Lee Pro 1000

[grasshopper_no_more]

I've been shopping for a budget progressive press, and I keep coming back to the Lee. Its definitely not a Dillon, but I have had good experience with lee products and their customer service.

I plan on loading .223 and 9mm, and it appears I can simply change turrets to accomplish this...?

Currently I am plugging along with a single stage at a mind numbing pace. Any improvement in speed would be appreciated at this point. However, I cannot justify the cash for a Dillon right now. Especially with my dwindling supply of projectiles at this moment.

Any advice or comments on this press?

[mscott]

They are functional most of the time, but you really would be better off spending money on something of better quality. I had a LEE for the first year I got into this game and it did a decent job with some tinkering here and there. If you can afford it go with a Hornady LNL for under $400 and get the case feeder later or a 550 from Brian. I realize how tight money can be as much as anyone, but my LEE was showing a lot of signs of wear after about 10k rounds. That was just money that could have went toward a better press to begin with.

[Graham Smith]

There is a two page thread on Lee reloaders here

[Reshoot]

There is a Tips & Tricks thread, on the Pro 1000, in the non-Dillon reloading equipment forum. This will give you some insight into what it takes to make the press preform.

Dave

[metalguy]

I have one, and for the $159.00 that they cost from Midway, they are a hard press to beat. I loaded 400 rounds of 9mm last Sunday, just in time for Thanksgiving with family. The Lee Pro 1000 will work well if it is kept up on. Primer feed needs to be maintained full as it is gravity fed, and less primers means less pressure to feed them. As for changing calibers, you can just buy a spare turret, and shell carrier, and leave them set up. I believe you will need to change the feeder to the tall one for the .223, if going from a shorter shell like 9mm, or .40. I will be buying another one for the large primer calibers I have (30-06, and .45.

Metalguy

[partizan]

I had the same dilemma a month ago. I wanted to go from my perfect Lee Turret to something progressive but not so expensive like Dillon. After a couple weeks of research I ended up buying a Hornady L-N-L AP from MidwayUSA. It cost me $410-$60(coupon)=$350 without shipping. I sent rebate coupon to Hornady and got 500 bullets with I immediately sold on GunBroker for another $120. So, $350-$120=$230!!! OK, if you add shipping cost (about $50 for press and $15 for bullets) you'll get $295, OK, $300 of final price for auto progressive, five stations modern press with amazing bushing system and better then Dillon's powder measure, way more better then Lee priming system and endless possibility for future upgrade, like case and bullet feeder, for the price not even the Dillon Square Deal 'B'??? Are you still thinking???!!!

[metalguy]

The LnL sounds like a good press.

Metalguy

[mscott]

The LNL is even on sale: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=679228&&rfx_page=32&RFX_PassBack=utm_source=Dec_10_Flyer&utm_medium=URL&rfx_catalogname=Dec_10_Flyer&rfx_catalog=1&utm_source=Dec_10_Flyer&utm_medium=URL&rfx_spread=32&rfx_gid=2097222&rfx_pageid=32&rfx_catalog=1&rfx_passback=utm_source%3dDec_10_Flyer%26utm_medium%3dURL&rfx_base=http%3a%2f%2fmidwayusa.richfx.com.edgesuite.net%2fcatalog_midwayusa%2fDec_10_Flyer%2f&rfx_catalog_base=http%3a%2f%2fwww.midwayusa.com%2fGeneral.mvc%2fIndex%2fFlyerOnline%3f&rfx_omni=1&rfx_OmniPageName=p32&rfx_OmniCatalogName=Dec_10_Flyer&rfx_OmniClientID=midwayusa

There is also a code on the Midway home page for $15 off a $100 order.

[partizan]

The LNL is even on sale...

...There is also a code on the Midway home page for $15 off a $100 order.

Coupon code will not work for items on sale. So, you going to save $25 instead $60 plus pay for shipping, hm-m-m...

May be now the Cabelas is a good choice to look at. With free shipping deal you'll get press for $399, final.

P.S. Looks like I've got mine just in right time.

[Panic Flinch]

I have the Lee Progressive 1000....Has worked fine for me. I know it is on the low end of the equipment in terms of price and quality...but I must say I'm still waiting for it to fail me. I have loaded 6-7 thousand rounds thus far in 9mm and no problems. I occassionally have to calibrate the shell plate, powder sometimes "sloshes" out of the case when then shell plate snaps into the next slot and I wish primers would not turn sideways every now and then...but other than that, its been pretty good. I maintain it well...and never force anything on it. I know someday I will eventually get a Dillon...but for now, its doing ok and I've had it for 15 years.

[MarkCO]

It is a decent press. I loaded over 150,000 rounds on 2 Lee Pro-1000s. As long as you stay with small primers and use pre-processed .223 brass, you should be fine. Full length sizing .223 brass results in a significantly increased failure rate, but as long as you recognize this, again you should be okay. DON'T force anything and be patient. The cast aluminum parts will bend and there is no getting them straight once bent. I had to put a new carrier on one once.

[sonicslam]

I'll keep this short and simple...RUN LIKE THE WIND FROM ANYTHING WITH LEE ON IT.

You will pay in the end for sure. If you can get one to load rounds, you WILL load at significantly slower speeds. Cash is hard right now, but stupid will still be stupid a year or even ten years from now. As for the primer system on any Lee progressive system...all the wannabe's think the primer system has issues. It does not. The issues of incorrect materiel selection, piss poor machine work and shoddy craftsmanship manifest themselves in the primer system. Think I am wrong? Go to loadmastervideos.com and see all the issues these guiys are having. Are you that mechanically inclined, with unlimited time and funds to re-engineer a piss poor product? Is tinkering with junk shit a hobby interest of yours? On that site it is. It is what they do rather than reload. You can build a better mouse trap (maybe) but I wanted a reloader, not a mouse trap. I scrapped all the Lee garbage and bought the LnL AP. I am at 7500 rounds of .40 S&W (claimed to be the most difficult straight walled pistol calibur to reload) and not a single flipped, smashed, sideways or missing primer. NOT 1. Without the casefeeder I can do about 450 rd/hr. Nope, not a speed demon, but with a casefeeder I could prolly double that easily. I check often for charge weights and OAL's. So I'll give a little speed to not have squib loads etc.

Ok, I'm off the soap box. Buy the Lee if you want. But you have been duly warned. Don't forget loadmastervideos.com. Check out the cogitations these guys go through to make a round. It's not only idiotic, it's INSANE (really...it is!!!!).

Best of luck.

[tunakilla]

I was able to load plenty ammo on mine in the 80's, the quality of the ammo is great, did it break down? yes it did, did I save a bunch of cash in ammo that i used to buy my first Dillon ? you bet i did.

[grasshopper_no_more]

Thanks for the input guys. Sonicslam, that was a hell of a rant. The price on a LnL is really good right now, and Im probably going to invest in that. The 500 free bullets helps too.

[LexTalionis]

I've been using a Lee 1000 this year, and I've got about 5k rounds through it. The things certainly take a little while to get familiar with. You have to know how to take them apart and diagnose where stuff went wrong. That being said, once they're tuned you can get them humming along pretty well. I'd say my real-time reloading rate (including replacing primers, brass, visually inspecting each case for powder, and doing random OAL and powder checks) is around 300 9mm / hour. And that's with me being very conservative and careful. Whenever a stoppage occurs, it usually only takes a few seconds to fix. The primer feeder isn't a problem if you watch it, and the free, full-functional case feeder is a lot more appealing than spending $200 on one for a LnL.

All in all, I'm glad I got the Lee. I know that it will be good for many more thousands of rounds. In a few years I might end up getting a better press, but the savings will have more than made up for it by then since there was no way I could have afforded more at the time.

[CocoBolo]

Thanks for the input guys. Sonicslam, that was a hell of a rant. The price on a LnL is really good right now, and Im probably going to invest in that. The 500 free bullets helps too.

I can't say anything good or bad about the Lee since I never owned one or loaded on one. I can tell you that I am about 60,000 rounds down on my LNL and it is a simple reliable machine and even without a case feeder it is easy to turn out a lot of ammo. I have broken two primer slides in that time and Hornady has replaced them with no questions asked. I also own a Dillon XL650 it just as good as the LNL and maybe a little faster but more complicated.

[Graham Smith]

I'll keep this short and simple...RUN LIKE THE WIND FROM ANYTHING WITH LEE ON IT.

<on soapbox>

I'm not going to try and say that Lee is the best there ever was, but that kind of broad tirade isn't really helpful.

How many Lee products have you owned? A single stage? Turret? Dies? Powder measure? Pro 1000? Loadmaster? Load-All? Molds and melters? Accessories?

The Lee progressives are not Dillon, or RCBS, or Hornady, but they can be useful; I've loaded several thousand rounds on a Lee Pro. And while I now have a Dillon 550, I still have the old Pro that I use for processing .40 S&W brass and an occasional small batch of 9mm. I have yet to find a simpler case feeder than is on that Lee Pro; and the Lee disk powder measures are also quite simple and can be quite accurate.

As for the single stage and turret presses, they work pretty well and are certainly a good budget alternative to others.

So, please, if you have issues, based on personal experience, with the Lee Pro or Loadmaster, and don't like them for that then fine. But don't trash the entire product line.

<off soapbox>

[Bob DuBois]

I use Lee Dies and really like them. Had a Lee 1000 and was very happy the day it left, never want another one.

[ControlTheGun]

I would consider Lee as hobby grade and Dillon or Hornady as professional grade.

If you are just playing around loading a couple thousand rounds a year then you are probably going to do fine with a Lee but I can tell you that I have two friends that bought Loadmasters because they thought it would save them money and now they own Dillon 650's. Both of them cannot believe the difference in how well the Dillon runs compared to the Lee.

[jaredr]

i loaded abount 15K rounds of straight wall pistol on a pro1000 (mixed 9mm & 45ACP) before upgrading to Dillon machines. My $.02 is that the machine was certainly functional and was good value for money, but as others have mentioned, it required significantly more "tinkering" and overall care and attention in order to keep it running. I would be concerned about full-length resizing .223 on a pro1000 as the frame is not nearly as rigid as any of the dillon machines (cannot comment on the LNL AP as i have not used that press). Does not mean it won't work (223 on a pro1000) but I can recall the frame flexing under load when I was resizing some S&B and prvi 9MM cases, and you'll require more effort than that to perform full length sizing on a bottleneck rifle.

It's admittedly a significant step up in cost, but you might want to look at the Dillon RL550B and see if you can rationalize (or othwerwise afford) the additional $300 or so that the 550 will run you ($159 for the pro1000 vs. $419 for the dillon + cost of dies (which are not included with the RL550). It's certainly more expensive, but (my opinion) is a more reliable and well-built press that requires a lot less attention to keep running (and much less tolerance for operating glitches).