Press shopping time

So what's going on with your Loadmaster?

Is your carrier our of alignment? Or is the index flipper not adjusted?

I hear lots of complaints about the press. I've had no issues that weren't my own doing (like running out of primers). Either I got lucky, or the issues are due to not having things adjusted correctly. I'm thinking the latter, because it's like looking for a needle in a haystack trying to buy a used Loadmaster. Given how bad they are, you'd think there'd be used ones for sale.

Yes, a 650 is a better press. But I have a Loadmaster, with a case feeder, and three caliber conversions (with small and large primer, small and large case feed)....and I've still spent less than a stock 650 with one caliber. I've spent the difference on components - and have broken even vs factory ammo, all still before sending what I would have on a 650.
 
I agree the Dillon is the way to go. Stellar customer service and dependable equipment. I'm trying to find a Dillon dealer that does layaway because I suck at saving funds. It doesn't help that I'm a single dad feeding a 16 year old son who seems to think his calling in life is to keep my fridge empty.
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Don't let that stop you, you won't save any money once you can load lots of ammo quickly anyway. If your 16 year old keeps your fridge empty he will shoot you out of stuff to load for sure.

Layaway, is just a way of taking your money before you can afford something. Would be interesting on how many gift cards go un redeemed (aka "free money" for said business as are layaway plans not seen through).

I would rather save and buy or buy what I can and use it.

You already have a LM, you can likely get it to run before you could pay off a payment plan anyway.

I am with stripesdude, the LM isn't the best press but can be made to run with them (at least for short periods) as the best out there, the fact that you already have one seems like an easy choice, if money is tight.
 
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I apologize for the long delay in responding. Had an emergency resulting in my son being hospitalized. I have the Loadmaster, full setup with dies and double disk powder kit for 223. I have 2 extra tool heads and dies for 9mm and 40 S&W. Also have the case feeder assembly but have never figured it out. I inherited this press from my dad so there are a few miscellaneous or extra parts to go with it. If you want all that I've listed I'll take $200 as all the dies are new and were not handed down with the press. If you have no use for some of the dies we can negotiate a price on what you're interested in.
 
I have had my Dillion 650 for years and now have a 550 also .
both are very good and about as trouble free as any (better than most)
I also bought a LEE Loadmaster and used it for about a year .(never again)
 
I have a cheap alternative for you.

Keep an eye out on ebay for a used RL450. This is the predecessor to the 550. It has a manual primer feed, a manual powder measure, and does not have an interchangeable tool head. They usually go for about $250.

If you want to upgrade to an interchangeable tool head you can buy a striped 550 frame from Dillon for $100, all the moving parts are the same. It's an easy swap, I've done it. You can also sell the 450 frame on eBay. I have no idea why people buy them but you can get $30 or so for it.

You can also upgrade the manual primer feed to the automatic, along with the powder measure. Or you can fit it with the less expensive Lee auto-Disk or Auto-Drum powder measure.

In the end it won't really save you any money over just buying a new 550, but it will get you going now at half the price and you can upgrade it as you wish.
 
I have the Hornady LNL AP press and love it. The initial cost is lower than a dillon and the cost of caliber change over is less than dillon. Customer service it top notch life time the same as dillon. One is red and one is blue, why pay more for the blue color ? I am not a dillon basher so I will also say here that dillon presses are just as good as Hornady.
 
I had a Lee turret press I had to CONSTANTLY dink with when you convert it to progressive...

Got a XL650 Dillon 'Blue' machine now.
The Turret press is still there, I use it a bunch for case preparation now.

The 'Blue' press is VERY expensive for caliber changes, even if you move your powder thrower around from caliber to caliber.
It's not hard at all to switch calibers, just anything 'Blue' is super expensive...

I had some issues with the Dillon when I got it,
The first was throwing powder all over the place!
The indexing detent would 'SNAP' into place when it rotated stations.

A weaker spring, low mass detent ball and breaking the edges of the detent holes on the shell plate stopped that issue.

The second was the long, gritty feel of the stroke in action.
Replacing the pointed 'Rod' on the case feeder with one that has a roller bearing stopped the gritty feeling, and it's NOT gouging a groove in the PLASTIC ramp it contacts.

The charge bar powder thrower Dillon uses works OK for plinking ammo,
But just isn't accurate enough for something with really small charges, like Titegroup, and it HATES any kind of stick powder.

So I went with a micrometer powder dropper, which took an expensive adapter, and some REAL tuning to get it reliably throwing accuracy charges.

The last issue I'm having is with the primer feed.
For what ever reason, this thing likes to flip primers sideways or up side down.
Setting a primer is a timing issue, the primer MUST be centered under the case, and I'm crushing primers from time to time.
Some set too deep, some too shallow, no compression...

Dillon sent me another primer feed assembly, still does the same thing...
Sent the press BACK to Dillon (no charge from Dillon) and it still does the same thing...

It's only one in about 50 rounds, but STILL, it's a pain in the butt to find a primer missing, flipped, crushed, or not pushed all the way in...

Still working on that issue, haven't figured it out yet...
 
If anyone is interested in buying my Loadmaster I'm ready to part with it. I have the Loadmaster, full setup with dies and double disk powder kit for 223. I have 2 extra tool heads and dies for 9mm and 40 S&W. Also have the case feeder assembly but have never figured it out. I inherited this press from my dad so there are a few miscellaneous or extra parts to go with it. If you want all that I've listed I'll take $200 as all the dies are new and were not handed down with the press. If you have no use for some of the dies we can negotiate a price on what you're interested in.
 
Scottdeo2o: Don't pitch out that Loadmaster just yet. Have you tried the new and improved primer loaders? I was FED UP with my Loadmaster. Tried the new "red" primer feeder and had success. Never really had a powder spilling issue with a Loadmaster. Can't help you there. I did obtain a Dillon 550B before I tried the new Lee "red" primer mechanism. Still like my Dillon better than the Loadmaster; but at least I got the Loadmaster to work.
 
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