Lee Load Master Shell Plate #12L # 90918

[Rumple]

Hi, looking for a Lee Load Master Shell Plate #12L  # 90918, if anybody has one and wants to sell it, or knows where I can buy one, please let me know.

[Rumple]

Camdix sourced one for me...Great people to deal with

[oafpatroll]

Glad you came right. Duane at 480 BC is worth keeping on speed dial for future Lee requirements too.

[Rumple]

Glad you came right. Duane at 480 BC is worth keeping on speed dial for future Lee requirements too.

Lee has discontinued the load master and don't even have stock, so I was lucky to get one

[oafpatroll]

Lee's new business model of discontinuing support for their products, some not long after they have released updates as in the case of the Loadmaster, is pissing me off. I'm a 35+ year supporter of the brand which was built on old man Lee providing outstanding value and long term support. His kids appear to have taken a very different approach on the latter at least. 

[Rumple]

Lee's new business model of discontinuing support for their products, some not long after they have released updates as in the case of the Loadmaster, is pissing me off. I'm a 35+ year supporter of the brand which was built on old man Lee providing outstanding value and long term support. His kids appear to have taken a very different approach on the latter at least. 

The Lee webpage says it will give you a 50% discount on a new press if you send them your Loadmaster or a picture with your ID, not sure if that applys to SA?

[oafpatroll]

I'm quite sure the discounts don't apply to us. Even if they did I wouldn't be clapping my hands like a seal. It's not more than a few years back that they were selling the old pro1000 an saying that it would last a life time if you oiled it. I now have two pro1000s with a fair bit of spares on hand. I'm a second hand first kinda girl but if I was to want a new press for some reason I doubt it would be a Lee given how they dropped support for both the pro 100 and load master so soon after releasing updates.

[Treeman]

yea, that does cause a bad taste.

[big5ifty]

The Loadmaster is a good press, the only problem it ever had was the priming system.

Lee chose to design and build a whole new range of presses, instead of just fixing what was broken on the loadmaster.

The could have owned the reloading machine market by now if the loadmaster had a reliable priming system.

Reloading presses are a lot like rifle scopes. If they are cheap, there is a reason why they are cheap, which you may not be happy to find out.

[Rumple]

The Loadmaster is a good press, the only problem it ever had was the priming system.

Lee chose to design and build a whole new range of presses, instead of just fixing what was broken on the loadmaster.

The could have owned the reloading machine market by now if the loadmaster had a reliable priming system.

Reloading presses are a lot like rifle scopes. If they are cheap, there is a reason why they are cheap, which you may not be happy to find out.

I removed the priming system from day one...I only hand prime, I resize and deprime on the pro 1000

[janfred]

The Loadmaster priming system is reliable. The problem is user error.

Number 1 error is not installing the priming pin return spring seated correctly. This is the greatest weakness. It is very easy to get the alignment wrong and you only know it's wrong when it doesn't feed primers. By that time it is too late and you need a new spring.

The second biggest problem is not keeping the feed tray stocked. If there is less than 15 primers in the chute, problems start.

Lastly, use the priming station as the main resizing station. This keeps the case nicely lined up.

Oh, avoid using Dillon sizing/decapping dies. I have never had problems with depriming until I used a Dillon die. The spent primer gets stuck on the pin and then gets pulled back into the primer pocket.

[big5ifty]

The Loadmaster priming system is reliable. The problem is user error.

I spent years of my time with three Loadmasters.

I started with one, then I bought another one just to see if mine was the problem. After tinkering for a couple of years, I sold both.

Years later I thought to try again with another Loadmaster. Sold it soon after as well.

All of them detonated primers for me.

They are flawless and completely reliable if fed primed brass.

And that's the point I tried to make - everything on the press was perfect, all Lee had to do was come up with a working priming system.

[janfred]

I know I've only loaded about 20k 9mm ammo, and so far it has only malfunctioned for the reasons above.

And yes; I got mine second hand from someone that also had problems priming. This is why I know how bad problem #1 is. Once that was sorted, problems went away until I "upgraded" to Dillon dies.

[oafpatroll]

Mate of mine had a primer detonation on a loadmaster too. I gave up on the primer system on my pro 1000 decades ago and prime by hand. Gives me an extra opportunity for case inspection and primer pocket correction on range pickups that make their way into my supply.

[big5ifty]

I know I've only loaded about 20k 9mm ammo, and so far it has only malfunctioned for the reasons above

They've been around long enough to know that not every Loadmaster has the same problem, but in the vast majority of cases, when a user does have a problem, it's priming related.

It may be a spring, it may be a rough primer chute, it may be the raised lettering on the bolt activating the primer rocker arm, plastic primer parts with burrs on them, it may be primer chute surfaces that don't mate together properly, or have too much clearance in them - in almost all cases it's primer related.

And some people, like yourself, don't have a problem. A lot more people, like me, encountered problems.

If something is reliable, it works every time for everyone, barring material failure.