Tag Archives: progressive press

Lee Loadmaster Press

My journey with reloading has been rocky. A few squibs, a blown primer, and of course the rounds that just go click instead of a bang. But thats part of the process. I started out just loading .40 S&W, but now I load 9, 45, 7mm, and .35REM.
This is really to outline the pros and cons of the Lee Loadmaster.
First, its the cheapest progressive you can find. With dies, you can find it for under $250. This includes a case feeder, a priming system. and pretty much what you would expect from a progressive.
Cons. Things on a progressive, just go wrong. Often. Sometimes cases don’t get primed, sometimes the press doesn’t index(turn, or cycle to the next ‘station’) sometimes bullets get seated wrong. Or sometimes it just jams and locks up. I really wish it had a light somehow built into the press. I’ve sort of rigged a book light in between the dies and it seems to work.
Most recently the issues I’ve had have been relating to priming/indexing.
If the press doesn’t prime correctly, in my case the primer pin would get stuck in an upward position. I also noticed the primers were getting stuck in between the pin and plastic
1) I sanded the primer trough smooth with very fine grit paper
2) Bent the arm that cases push back upward to get better contact with the case.

You will spend lots of time getting these issues worked out. Lots of time learning on how exactly the press works.
In all fairness Lee puts up many videos to explain how the press works and how to fix common issues. There is a whole site by loadmaster users with videos to fix common issues.
I would suggest you watch all of them while you wait for your press to arrive.
The good thing about Lee is the support. I’ve found e-mail works great to get in contact with them. They usually respond the same day and tell you new parts are on the way.
Common things that break:
Primer System(the plunger/feeder/spring)
Flipper gets worn
Decapping pins

All in all, I’ve loaded well over a thousand rounds on this, its cheap and gets the job done, but does have some issues.