Lee Loadmaster - what to load first.

[ovenpaa]

I was all set to buy a Dillon XL650 when someone very kindly offered me an as new Loadmaster, it seemed rude not to accept such a generous offer and the press is now home, cleaned, bolted down and set up and is cycling perfectly with some 44 Mag brass, having read so many horror stories about the Loadmaster I must say I found the set-up very easy and it cycles and primes perfectly with every case.

So time to move it to rifle cartridges. I can see myself loading either .308 or .223 or .303 and will decap my brass on a separate single stage press so that the primer pockets are properly cleaned with a stainless media tumbler then onto the Loadmaster where I will case feed, prime and neck size. The powder throwing stage I am undecided on and will possibly pre throw the charges on a Chargemaster and then drop them manually at the correct stage of the process, this does make things slightly slower however it also means I see fairly accurate powder charges, finally add a bullet initially manually and voila finished rounds, well that is the theory.

I have no worries about the press operation, the Loadmaster has it's own dedicated forum which is a wealth of hints, tips and knowledge and I am sure I can get some good ammunition out of the system however what to load first?

So next thing is choose the cartridge to load. Does anyone have any experience of loading the .223/.308/.303 with the Loadmaster and any suggestions as to which one would be a good starting point?

[mag41uk]

My experience with the Loadmaster is to get another press for loading rifle cartridges.
If I were to load rifle rounds on it I would stick with LEE collet dies.
BTW I have a couple of spare turrets and 3 shell plates if you are interested.
Tony

[ovenpaa]

Hi Tony,

I am indeed interested, what numbers are the shell plates?

[phaedra1106]

I did a run of 100 .223 using the perfect powder measure and universal powder charging die set up. Using 55gr Sierra which had flat bases I found feeding the bullets by hand a pain (literally!) as they are so small I kept catching my finger in between the case and die.

In the end I went back to using the single stage. Quality wise, feeding it with cases that were full length sized and primed first I found no difference to those loaded on the single stage but that was only shooting up to 200m.

For the 300 Blk I've set up the turret press with FLS + prime (cases decapped and cleaned beforehand), Powder (dropped in through die after being dispensed on a Hornady Lock-N-Load Auto Charge Powder Dispenser), seat then factory crimp. This is for indoor sub-sonic ammo, if it works well then I'll also use it for range supersonic ammo as well.

[mag41uk]

Hi Tony,

I am indeed interested, what numbers are the shell plates?

Shell plates are 1S,2L and 19L.
And two turrets.
Tony

[ovenpaa]

The #2L would certainly be of use, can you PM me a price for it and a turret please.