Lee Pro 1000

[Chopper]

I was thinking of adding a Lee Pro 1000 to my loading bench for handgun loads.
I looked around Calguns for reviews and/or opinions but found none. Is anybody
using this system? Opinions?
I already have an RCBS single stage. Wanted to add another dimension
to my loading set up.

[MrNiceGuy]

I got one.
I like it plus I like Lee Dies.
To be perfectly honest I think the auto-primer sux.
I had to make some custom tweaks to get it to feed right.
And if you forget to check the primer tray and misfeed a primer then you'll have gunpowder leaking all over the 2nd stage, forcing you to either blow it out with compress air and/or take it apart to clean the powder out because no primer will feed in the plastic rail if it's remotely dirty.
Another thing I had to tweak was the auto shell feeder (plastic tubes in first stage).
It took a few adjustments to get it to square with the metal disk (shell plate) that rotate the cartridge around from stage to stage.

So yah, it's cheap, it works, but you gotta fuss with it.
I got er all dialed in now after a bit of work but she works well for me.

If you reload alot you might wanna go the blue coolaid route (Dillon).

Or you can get a hand primer (bypass the auto primer in the 2nd stage), hand feed the brass into the first stage and you should be fine, in my experience anyway.

[Chopper]

thx

Thanks for all the info. I'm not the greatest tweaker so maybe I ought to
go blue.

[Blackpowder Burner]

I've been using the Lee 1000 for a few years and I'm satisfied with it. It does require a lot of adjusting and fooling around to get it working smoothly. When changing to another caliber, one must do some more minor adjusting to get it working smoothly. If you are patient and don't mind tweaking along with keeping an eye on the press to make sure it is working correctly, it can be good cheap choice for reloading. Good press for the price.

[ilbob]

I have one. Works pretty good as long as you keep the primer chute clean and full.

It did require some tweaking and adjusting to get it going but so did my Dillon 650.

If you use it for handguns you may wish for an extra station for a crimping die. A lot of people like to do the bullet seating and crimping in seperate steps.

[ccampbell]

I have one and use it for all my handgun loads. I never had any luck with the auto priming. Instead I run them through twice. I deprime and size, prime using the hand primer, and run through the lee 1000 a second time to powder and seat bullet. Works well.

[AEC1]

I have 2, one for .45 and one 9mm. I think they are great.

[mattman]

Good press but be forewarned the priming system sucks. Could never get mine to feed right.

[sgtbuck]

I have one and use it for all my handgun loads. I never had any luck with the auto priming. Instead I run them through twice. I deprime and size, prime using the hand primer, and run through the lee 1000 a second time to powder and seat bullet. Works well.

I have one I use for 223. I follow the same procedure as you. I like it but was never able to get the primer system to work right.

[crob241]

LEE press

I have a LoadMaster that I have been using for about 15 years to load several pistol and 223 rifle calibers, same as others, I hand prime the brass after depriming/sizing, not really because the autoprime doesn`t work but I get more consistent priming and I can do several hundred in a short time.

[Chopper]

I appreciate everybody's input. Speical thanks to JWC for taking the time
to lay out all that info. There is a very consistent opinion about the primer
feed! Thanks, all.

[ilbob]

I appreciate everybody's input. Speical thanks to JWC for taking the time
to lay out all that info. There is a very consistent opinion about the primer
feed! Thanks, all.

The primer feed is a problem but it is not insurmountable.

I have loaded tens of thousands of rounds on mine. If you keep the primer chute clean and full, it works almost all the time. You just have to keep an eye on it. Just like you learn to look at everything else as you reload, you do a visual inspection of the primer feed every cycle. Its real obvious if it is not going to work.

[Bill92869]

The Lee Pro 1000 works perfectly. I have read over and over the complaints about primer feeding. If you use the recommended primers and keep your press and work area clean and do not allow the primer feed to get low (it is a gravity feed system and needs the weight of several primers to function), you will not have problems. Lee gets a bad rap often because it is the press of first choice for those new to our sport. People "learn" on a Lee Press (read:make mistakes) then figure they need a Dillon or some other press. Of course by that point they have learned most or all of the lesson needed to run a reloading press.

I will go a step further and suggest that anyone new to reloading would be better served to start on a Lee than most of the others. The priming system is a lot less likely to have a sympathetic detonation (where one primer sets of the next and the next, etc.) as with the tube fed systems. It is also less likely to double charge a round as with some more expensive presses.

Loading ammunition is no less dangerous than handling dynamite or any other explosive. Avoiding accidents requires you to pay attention and exercise safety. That said, it always concerns me when someone thinks they can buy a reloading press that just requires nothing more from them but to pull a handle.

[ilbob]

The Lee Pro 1000 works perfectly. I have read over and over the complaints about primer feeding. If you use the recommended primers and keep your press and work area clean and do not allow the primer feed to get low (it is a gravity feed system and needs the weight of several primers to function), you will not have problems.

+1

Every now and then I will get a primer bridge across the top of the primer feed chute. A quick tap to the primer tray solves it every time.

I cannot emphasize enough that keeping the primer chute clean and full is critical to proper primer feeding.

[huesos]

If anyone thinks the blue koolaid version does not require any tweeking, they are kidding themselves.