What are your frustrations with a Lee Progressive press

[A. Wayne]

o

 

[TxAggie]

If you haven't seen this article, take a look. I don't think you'll be swayed to get a Dillon or Hornady from it, but it does point out some good points and areas of concern on the Lee progressive. I just bought the Lee Turret and still found this article to be very good.

http://www.comrace.ca/cmfiles/dillonLeeHornadyComparison.pdf

 

[coopermania]

Buy a Dillon and you will not be frustrated.

 

[jimbobborg]

You can find used Dillons if you search for the same price as that Lee new. Just a thought.

 

[DocAitch]

I have a Dillon 650 and have loaded well over 100,000 rounds on it, as well as thousands more rounds on single stage presses, so I, rightly or wrongly, consider myself to be an experienced reloader .
I bought a Lee Pro 1000 because I thought it it be useful to leave my Dillon set up for small primers and do my .45ACP on the on the Pro 1000. The Lee was $160. I have eventually learned to make good ammo on it, but it took a while.
My first batch of 50 45s had 13 squibs. The problem was that when the primer feed hangs up (and it does so frequently), you short stroke the press when you fix it and don't dispense powder.
I suppose that if you are totally focused and visually check every charge, you can avoid squibs using the priming system.
Most of the folks who use the Pro1000 avoid the priming system altogether by sizing, depriming and priming off the press and only charge, seat and crimp on the press. When you do this you can use the Lee Factory Crimp die for the crimp. This is how I use the press now.
The other problem that I have run into is the lamp chain that resets the powder measure. This hangs up and even breaks and produces more squibs. If you use the Pro Auto disk measure that is configured with a return spring, this will avoid the problems with the chain.
It certainly is not as fast as the Dillon, but it does work once you come to an accommodation with the primer system and the lamp chain. It is also less expensive to get started and to switch calibers.
Good Luck,
DocAitch

 

[FlatsFlite]

The only issue I have with the loadmaster is the case feeder adjustment when changing calibers.

I can crank out rounds fastester than a 550 with case feeder running. You just have to know what the f you are doing.

 

[DocAitch]

You could use the size-deprime die only in one toolhead and prime on the Pro 1000, then change tool heads to one with the flare/charge set up, seating die, and crimp die (and takeout the primers).
Once you are dealing with primed cases, things go very smoothly.
Using a progressive saves all of the hand motions that are involved in putting the cases into and out of the shellholder for each operation. If you use the scheme outlined above, it truly saves a lot of extra motion.
DocAitch

 

[flying_pig]

I have a Lee because...

1. It is cheaper
2. I take my time loading for quality control so speed was not an issue
3. Dies are reasonable
4. Simple to operate
5. I like the features and upgrades

I could have gotten the Dillon or another brand but because of the above reasons I decided on a Lee Classic Turret with 4 stages. Make sure you order extra turrets for quick changes. That feature rocks.

 

[Pinecone]

You can have a Yugo or a Mercedes. Both will get you to your destination. But how you get there is a bit different.

Actually Lee is more Hyundai. Good, solid, but not in the same class as the Dillon.

The Dillon costs more, but it WORKS, and works, and works, and works...

 

[rico903]

Lee turret. Love it or $100

Are they easy to set up and to change calobers on with different heads?

 

[Winterborn]

Are they easy to set up and to change calobers on with different heads?

Yes, and yes. You can get a new toolhead for like ten bucks and leave each caliber set up. Changing calibers takes literally ten seconds, a bit longer if you are switching the auto disk powder measure.

The lee classic turret us also auto indexing for quick loading.

I love mine, really no need for a progressive unless you shoot super high volume.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

[BradMacc82]

I have a Pro1000, got it not that long ago - 2 x-mas's back.

I've had no issues using all stages, including priming on the press. Mine has the return spring on the chain for the auto-disk as well.

I've put out close to 7K rounds of .45ACP with 0 squib's. About 1k 300BLK rounds with no issues.

It does take some experimenting to get everything just right, but once it is, just leave it alone and let her eat.

I'd rather spend more money on components and roll rounds out, but that's me.

 

[Buddy]

I have a Lee Load Master I have had it for 4 years and loaded 12,000 rounds. The problems I have had is the case feeder rod and the primer slider. Lee has designed a new primer feeder to fix that problem.

For the money Lee is a good product mine has paid for it self.

 

[vafish]

I am shooting more than ever (9mm and .38), and am toying with the idea of buying a progressive press. I am experienced with single stage and use a Lee turret now. I will not be investing more money on a brand pricier than Lee, so my question is to actual users of one of the Lee progressives.

I suspect the main area of bugs are in the priming step? I assume I could reprime my brass with a handheld primer like I currently do? I am not worried about losing time here, I can do this step while watching TV (not recommended I know).

For you to re-prime your brass by hand you have to first re-size it.

That pretty much ruins any advantage a progressive press has, might as well stay with your turret press.

I have a Lee Pro 1000 in .38 special. I have the most problems with Wolf Primers. For some reason they seem to flip around the wrong direction and jam up the primer feed system. But that's maybe once ever 20-30 rounds.

Using CCI or Federal primers very little problems. Pull the lever, place a bullet, pull the lever, place a bullet, ect..... Maybe a primer mis-feed every 100 rounds or so.

When I can find someone with a 9mm Lee Pro 1000 in stock I plan on buying a 2nd one.

 

[DocAitch]

vafish
"That pretty much ruins any advantage a progressive press has, might as well stay with your turret press".
Au contraire- using the Pro 1000 in 2 stages is way faster than using a turret.
Using only the size/decap die on one tool head and the prime system allows you to size, decap and prime with only one back and forth movement of the lever/handle for each case. The cases are fed by the case feed (which works very well by the way), and any primer misfeeds are dealt with without worrying about the powder drop.
After the cases are resized and primed, they can be briefly inspected for the presence of a primer , the tool head changed to one with the flare/powder charge die, the bullet seat die, and the factory crimp die, the cases put back in the case feed and this time around its a loaded round with each pull of the lever/handle. A total of 3 motions per round (I leave out placing the bullet because its the same for both processes).
The only extra steps are the inspection and transfer of the primed cases back to the case feed after the changing the tool head and removing the primers from the feed.
On a turret there several extra motions for each round.
For the Lee Classic Turret on auto indexing, the case has to be put in the shell holder manually, then the lever/handle pulled for size /deprime, a primer has to be fed manually or with the Safety Prime, then another pull of the lever for flare/powder drop, then another pull of the lever for bullet seating, then another pull for crimping, then the loaded round must be taken from the shell holder. a total of 7 motions per loaded round

I will guarantee you that I can load 1000 rounds on a Pro1000 (even with this priming system) way faster than you can on your turret. I will even be willing to bet 1000 primers that I can do it faster.
DocAitch

 

[GNLaFrance]

I bought a Lee Classic Cast Turret because my research indicated it was a very good value for the money. I didn't get a Load-Master because of what my father often said about cars and machines in general: "The more parts it has, the more things will break." I haven't managed to break anything on the Turret - yet.

 

[Winterborn]

Docaitch - you are going to make my wallet hurt.....I thought I was fine with my classic turret until I read that....

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

[photoracer]

I use a Lee Pro 1000 to load 9x23mm. From looking at other peoples issues I have managed to stay away from any real problems. I don't get any squibs because I have an articulated light that shines down into the case as it moves from the powder stage and I see the level as it goes by. I don't have any issues with the primer feed because I known exactly when I should be refilling it, plus I have a tool that lets me get completely thru a fully loaded one and get the last primer fed in properly if I elect to do that. I have another die plate with another set of 9mm dies for doing 9mm also. I only load small primer rounds on the Lee. I use a Lee Challenger single stage to load .41 Rem Mag or .223 (if I ever can find a set of dies). I have been thinking about a bigger press but the Lee has paid for itself many times over. Would have taken me much longer to break even with the price of a Dillon. Only time I ever make more than about 150 rounds at a time is when loading to shoot the PSA Shootout.

 

[vafish]

vafish
"That pretty much ruins any advantage a progressive press has, might as well stay with your turret press".
Au contraire- using the Pro 1000 in 2 stages is way faster than using a turret.
Using only the size/decap die on one tool head and the prime system allows you to size, decap and prime with only one back and forth movement of the lever/handle for each case. The cases are fed by the case feed (which works very well by the way), and any primer misfeeds are dealt with without worrying about the powder drop.
After the cases are resized and primed, they can be briefly inspected for the presence of a primer , the tool head changed to one with the flare/powder charge die, the bullet seat die, and the factory crimp die, the cases put back in the case feed and this time around its a loaded round with each pull of the lever/handle. A total of 3 motions per round (I leave out placing the bullet because its the same for both processes).
The only extra steps are the inspection and transfer of the primed cases back to the case feed after the changing the tool head and removing the primers from the feed.
On a turret there several extra motions for each round.
For the Lee Classic Turret on auto indexing, the case has to be put in the shell holder manually, then the lever/handle pulled for size /deprime, a primer has to be fed manually or with the Safety Prime, then another pull of the lever for flare/powder drop, the another pull of the lever for bullet seating, then another pull for crimping, then the loaded round must be taken from the shell holder. a total of 7 motions per loaded round

I will guarantee you that I can load 1000 rounds on a Pro1000 (even with this priming system) way faster than you can on your turret. I will even be willing to bet 1000 primers that I can do it faster.
DocAitch

Thats still way to much work. Run the press the way it was designed, with primers it likes and there is no need for all that.

 

[DocAitch]

As I prefaced my initial remarks, I'm an experienced reloader and I still got an unacceptable number of squibs doing it "the way it is supposed to be run".
Also, if you are able to find "the primers it likes" these days, you are better off than most of us who are taking what we can find.
The two step method above works pretty well with no squibs.
Squibs are inconvenient if you are paying attention and carrying a squib rod, and downright dangerous if you are not.
DocAitch