Upgrades for the Lee Load Master Progressive press

[RooftopKorean]

I found this little thing on Etsy. It's a great little do-dad that smooths out the operation of the Load Master press.

It looks like some kind of caster wheel that the shell plate wheel bar rolls on.

Definitely a must have, it was $23.

 

[RooftopKorean]

I continued doing little mods to my Lee Load Master.

I saw someone who did this already but I forget who and where (possibly on YouTube).

I had some LEDs laying around so I figured, why the hell not? I drilled a hole into the underside of the shell plate holder and put the LED in there. I found that green works the best for visibility. Eventually, I will use some hot glue to set it in place. I also purchased a 9v battery holder with an on/off switch for the power source.

As you can see it works quite well to ensure that you have another fail safe to prevent you from dropping powder into a casing with no primer; waste not, want not.







I am also waiting on a cheap endoscope from Amazon that will be mounted above the powder drop area to assist in avoiding double charges. I've never had issues with dropping powder without a primer or double charges, but why leave things to chance, right? I'll be hooking the endoscope up to my 8" fire tablet I have mounted at my work bench area for when I am in need of YouTube University when it comes to reloading or repair work referencing.



I'll post up more pictures when it's finshed.

 

[Phazer]

After 10 years of use, my final "upgrade" to my Loadmaster was to swap it out for a Six Pack Pro.

 

[RooftopKorean]

Finished up my upgrades a few moments ago. Got the 9V battery box. Did a quick solder job, sleeving and heat shrink on the wires.

Drilled a hole in the middle of the five turret tool head and mounted the endoscope there. I hooked it up to a Fire HD 8 tablet using a shelf mount.

All in all everything came out OK.

edit: You can see much easier into smaller rifle and pistol casings. I used a .308 which one of the larger calibers I reload on the press.

 

[dwa12479]

Nice lookin setup, great work!

 

[RooftopKorean]

Nice lookin setup, great work!

Thank you, they are but modest upgrades. I saw someone who got a hornady bullet feeder to work with the Lee Loadmaster.

 

[RooftopKorean]

Come to think of it, I'll have to drill the hole for the endoscope in all of my Lee tool heads.

 

[pjzwtl]

Seems like now that your famous you have to much time on your hands . Nice mods!!

 

[repete]

This isn't really a "mod", more like a repair. My son picked up a used Lee Pro 1000 cheap, after cleaning and looking it over I found why so cheap. The two bolts that hold the ram toggle to the red frame were all boogered up, the threads in the red aluminum base were stripped out rendering the base unusable for anything other than parts! Or was it? I looked it over and took some measurements and did some brain work, then decided to make some new pins that would be held in place with 'C' clips. While looking for some stock for the pins I came across some extra GM brake caliper slider bolts, the exact diameter I needed! At about 4" in length the were a tad to long and the treaded end was also to long. It's good to have a lathe! I bet that $1000 dollars I paid for it has saved $20 so far! Anyhoo, I turned down the threaded portion to the same dia. of the shaft and drilled and tapped the frame and now he has a working Pro 1000 in .45 acp for next to nothing. So I guess what I'm getting at is make sure those two bolts on either side of the base are kept tight!

 

[RooftopKorean]

Picked up some additional upgrades for my Lee Loadmaster from Etsy today. As Repete said, these things are more of a fix. I never used the priming or case feeder features on my Loadmaster because they were so problematic.

With these "upgrades" I should be able to use these features reliably, watched a few YT videos and read reviews before purchasing.

First one is an upgraded system for the primer feeder, it completely replaces the factory design with this more reliable design.

Second one is so the case feeder mounts to the top ring of the chassis instead of being attached to the carrier, so the entire case feeder holding all the cases doesn't need to go up and down with the carrier.

Also purchased case sliders for different calibers.

 

[Phazer]

Thank you, they are but modest upgrades. I saw someone who got a hornady bullet feeder to work with the Lee Loadmaster.

Tried the original Lee bullet feeder with the feed fingers. It never worked

The Lee Inline Bullet Feeder has worked quite well with 9mm:

Inline Bullet Feed Kit .35 Cal

Inline Bullet Feed Kit 35 CAL. For use with 380 Auto to 357 Mag, bullet diameter range .312 to .360. Includes Feed Die and bullet feed magazine. All steel construction featuring a ball bearing escapement mechanism. Spring loaded positive ball carrier return assures reliable operation. Jacketed...

www.titanreloading.com

 

[RooftopKorean]

I may look into bullet feeders after I get these mods finished first.

If all goes well, I may just buy another Load master (used) for my rifle reloading and use my current setup as a dedicated handgun reloading station.

I only use my Lee Classic Single Stage for making any match grade ammo and 338 LM.

 

[Zerex]

I have been reloading for over 40 years. I once purchased Lee progressive presses similar to yours...........I had powder drop problems with them and primer feed/case feed problems. They sit in a box today. I was shooting cowboy and had too many problems with them..finicky.

I reload shotshell on a MEC progressive and have no such problems. I run thousands each year.

I load pistol and rifle, 50 at a time on single stage presses, I use Hornady, RCBS, Forster and Redding, and that way I can visually inspect the powder charges, even after checking every ten..............I use cheap Lee single stages for depriming and case trimming.

I have RCBS electronic powder dispensersm but still check visually on batches of 50. Hornady powder dispensers are the best I have tried, and I have tried many..match types.......RCBS,Redding, etc etc.......

A stuck copper jacketed bullet takes some time to drill out of a pistol bbl.......ask me I know. Even one a year is too many.

Dillon and Hornady progressives all suffer from the same general problems, despite rave reviews.........I have seen others stick bullets too, from them.

 

[Mosinitis]

Best press lighting you can devise. Low profile stays out of the way and will not interfere with anything in the press. Projects the light straight down, so no shadows. I have it on my Dillon 550B and love it.

Collections

KMS² specializes in reloading accessories that are custom designed to maximize your reloading experience. KMS² is a veteran owned and operated small family run business.

kmssquared.com

 

[RooftopKorean]

I have sufficient lighting on my presses, very similar to what's sold on this site.

Best press lighting you can devise. Low profile stays out of the way and will not interfere with anything in the press. Projects the light straight down, so no shadows. I have it on my Dillon 550B and love it.

Collections

KMS² specializes in reloading accessories that are custom designed to maximize your reloading experience. KMS² is a veteran owned and operated small family run business.

kmssquared.com

Actually, I believe this is the site I bought my light for my LLM from.

 

[repete]

A stuck copper jacketed bullet takes some time to drill out of a pistol bbl.......ask me I know. Even one a year is too many.

Dillon and Hornady progressives all suffer from the same general problems, despite rave reviews.........I have seen others stick bullets too, from them.

Drill?? Why risk that? It's much easier and faster and safer for the gun to drive it out with a brass rod. Ever since I first started reloading sometime in the last century (yeah , I'm old LOL) I've had an assortment of brass rods about .25 dia to .300 and 8"-14" Cheap insurance, never have a problem when I have them handy!

 

[RooftopKorean]

Drilling is a bad bad move.

 

[Zerex]

A stuck jacketed bullet is one hard damn thing to remove, when a copper jacket is driven into the rifling.. Lead is a cinch to remove.


45 acp bore--the lands measure .442 original bore, before grooving the bore to ,452 deep leaving the original bore of .442 as he lands.............lands and grooves..................

Just like a 30-06 has a .300 bore (the lands) and .308 grooves.. and shoots a .308 bullet................... the bullet fits the grooves..........about 50-50 between bore and grooves dimensions.

Holding a bbl firmly enough without bending/crushing it oval while you try to drive a brass rod..first deforming the tip of the bullet and setting the bullet more firmly into the .452 grooves is not the problem........... it is the grab of the .442 original bore (the lands) on the .452 jacketed bullet.

A .375 3/8 drill bit, centered in the lead base of the visible stuck .452 bullet..... will slowly mill out the lead base, leaving a copper jacket that can now be pushed out with a rod. I have done it.

Again, a stuck lead bullet is no problem at all to drive out.

Rifle barrels with a stuck copper jackets bullet are more difficult, and have to be done on a lathe and are usually not that far up the bbl from the chamber., as most stuck pistol bullets are not either

.270 rifle.....277 dia bullet is shot up a .270 bore..the lands. and a .277 groove.

 

[RooftopKorean]

Anyway...

Here are the new mods installed. The guy who designed these mods is a genius. I love the fact that the bullet feeder doesn't go up/down with the carrier. I stopped using that feature for this very reason. With this mod, it offers much more stability.

Also purchased the primer feeder system. It's much more reliable than the Lee feeder. The Lee feeder would sometimes drop the primer sideways or upside down. This was a huge pain in the ass. With this design, there is no chance of that unless you load it in the feeder tube upside down.

 

[Zerex]

I am not smart enough to use a Lee Progessive, I admit it.
I am a single stage brain at best.

I also hand prime...............figures.

 

[fresch]

I did all the mods like you on my LLM and now I use the Lee table top primer ram thing. I deprime and case size on my single stage press, then reprime ram, doing this gave me room for a powder level die; I have both auto case and auto bullet feeders and a couple finger feeders. Plus the no chain powder droppers.

 

[RooftopKorean]

With all the mods, I can't believe how much more reliable and my LM has become. I loaded 500 rounds of 45 ACP today so fast.

 

[Robin]

I didn't even know this stuff existed! But then, I'm a Rock Chucker guy.
Robin

 

[RooftopKorean]

Here's a mod for the Lee Autodisk powder drop. I removed the need for the reset chain and used a spring return. I bought off Etsy for $8.

 

[RooftopKorean]

Got some more upgrades for my Loadmasters. Now that I have two, it sucks having to buy two of everything when it comes to upgrading these things.

Enhanced guide fingers made by ADePDesigns on Etsy.

Andy is a great guy and have no problems supporting him, especially after weathering the two recent hurricanes in Florida.