@@314299 it will be here this Sunday, it's funny though. I also ordered the 5th edition shotshell reloading book. but it will be here on Saturday. I guess I can read through that while I wait. lol
@@CarlPapa88 it works out pretty good. I've loaded over 300 rounds with it so far. The only downside with it I have is that it does leak a little gunpowder through the slider but other than that. it does a great job!
Great video. To empty the hoppers easily you can drill a hole in one corner of the lid. Put the hole on the side you want to empty out and hold it on securely while you pour out the contents. Flip the hole on the lid to the other side of the hopper and repeat. If you have your press bolted down you can pop the charging handle off and lift the hopper off the base.
I have a load all from the late 70s what I did was to drill a 1/2 inch hole under the primer hole an a 1/2 inch hole in a jar lid an mounted it under my loader an it does a job catching my primers.
+Mona Gretzmacher That seems like a good idea if you plan on leaving the loader in a permanent location. Was your loader an older one with the metal base? Those were an extra pain to get the fired primers out of.
Just to let you all know. you can actually empty this machines hoppers without un-bolting it from the bench (Con at 17:30 in this video). All you do is pop off the handle from the two pivot points either side that hold the top section on. Be careful to slide the upper section off the column, it is spring loaded but not too strong a spring. (Just make sure you do the correct pivot points with NO e clip retainers on them, they just literally pop off by bending the handle outwards slightly.) You can then just cover one side and tip the particular hopper out. Then just slide it back on the column and pop the pivots back on. No tools required and takes about 2-3 minutes.
+Fendermanpaul I was just going to mention this myself! I have not used mine for some time now but used to load hundreds of rounds every duck season. ( before steel was required) Not as nice as my MEC but it did the job. (my MEC was in 10 ga.)
I use the plastic package from .22LR rounds. The small rectangular type fits like a small drawer. I'm using a Load All 1 and it slides in from the back.
That's what I was thinking of doing when I set mine up. Drill a one inch hole and get 4 inches of clear tuubing with a plug on the end and just put the tubing in the hole
Yeah, once you get going you can make a box of shells pretty fast. I timed the process and it took me about thirteen minutes to load a box. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YTMSFZmRznM.html
Good video! I used to load my 12 ga with the lee loader that came in a small box. I used to shoot trap and loaded many hundreds of shells,annoying my sisters with all of my banging. That was back in 68
if you take foam ear plugs pushed into holes you drilled into the powder and shot hoppers you can get them pretty well drained. You can use a little tray out of a common shop asst of hardware like at harbor freight to collect primers too.
I bought one of these a year ago, then a 20ga, why I didn't get one years ago? They are AWESOME! Bolted both to piece of plywood back to back, c clamp top. Speed things up use bushing box to hold wads, box top velcro to plywood to hold primers &os cards speeds thing up so much. Use magnetic to clean up primers works great, thanks for video.
They do leak powder, about 10-20 times more than a MEC or a rotary powder measure like the Lee Perfect. I'd say I lose 1/2% of my powder over the course of loading shotshells. I would not use a shop vac or any type of vacuum cleaner around equipment that LEAKS POWDER. While the shot and powder bushings are great for 12 gauge, for 20 gauge there's a need for smaller powder bushings for some powders. And some want lighter shot loads. For those that do, check out Elite 3D Design. As several have commented below, the top does come off for emptying the shot and powder. Pull the steel bars off the side. And some of use bolt this to plywood or a section of 2 by 12 and C-Clamp it to a table.
Having used a number of these machines over the years I can say that some leak more than others. Some leak a little, some a lot. Powder selection influences how much escapes, fine ball powders are the worst while bulky flake powders leak a lot less. It is recommended that clean up should be done with a brush and a dustpan, not a vacuum cleaner.
you can easily empty the shot and powder hoppers by removing the top part. this is done by pushing out (left and right) on the handle. this will take the hoppers and dies off the base and handle because there are 2 pins about the size of a 209 primer and holes on the handle which lock them in place. i recently discovered the "hack" persay. no need to cycle continually or unbolt the machine. hope this helps
Love the pros and cons....great job on the video. I have a lee single stage press to load my 303 and I love it in the winter months. Now this video sold me on reloading again with lee. From a Canadian!
I have seen on the Lee website that Lee have permanently discontinued the primer feed for reasons of the mould wearing out and lack of demand making it not worth the cost of constructing another. It makes me wonder if the Load-All II is itself not eventually due for obsolescence. I hope not, because it has almost certainly got people into shotshell reloading who would not otherwise have done so. My experience with it is that it is not a 200 round per hour machine. 100 an hour, however, is easily achievable if you have ingredients easily to hand & well laid out, an established recipe that you know will give you no surprises at the crimp stations, and are content to throw the loaded shells into a receptacle and deal with them as you see fit later. This is more than enough for any casual shooter (three or four rounds of trap once a weekend, say) or young reloader, and the all-inclusive nature of the kit straight out of the box is a DEFINITE bonus, as is the simplicity. I've retired mine now and moved up in the world, but it served me well for a year and upon it I learned the art of shotshell reloading. It will be a sad and sorry day when/if Lee finally retire it as a product.
Lee cant's be making much on the production and sale of these, I really doubt that the cost of re-tooling would be worth it if they ever wear out their molds. I could see a copy coming out of China if Lee ever stops production.
Excellent job of giving a 'look-see' of the Lee shot loader. Been kicking up the idea of doing some shotshell loading, mainly for slugs, and this may just fit the bill. Thanks for taking the time to do the presentation!
Very advisable video, it is best to use quality once fired reclaimed hulls as your start point such as Win AA or Rem Gun club, the pleats are better formed and good crimps are of the norm as you keep loading them over and over. also, as you said, the crimping station takes a bit getting used to as you develop a "Feel" for if your load is the right Hight. However, that "feel" stays with you even if you get another machine like a MEC. On another subject, I'm surprised that you don't make your own shot. I believe you told me that you have someone at the club that does and you get it from him. - Dave
Love my lee loader but... the other day the center post popped out and yep, the hoppers dumped over backwards and emptied all the powder and shot onto the reloading table. I JB welded the center post back in. ok now. Saved all the shot and powder with a screen strainer, the powder went thru and the shot stayed in the strainer.
If you know someone with a 3D Printer they could make a 2 piece cover for the reservoirs to make emptying easier . Also maybe a thin piece of brass or aluminum shim stock could be made to fit on top of the charge bar to reduce the powder spillage and glued in place. Just a thought ,I remember when the Lee Load All first came out ,looks like it's been improved a lot .I have a Bair Honey Bear .12 Ga. I bought 50 years ago when they sold the company to Pacific who later sold it to Hornady .
Yes, no doubt a 3d printer could make either a two piece cover or perhaps a cover hinged in the middle that would allow one side at a time to be covered for the purpose of emptying the hoppers. Interesting idea, thanks.
I have one of these mounted right next to my MEC jr for powder and shot handling. I ended up screwing them both to a board so I can store them up on the shelf to get it out of the way of all the other junk on my reloading bench! lol that set of powder and shot bushes rocks! :-)
I don't know if you're still reading comments on this video but you mentioned that Lee does not make a 28 gauge press I own one and 12 gauge and I found that I can insert a 28 gauge into a sleeve of conduit and work it in the 12 gauge press as far as inserting wads and crimping the shell it does not resize it though
They still sell the unit without the primer feeder. I thought you weren't supposed to handle primers directly. How else are you supposed to prime the shells?
Thanks for the video I think you had a productive storm day. I'd like one for crimps the hand loader isn't great at crimps unless I have paper hulls. I think I will pick one up.
According to the Lee Precsion website: 90011 is the standard 12 gauge machine for loading 2-3/4 or 3" shells. 90013 Includes an extra bushing for Nobel powders, along with Special Notes and Charge Table regarding the extra Bushing. 90014 is for loading 67.5mm length shells.
Where can I find loading data for 12g, 1-1 1/8oz, #8 or #9 for shooting skeet? Does the Lee come with accurate loading data or are there good sites for that?
I have mixed feelings about the universal charge bar for the MEC machines. I would rather a fixed bar and bushings as they can't get out of adjustment like the universal bar can.
@@314299 full disclosure I check my charge bar against a scale and check every few shells to make sure. I suppose a bushing once you have the correct one would be good.
What is the difference between a lee load all and a lee load all ll ? Is it the lee does 2 /34 and the lee ll does 2/34 and 3 inch? I had a lee 25 years ago, which I still had it.
The major difference is that the Load All II was built so that it could be fitted with an optional primer feeder. The base of the original machine was a metal part whereas on the II it was a plastic component. Both machines could load both 2-3/4" and 3" shells.
Yes, they all came with a resizing ring. If you have an older machine that's missing the sizing ring the current production sizing ring from Lee works perfectly.
Hello. i reload black powder shells in 12 gauge. im looking to get the lee load all loader, and im wondering since i use 3 drams of BP to a 1-1/4 Oz of payload as my base. what powder bushing would be closest to 1-1/4 Oz payload? Or 3 1/2 dram with 7/8 Oz Slug payload...... Short term im asking if i can set this up to run volumetric for BP. (not using smokeless)
+WinterHillBattalion I would not recommend using the machine to measure black powder, it is not intended for it. I would suggest you call Lee precision to see what they have to say about using the press to measure BP.
Bandidos Brotherhood Outdoors just play around with it put in a bushing check powder a couple of times until you find the right one for your powder. Lee will say to use certain bushings while you really need to go up or down one or a couple.
Just ordered one, I'm loading Winchester super x xpert hv steel shot 3", 1-1/8, 2 shot 12 gauge. Does anyone know what kind of wads and bbs I should get
ive used the lee and mec single stage presses for a long time ...the lee works great but its only 100round an hour machine... and you will get tired quickly....I can only stand to do 4 boxes in one session but once you have a good load with no surprises its as quick as a 600jr.
I have used both the Lee and various MEC 600 machines and personally I did not notice a great deal of difference in the effort to operate one over the other. However I do generally use one of the MEC machines when doing quantities as they are smoother to operate and are more adjustable. Thanks for the comment!
You can buy a separate adapter for 12, 16 and 20 gauges only. Kit includes the die carrier, steel sizer, wad guide, shell holder, load data and instructions for about $30 USD.
You cannot use the charge bar to measure out the black powder as it's not safe to do so, however if you do that as a separate step with a proper black powder measure the machine can be used to load black powder shells.
Would you be interested in selling one of your extra 12 gauge units? I've been looking around for used ones, and haven't had much luck finding any yet.
I'm in Canada, and I expect you are located in the USA, so shipping would be expensive. it would most likely be cheaper for you to just buy a new one from Amazon.
I'm in Canada too, Ontario...but you're probably still right. Canada post has this nasty habit of wanting to be paid for the packages they ship ;). I am surprised how hard it seems to be to find these around. I would have expected to find them used everywhere. Anyways, thank you for the very quick response, have a great evening :)
I don't think they could make a 410 version of the machine with the plastic tool head used on the 12/16/20 gauge machines as a plastic drop tube/wad rammer would be too thin to be strong enough, and the tube used to push the sizing ring off the case and on to the new primer would be thin as well if made of plastic. Overall I expect the machine would require a drastic redesign. New shot/powder bushings would be required as the 12/16/20 gauge set are too large. I think it would make more sense for them to develop a die set so 410 could be loaded on one of their metallic presses, or perhaps develop a 410 press based on their turret press.
Thanks for your video instructions - a good machine that works well I had a couple of these and traded off the 1 I used most. I had a spare and set it up for Unique powder. I used a scale and chose a bushing. but it has been a few years and I lost the spare powder bushings. *can anyone tell me where I can get replacement bushings?
well i do have 500# or so of the fed low brass comes in the 100# pack at walmart if that will work and 300# 2 3/4'' fed 12 ga hulls that had the flight control wad oo buck ..like i said im new 2 the whole shot shell stuff Im more in2 the match grade brass stuff 308/338Lmag .. I was planing on buying a lee buck ball mold cast my own OO buck shot .. powder+primers not sure yet !!
Many of your gripes against the Load-All II are issues I can easily counter. One Example: To Empty the machine you simply take the cover and drill a hole in it, about 3/8" or so. Then, when you need to unload, remove the tray and put the top with the hole over the hoppers. Then keeping the top firmly in place dump the shot. Flip the cover the other way to dump just the powder. One other very important issue you failed to mention is that Mec does not afford resizing on some of their models -- you must do that separately. I think your bias is showing.
+tkarlmann Myu My "bias" is my opinion which is based on the facts, MEC machines are superior in almost all most respects to the Lee Load All. The Lee is serviceable enough, but it does have the limitations I mention in the video, the main advantage of the Lee product is it's modest price. As for emptying the machine I already covered that htps://ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TuTrusOyMO0.html
This is a really helpfull video. I'm on the fence about reloading my own shells. Was considering this machine and a sizemaster, a huge difference i price between the two. Knew how the mec worked, but nothing about the finer details of the Lee. Again, thanks for the great vid!
I don't know where you are getting that Lee Loaders are not in production. They certainly are right now. Did they recently start producing them again or what?
really? the little things that you wack with a hammer? because those haven't been made in shotgun in a while. i have one in 12 and 20 and love them. good buy
You don't have to attach it to a bench directly, but you do have to do clamp it to something sturdy. Attach the machine to a scrap of plywood that can be "C" clamped to a bench, or to a piece of 2x4 that can be held in a vice.
i want to get a 12 and a 16 gauge, i have about 100 empty 12 gauge shells that i have collected and uhh.. im not gonna say how many live shotgun shells but yea, i want the 16 cause i have some empty shells and i cant find any to purchase, i have a 1952 bird gun in 16 gauge, the 12 gauge is just cause i want to get into reloading.
Any luck loading slugs with this tool. I've got a Load All 2 and all the gear to cast Lee slugs which go into AA hulls, but haven't gotten down to setting it up yet.
+Captainpegs07 The machine will load 3" shells. Buckshot however is too coarse to be measured with the bushings, it needs to be hand counted and put into the shell for loading.
Although they are not impressive looking they work well and are durable, a buddy of mine has loaded well over twenty thousand shells on his Load-All and it's still working.
I got my load all in the late 70's when I was a kid, and I can see that they haven't changed much. My friends had Mec brand loaders and they were no doubt far superior in precision and overall quality. That being said, I loaded thousands of shells with my Load all...served me very well. It's still in my parents house mounted on the same table in very good shape. bagged many ducks, happy memories.
Great machine. I've loaded thousands of rounds with it. My only gripe is that it is optimized for 7.5 shot. So when using different size shot it does not throw the correct weight as it throws by volume. No biggie, I hand load my heavier loads (hunting rounds) with a scale anyway to have more consistency. I have mine mounted to wood which is capable of clamping to a work bench. Then, it's easier to remove for cleaning, emptying and changing bushings with full hoppers.
A friend of mine moved into a rental house in the late seventies. The previous tenants had left a bunch of junk in the basement which included a fair amount of reloading gear. My friend wasn’t into reloading but knew that I would probably be interested. He offered me the stuff in exchange for reloading some 38 special rounds. I had no idea what I was doing but fixed up a box of rounds with a tiny amount of powder. We went down to a field nearby and I volunteered to be the fool to test out the loads. They were anemic but didn’t blow up in my face. Now fast-forward to today with thousands of brass rounds under my belt and Amazon just delivered my Lee Shot-Shell reloader. And the experiments begin again. Wish me luck and thanks for the tour of the gear.
I'm reloading using the Lee Loadall2 in 12 and 20 ga , Drilled 2 inch hole and used PVC pipe and Coupling and cap . When full take cap off and dump in Can . Love my reloaders and save a lot of Cash
Excellent overview, this was helpful to me in making my purchase decision. BTW, I have several Lee presses (for pistol and rifle) and find that the "auto" priming systems are improved by polishing the feed ramp with some car wax or Nu-Finish. Still not ideal, but for the price I think it's a pretty good method for efficient reloading. Keep them clean, dry and waxed and they provide acceptable service (for $10 :))
