Lee Pro 1000. Anybody have one and what do you think of it?

[CareyH]

Okay heres the deal, I have a friend that wants to reload .40cal. I have a Dillon XL650 with tool heads for 9mm,45acp and .223rem. He asked me if he could use my press if he bought the stuff to reload .40

My problem is for less than the tool head, conversion kit and dies he could buy a lee pro 1000 and have his own set up. Are the Pro 1000's a pretty good machine? Does it make consistent ammo? how many rounds per hour are you putting out on one? Just generally trying to find out if its a decent machine or if he should just get the stuff and use my Dillon?



Just to be clear I don't mind him using my press, that is not the issue.

[Hoser]

Run away. Too much fiddling around to get it to work and stay working.

[dwalker460]

I have a PRO1000 and it works fine for me. You to take some time to et it up like all other progressive presses, but otherwise its OK.

[spqrzilla]

Haven't worked a Lee progressive myself but they are not really well thought of among people who whack out a lot of ammo. Is your buddy really going to reload so much that a single stage won't work for him?

[Jherexx]

If going the Lee route for pistol calibers, get the turret press, not as fast but not as fiddly and more reliable. If going progressive, recommend he save up and go blue, less headaches in the long run.

[spleify]

I have a Pro 100 dedicated to .45 ACP and it runs pretty good now that I have it all dialed in. It took a while to work out all the bugs and figure out how it worked but now she runs pretty darn good. #00+ rounds an hour.

For the money its a pretty descent entry level rig. Check out Titan Reloading they have great prices and customer service.

http://www.titanreloading.com/

[Colorado Osprey]

I have a few of the Lee Pro 1000's. Once you get them set up, don't mess with them. Don't try and do caliber conversions, just buy another one in a different caliber.
I also use them for mass processing brass. Sometimes Lee will have these online on their website for as little as $99.

[cstone]

I have one and reload .40 on it.  I removed the priming system from the press and prep and hand prime the brass.  When I am ready to load a bunch, I fill the powder hopper which is in position #1 on top of an auto charge with the micro adjust adapter.  Position #2 is an RCBS powder cop die.  Position #3 is the bullet seat die.  With the collator on the case feed, I pull the handle, watch the powder cop die, and seat bullets.  It goes pretty fast and as long as the cases drop correctly, there is very little to worry about.

fsreloading.com is where I normally go for parts.

My next press will be a Dillon 550B.

[CareyH]

thanks for all the input! I will tell him what everyone said and let him make the decision.

[Teufelhund]

I have one and reload .40 on it. I removed the priming system from the press and prep and hand prime the brass. When I am ready to load a bunch, I fill the powder hopper which is in position #1 on top of an auto charge with the micro adjust adapter. Position #2 is an RCBS powder cop die. Position #3 is the bullet seat die. With the collator on the case feed, I pull the handle, watch the powder cop die, and seat bullets. It goes pretty fast and as long as the cases drop correctly, there is very little to worry about.

fsreloading.com is where I normally go for parts.

My next press will be a Dillon 550B.

Every single bit of this post is exactly what I do with mine, right down to where I get parts and the model of my next press.

[Zombie Steve]

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x214/sbecht/1976_ford_fiesta-pic-46743.jpg

[sellersm]

What cstone said! I use one for loading .40 as well. The priming is "iffy", sometimes works fine, other times it's not worth the hassle. I've found that a very solid mounts help quite a bit. If you can get the priming issues out of the way, then it's not too bad. However, it's not even close to loading on a 550 or 650!

I'd suggest the Classic Cast Turret as well. More handle pulls, but much better reliability and reusable as a SS press, plus caliber conversions are a no-brainer with multiple/extra turrets!

[MarkCO]

Hoser is right.

Read this if you must: http://dfuse.us/loading.html

I sold my Lee Pro1000s and have a 650XL. BTW, the Lee Loadmaster is even worse than the Pro1000.

I'd let him buy the conversion and use my press.

[CareyH]

The conversion stuff is on its way!

Thanks Again

[Wildboarem]

I love the Dillon guys who are always saying " just save up for a year or two, don't load any ammo and it will be awesome". If one has a Champagne budget then they can afford Champagne, but if all I have is a beer budget then that's what I can afford. I'm not going to give up shooting for time just so I can someday make some ammo. Plus, once you figure in all the costs of a Dillon your price per round isn't all that great for the first several thousand rounds.
Is the Dillon nice? Yes it is. Would I like one? Yes. Can my Lee crank out 100+ rounds an hour? Yes. Is it finicky sometimes yes.

[dwalker460]

I personally do not shoot enough to warrant a Dillon. IF I were shooting 500 or more rounds a week, then I would get a Dillon, and the cost would be justified. However I dont get that sort of free time, and so the cost is to me, not worth it. I did a fair amount of soul-searching because I really wanted a Dillon setup, but to be honest the value just was not there. Yeah the Lee can be tempermental, BUT I have never seen a progressive press that did not need proper setup and maintenance. Yeah the Lee press needs a drop of oil or two here and there once in a while to run right, and the priming system can be a little touchy, but mine runs great. No issues with the priming system, the powder charging works perfectly and consistently, and I can pop out about 200 or so rounds an hour taking my time, more if I am in a hurry.
I also recently picked up a Lee Classic Turret press and now that I have it setup I really like it. Setup with the Autodisc powder measure it runs great with no issues. I do not use it for prming however, I use a hand primer, only because I have not bought the primer system setup for the turret press. Otherwise it runs great.

I have had several Lee Challenger O-frame presses, and IMHO this is the best value out there. You can pick up the "Anniversary kit" for under $150 bucks and start reloading the day you get it with a set of dies. Its not hard to load a 100 rounds or so an hour and make great ammunition. I still use a single stage press for developing loads when only a dozen or so rounds at a time are being loaded up.

[jerrymrc]

I personally do not shoot enough to warrant a Dillon. IF I were shooting 500 or more rounds a week, then I would get a Dillon, and the cost would be justified. However I dont get that sort of free time, and so the cost is to me, not worth it. I did a fair amount of soul-searching because I really wanted a Dillon setup, but to be honest the value just was not there. Yeah the Lee can be tempermental, BUT I have never seen a progressive press that did not need proper setup and maintenance. Yeah the Lee press needs a drop of oil or two here and there once in a while to run right, and the priming system can be a little touchy, but mine runs great. No issues with the priming system, the powder charging works perfectly and consistently, and I can pop out about 200 or so rounds an hour taking my time, more if I am in a hurry.
I also recently picked up a Lee Classic Turret press and now that I have it setup I really like it. Setup with the Autodisc powder measure it runs great with no issues. I do not use it for prming however, I use a hand primer, only because I have not bought the primer system setup for the turret press. Otherwise it runs great.

I have had several Lee Challenger O-frame presses, and IMHO this is the best value out there. You can pick up the "Anniversary kit" for under $150 bucks and start reloading the day you get it with a set of dies. Its not hard to load a 100 rounds or so an hour and make great ammunition. I still use a single stage press for developing loads when only a dozen or so rounds at a time are being loaded up.

I like my Lee Classic turret set up and if ya look you can buy the kit for around $200. http://www.titanreloading.com/lee-classic-cast-turret-press-kit I have mine set up like Walkers but I do use the priming system.

http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac44/jerrymrc/toys/Picture475Medium.jpg

[sellersm]

I think the LCT is the most under-rated press out there!

[CareyH]

the Dillon presses are expensive, but for me the value is in the time it saves me. I would run out of loaded ammo really quickly if I could only make 1 or 2 hundred rounds per hour. If I can get an hour or so per week to reload I am lucky. I can go out to the garage for 30mins and crank out 300rds pretty easy, with out one hiccup.

I would like to actually try out one of the Lee pro 1000's sometime, so if anyone in the springs has one I would love to drop by and check it out.

[dwalker460]

My pro 1000 pops out 300 in an hour if I am in a hurry and organized, 250 or so in an hour otherwise. I dont have any "hiccups". The classic turret press will pop out about 200 an hour if organized and in a hurry. Honestly when I am reloading I am not in a huge hurry. In fact, Im pretty lazy. I will dump brass in the tumbler one day, come back a day or so later and run off a cpl hundred rounds, but it is very rare that I would sit and load 1K or so at a time, although I should take a Saturday and make that happen.

[Not_A_Llama]

The Lee is a decent press that combines a lot of expensive features into a dirt-cheap press, but you really have to understand the mechanism to keep it running smoothly. I loaded 6000 rounds before moving to the Hornady. If you can afford better, do so, but it'll produce good quality ammo, relatively quickly.

My suggestions are:
Make sure the primer feed chute is always packed with primers
Periodically spray powder out of the works with compressed air
Keep the powder measure well lubricated with graphite powder, Flitz polish the piss out of your output chute and the case feeding "plank", cap the powder with a bullet as soon as it exits the measure.
If you mount the press on standoffs, you can insert a tray below to hold spent primers.
Drill a hole for a paperclip on the primer flip tray output chute, to hold primers back, as you insert the tray into the press.
Get the collator. It's disproportionately expensive for what you get, but the functionality is worth it. Implement the "penny" mod. It disappoints me that my Hornady case feeder is less reliable than the Lee $0.50 (well, $0.51) solution.

[Hoser]

I despise reloading in any quanity. For me it is only and end to a means. Sometimes precision ammo loading is relaxing, but even that gets tedious after a while.

Fighting the press at every turn would take away my will to live and increase my desire to start bowling.

[jerrymrc]

I despise reloading in any quanity. For me it is only and end to a means. Sometimes precision ammo loading is relaxing, but even that gets tedious after a while.

Fighting the press at every turn would take away my will to live and increase my desire to start bowling.

You would not like Bowling since I think they frown on Cans and Scopes. [Flower]

[Not_A_Llama]

I despise reloading in any quanity. For me it is only and end to a means. Sometimes precision ammo loading is relaxing, but even that gets tedious after a while.

Fighting the press at every turn would take away my will to live and increase my desire to start bowling.

I'd have a facsimile of your reloading room, if I could afford it.

[spittoon]

Run away. Too much fiddling around to get it to work and stay working.
x2[pileoshit]