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Lee Pro 1000 Tip & Tricks


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With my $10 primer tray buzzer mod, I loaded about 850 rounds over three sessions without a single primer issue. Well worth the investment!

Although I won't guarantee it always work, I have even continued priming a few rounds when the tray was completely empty with just primers in the chute and still no priming issues occurred.

As many people have pointed out, one of the keys is to keep the system free of stray powder - so I do use the air compressor to blow out the shell plate and priming area every few hundred rounds too.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello everybody,

i´m a German reloader and PRO 1000 user and i find this forum very useful. I've also made ​​some mods on the 1k that could be helpful perhaps.

A simple modification is the primer tray mod. It solves the problem of the falling out primers when putting on the tray to the press. I already saw different solutions but perhaps one more will not hurt. It´s very simple and works perfect.

I simply have cut two slots in the cover. But pictures will explain more

post-30940-0-84237600-1330209789_thumb.j

post-30940-0-44909500-1330209798_thumb.j

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is a great thread. However, I found the instructions that came with my P-1000 Bullet Feeder to be lacking. I have a mechanical background but could use some "hands on" help.

Thanks for lots of good 411.

" 'Tis better to give than to receive, particularly if it's a punch in the jaw"

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With my $10 primer tray buzzer mod, I loaded about 850 rounds over three sessions without a single primer issue. Well worth the investment!

Although I won't guarantee it always work, I have even continued priming a few rounds when the tray was completely empty with just primers in the chute and still no priming issues occurred.

As many people have pointed out, one of the keys is to keep the system free of stray powder - so I do use the air compressor to blow out the shell plate and priming area every few hundred rounds too.

You mention your $10.00 "Buzzer" but nothing as to just what it is or does? Advise.

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With my $10 primer tray buzzer mod, I loaded about 850 rounds over three sessions without a single primer issue. Well worth the investment!

Although I won't guarantee it always work, I have even continued priming a few rounds when the tray was completely empty with just primers in the chute and still no priming issues occurred.

As many people have pointed out, one of the keys is to keep the system free of stray powder - so I do use the air compressor to blow out the shell plate and priming area every few hundred rounds too.

You mention your $10.00 "Buzzer" but nothing as to just what it is or does? Advise.

See post #59 ;)

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I too have a Pro 1000. I use it to load 9mm. Like most, I've had all the above issues as well. However I am also having another issue that has not been mentioned yet. I can't get my auto bullet feeder to work right. All the bullets continue to fall out the bottom of it sometime during the run. It appears that the vibrations from working the press and the weight of all the bullets on top of the bottom one, cause them to fall out all over the floor. It happens right after the finger grabs bullet. As the next one drops down into place, they all fall out. (VERY Frustrating) I've tried everything from loading less bullets to going very slow. Nothing works. How do you keep the bullets from falling out of the auto feeder?? Anyone else had this issue?

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I too have a Pro 1000. I use it to load 9mm. Like most, I've had all the above issues as well. However I am also having another issue that has not been mentioned yet. I can't get my auto bullet feeder to work right. All the bullets continue to fall out the bottom of it sometime during the run. It appears that the vibrations from working the press and the weight of all the bullets on top of the bottom one, cause them to fall out all over the floor. It happens right after the finger grabs bullet. As the next one drops down into place, they all fall out. (VERY Frustrating) I've tried everything from loading less bullets to going very slow. Nothing works. How do you keep the bullets from falling out of the auto feeder?? Anyone else had this issue?

That has been mentioned in this thread. Go back through the pages. Someone on here made a mod to fix ther issues and a lot of other ppl have liked it.

1) moly coated bullets do not work well with the bullet feeder.

2.) I textured the bullet fingers so it would grab and hold better.

3.) I used my heat gun an slightly. Changed the shape of the finger to allow it to grab better.

4.) I manually worked the bullet feeder....worked well!

5.) I removed the who system and and went back to using my hand and placing bullets on the brass

Make sure your press and table are very sturdy.. No movement at all.

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The issue I am having has nothing to do with the finger portion. The finger does it's job just fine. My issue is with what happens after the finger removes the bullet and the next one in line slides down, along with the 20 other bullets above it.

I reload 9mm 124gr round nose bullets.

I've seen the Youtube video mentioned previously. That is for a fix that has to do with there not being a shell casing available and not wanting the finger to retract and drop the bullet.

Your mention about keeping everything sturdy. My table is very sturdy, it does not move at all. However my Lee Press is somewhat flimsy and flexes a lot when I cycle it. I've tried tightening every bolt visible to no avail.

For the time being, until I can come up with a solution, I've resorted to loading the bullet by hand.

Edited by Whiteeye
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Re: Bullet Feeder dumping bullets

You do have the appropriately sized "die" connected to the tube? A larger opening can allow all the bullets to fall out.

I use mine (on a Dillon 1050) in manual mode--hand shakes when I try to carefully put a bullet on a case, and this is "easier" for me. Only problem are hollow-base bullets like Precision Bullets. Other than that, no problems with moly-koted or cast bullets.

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Yes I do have the correct size tube and finger setup. The round nose bullets don't stack real well, they are a little 'wobbly', and I think that also has a lot to do with it. I think if I was using HP or 'stub nose' bullets they might stack better and tend not to fall out so much. But I don't know and I'm not going to change the type of bullet just to solve this issue. I am curious if anyone else has had this issue and what they did to fix it, if anything.

Edited by Whiteeye
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The issue I am having has nothing to do with the finger portion. The finger does it's job just fine. My issue is with what happens after the finger removes the bullet and the next one in line slides down, along with the 20 other bullets above it.

I reload 9mm 124gr round nose bullets.

I've seen the Youtube video mentioned previously. That is for a fix that has to do with there not being a shell casing available and not wanting the finger to retract and drop the bullet.

Your mention about keeping everything sturdy. My table is very sturdy, it does not move at all. However my Lee Press is somewhat flimsy and flexes a lot when I cycle it. I've tried tightening every bolt visible to no avail.

For the time being, until I can come up with a solution, I've resorted to loading the bullet by hand.

Interesting.... Haven't ran across that before. If you happen to find a fix please share. If I have time today when I get off I will put it back on one of my lees to see if I can figure out what is going on. It's been awhile since I used it, and I can't visualize how it operates.

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I have the same problems when I put too many bullets in the tube. I only fill mine with about 15-20 bullets, fills to around the top of the hopper. I assume this would vary depending on the bullet type/weight. This is an easy thing to try, you'll know if it works fine with only 3 or 4 bullets, then just keep adding more till they start giving you trouble.

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  • 2 weeks later...

(I posted this over in a glock kaboom thread as well since it can lead to squibs)

Just going to put in two parts for those of us with Lee Auto Disk Dispensers. That dog tag chain that it uses is a truly terrible design, it can loosen causing erratic powder charges and get hung up and snap. Which will cause you to lose the locking ends which will lead to more loosening. IMHO it's dangerous to have on your setup. I really wish lee would let you custom setup your packages with the best of the best parts, I've added about $20 worth from their replacement parts catolog that have made it an excellent press and now I load 9, 40 and 45 with complete confidence.

To get rid of that chain and gain the ability to trust your powder drop, just buy these two parts.

midwayusa product/334897

midwayusa product/543877

When you buy the pro autodisk it actually comes with these pre installed and leaves the chain as the backup part (though you will never need it and it is not shown this way in the picture)

Kevin

Also, I had an issue with smaller disc sizes (.40 and smaller) where the powder wasn't dropping at all even if the chain was setup right and larger sizes were still eratic. Turns out, that the metal sleeve that goes up and down inside the drop tube which is fitted to the black piece on the powder measure. Wasn't in far enough. I had been having issues with the press all night, as it was the initial setup. Between breaking the chain once, that issue and the nylon gear inside arriving broken on arrival (which took a while to figure out) I was angry and just sawzalled the end of that metal sleeve and filed it down till it was right. After talking to lee the next day I guess it's actually a common problem and that sleeve is only held in by pressure (like a bullet and case tension) and I could've hit it all the way in with a rubber mallet. But, so far so good.

Edited by partyboy424
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Here's something to look out for that I just had happen to me this morning while reloading. I'd say probably 95% of the spent primers coming out of my cases shoot right down into the hole in the press which empties into a box screwed in under my table. Every once in a while I get primers that miss that hole and end up on the bench. It's never been an issue until today, one of them managed to miss the hole and instead of landing on the bench, it landed on the press, directly to the right of where it says "LEE". Where it landed there is a little circle, this is where the primer pin comes down and pushes against to seat the primer in the case before powder drop.

This thing managed to land so perfectly that it didn't change the feel of seating the primers and it was causing every couple to seat sideways or stick as it began to crush. This is when I noticed it. I went back and looked at probably 30 bullets I had just made and because of this all of the primers were seated high, not high enough to jam anything up in the press, but I guarentee they wouldn't have fired and instead reseated when I went to the range.

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I'll post a couple of tips I've learned, mostly through breaking the press and fixing it.

- Don't trust the chain on the powder drop. I've had three break on me. The best substitute I've found is weed whacker string as it's much much stronger and has enough spring/give to it that you don't have to worry about it binding up the press/breaker the powder drop. I just tie a little knot in the bottom and run it through the arm up top and tie it down so that it's taut when the press hits bottom.

- I fixed my primer feed problems by adding a tapping motion to my downstroke. Some primers (Winchester) arn't as slick as other brands and often won't find their way down by gravity alone. What I do is on the down stroke, as soon as the brass engages the primer lock (that black plastic lever) I will let go of the handle and reach around and lightly tap the primer chute with my hand. This shake is enough to ensure a primer feeding into the press. I've been able to finish entire sessions (400 rounds) without a single primer mishap.

-Don't tighten down the deprimer pin completely. Just tighten it down enough so it can punch out primers, that way if your press messes up and doesn't index completely aorund and you don't notice, it won't snap the pin, it'll just push the pin out of the die . I've broken two of those before figuring this out.

I'll post more as I remember them.

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I forgot to also say that I've done away with all of the case feeder/bullet feeder gadgets as I've found that with proper positioning of the brass and bullet buckets, I can load just as fast by hand and I don't have to spent a minute fixing the feeders when they mess up.

Actually, here's a question.. How many rounds can you load per hour? After figuring out how the thing works I can load 100 rounds at a comfortable pace (with restocking supplies) in about 15 minutes.

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I don't think that I would have broken the chain if mine had shown up working out of the box. Mine came with a broken nylon ratchet piece (i don't know what it's actually called, it's the tiny piece that they give you a spare of) When my chain slipped out of place because I hadn't set everything up tight yet as it wasn't working, it provided a ton of resistance, out of excitement I thought this was the ratchet engaging and just yanked the handle snapping the chain. This caused me to lose the stoppers for the chain and it just became a huge PITA. The spring solved this.

My output is 350 an hour of 45acp including cleaning of the primer chute every hour and loading all the primers in the tray. I do use the case collator and it works great, but I've heard that it doesn't work as well on smaller calibers. I've only loaded about 100 .40 and it was a pain as well, the 45acp uses a large slider and the 9mm uses a small slider. The .40 case is an ugly duckling and they really do need to make a medium slider for it. I've tried every combination of small slider, large slider and bent rod, straight rod. They still always end up toppling over. This is the reason alone for why I haven't shot my 40 in over a month.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm new with the p1k. So far haven't had much of a chance to sit down and throw out some rounds. I guess I have to work out some quirks and then everything runs smoothly. Anyone wanna throw out the major tips for using the lee pro 1000? Thanks. 40sw

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