 

Edited April 22, 2021 by CocoBolo

[JFlowers]

Despite all its bad press, the LoadMaster is not a bad press.  It requires an absolutely solid mounting, needs to be well lubed, and has a lot less tolerance than the Dillon, but if you set it up properly it will run without needing constant fiddling.

 

A 550 on the other hand is a lot more tolerant of slop.

[missed it by that much]

I have two loadmasters and they have worked fine formanyyears. Saved money goes towards bullets, powder and primers when available