Lee Pro 1000 for 223?

[jbl_1967]

All,

I am thinking of taking the plunge into the world of reloading my own ammo. I shoot mostly 223 and want to get a setup that is cheap, does a decent job, is easy to setup/use, takes up as little space as possible. At some point I may reload 45ACP and 9mm as well.

In 223 I will be reloading 55gr FMJ or 62gr SS109 which will be used for plinking. I am not worried about getting match grade precision.

I have spent a bit of time reading press reviews on some of the retailer's sites, watching YouTube videos, and reading some of the various posts here and on some other sites, and it seems like the Lee Pro 1000 kit for 223 is likely "good enough" especially given the price.

The reviews seem to point to it being decent, if you pay close attention to calibration and maintenance.

What are the pros and cons of the Lee Pro 1000? If you have one, would you recommend I get one?

Thanks in advance!

[XDRoX]

Lee progressives are finicky. They'll require more TLC than the other brands.

Just some of my opinions on loading 223.
It's a PITA to prep rifle brass for loading. You must trim and de-burr the cases. It takes a lot of time and the equipment gets expensive real fast. I have everything to load 223 and refuse to do it any longer.

If you buy in bulk, powder by the keg, primers by the 5k, 223 still costs over 20cents per round to load. You can easily buy it for 25cents a round. So basically you're paying almost factory costs and spending a lot of time to reload it.

All this is assuming plinking ammo, if you load for precision then it's a different story. But like you I only plink with my AR.

Plus, 223 on a progressive doesn't make as much sense as pistol rounds. You'll have to take the case out of the progressive and trim it and then put it back in. Kind of defeats the purpose of the progressive.

Now if you want to load 9mm or 45, I'm all for it. You can load much better than factory ammo for less than half the price. I load 380 for $5.60 per 50 rounds. That's a hell of a discount. Any no case prepping. The brass goes form the dirt to the tumbler and then to the press. I can load 500 rounds an hour on my progressive (Dillon).

I don't mean to sound negative, I just wanted to share my experience loading 223 before you spent a lot of money to find out that it may not be for you.

Hope this helps.

[fal_762x51]

I like my Lee classic turret, semi progressive with easy change to other calibers. It gets the job done for plinking. There are a lot of youtube videos on the Lee presses, watch before you purchase one.

[wtkaiser]

I think it's a mistake to start out with a progressive. You just have to attend too much to too many things at the same time to do the job right. Get a single-stage, or a turret and use it as a single-stage, to learn how things work. When you're comfy with all of that, months or years down the road, you can buy a new one or upgrade your existing one.

[Sky_DiveR]

Nothing wrong with starting out with a progressive first. You can start out using it like a single stage and work up to the progressive function once you've got the steps down.

I've even seen guys load .223 on a Pro 1000. Just do the prep work first. Careful with the primer feed tho.... alittle speck of dust or powder and the primers hang up. Then you got alot of loose powder to deal with cuz of no primer. That's also why some use a hand primer with the Pro 1000.

[BigBronco]

There is a guy in Arcadia I use for 223 case prep. He tumbles. sizes, swages primer pockets, resizes and trims to length. I get brass back ready to load at the cost of $30.00 per K. A bargain if you ask me. It would take me weeks to do all that. Currently he has 3500 of my brass being done.

Matt he can be contacted by Email at Sales@bulletheads.com

[socalocalypse]

I use a lee pro 1000 to load 9mm. I just wanted to chime in that like others say, it can be finicky with the primers.

Id never loaded before but its not rocket sciennce, its pullin a handle for gods sake, a progressive isn't too much for a new loader if you are a bit m3echanically inclined.

Honestly it took a couple thousand rounds to get proficient with it, I couldn't get over 50 rounds an hour I don't think.

Now I an crank out 300ish an hour.

I don't love the press, id take a hornady lockn load or dillon in a heart beat. For the money it produces the same round just with more hassle than the more expensive ones.

Thanks for the info on that fella doing .223 cases, good to know!

Sent from my SCH-R910 using Tapatalk

[flashrite]

I had a Lee Pro 1000 for 223, but returned it back. Build quality felt quite cheap. Like everybody else said, the primer feed is finnicky, and that is an understatement. That was the deal breaker for me since I constantly had upside down and missed primings due to the poor feed. At least get a single stage or a Lee Classic Turret.