Lee Auto Breech lock Pro

[kriach]

Anyone out there have one of the new Lee Auto Breech lock Pro Presses? If so how do you like it? Pro's and con's? Impressions from using it?
I have one and am finding that it is very sensitive to adjustments. Is anyone else who has one finding this?

Ken

 

[Meroh]

Anyone out there have one of the new Lee Auto Breech lock Pro Presses? If so how do you like it? Pro's and con's? Impressions from using it?
I have one and am finding that it is very sensitive to adjustments. Is anyone else who has one finding this?

Ken

These are fairly new. There are lots of reviews but nothing that attested to reliability and longevity. I almost bought one, but had the opportunity to purchase a good used Pro 1000 for a good price. It too is sensitive but was not too challenging to set up (way easier than the Pick and Place robots I work with at work LOL). The single biggest issue is the primer feed; I have found that smooth operation makes most of the issues go away; it is also difficult to load. If a little bit of powder ends up around the primer system, it will not feed either; so I keep the air hose close buy, and keep it clean.

I would suggest that you be patient; make small adjustments, concentrate on smooth operation and with a bit of time and experience, it will likely level out for you.

With my pro-1000, I will be changing over from 9 mm to .40 and .45 large primer, and possibly .223. I have shell plates, die plates, large shell feeder system and large primer feed system on order and expect them early next week.

Keep us informed; I may eventually switch to individual presses for each caliber, and may be interested in picking one in the future if they pan out.

 

[kriach]

Thanks for the advice Meroh. I have loaded about three hundred 9mm on the Auto Breech Lock Pro and it is working well. That said the case feeder and bullet feeder are very sensitive to set up and seem to require some tweaking to get them to perform well. If the bullet feeder is not adjusted properly it will tend to drop a lot of bullets during operation. The case feeder is sensitive to the height adjustments and also the clearance from the main press body. If it is not adjusted correctly the cases will drop onto the slide plate and then seem to jump ahead. A call to Lee technical support and they indicated that the slide seems to be "too slippery" and to lightly cross hatch the plastic with some 200 or finer grit sandpaper. Once I did that the problem with the cases jumping ahead is pretty much resolved. They must be using a very slippery plastic for the slide plate.
As you said smoothness is very important in getting the press running well. I am having a lot of fun learning and mastering the new press.