I just bought a 1911 .45ACP and people kept saying you just learn how to make your own ammo... Watching this video I seriously can't believe how easy you made it! AND it actually looks very fun and rewarding to do the entire process by yourself! Amazing! And now you got me looking at buying the equipment!! A+ video, Clear and very informative! Wish all videos on here were this great! Thanks, -Nigel
FYI everybody who's interested. I just bought one for reloading my .38 special / .357 magnum. I've never reloaded before so I'm a total novice although I have worked with tools & machines a lot. That said, once I got it bolted down and figured out everything, like the various depth adjustments to get the bullet length right, it worked like a charm. I loaded a few, went and shot, made a few adjustments, loaded a few more and shot them and everything went great. After a few test runs and experiments to where I was satisfied I had the load I wanted and all the settings were right I cranked out 100 rounds in nothing flat. I had a couple problem shells caused by dented brass because I hadn't inspected it before I put it in the machine. From now on I'll check it first. Other than that, it went smooth as could possibly be and I had 0 problems related to the machine. I was going to buy the Dillon 650, I can afford it, but I'm cheap by nature and I wasn't sure I'd really reload that much so I just grabbed the Lee. Someday I might "go blue", but it's clear I won't be in any hurry to do so. The Lee Loadmaster seems to do the job, at least so far. I've only done 100 rounds (visiting relatives...ugh) but I don't frankly see anything that could really go wrong that I couldn't easily fix. It's very sweet, and a lot of fun. There's no doubt I'm going to be doing a lot more shooting now that I have it and can crank out the ammo. I'm going to get set up for other calibers soon. Hope this helps someone, enjoy.
I will just warn of something I realized being a 10 year owner of a loadmaster, the shell plate carrier is considered a wear item by lee. Eventually (around 20,000-50,000) rounds the carrier will crack at the primer area and just snap off. While the press is still functional, you can no longer prime the cases. Buy a few spares from midway or lee (they are about 20 bucks each).
Here's my question that none of these videos seem to answer for me. How dows the powder charge resovoir know how much to put in the shell? Is there a dial that you set it to for w/e caliber you are loading, or does it set by grains?
Depends on what powder measure you get. The autodisk is a disc that has holes of different sizes with an arbitrary number for reference. You compare this number to lees chart which shows how many grains for all the major brands and types of powder you will get from that hole. You align the hole you want and install it under the hopper. When the press is at rest, the hole is directly under the hopper and fills to the full volume with powder. When you load a case into the powder measure the hole is shifted forward which simultaneously closes the hopper and drops the powder that filled the volume of the hole into the case. Lee also sells a powder scoops which also use volume and the same arbitrary reference numbers. You use the scoops like you do when you use a measuring cup, dip it full and use a straight edge to knock off the heap to get the correct amount. All lee and most reloading equipment comes with instructions. Just choose what you need or look up the instruction manual for these devices.
Very nice and informative clip - thanks for posting! I haven't really decided between the Pro 100 or Loadmaster yet, but I have to say that it leans towards the Loadmaster after seeing this. Keep up the good work!
Nice setup! I have the same dies filling up all five spaces on the turret but I do one thing more before using the press. I take the empty brass and remove the primers before cleaning. That way the primer pocket is clean for reloading. Several ways to do this, but the empty cases are totally clean when I start reloading. Again, Thanks for the video.
Great Video, I'm a Neanderthal reloader and use a single stage for everything, your video encourages me to step forward and put away the stone tools and move to progressive presses. I would appreciate a little shooting demo at the end to see your finished product results, the proof is in the pudding.
Nice shop, very clean, very detailed. I have zero gun knowledge, but watching this video made me what to look into legally owning a firearm. This is a gd video to spark an interest in gun ownership.
The Lee bullet feeder is a great addition. Sometimes I disconnect the automatic arm and use it semi-manually while working up loads. Even then it is quick because you flick a bullet into place rather than picking one up and setting it on the case.
In your newer video, you asked if folks use a LoadMaster, or want to. This video from Nov 2009 is what launched me - and influenced me to purchase this very press configured for 45 ACP. :-)
You can get as cheap as posssible by casting your own bullets, buy bulk fired once brass, or get from a range. Buy powder at gun show in 4 - 8 lbs jugs. Buy primers by the thousand. After all that you can reload pretty cheap, its work but its cheap. I do not care to clean lead from my barrel so you can use plated lead or hard cast lead. Lots of options.....
What a great quality video and you do a wonderfull job of explaining what is happening with the press. I would second Chagasrod's request on the powder measuring unit. There a a lot of videos for the lock N load powder measure. If you could go over the setup and how to change the amount of powder throughs. I am new to all this and just getting my Loadmaster set up. I am very nervous about dealing with the powder loading system. Thanks for taking the time to help all of us beginners!
I reload several handgun calibers on a Lee turret rig and 2 rifle calibers on a Lee D-type press, Lee dies, and many other Lee tools. Some of my Lee dies & tools are over 40 years old and still work like new. My ammo shoots & looks better than ammo my shooting buddies reload on much higher priced tools with prestige brand names. I don't own stock in Lee, but I will put ammo I make on Lee tools up against any made by friends who use the "big-name" tools and make fun of my "el cheapo" Lee tools
A year ago to buy this machine and adjust maintenance and knowing, no par gives no problem. A LEE certainly money, and the Load Master Lee, both the engine and spare parts are cheap, so it is very good buy. A few days ago I acquired also a Dillon XL 650, this is too big, no doubt if you want quality has to be a DILLON, is more expensive but once you get to make the refilling of cartridge you realize the difference in work one to otr. A greeting and good videos, especially for quality (HD).
When I had the Lee Loadmaster, I normally place the bullet to the brass with powder in it prior to indexing to the next station to seat the bullet to prevent powder spill. Great video though, your press were tuned very well...
I have been doing single stage, but I was thinking of a progressive. I looked at the Lee Pro 1000, even less money but this seems to be the way to go.... Thanks for the video.
I got this press about a month ago and it had its teething process. But I'm pretty happy with it now. One of my primer troughs was garbage right out of the box. I called Lee and they sent me another one free of charge that works great. The only issues I have with it is once in a while it will miss a primer and it has flipped a few(could've been me loading a few wrong in the tray by accident). And I can't get the case feeder to push the casings all the way into the shell plate.
Depends on what ammo. 30/06 is about a third. Right now I am making 9mm for 1/4 or 1/5 what it would cost in a store. If I bought more of the components rather than making them it would be about 1/2. Everyone who reloads will tell you that you don't shoot for half as much, you spend the same and shoot twice as much.
Your and other video's are what decided me on getting the LM. I've been running the Pro1000 for years, but wanted a 4th station. Now I wish I'd gotten the LM instead of the Pro1000 years ago. DO NOT get one if you don't have some basic mechanical abilities, but then that could be said for any progressive press. Not quite as nice a machine as a Dillion, but not nearly as expensive and makes ammo just about as fast. When you consider what others cost and the fact that Lee is American made and while it can be cantankerous at times, it works and works well.
Me and dad sent ours back years ago. The indexing got all messed up and I could never get it corrected. When it worked, it was good. The weakness is the primer arm, I replaced that every two weeks. If and when I get back into reloading, it won't be with a Lee product.
I don’t prime on mine, size on 1, powder on 2, powder cop on 3, seater on 4, crimp on 5. I deprime on a C press, prime with a lee bench primer. No dirty cases on my press, since doing this, all my problems went away.
Thanks for posting that. I just purchased a LoadMaster in .45ACP, and I've already destroyed the case slide and the guide rod. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but I'm going to order the new parts and try it again. I also had a primer explode last night as I was trying to prime a case, not sure why. Scared me, and my cat is still clinging to the ceiling! :) Would like to see more videos on detailed set up, Lee's instructions aren't that great. Thanks!
I've been reluctant to load 45 acp on any loader that primes on the down stroke as you can't feel for wrong primer pocket size. Are you just positive there's no SPP cases when loading on the loadmaster? I got a pro 1000 for 45. Loadmaster for 9mm. No problems with them after I worked the kinks out
Would you please consider doing a video on C.U.P pressure vs PSI and is their a way to convert one to the other. I have looked and nobody has much on it on RU-vid. Also would be nice to be able to figure the pressures from scratch. I recently bought .45ACP bullets from Missouri Bullet Co and I really like them. The only problem is that I’m getting a little leading in the first 1/2 inch or so of the barrel. If I can figure out my pressure then I could use their formula for hardness. I am currently using Winchester Brass, Winchester large pistol primers, 5 grains of 231 with 230 grain LRN bullets with a hardness of Brinell 18. This is shot with a 1993 Colt Gold Cup Elite and has a NM barrel. I am happy with the performance of that load but would love to loose the leading.
You probably got some handloads that had a max length exceeding stock specifications.When people reload, they adjust the seating and stages to control how long the complete cartridge is. The boxes you got were loaded too long. Many people intentionally load over standard lengths to optimize their bullet for a firearm that likes longer cartridge overall length.
But if you have a little patience and some mechanical skills this press is great for the money! It pumps out some serious ammo in no time. It makes my reloading sessions far more productive. And running a progressive press is just plain fun!
I keep about 10 extra primers in the shoe so when my case is run out I'm still good on primers and I just fill the cases and reload the primers good to go I did use the bullet feeder at first I think it's better without because one quick glance when you're setting the bullet on there you make sure everything's good to go can complete hundred rounds in about 8 minutes
for normal handgun rounds (i.e. not s&W 500 etc.) i use a benchmark of about 16 cent a round for the bullet components that you have to buy, not including brass. which would come in right around $8 for a box of 50.
For handgun ammo, yes. The average going price for a standard FMJ 45 acp round right now is .46 cents. So for a box of 100 (which is basically a trip to the range amount) it costs you ~ $50.00 because of tax. That get's very expensive. 50$ every time you go to the range lol. So reloading like this pays for itself. These cartridges probably cost around .20 cents or less. Depends on the price of primers,powder, and bullets he is using.
@GaryMCurran Be sure the case keepers are tight against the case as the sheel plate rotates. Also if you are using range brass be aware that new Environmentally safe ammo in 45ACP uses SMALL primers. You seperate those cases out and scrap them before proceeding. Another possibility is if your primers run low the machine wont cycle them right. The primer cute should not be allowed to run less than half full.
@GearFamily i load rifle but i use my single stage for that, for pistol atm im using a lee classic turret press, i shooot about 200 rounds of 9mm a week but thats going to be picking up when i start shooting IDPA in a couple weeks
Lee warns to use only CCI or Remington primers in the auto primer feeder for this press. I noticed you are using Winchester. I know Federals are the most sensitive and are used by Cowboy Action shooters who lighteen their hammer springs. Is it hazardous to use other than CCI or Remingtons? Have you had any detonations? You may want to install the primer blast shield.
can you take off the 5 turrent loader at the top of the press, so you can keep all the settings for 223. and load up a new 5 turrent head set up for 9mm?
For people asking no it’s not necessary for you to crimp pistol round if used in a semi auto as most pistol crimp dies apply a roll crimp. However if using in a revolver the case is different as you do need to apply that final crimp to avoid jumping the crimp as the recoil will cause the projectile to jam your cylinder.
The biggest problem Loadmaster is that it seats the primer on the downstroke. Since everything the Loadmaster does (derprime, prime, charge, seat, crimp) is on the downstroke it is difficult to know when the primer is fully seated. Machines like the Dillon seat on the upstroke, and that is only thing they do on the upstroke. It makes is easy to feel whether the primer is seated fully or not. The other problem with the primer system is that with the small primers the system tends to flip them over occassionally. This does not happen hardly at all with the large primer; go figure! I manually seated primers when I had my Loadmaster. The other issue is the auto advance tends to toss powder. It spins the shell cases so quickly that it frequently tosses powder out of the top of the cases. The truth about the Loadmaster is as long as you like twiddling it works fine. I loaded on one for years. You are just always twiddling it. What really made it useable was when I manually primed cases. That ended problems with unprimed and upside down primers. As long as you don't run the press too fast, the system even delivers the powder charge quite well. If you don't mind twiddling it works well for the price.
@Shifty45ACP Read the manual and follow the directions. Multiply the quantity of powder you need times 0.0926. That will be the volume in cubic-centimeters required. Then, following the directions again, install the proper disks to give you a charge volume for said powder volume.
you should set up the priming station on station 2 and leave station 1 alone or you can just get what he has is a universal decapper on station 1 and then a decapping/resizing die in 2 just an option
@gavintoobe i just recently purchased my first 45, and i am curious at what point it becomes less costly to reload your own ammo than to purchase it. as i understand the set up for a good reloading station like your can cost hundreds. how many rounds do you need to reload before you are in the green? thanks for the good upload and keep them coming!
So I am interested loading 9mm, 45 ACP, and .308 WIN... If I bought one of these presses set up for 9mm, what do I need for the 45 and 308? I can't seem to find a case feeder that works with 308. From what I can see I need the shellplates, dies, and 5 hole turret. Anything else? Any advice would be great
Dunno if you already received the answers you need, but if you're trying to load rifle cartridges on this press, I'd recommend you get a different powder delivery system like the Hornady lock n load or RCBS uniflow with case activated mechanisms. They can be mounted in the same position and fashion as the Lee autodisk system. I've used the Hornady lock n load on my Lee LM to crank out .30-06 using H4895 powder...they shot reliably and boring enough to reliably hit the 400 yard gong from my 1903A3... Also, I'd recommend, for greatest consistency, you prep the brass completely before you send it through. By that I mean, decap, resize, clean, trim, and reprime. That way all all you have to do is the powder drop, bullet seating, and case crimp. I know that sounds like a bunch of work, but rifle brass and more generally bottleneck cases tend to stretch when fired and those differences of only a couple thousandths can cause unevenly seated bullets from one case to the next...or even worse, if you're reloading different headstamps fired from different rifles, you can wind up crunching a couple shoulders inadvertently. I've loaded well over 1K rounds of .223, 300 .30-06, and several hundred of other calibers this way, and despite the extra work, you wind up with reliable and consistently performing ammo.
Nice video's. Which progressive do you like the best as far as ease of set-up,use and quality? I'm going to be buying a progressive soon and was wondering which one you could recommend. I will be primarily reloading 30-06, .308, and 45acp.
Gavintoobe: I have Lee Load-Master my main issue is when the ram there is a lot of pressure when the cases are going into the dies. I tried lubing the cases that helped a little bit but again I'm still having the same problem. There is no "indexing problem" I have seen on the Internet that if you lube the ram this is suppose to help. I tried it and it did make it a little bit smoother. Could it be that my .45 dies are worn out? which I don't think so. I could use your advise and guidance. I have seen a lot of video on the Lee Load-Master and it looks like there are having no trouble. Could you help me Ernie
I haven't used the Loadmaster in a while, haven't had the stiff issue, but did have to work with the indexing rod from time to time when installing a shellplate to get indexing to work...
OK...I tried the LoadMaster...got through about 500 rounds...it had to go. Kept jamming up...sheared off the little black primer feeder finger...it failed to index and I snapped off my "unbreakable" Lee universal de-priming die decapper pin I had even watched every vid I could find on RU-vid...all the setup tweaks.,etc...polished primer bolt...polished primer feeder ramp...etc...but it jsut would not run consistently. You get what you pay for. Hornady Lock-N-Load AP on the way.
I’m getting ready to load for the very first time and I will be loading.45acp. I looked up the load data on the Winchester 231 powder and it says for a LRN bullet the max is 5.3 grains. I noticed you are running 5.8? Am I missing something?
that's the one thing I regret about getting the Hornady AP, The extra cost for the case feeder. It's almost as much as the press itself. granted it's more sophisticated than the Lee version it really doesn't need to be! I just want a dang tube to feed cases even if I have to put them in myself every few rounds. If it were cheap and I had to throw ten at a time in I would still love that rather than a $300 feeder!
Can you please tell me how you set up your dies? Or anyone else? I can only run one case at a time and no matter what adjustments I make, the first bullet is fine and all the else come out sideways or with unseated primers. Please help
Have you made a video of of the lee loadmaster straight out of the box 45 I just bought one and I'm not sure how to use it or set it up if you can help that would be great Thanks
I see you are using Winchester WLP's. Have you ever had an issue with them and the Loadmaster? Lee recommends using only CCI and Remington primers. I like Winchester and S & B primers.
How much does it cost to get started doing this? Also how much money can I save reloading ammo compared to buying like a box of fifty rounds for my 45acp is about eighteen bucks on the cheap side how much would it cost to reload fifty rounds on average? Please any answers would be much appreciated thanks
Just bought a Springfield Range Officer and looking at getting into reloading. I am able to get stuff at dealer cost (my grandad owns a gunshop). But looking at the price of primers, power, and lead, it looks like it is almost the same as buying 200 factory rounds for $98.36. Am I looking at the prices wrong? It's a hard questions to answer, but how much are you able to save if Magtech 230 grain is 24.59 for a 50 rd box? Sorry so long, thank you
If I order the lee loadmaster for 45 acp which comes with "full length size, powder through expanding and bullet seating dies" what other dies do I need. Or would I be better off getting the normal loadmaster and buy all specific dies after? Thanks
Like Jeff Rielley said before me, the crimp die is good. Additionally, on the video he recommends that you get the Universal Depriming/Decapper Die on station number one and install the Sizing Die (WITHOUT the depriming/decapper ROD!!) on station 2 (priming station) to help center the brass over the new primer. Look for it at the beginning of the video.
