Lee Progressive brass feeder .44-40

[Little Dalton]

I'm loading .44-40 on a Lee Loadmaster (will probably upgrade to the new Six Pack Pro soon), and for my purposes the Lee case feeders (which are universal to all their progressives) would be just fine, though I might invest in an aftermarket feeder with auto collator at some point. Problem is, the Lee case feeder tubes are just barely too small for the rims of .44-40, at roughly .515 ID and .565 OD. They'll feed .45 Colt fine with it's rim diameter of .510, but the .44-40 rim diameter is .517-.519. I believe .38-40 shares that head diameter too. Roy Bertalotto has a great article on his blog here http://rvbprecision.com/shooting/lee-1000-load-master-cartridge-feed-tubes-for-38-40-44-40.html on making some copper feed tubes, but I would love the lightness and most of all visibility of clear plastic. I could cut a slot window in the copper tubes, but it would still be less noticeable when brass ran low. I thought about reaming the factory tubes out with a drill, which won't leave them nice and clear but might work. I could add some of the aftermarket stabilizer clips to the four tubes for extra rigidity. I found a source for tubing with a near-perfect ID and very close OD here https://store.visipak.com/1-2-x-4-heavy-wall-round-clear-plastic-tube/ but I am doubtful that I could find 130 other people that needed the extra. :smile: Anyone have any low budget ideas on this?

[Coffinmaker]

Yea actually 

Have you thought of Dillon case feed tubes??  My 650s feed 45 Schofield cases and 44-40 cases just slicker-n-snot onna doorknob.  Cut to length, little chamfer action on the in-feed end??  Maybe??

People are Still Hazardous to Yer Health

[Little Dalton]

Yea actually 

Have you thought of Dillon case feed tubes??  My 650s feed 45 Schofield cases and 44-40 cases just slicker-n-snot onna doorknob.  Cut to length, little chamfer action on the in-feed end??  Maybe??

People are Still Hazardous to Yer Health

I had actually wondered about other brands of feeder tubes- that's a great idea, I'll order one to try! Thanks!

[Dan Topper]

I was wondering if you had a chance to work on this and if the Dillon Tubes worked or not. I am looking at the Pro 6000 and wish to use if for 44-40 along with 9mm and 45acp. I do see that an e-bay retailer has the tubes you referenced (or at least darn close).  https://www.ebay.com/itm/121843586641 For $30 you get 20 4 foot tubes. I have not used this vendor and have no connections to them at all. Anyway, I was just curious if you had pursued this or not. Thanks.

[Little Dalton]

Hey Dan, sorry for the slow response. A gentleman over on the Castboolits forum designed, printed and mailed me some 3-D printed adapters that simply adapt the Lee top and bottom parts up to 5/8" thinwall clear tubing (sold as aquarium supplies, seems like the same stuff Lee uses just bigger). I haven't set the feeder up yet, but everything mocks up well and I don't see any reason it won't work just fine. Here's a link to a video he made of the parts mocked up:

And a link to our thread where he shows drawings of the parts: https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?449601-Source-ideas-for-Lee-brass-feeder-tubing

I was wondering if you had a chance to work on this and if the Dillon Tubes worked or not. I am looking at the Pro 6000 and wish to use if for 44-40 along with 9mm and 45acp. I do see that an e-bay retailer has the tubes you referenced (or at least darn close).  https://www.ebay.com/itm/121843586641 For $30 you get 20 4 foot tubes. I have not used this vendor and have no connections to them at all. Anyway, I was just curious if you had pursued this or not. Thanks.

[Dan Topper]

Thanks for replying. That looks like an interesting approach. I might get in touch with him after Christmas (the wife gets upset when I get packages before Christmas). I can't see why it shouldn't work for feeding the cases.

[Knarley Bob]

I have 3 of the LEE Load pro 1000s. Have been loading for SASS for 14 years. Take that brass feeder thing, and toss it in the weeds. I have had nothing but trouble with those. I have my cases in a coffee can, and place them in the press by hand, as well as placing the boolits on the cases. I was looking at a Dillon (650?), and that's how you do it on theirs. So I pulled the "Automatic" stuff off my press, and the thing started singing! Has never been running as good. I load by the coffee can full, and now I can't hardly complain about the press. Once you get used to it, it'll load like crazy.

Putting them in manually, they don't go in upside down, they get pushed fully into the shell plate, and you get a chance for one last look-see at the case. Plus you won't stroke the press with a slot empty!! The automatic feed will do none of these.

KB