Lee Progressive 1000

[Diabolus]

Looking for a cost-effective reloading solution. Any opinions on this re-loader would be appreciated!

Thanks

[AEC1]

Both of mine have served me well for years!!!

[gnauenburg]

I just sold one with three seperate carriers and shellplates for all my loaded calibers. I know that a lot of people will bad mouth it but it is a very simple and effective loader. It hurt me to have to let it go but times are tough. I kept my LoadMaster and my old RCBS Piggyback II presses. If you do decide to go with the 1000 and you like to load several calibers then invest in the extra carriers and die plates as time and funds allow. Changing calibers from large to small primer is not recommended on this press without the carrier with the appropriate primer size. You will become very frustrated with the process since there are a lot of parts to keep together when disassembling the carrier.

Another tip would be to drill a hole in your bench top to allow for the spent primers to be discarded or your press will fill up from the bottom and bind up because nobody considered this feature when designing this press. To me it really was the only flaw that I could find. It is very simple and if you pay attention to the various videos online and the Lee Precision website and You Tube you will find that you can crank out thousands of rounds and not have many issues at all. Feel free to PM me if you want more direct info on this or the LoadMaster press.

Most will tell you to buy a Dillon. I can't give you an opinion on their presses as they are too pricey for me. but I can tell you about what I have used. Happy loading.

George

[XDRoX]

Buy a Dillon

After reading thousands of posts in reloading forums, one thing I have learned is not to buy a Lee 1000. Just too many problems.

Of course you will find people that use and like them, but they are the minority. The majority of people that own one have trouble with them.

If you want an inexpensive good press, check out the Lee Classic Turret.

[XDRoX]

Which Dillon press do you recommend?

I like the 550b the best. If you do decide to get a Dillon you will probably choose between the 550b and the 650.

The 650 has auto indexing and therefore is a little faster then the 550b. It also has an additional stage and does a few more things than the 550b. But IMO the 550b is more press than most people need.

The 550b is also less expensive to buy conversion kits for.

To me, simplicity is golden. The 550b is one of the simplest, best presses on the market.

I prefer the 550b if I could only have one, but others love their 650's as well. And the cost difference isn't that much.

Read this, it will help you decide on which would be better for you:

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillon.html#which

Also a great place to buy a press from.

Hope this helps.

[Cowboy T]

Buy a Dillon

After reading thousands of posts in reloading forums, one thing I have learned is not to buy a Lee 1000. Just too many problems.

And one thing I've learned is to take what the Dillon fanbois say with a grain of salt. ;-)

I happen to have two Lee Pro 1000's, one for .38/357 and another for .45 Long Colt. Both my presses work very well for me and produce very fine ammo...and they do it in large quantities, quickly. My .38 Spl press has over 15,000 rounds on its clock, and the .45 Colt press has over 5,000. And that's just this year.

The Pro 1000 is a fine press and an excellent value. It certainly gets the job done for me, and its sub-$200 price tag (with shipping) allowed me to get into progressive reloading at a reasonable price.

Here is a video series of yours truly doing just that, with some .38 Special, on this press.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj7JwO28Wzo

BTW, you only need to get the second shell plate holder assembly if you're changing primer sizes. If you're going from, say, .38 Spl to 5.56 NATO (both small primers), then just swap the shell plate. But if you're going from, say, .38 Spl to .45 ACP (small to large size primers), then the shell plate holder assembly for the other primer size is a very good idea to have.

[C.W.M.V.]

Still working some set up kinks out of mine (all having to do with the bullet feeder setup), but it sure is nice to be able to make 100 rounds in like 5 minutes. Hardest part about this press is keeping the components filled as they run out fast!

[Table Rock Arms]

I have two Lee pro 1000's, and If you really are on a tight budget, they can serve you well. They can be a little finicky but if you take care of them they will take care of you. If your just getting into reloading and you don't want to fork out a bunch of cash to get started, I would recommend a single stage press. They are very cheap and it is a good idea to get your feet wet and get a good understanding of how reloading works before stepping up to a progressive press (I'll probably get flamed for saying that, but its true). Then if your into it you would be much better served to save up more money (a lot more) and buy something like the Dillon 650.

[humgunner]

It's a great press. I've loaded thousands with mine and have never had a problem.

After reading thousands of posts in reloading forums, one thing I have learned is people who complain about them aren't good at working with their hands. If you can change the oil in your car you can work a press.

[XDRoX]

And one thing I've learned is to take what the Dillon fanbois say with a grain of salt. ;-)

Low blow

I do admit to being a Dillon fanboy, but in my defense I have owned presses of all colors. Dillon does cost the most, but it is the best.

I currently load on Lyman, RCBS and Dillon.

BTW, I did suggest the Lee Classic Turret to the OP. It's s great press for low cost with none of the problems of the 1000.

I am a handy guy, and I'm sure I could fix any problem that comes about on a 1000, but my argument is why would one want to fiddle with a machine to get it to work when so many other better options are out there.

My advice is for the OP to go over to Brian Enos' forum or even glocktalk's reloading forum. Read the countless posts on people trying to get 1000's to work properly.

BTW, I'm also in the minority of people (like the post above) who believe that people are better off starting on a single stage. A single stage will teach people skills that take years to develop on a progressive.

Any brand single stage (cast) = great press
Lee Classic Turret = great press
LNL or Dillon Progressive = great press

Take your pick of these and you'll have a press for life. One of these presses will fit into anyone's budget and needs.

[Cowboy T]

Looks like we agree on several points--single-stage for beginners being a good thing, the Lee Classic Turret Press's excellence, and to get first-hand opinions from as many people as the OP can.

I would also add the cast aluminum Lee Reloader Press to the list of good single-stage presses. The thing is $28 at MidwayUSA and is much stronger than you'd think. I use mine now for boolit-sizing duty, and I size a lot of boolits. It'll also get the OP into reloading, on a good press, without breaking the bank.

In addition to the resources you've suggested, the OP might also have a look at a couple of video series' that I made regarding the Pro 1000. They're on my Web site and on the YouTube channel "sfliberal". The more info he can get about progressive presses generally, the better.

[at_liberty]

Looking for a cost-effective reloading solution. Any opinions on this re-loader would be appreciated!

Thanks

Since the press only has three stations, you have to either be from the school that says an FCD isn't needed, at least for the caliber run on the machine, or you have to do one operation off the press, either the first or the last.

You can do a single stage FCD operation as you gauge and box the pile produced by the 1000. Alternatively, you can feed the machine cases that are already sized and primed. The first station would be the powder drop and case mouth flaring, using a spring loaded powder disk return.

Priming would not be needed.

The second station would be bullet feeding and seating, and the third would be the FCD.

You basically would have a case feeding and bullet feeding operation that would gobble up components and spit out cartridges at a great rate. This type of setup can make sense on something like .40 SW with used cases, on which there is a lot of case prep in any event, often to include sizing. Add the priming, and you have it.

The Loadmaster is often chosen simply because it has more stations. It has 5, but oddly only four are of much use because of the way specific stations are predetermined for priming and powder drop. Then you have to split operations to keep the turret balanced with that fifth position. There is a whole culture built around how to deal with this peculiar design.

[Malthusian]

Dillon

If its good enough for Bill Wilson it's good enough for me

I have the XL650

It is without a doubt more press then I need, however
I do not have all day to load a few hundred rounds like I did when I was younger

With my XL650, It takes about an hour. More free time to myself, more time to shoot
The 500 is equally impressive and more people prefer the 550

Yes it is more expensive. But the speed, ease of use and time saved puts the money back in my pocket

[Malthusian]

Still working some set up kinks out of mine (all having to do with the bullet feeder setup), but it sure is nice to be able to make 100 rounds in like 5 minutes. Hardest part about this press is keeping the components filled as they run out fast!

1200 rounds per hour!

Pretty impressive

Better sell all my commercial equipment and switch over to Lee

[C.W.M.V.]

1200 rounds per hour!

Pretty impressive

Better sell all my commercial equipment and switch over to Lee

Sorry, I thought the intended exaggeration was obvious, I guess I should have used one of the smilies?
When I clocked it and all was running smooth I was getting one round complete in 5 seconds.
Im mathematically challenged but at that rate wouldn't that be around 700/hour?