Load-Master, following Lee's Setup

The Pro 1000, 4000, and the Six-Pack Pro presses. We also include the "Legacy" progressive presses; the Load-Master, Auto Breech Lock Pro
Post Reply
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 6456
Joined: 22 Jun 2013 17:16
My Press Choice: Progressive
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1616 times
Been thanked: 2850 times

Load-Master, following Lee's Setup

Post by Ranch Dog »

On another popular Load-Master forum, one of the many "fixes" is increasing the specified torque on the draw bolt head at the bottom of the yoke. I did that on my 45 Auto press on last year's run as I was having a tough time with the entire operation related to shell plate indexing and rotation. It would lock up without warning. I would need to look at the torque the forum suggested, but I set it and here is the result.

Image

The yoke has been flexed, and the carrier bolt hole is out of round. Luckily, I had a short run of 45 Auto last winter and wanted to investigate this further as I ready to run another lot of ammunition. Also lucky, the ram and its passageway through the frame and carrier are fine, they mic out round, so the yoke took the effect of not following Lee's recommendation of 11.6 foot/pounds (139 inch/pounds). I ordered a new yoke from Lee online yesterday.

This Load-Master had been loading 44 Mag along with some 45 Colt for about 20 years when I switched it over to the semi-auto cartridge last year, and I could not figure why it went to pot. So this weekend, I switched it back to the 44 Mag shell plate with the other work I was doing; installing the Auto Drum and improving the case feeder mounting. Even with the bent yoke, it cycled as smooth as glass. So I pulled the shell plate and measured it out. It ends up the height of the new plate is .020" more than the 44 Mag and all the others I have. This is the center height, the total thickness of the plate at the pins or rachet. The 45 Auto plate is the new design with the rachet instead of the pins. With the additional .020" of metal, there is no way it can rotate freely in the carrier and also explains why I also had such a tough time installing the case ejector on top of the plate. I will call for a replacement this morning.

My Golden Load-Master Rule has become to follow Lee's instructions to the letter. My Load-Master life has become so much better. My single mod is to bevel every primer pocket that passes through the press, a one-time operation for the life of the case. I actually started doing this on my turret press when I started using the Safety Prime. I never could feel how rough primer pockets were with the hand tools but that feel translating up through pressure on the ram was quite noticeable.
Michael
Image
User avatar
JohnnyEnfield
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 159
Joined: 08 Dec 2017 20:24
My Press Choice: Single Stage
Location: Northeast USA
Has thanked: 176 times
Been thanked: 53 times

Re: Load-Master, following Lee's Setup

Post by JohnnyEnfield »

Thanks for posting. I appreciate that following the instructions works well, since I am new to all of this and there are so many 'tricks' and 'fixes' out there. I like the instructions. Thanks for sharing.
Reduce, reuse, recycle, means- resize, reload, recycle.
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 6456
Joined: 22 Jun 2013 17:16
My Press Choice: Progressive
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1616 times
Been thanked: 2850 times

Re: Load-Master, following Lee's Setup

Post by Ranch Dog »

As a follow-up, I ended up replacing the carrier as well. The hub that the shell plate slides onto was swollen from the over-torque as well and was causing the plate to bind. All is back to normal, tightened to the Lee recommended torque.
Michael
Image
horseman
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 994
Joined: 09 Nov 2015 06:35
My Press Choice: Single Stage
Location: Washington State
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 274 times

Re: Load-Master, following Lee's Setup

Post by horseman »

Ranch Dog wrote:As a follow-up, I ended up replacing the carrier as well. The hub that the shell plate slides onto was swollen from the over-torque as well and was causing the plate to bind. All is back to normal, tightened to the Lee recommended torque.



Thanks RD, that's very interesting to find out. I've had several LM's and I never did check the torque on the draw bolt just tightened it lightly with a open end wrench enough to hold the carrier in position. Occasionally I would have to re-set the carrier position more than likely due to not tight enough. OR perhaps I had tightened it to tight and "warped" something. Curious as to how many "issues" that folks have had with the LM that was actually caused by this. I do have a small torque wrench in my reloading room along with a torque screwdriver I use on rifles but I never thought to use it on the presses. That'll change now.
Post Reply

Return to “Progressive”