Lee LoadMaster .223 Progressive Reloading

[EnforceLaw]

Why don't you use the .223 case feeder? They are cheap and it makes it a lot faster.

[parrott15]

It seems like you can load faster using it single stage then you can using progressive

[dmesz311]

good vids liberty4ever...quick question, how many times can you reload the same casing?

[Liberty4Ever]

Straight wall pistol cases can generally be reloaded much more than bottle neck rifle cases. I usually lose 9 mm, .40 S&W, and 10 mm cases before they wear out. You'll probably get neck cracks on rifle brass, after 5-15 reloads (5 for high power loads and 15 for very low power plinking loads). Annealing the case necks (necks ONLY!) prolongs rifle brass life.

[Liberty4Ever]

Make a feeler from a bent paper clip and drag it inside the case from rim toward the shoulder to feel the annular ring that indicates incipient head separation and discard that brass. Split necks aren't usually dangerous, but case head separation can be. This is more likely to be a problem with high power loads and/or rifles with loose head space. Resizing the brass stretches it and can contribute to this problem too.

[dmesz311]

thanks for the info, ive read some bad reviews on this same press, mechanical issues and what not, how do you like it? how long have you been using it? seems to be pretty straight forward.

[Liberty4Ever]

I've been using the LoadMaster press for a bit less than four years. I like it quite a bit. I think it's probably the best value in a progressive loading press. As I've said in the other comments, Lee uses a primer tray for safety, instead of a primer tube, and I think the reliability of the priming system is the weak point in the design. I need to futz with it every now and then. The rest is rock solid and overbuilt, however, progressive press designs are much better for pistol ammo.

[DobermansRock]

Dang and I am only looking for th single stage kit. A lot of argueing in here..

[smttysmth02gt]

Why do you remove the primers before you put them on the progressive, rather than let a deprimer die do that?

Have you had any problems out of yours? I was told the Lee progressives are "crap". Trying to stay on the "cheap" as much as possible getting started on reloading.

[Liberty4Ever]

I prefer to resize, de-prime, and prime the brass on a single stage press for two reasons. First, bottle neck rifle brass needs case lube, and I don't want to have case lube all over the brass as I'm reloading it because it's messy. I want to tumble clean it before the powder, bullet and crimping, inside and outside the brass.

[Liberty4Ever]

Second, I reload a lot of mixed brass, some military brass which requires removing the primer crimp, and various commercial brass with slightly different primer pocket dimensions. Like all manufacturing operations, reloading works best when all the components are very uniform.

The Lee progressive reloaders are not as reliable in the priming, and that's the source of most of the whining. Lee has a safer system that won't detonate primers, but the reliability isn't as good IMO.

[Liberty4Ever]

It's not fair to compare progressive reloading of rifle ammo on a Lee progressive press with progressive reloading of the much easier straight wall pistol brass on another progressive press from a company like Dillon. For starters, to even get a true progressive press from Dillon (that indexes for you instead of manually turning the shell plate, I think you're looking at 3-4 times as much money.

[Liberty4Ever]

If you want low volume, high accuracy, and reliability, get a Lee Classic Cast single stage press.

If you want a good reliable progressive press on a budget, get a Lee LoadMaster and be prepared to futz with the priming system a little.

If you don't want to futz with the priming system, spend 4X as much for a Dillon press. Yes, you pay a good chunk of change for their "No BS warranty", and even at that, all mechanical devices fail from time to time.

Don't fall prey to blue press snobbery! :^)

[cfiber]

@smttysmth02gt I haven't used the Lee, but I own a Dillon XL650 and have used a Hornady progressive. I don't think you can go wrong with any of those three just be prepared to tinker. Having owned the Dillon, and living a few miles from the Dillon factory, I would never buy anything else. I just walk into the store with the broken part, they run into th eback and bring me a new one. And IMHO the quality of the Dillon is better.

[BENLINUZ]

I think this press is the Progressive Lee Press the load master has a smaller ram and frame?

[Liberty4Ever]

Lee makes two progressive presses - the three station Pro-1000 and the larger five station LoadMaster. This is, as the title states, the Lee LoadMaster.

[lavid2006]

you dont lube your casings before resizing?

[Liberty4Ever]

I do lube the .223 cases before resizing. The details are in the last paragraph of the info to the right of the video.

[ernejtito]

i can reloading any caliber with this machine

[totkrieg]

I just bought a turret style press, kind of an in between of this and a single stage. You can use it single stage, or you can do 1 bullet at all stations...

To each their own but i figured it would be a good place to start, a bit less hassle than the single stage, with the option to act almost the same way.

For everything I ended up paying 250

But I'll be using it to make 308, hoping to pay a bit over half as much as buying decent quality ammo off the shelf.

[Liberty4Ever]

With a progressive or turret press, the dies stay mounted in a caliber specific quick change turret. With a single stage press, the dies are individually swapped, and their depth adjustments can be maintained with locking rings.

Not a dumb question, but you can probably think of about 500 more, and wouldn't think to ask about 500 other questions that would provide info you need to know to reload. If interested, it'd be a lot faster for you to read a few chapters in a reloading book.

[Liberty4Ever]

The LoadMaster with everything needed to reload one caliber of your choice (less brass, primer, powder and bullets) is about $250. Plan on maybe another $100 in miscellaneous equipment.

If you want to start slower and less expensive, or make more accurate rifle ammo, I'd recommend the Lee Classic Cast single stage press for about $70. You could probably be reloading for about $200 for everything including supplies.

Read a book like Modern Reloading. This isn't something to do half ass.

[ViperQc]

I'm planning to buy a lee reloader to start with rifle ammo(mainly 303). I was thinking about the deluxe because I'll probably start reloading handguns in the future. Any advice?

[Liberty4Ever]

If by "deluxe", you mean the LoadMaster, it does a very good job reloading pistol ammo. Progressive presses excel at cranking out a lot of pistol ammo.

For simplest operation, the Lee Classic Cast press is hard to beat. It's slower, but you can make more precise rifle ammo, and it will still reload a box or two of pistol ammo if you're not in a hurry.

The Lee Classic Turret press has some of the advantages of a progressive and single stage.

Send me a message and I'll send an info link.

[Gundamcloud]

so i'm thinking about getting one of these for my dad for christmas in 30-06 and i'm just wondering how much extra work he would need to do other than just loading the brass into it? does it resize and prime it and such?

[Liberty4Ever]

The LoadMaster is best for high volume pistol reloading. For .30-06 rifle, it's unlikely that anyone will want to shoot enough to mess with the cost and hassle setting up a progressive press. I'd recommend the Lee Classic Cast press. It's a great value and probably the best quality of all the single stage presses. It'll make more accurate ammo than any progressive press, too.

[Liberty4Ever]

The LoadMaster does resize and prime the brass, but rifle reloading has a lot of brass prep that doesn't work well with a progressive press. Resizing/depriming could be done on the LoadMaster, but then you need to trim and chamfer off the press. Check out my Case Prep video for details.

[GUNOBSESSION]

how do i extract and replace primers for .223, 7.92, 9mm, and .45?

[Liberty4Ever]

For the rifle calibers (.223 and 7.62X39), I'd resize and deprime on a single stage Lee Classic Cast press, then tumble clean to remove the resizing lube that must be used on bottle neck rifle cases. You could also use the LoadMaster press to deprime and resize and nothing else by having a turret for just the resizing die, and another turret for the powder drop die, bullet seater and factory crimp die.

Check out my Case Prep video for details about case prep for rifle rounds.

[Liberty4Ever]

For straight wall pistol calibers (9mm and .45) I use the decapping pin in the resizing die in station 1 to push out the spent primer as the case is being resized. The new primer is installed in station 2. This is part of the progressive reloading process, with the powder drop at station 3, the bullet seating at station 4 and the factory crimp at station 5.

[dolhyj467]

im thinking about buying a lee pro 1000 progressive press kit in 223 and i was wondering whether or not its a good product for a first time reloader thanks

[Liberty4Ever]

The Pro1000 is a nice little progressive press if you want the minimalist setup. I had one before upgrading to the LoadMaster. I upgraded because the Pro-1000 only has three stations and it was impossible to use the Factory Crimp Die as part of the progressive operation. I was forced to run each round back through the press a second time to Factory Crimp. If you seat the bullet and crimp using the same die, the Pro-1000 is a nice pistol caliber press. It may not resize rifle brass very well.

[5jump]

I started on a Lee single stage, then went to a Pro 1000. I have reloaded 30K rounds thru the tempermental machine. I am now looking at Hornady LNL, but that LM is a good one too. It is way better than the Pro 1000. Just look at the LM's construction. That thing is a lot sturdier than the Pro.

[gammadriver]

Thanks for this vid. My buddy bought a Lee Turret press for .223, and based on the times I've reloaded with it ... it just isn't that great. We turn the turret by hand (the indexing doesn't work well), and the primer holder is a cheap base metal that eventually pops out to the floor and breaks itself. Your progressive press seems more sturdy, and your vid has me considering buying a Lee progressive instead.

[Liberty4Ever]

I have a friend who used my LoadMaster, then bought the Lee Classic Turret press (not the older Lee Turret press) and is very happy with it. It uses the Safety Prime system. Being a turret press, it is much more manual than a progressive, but manual is typically more reliable. The Dillon 550B is indexed by hand. The LoadMaster primer feed is requires recurring maintenance. The Safety Prime is more reliable. Loading .223 on the LoadMaster is fast and reliable because the priming is already done.

[gmodesike]

i just bought .223 ammo at $0.236 a bullet, can you reload cheaper than this?..i'm finding that it's not cheaper

[Liberty4Ever]

Before the US government changed their de-mil contracts to force Raytheon to melt all the ammo into slag in a furnace, I was buying military surplus 55 gr pulled bullets for 3 cents each. Now, the same bullets new are 6 cents each (10.5 cents at Midway). My .223 ammo cost 10.5 cents each. Now it's more like 14 cents each.

I haven't bought .223 ammo in a while, but 23.6 cents sounds good lately. Is that steel case? My guns don't like steel case ammo. My reloads are very good quality.

[SavageHmr]

how accurate is your powder measure. I use the single press right now for rifle.

[Liberty4Ever]

The AutoDisk powder measure is reasonably accurate, but the accuracy greatly depends on the type of powder being used. Hodgdon says that Varget powder meters well, but it's made of fairly long sticks of powder that can form a dam in the powder bushing or drop tube and throw half charges. When I use Winchester WIN748 or Ramshot Tac powder, the charges are uniform enough for plinking rounds.

For more accurate ammo, I weigh every powder charge with the RCBS ChargeMaster powder dispenser.

[Free2Reload]

Do you omit the resizing dies since the brass has been resized already? I clean my brass after I prep it so I do not use the resizing die twice. Your comments welcome.

Thank You,

Kris

[Liberty4Ever]

When reloading rifle ammo on the progressive press, I do all the resizing, decapping, trimming, chamfering, and case lube removal before the brass is placed on the LoadMaster, so the resizing die should not be used in station one, and you may also wish to prime the brass manually too, in which case you don't want primers in station two.

It's a good idea to use a universal decapping die in station one instead of the resizing die, to make sure there is no tumbling media plugging the flash hole.

[mattheat69]

Do you know of a good supply of bulk .224 FMJBT bullets? Manufacture does not matter. Mainly reloading to chuck lead

[Liberty4Ever]

I bought 3,000 55gr military surplus pulled bullets that shoot very well in plinking ammo for three cents each, and wish I'd bought a lot more. The guy who resells military surplus reloading components told me Raytheon has the new scrap ammo contract and it was specifically rewritten to prevent sales of powder, brass and bullets to reloaders. They stack pallets of surplus ammo in a furnace and melt it.

Best I've seen lately: Dogpatch bullets at Midway are about 10 cents each per 500 on sale.

[mattheat69]

What powder do you recommend as the cleanest for .223 without going to double disk? Accur 2230, H335, H4198, VN120 or H322. Which one meters the best?

[Liberty4Ever]

Sorry, I don't have a good answer. I've never shot any of the powders you mentioned. I have H4198. It's on the faster end of the .223 powders. I haven't shot it yet. I've used WIN748, Varget and Tac. All worked well. Varget may have been the cleanest, but it's hard for me to tell. I don't shoot an AR with the direct impingement gas system (craps where it eats!). I shoot a PLR-16 and SU-16, and they have gas tubes above the barrels. None of the powders I use produced much powder residue.

[Liberty4Ever]

The Vihtavuori powders have a good reputation as accurate and clean burning (for the price, they should be good!), but again, I've never used them so I can't give you an opinion. You might want to check them out, though.

[mattheat69]

I just bought a the lee classic turret press and am currently reloading .45 and 9mm and want to start .223. What die are you using to charge the case with? The lee dies I just bought only have deprimmer & FL sizer, seater, factory crimp. Is there another die I can buy that will be able to charge the case in my press?

Matt

[Liberty4Ever]

Lee sells a rifle powder charging die. A Lee Auto Disk powder measure mounts on top of that and is automatically operated by the motion of the press.

midwayusa dot com/eproductpage dot exe/showproduct?saleitemid=792­057

[Free2Reload]

I am a Lee fan as well. I am thinking of upgrading my bench with a Load-Master. My Classic Turret Press has worked very well for me.

Has the press been reliable for you? What other cal. do you reload on it?

[Liberty4Ever]

I have a friend who recently bought a Classic Turret Press and is quite happy with it. Less finicky than a progressive press, especially for rifle ammo. About half as fast for pistol ammo, though.

I load 9mm, 10mm, .223, .308 on the LoadMaster. I'm getting ready to load .40 S&W.

On the Classic Cast press, I load 7.5X55 Swiss, 7.62X54 Russian, and have dies for .30-30, .44 magnum, and .357 magnum.

Check out:

loadmastervideos dot com

[pckrs101]

can u do this w/ different calibers?

[Liberty4Ever]

Caliber changes are done by adding a new turret with the dies already installed, on the top of the press. You may need to change the shell plate and/or primer feeder. It's a 2-5 minute changeover.

[pckrs101]

thnks

[mxf7010g8k]

how much does this setup cost?

[Liberty4Ever]

The LoadMaster with everything needed to reload, including a powder measure and one set of dies is on sale at Midway for $200 about half of the time. It's also available from Natchez Trace and other online suppliers. In theory, all you need to add is bullets and powder and primers and brass, but if this is your 1st reloading, plan on $100 more for a digital scale, calipers, reloading book, etc.

[Liberty4Ever]

The LoadMaster is complex for a first press, and should only be contemplated by the technically savvy and patient. The Lee Classic Cast single stage press or the Lee Classic Turret press are probably better for first time reloaders.

[sindiesel666]

Lotsa flex on that mounting surface.....

[Liberty4Ever]

I reused three lag screws holding the press into holes that had been used for the previous press. It didn't feel like a lot of flex and was mostly flexing when resizing rifle brass which I now do on the rock solid Classic Cast press just to the left of the LoadMaster. Trading bolts for screws locked down the LoadMaster with no flex.

[freepatriot]

GO RED!

(From a Dillon owner)

[AGreyMan]

Do you trim cases for length and chamfer case mouths?

[Liberty4Ever]

Read the comments for this video on the right side. Click "more" and scroll to the bottom.

[bohoki]

what does that ball chain do?

[Liberty4Ever]

The empty case pushes up on the powder drop tube to charge the case with a measured amount of powder. The ball chain resets the sliding powder measure. It works very well. There's a spring loaded option that is also standard equipment, but the ball chain resets the measure at the bottom of the press motion so it is almost completely impossible to double charge a case by short stroking the press at the top of the press motion. I've reloaded about 4000 rounds and never had the chain break.

[themistocles3]

Good video. I'm still thinking about getting a loadmaster. Everything I read says they are a pain to keep running. What has your experience been. I am a tinker by nature but in this case I really want to spend my time loading quality ammo and not fretting over a machine. Does powder really come flying out of the cases on the way to station #4? Is the primer system so touchy that it requires attention after every 50 rounds? Thanks for any advice you can give.

[Liberty4Ever]

The friction fed primer system could be more robust. I think it's the way it is because Lee considers a tube of vertically stacked primers to be too dangerous. The LoadMaster primer system works, but it might take some fiddling. Don't let the primer system run empty, and don't load the primer trough with upside down or sideways primers. It's an acquired skill that's not too difficult. After that, all is well.

[Liberty4Ever]

The bit about jerky operation causing powder to spill out of cases is BS. After 1000 rounds, the LoadMaster runs very smoothly, and it never once spilled powder from the cases. I load 9mm, 10mm, and .223, and soon to add .40 S&W nd .308. I think the LoadMaster is the best value in a reloading press. I'm going on 10,000 LoadMaster rounds in a fairly short time.

[Krankensteins]

very nice,

[niggerpleasenojitsu]

Huh, that's cool.