Lee Load Master or Lee Pro 1000

[fredj338]

Originally Posted by agalindo

Fred I believe you've gotten you point across "dillon good" "lee crap" you said it enough times for most of us to get it.

Hey, the new guy asked, just trying to prevent a small disaster. I know you like yours but have you actually ever used a Dillon product? I am only trying ot be helpful, if it comes off as Lee bashing, I really am not. They provide an ok entry level reloading experience. I own & use Lee gear, as well as Hornady, RCBS, Redding, Dillon, Lyman, FOrster, etc. Cost should never be the selling point, quality & purpose should drive ones purchase IMO. Then again, I learned aloooong time ago, better tools make any job easier. From reloading gear to shovels, yeah, it matters. Next Boris wil be along telling us how no one saves money reloading, especially 9mm.

[WidowMaker88]

I really do appreciate all the input I am getting! I would not mind getting a Lee to start on, but knowing me, I would want to get a "better" press later on.

Fred, I saw your post in another thread about the LNL, and... for the past hour or two I have been doing more research on the LNL. I do like they will throw in 500 bullets, and another 100 when getting dies, and maybe another 100 for the powder measure. But, that will take time. And it would be a nice reward, but I want to reload now!

Back to the point about the other thread, you said forget the LNL if I want to have a case feeder on it since the case feeder and priming system are that much better on dillon? You said 650, I think he was asking about a 550.

What separates the 550 priming system from the LNL?
manual index for the 550 and auto index for the LNL?

I'm thinking about going with the 550 or LNL AP instead of the Lee now

[fredj338]

Originally Posted by WidowMaker88

I really do appreciate all the input I am getting! I would not mind getting a Lee to start on, but knowing me, I would want to get a "better" press later on.

Fred, I saw your post in another thread about the LNL, and... for the past hour or two I have been doing more research on the LNL. I do like they will throw in 500 bullets, and another 100 when getting dies, and maybe another 100 for the powder measure. But, that will take time. And it would be a nice reward, but I want to reload now!

Back to the point about the other thread, you said forget the LNL if I want to have a case feeder on it since the case feeder and priming system are that much better on dillon? You said 650, I think he was asking about a 550.

What separates the 550 priming system from the LNL?
manual index for the 550 and auto index for the LNL?

I'm thinking about going with the 550 or LNL AP instead of the Lee now

The priming system on any progressive is the weak link. The 650 is pretty much flawless. The primers ride in a vert tueb & then are delivered on a rotary wheel, so no slide to jamb up, flawless. The case feeder is two speed & the mechanism holds the cases & drops them more smoothly than the LNL. Yes the LNL can be made to run & run well, but for $120 more, the 650 is a just better. I am also not a fan of the LNL die bushings. SOunds great, until you have one come loose & shear off the key. The removeable tool head of the Dillon is just way easier IMO.
Manual vs auto indexing; The auto indexing is sexy, a tiny bit safer, but there is almost no decernable speed advantage. The speed comes from the case feeder. You can watch the press index & place a bullet or index it yourself on the 550 while placing the bullet. I load on both, the 650 is really no faster than the 550 w/o a case feeder.
I know it comes off as Lee bashing, but I have never understood the economy of buying twice. Many, I would say most, Lee progressive buyers either buy another Lee to prevent the headaches of caliber changes or they buy a better machine. SO buy better once & be happy. I have been loading on a 550 for 25yrs, used to have two, easily 150K rounds on those machines w/ no parts breakage & only minor parts wear of the primer slide (weak point of the 550) & that was replaced free & quickly w/ a phone call. I sold my first one to a friend two years ago for what I paid for it, $275 w/ some accessories thrown in. I bought a 650 & run it for 45acp & 45colt. I ran it for 3m w/o case feeder, works fine but no faster than manual indexing 550. The 550 is a bit cheaper up front & to add caliber changes to. The LNL is a good machine w/ some flaws, but workable & also expandable w/ the case feeder & 5th stn. The You can get a LNL for about $150 more than the Lee. If I were tight for cash, I would go LNL. Hornady CS is about as good as Dillon, but no one beats Dillon in that regards.
Regardless of your decsion, reloading is the way to go vs buying factory. Always has been & probably will be going forward. Just remember, he quip you buy will last your entire life if you buy good gear. So cost for me, not important. Buying what works for me is.

[dglock]

Originally Posted by agalindo

Fred I believe you've gotten you point across "dillon good" "lee crap" you said it enough times for most of us to get it.

Agree!!

don

[fredj338]

Originally Posted by dglock

Agree!!

don

You Lee guys are so sensative. Maybe I need to take one of those classes?? Come on, it's not like I called your wife or kids ugly. Sometimes the sky is just blue & water is just wet.

[Mercmar]

Originally Posted by WidowMaker88

Mercmar: Could you tell me what makes it the worst? I've only heard good things. would like to find some faults.

I have more than looked at the RCBS and Dilon presses, but don't feel like spending minimum double the price of a LEE.

If you could give me a few reasons as to why, I could be swayed.

agalindo: What makes them different other than the 3 station to the 5 station? and what do those two extra stations offer? I feel like the LM would be.. quicker?

Indexing system looks like it was designed by a 6th-grade dropout and not an engineer. Priming system sucks. Case feeding system sucks. Shellplate is of such crappy design that you won't be able to properly bump shoulders loading bottlenecks. (Get a case gage and verify that! I did.)

Just a generally aggravating, poorly-designed press that'll drive you nuts. How much is peace-of-mind worth? If you must have a Lee, then get the Pro 1000.

BTW, I use Lee dies, almost exclusively, with my Dillon 650, and I didn't just dream up my objections to the Loadmaster; I loaded tens of thousands of rounds on one before I wised up.

[cranbiz]

While I agree the more expensive presses are of better quality and will probably work longer than you are alive, The Lee's are not that bad.

I was like you several months ago and finally went with the Lee for the initial start up cost benefits. I have found that with careful setup and proper maintenance, my loadmaster works very well. Sure, the priming system is less than desirable but when you get the feel of the press, you know when there is an issue. I can reliably load over 150 rounds an hour and so far, they have all gone bang. I do spot check powder drops and OAL to make sure all is well.

I use the case feeder and found it works well after careful initial adjustment, don't use the bullet feeder because it looks like more trouble than its worth and I like to visually inspect the powder drop.

I went with the 5 station to attempt to maintain quality. I use station 1 for decapping only usind the universal decapping die, station 2 for priming and resizing using the 40 cal decapping die with the pin removed (this makes sure the case is in proper position for priming) Station 3 is the powder fill and flaring die, station 4 is bullet seating (you can crimp here too) and station 5 is the factory crimp die.

I have run over 1k rounds through my loadmaster and it does its job.

To make it run reliably, you will need to take your time setting it up. It is not a take it out of the box and run press. There are many good tutorials on The Load Master Zone - reloading with Lee presses - videos and forums Review those first. If you are OK with what you see, then go buy. Also checkout FS RELOADING. The only reason I bought from Titan was they had the loadmaster 40 in stock and fs reloading did not. That does not mean I was unhappy with Titan, I'm not. They delivered promptly and included extra info on how to set up the press, but they were higher in price than fsreloading on most of the items ( but not by much). For a low initial cost starter progressive setup, it's hard to beat.

[birda40]

I have the pro 1000 which at the moment is set for 9mm, I bought it for the same reason cheaper and thinking (How much tinkering can there be after you have evry thing set) Be prepared , you'll be tinkering alot.
I found a Dillon 650 3 months later after I set it for 40 S&W I can make twice the amount of rounds in an hour without the fuss and I'm actually going slow. The Lee works but found it to time consuming. I still use it, but prefer Dillon.

[WidowMaker88]

Hey thanks for that input,

cranbiz: That cleared up pretty much everything I was still questioning.

birda: Over the past week or so I've decided to go Dillon, and have been looking around for a 550b for a decent price. Many locals I've talked to have said Dillon, and gave very compelling... "speeches" on Dillon.

[birda40]

Your welcome and good luck.