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

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.

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

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.

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?

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.

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/

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.

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.

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

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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.