Lee Precision Loadmaster Press

Hello and welcome back! today we are looking at the Lee Loadmaster Progressive reloading press! It boasts some impressive features for a rock bottom price that only Lee themselves can compete with(Pro 1000 and Auto breach lock presses).

The Loadmaster comes complete with press, die set, case activated powder drop, case feeder, and primer blast shield. You will need to provide mounting bolts(1/4" qty 3) and a suitable mounting surface thought. With the press unpacked I chose to mount mine to a Harbor Freight steel work bench(review coming). Doing so meant I lost a front drawer but i was fine with that. I drilled the 3 mounting holes in the top of the bench and used washers under the heads of the bolts. Under the top I used a large fender washer and a lock washer with a suitable nut. Also used was blue Loc-tite for good measure. This provided a firm mounting that should be fine for straight wall cases, but I question how long it will last with bottle necked cases(bench top is 1/2"" thick and what i assume is sanded and coated flake board).

The rest of the set up was simple and I followed what the manual said to do. Total setup time was about 2 hours including the trip to home depot for the mounting hardware. Be Aware of the instructions for the powder drop! Mine stated to run a full hopper thru it before use to fully coat all surfaces with powder before using. A few drops and I quickly found the drop to vary wildly(reading 27.5 to 26.9 grains). After the recommended break in, it calmed down to 27.5 to 27.4 grains per drop. much better, so if your getting varying throws, run a hopper thru it and see if that helps.

The case feeder works very well with only an occasional issue while dropping a .223 rem casing (this is a know issue, with known fixes for this). The included finished round catch bin I found to be too small and a completed round occasionally missed it completely. Easy enough to fix with a larger bin, but would have been nice if it was slightly larger(maybe the exit chute was longer or wider?) I have replaced the standard bin with a much larger bin and this seems to have resolved my issue.

I've been using this press for the last 3 months and i have to say i'm impressed! I've mostly loaded 223 rem with it and it has handled it with little problem. my biggest issue is that it didn't come with a carbide sizing die so make sure you lube those cases!

with all that said, I leave you with these words: if your in the market for an affordable progressive press consider this press! i know it wont be every ones cup of tea or the right color for some people, but do consider it. Last note: watch your primers, I've let mine run out a few times and you don't notice till they are coming off the line at the end.