Marksman85 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 (edited) I'm reloading 9mm on the lee pro 1000 and when the casing comes out of the powder through expanding die on the downstroke I get what I would call a "catch" or "snag" I know it's happening at that station because I'm loading one round at a time and all the other stations are smooth I've watch some videos on YouTube of people reloading with the press and they all seem to be smooth through all the stations Anyone know what might be causing this? Edited February 5, 2015 by Marksman85 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longhill Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 If your using stainless steel pin and liquids to clean your brass, try adding a liquid car wax to the wash. This will add some lubrication to the cases. Try polishing the powder funnel. Try not to over flare the case. Something's I have done to reduce the case sticking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZinZA Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Sounds like a lubrication issue. Liquid car polish (a spoon or two) in the tumbler media should definitely help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AusPPC Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I'm reloading 9mm on the lee pro 1000 and when the casing comes out of the powder through expanding die on the downstroke I get what I would call a "catch" or "snag" I know it's happening at that station because I'm loading one round at a time and all the other stations are smooth I've watch some videos on YouTube of people reloading with the press and they all seem to be smooth through all the stations Anyone know what might be causing this? I get the same "catching" problem with the Lee expander die, but only when I use brand-new 9mm brass. After they are fired they don't seem to catch anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksman85 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Mine is doing it with once fired brass, but weird thing is it didn't seem to do it when I first started using the press, it started after maybe 1000 rounds or so Also, is there anyone that uses Winchester WST to load 9mm w/115gr copper plated RN what size charge do you use and which size hole in the disk. I'm loading mainly just for plinking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Phil Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I have found that you will get that "catch" when the machine is just a tiny bit out of time. Sometimes you will get a little nick in the case mouth from the edge of the flare/powder die. A half or 3/4 turn (clockwise) on the adj screw usually does it, but, experimentation is free. I set my timing so the shell plate carrier snaps in well before the die gets to the primer feeder. Also, I have started using Hornady 1 shot before loading. I shoot a lot of nickle cases and it really helps! I have tried tumbling to clean after loading and not, and now I only re-clean match ammo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksman85 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Thanks. I haven't noticed any nicks on any of the cases but I'll try adjusting the plate a bit and see if it helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max It Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 wow! I am glad someone addressed the many issues of the Lee Pro 1000: mine sits on a shelf together with the bullet feeder I later mistakenly bought. I got the machine from an old bullseye shooter who did well with it. and he taught me to cast and reload with it. (casting was separately done). so it has some nostalga however: I later began removing parts and doing less and less reloading on it. first I took off the case feeder and hand loaded case by case. next I removed bullet feeded (never worked on .45acp, bullets too heavy) finally I stopped trying to load primers and did that on a Lee hand held device, after decapping on a single stage. finally I bought a Dillon 550 and then I swapped for a Dillon 450 both in action; the 450 is my favorite and it is set up for .45acp. rock solid. good luck with the Lee; o.p. must be in a cold climate, around here where it is always summer I just don't relish spending much time indoors. but if I ever do, thanks for the tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksman85 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Ok I've found a number of people that say they are using 4.8gr of Winchester WST for a 115gr 9mm My question is how do I figure out which pro 1000 disk I need to use for this charge I can't find it listed anywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Phil Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 When the Lee 1000 1st came out (mid-1980ish?) I got one in 44 mag. Fought with that thing for about 2 yrs and finally got one of my buddies to take it off my hands. Seems like the price back then was $110 or so. Of course, there was no AL, so, no internet. (Or Global Warming for that matter) Years later, I bought another, and began figuring out all the little "glitches" that drive us crazy. The techs at Lee will help a lot if you call them! Also this forum and YouTube are invaluable! Once I quit trying to get the "600 rnds/hr" that they claim, I began to get awesome results. The 2nd machine cost $125 new... the 3rd was at the local dealer in a box. $75 for the press, 2 powder measures, 3 sets of dies, and a bunch of other stuff. Didn't work! I have loaded about 20k on that one. If you look in the reloading section, you will notice that every press from every manufacturer has their foibles. Somehow the Pro1000 gets the brunt of the criticism. But, I have loaded hundreds of thousands of good rounds on 2 Pro1000s and a 35 yr old Lee Turret press. Can't complain. Maybe I just got smarter over the years? Hey, wait till my wife hears that!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Phil Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Ok I've found a number of people that say they are using 4.8gr of Winchester WST for a 115gr 9mm My question is how do I figure out which pro 1000 disk I need to use for this charge I can't find it listed anywhere I checked my disc chart and WST doesn't show! Probably the best thing to do is email or call Lee and request the info. They will gladly send it I would think. Good luck with the search... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longhill Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Ok I've found a number of people that say they are using 4.8gr of Winchester WST for a 115gr 9mm My question is how do I figure out which pro 1000 disk I need to use for this charge I can't find it listed anywhere I sure hope you have a scale. You can't rely on the chart for accuracy. Its just a guide. Yes, it take time to measure(weigh) each hole of the disk, better safe than sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPostman Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I have a lee pro 1000, lee loadmaster and a lee single stage press. Here is a tip so you dont have to unbolt the press from your work table to empty the primers. I drilled a 1 inch hole underneath my pro 1000 and single stage press. Then I mounted a large prescription pill bottle with a hole drilled in the top under the hole. I screwed the top to the underside of the workbench so all I have to do is push up on the bottle to unscrew it from the lid to empty the primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPostman Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Another tip that I will share is how to drop smaller amounts than the smallest disc. Lee used to sell a microdisc set but since have stopped. I load 2.6 grains of titegroup behind a 165 grain 9mm xtreme bullet a OAL 1.140. I had to figure out a way to drop less than the 3 grains I was getting from the .30 cc disc which is the smallest available on the autodisc. My solution was to buy a foot of 1/4" poly irrigation tubing to use as a sleeve inside I believe the .42 cc disc. It will fit very snug in the correct cc hole and you can adjust the drop by trimming the sleeve at the bottom closest to the powder through die. You want the hole larger on the bottom so there is no shelf on the top where the powder drops into the disc. The sleeve at the top should be flush with the top of the disc. Continue trimming the bottom until it drops the correct amount as verified by a good scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPostman Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 It is the .40 cc drop that you insert the sleeve into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 On a list I have it shows wSuper-Tar using a #.57 for 4.7 grains. You might try that one and weigh the result to see how close it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonGarfield Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) I added a roll pin over the small pin that shakes the primer tray to give it much better shake and primers feed much better. Edited February 23, 2015 by LeonGarfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 It has been a terribly boring winter for me, mostly because I am recovering from back surgery. That's a whole nother story I worked up a new load, for my 40 caliber open gun, using Rainer's 135 gr. bullet. Replacing the MG 155 gr. HP I had been shooting. Then the idea hit me! I can put more bullets in the 4 tube bullet feeder (get too much weight in the tubes and it will not grab the bullet). I discovered that I could put 25 of the 135 gr. bullets in each tube and it worked flawlessly. I ordered new tubes, for the case feeder, so that I could extend them. This allowed me to put 25 cases in each tube. I simply cut 2" collars out of bullet feeder tubes to place over the joint. This tube, being much thicker, worked great! I simply split them with a heavy pair of scissors. When I loaded up 100 cases, 100 bullets and 100 primers the press loaded every one without stopping. Excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 (edited) I know that I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. If you are having trouble with the Pro 1000 priming system, the first thing I recommend you check are the cases. This press can not deal with crimped primer pockets, and that is the only time my Pro 1000's have failed to prime a case. I am dead serious when I say the priming system is the most reliable part of my machines. However, I must inspect each and every case! That faint little crimp ring around the primer pocket can be hard to detect, especially with my old eyes. I miss one every now and then . . . UGH! Is your machine failing to prime by: primers pushed in crooked? Primers pushed in sideways? You can't get the machine to seat a primer, even partially? "Here's your sign" . . . of a crimped primer pocket. Keep in mind, a crimped primer will push out just as easily as one not crimped, during the sizing process. Occasionally a case will come out of the feeder and end up stopping upward motion when it hits the turret holder casting. The key here is a solid mount, If you are mounted to a flimsy surface the case will jiggle out as the press moves. Mount that sucker solid! Here is one I can not explain; occasionally a bullet will come tumbling out of the bullet feeder. Yet, the next bullet is ready to go, and it may not happen the rest of the day. I have been loading on these presses for 6 ~ 7 years, and I am stumped Edited February 27, 2015 by Reshoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 (edited) The comments about the press hanging up as a case comes out of the powder thru die, is this happening while the case is still up in the die? Could you be feeling the resistance of the case, in the sizing die, as it comes down over the expanding ball? You will feel that every time you resize a case. Or, do you feel this resistance at the point the shell plate beings to rotate? There is a bit of resistance there too, as it requires more effort to turn the shell plate. Check to see if the shell plate rotates freely. There may be gunk or spilled powder under it. If, and when, I run a crimped primer pocket case by accident, powder goes down through the flash hole into the primer trough and under the shell plate. STOP - and remove the shell plate for a thorough cleaning. Edited February 27, 2015 by Reshoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robport Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 I sure am glad this thread is here. I started using the adjustable powder measure, very recently, rather than the autodisks and had two squibs. My fault I know. That's what complacency does when you have made more than a few thousand rounds without a problem (other than the normal primer things). While my test throws were 100% and within 0.1 grains of what I wanted, on production it wouldn't throw any powder at all on about 4 per 100 rounds. I have no idea why (Bullseye, not a flake powder). It should either work or not. Sorry it's happening, but I'm glad to know I'm not just crazy and it happened some other people. I've gone back to the disk. This thread gave me the confidence to finally buy a bullet feeder. I had been looking at it for a long time and placing the bullet is one little part that my thick hands have to contort a little to do(haven't received it yet though). I'm a little tired of having to whisper that I have a Lee. I'm sure Dillons are fine machines. They just aren't in the same ballpark, price-wise. and my Lee does what I need it to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZinZA Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 There are two screws that hold the powder reservoir on top of the charge bar. If they are too tight then the bar doesn't move freely and you will get light charges or empty cases. Try loosening them a bit and all should be well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 (edited) I had the same problem with the micrometer charge bar on my loadmaster. About the same failure rate too. Maybe 3 or 4 in a 100 it would throw a visibly light charge or no charge at all. Went back to the discs which have been super reliable and repeatable for me. Like most I just wanted smaller charge increments for my minor load dev. In the end I just enlarged a hole to get what I wanted. Worked great. Edited April 27, 2015 by BeerBaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robport Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 I went back to the disks too and also became more diligent about looking at each charge again...haven't seen a low or missing charge since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SysProg Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 (edited) Hello, I'm hoping that this is still active as the last post (before this one) was from 2015. Recently, I have been having issues with my Lee Pro 1000 .357/.38 press. I have had it almost 30 years and this just started occurring recently. I have it set up to reload .357 and haven't had to make any adjustments in years, other than having had to take it apart and do a deep clean (thanks to CowboyT's videos on YouTube) to fix an issue where the primer would get inserted sideways or upside down. My current issue is that the cases are leaving the first station without the primers getting punched out. It is not for every case and can happen with the first case or with all three stations full. I have checked the pin and it is sticking out of the bottom of the die about 3/8's of an inch and isn't loose. I have made sure that the ram is all of the way up and it looks like the tray is all of the way up. The last time I reloaded I was able to complete over 200 rounds in an hour. Now I am lucky if I can load 100 in an hour and 20 minutes. Any ideas? Edited September 22, 2019 by SysProg grammer error Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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