What's the bloody point of progressive presses?

Wouldn't it be great if progressive presses always worked like they do in the promotional videos? Laugh2

But all of them need a bit of tinkering, even the most expensive ones.

For sure the initial learning curve is the most challenging. I've never used a LEE progressive but I can imagine it is more challenging than many other ones, just because it's LEE and many of their products are for sure entry level. However I've seen some YouTube videos of guys cranking out ammo pretty efficiently on LEE presses. Youtube is often a great source of information to fix known problems, as well as some minor or major tweaks to different systems that can really improve things.

Just some general information that may help (liek I say I've neve rused LEE)

]
* bullets wouldn't feed, or a dozen would spill out at once
Click to expand...

Some bullet feeders won't work well with plated or coated bullets (like Campro) because of slight inconsistencies in the plating thickness. I found this out with my Hornady LNL AP press when bullets either wouldn't come feed or a whole bunch would drop out. Mr Bullet Feeder will run plated, coated or jacketed fine but is also $$$.

* Cases wouldn't align with the dies, and then would get wrecked on the down press
Click to expand...

This is almost always the shellplate not indexing correctly and not in perfect alignment. This is usually a reasonably easy fix on most presses but yiou may have to make more adjustments from time to time.

* primers wouldn't seat properly
Click to expand...

The priming system can be a weak point on lots of progressives. They all seem to need an adjustment sometimes.

I seem to recall seeing some Youtube stuff about the LEE primer system, maybe check it out.


So I ask, if you're reloading on a progressive press... Why?
Click to expand...

As I'm sure you have figured out by now, not all systems are equal. :)

My "slowest" progressive is a Dillon Square Deal and it will make 1000 rounds in about 3 hours, and that is manually inserting a case and bullet and visually checking the powder drop. My other presses have case feeders, bullet feeders, powder checkers and other gizmos and they will crank out ammo at a considerably quicker pace. :dancingbanana:

Watch a few tutorials and keep at it. It should make sense soon. :)
 
Last edited:
Ok, I'm gonna give this another shot tomorrow. But if it's still eating my components, I'm leaning towards getting a different press entirely. Might sell at a loss on the EE.
 
Astute Observer said:
Ok, I'm gonna give this another shot tomorrow. But if it's still eating my components, I'm leaning towards getting a different press entirely. Might sell at a loss on the EE.
Click to expand...

I would make sure the shellplate is indexing properly first. And then maybe forget about the bullet feeder for now. Just put a bullet on top by hand. One less thing to worry about and frustrate you while you are learning the process.

Start with one single case and make sure everything is lined up for it. Go slow and if you feel any extra resistance when resizing or seating a bullet you know something is wrong. Once you do a few rounds one at a time then turn on the case feeder and just take your time.
 
laker415 said:
LEE is your problem. Should have got a Dillon. 100 rounds takes around 10 minutes on my 550. LEE is great for a low cost option to tinker on more than doing actual loading.
Click to expand...
Sorry but I have two Loadmasters, a Breech Lock Pro and a Classic Turret and all of them run fine. Maybe I've gotten used to the peculiarities of each and I recognize most of the glitches when they occur but I have found that if you keep them clean, properly lubed and replace the consumable parts when they start to malfunction they will produce lots of good quality ammo in a short period of time. Even the Classic Turret will turn out a good 200 rounds per hour when I get in the rythm. All progressives (including Dillons) develop hiccups. It's inherent in owning a progressive press and recognizing the problems and how to fix them is part of the game.
 
Astute Observer said:
Ok, I'm gonna give this another shot tomorrow. But if it's still eating my components, I'm leaning towards getting a different press entirely. Might sell at a loss on the EE.
Click to expand...

How about telling us which model you have. Then we can help you better.

Because Turret and Progressive are 2 different models.

I can only assume you got the new Breech Lock Pro, as I don't think the Pro 1000 came in 4 hole.
 
Last edited:
I have a lee pro 1000 progressive and a lee 4 hole turret press. They aren't high end, but that's why they're cheaper. I've been using lee presses for about 25 years so I've gotten used to running them.
 
sharpsway said:
I also suspect the Lee press is the issue. The Lee single stage I have has done tens of thousands rounds for myself, but after some reading I stayed away from their turret and progressive presses when I wanted to start loading 9mm.

I have a Dillon Square Deal B, which was the next affordable option when on sale at X Reload. Even the first thousand rounds through that were a learning curve, with some primers not seated fully or not seated at all, or missing a powder charge. Nothing unsafe, just annoying to find at the range. Even now after ten thousand rounds of 9mm I still don't use specific brands of cases, and have to diagnose and remedy some weird things it does every once in a while. But when I am going I can get about 300-400 rounds done and hour, and that's without a case or bullet feeder.
Click to expand...

9mm can be a problem if you're loading brass swept off the range floor, some of it fired in larger and sloppier chambers and having a bit of a base bulge as a result. Depending how finicky your firearm is it may give you a jam now and again. But if you have a generous chamber yourself then it's fine. Or use Black Sheep processed brass if it's in stock.

With the SDB, you should feel a primer being seated at the top of the upstroke. Push the loading handle forward to ensure it goes all the way in. And I always look into the round at the back-left station and ensure I see a powder charge in it just ahead of placing a bullet there. Positioning an overhead light or a desk lamp to shine from just the right angle can be a trick. And then when I'm done the ammo goes into a 100-hole case and I run a finger across the backs of each round to ensure I don't feel any primers sitting up. Also that helps make sure I'm bringing enough ammo to the range because it's not in some random uncounted sack.
 
I loaded 1000s on a Breech Lock Pro, a Pro 1000 and an 3 and 4 hole Turret.

The Breech lock pro was by far the worst press I had. Plastic plastic and timing were my biggest issues. Now it had a simpler primer system. Found on the turret press. I used the safety prime while I had it, that allowed me not to have to load the cup. But I found with the cup style, sometimes you had to rotate the case for it to seat. Even like that when I hand prime.

But the plastic guide for the cases, once you have a case jammed and it mangles the plastic guide, the cases wouldn't feed right into the shell plate, and sometimes fall over. The arm that sweeps the loaded round after the 4th stage would pop up often. It required adjusting of the timing more, as it has finer teeth on the gear. Plastic parts were cheap, but have to pay double for shipping.
 
Astute Observer said:
So I spent money on a four die turret / progressive press. Bought the case feeder, powder dispenser, bullet feeder, priming dispenser... The while shebang.

After I got it all set up and running, it still took me three hours and twenty minutes to make 100 rounds of 9mm. In the process I ruined 23 cases, either lost or destroyed 17 bullets, and lost about a dozen primers.

* bullets wouldn't feed, or a dozen would spill out at once

* Cases wouldn't align with the dies, and then would get wrecked on the down press

* primers wouldn't seat properly

I had to stop and troubleshoot something every 6 or 8 rounds. I could have done this just as quick with a single stage press.

I've been reloading on a single stage press for precision rifle for years. I know what I'm doing. But this thing didn't speed my process up whatsoever, in fact it's probably slower, and DEFINITELY wastes more components.

So I ask, if you're reloading on a progressive press... Why?
Click to expand...

I wonder why they have sold tens of thousands of progressive presses if they don't work? maybe your competency hasn't peaked yet?

We can sell a Ferrari to a 14 year old but don't expect him to use it to it's full potential first try at the track.

Mechanical aptitude is acquired with time and practise. Some people will never have it and some are born with it, but most of us are somewhere in the middle.

Go slow, get a feel for what is happening. It will get better.
 
Last edited:
ted_dent said:
Sorry but I have two Loadmasters, a Breech Lock Pro and a Classic Turret and all of them run fine. Maybe I've gotten used to the peculiarities of each and I recognize most of the glitches when they occur but I have found that if you keep them clean, properly lubed and replace the consumable parts when they start to malfunction they will produce lots of good quality ammo in a short period of time. Even the Classic Turret will turn out a good 200 rounds per hour when I get in the rythm. All progressives (including Dillons) develop hiccups. It's inherent in owning a progressive press and recognizing the problems and how to fix them is part of the game.
Click to expand...

That's exactly it. Good ammo can be produced on Lee progressives, you just have to be familiar enough with them to recognize when they're doing goofy sh!t, and know what to do about it before it becomes a problem.

Something like a Dillon will just simply do less goofy sh!t, and the repercussions of said goofy sh!t will be less significant. No matter how good you get at dealing with problems, it's ALWAYS more efficient if less of those problems happen in the first place.


...I just described why my steel challenge times aren't what they should be. I miss fast, but I'm faster when I don't miss so damn much. lol
 
Last edited:
Astute Observer said:
Lee
I guess that's the problem?
Click to expand...

YES!!! Absolutely junk.

Don't listen to BS about "you need to be mechanically inclined" or just go to YouTube and watch 10 videos on how to tweak it so it will work at all.

If I sold you a gun (or a car, or a stove or TV...) and said that you need to watch youtube or you don't have the inclination to make it work; you'd return it immediately.
I'll never understand why it's acceptable for reloading presses.

You got what you paid for; cheap junk. Sorry. Look for a Dillon next time, you'll save yourself this frustration.
 
Freedom Ventures said:
YES!!! Absolutely junk.

Don't listen to BS about "you need to be mechanically inclined" or just go to YouTube and watch 10 videos on how to tweak it so it will work at all.

If I sold you a gun (or a car, or a stove or TV...) and said that you need to watch youtube or you don't have the inclination to make it work; you'd return it immediately.
I'll never understand why it's acceptable for reloading presses.

You got what you paid for; cheap junk. Sorry. Look for a Dillon next time, you'll save yourself this frustration.
Click to expand...

Who pissed in your Cornflakes this morning?
 
yomomma said:
Who pissed in your Cornflakes this morning?
Click to expand...

Some folks get triggered by Lee. I'm guessing they need Lee products to not work to justify all the big coin they dropped on their Gucci press.
Lee scales are weak sauce... other than that, I find Lee stuff OK, I prefer their die sets...except the collet one's, they blow Goats
 
Last edited:
There was a bit of a learning curve when I started to use my SDB. There are techniques to produce the best results.
My friend, who does his loading at my place, prefers a single stage press to the SDB.
 
I reload on a turret. My old single stage is slaved to depriming. It works best one or two stages at a time. Priming is a pain, running it renecked progressive. I am entirely to anal to not measure powder to the kernel. Still much faster.than single stage, but really, to me the process itself is a hobby.
 
Last edited:
Just how long and how many cycles did it take to get it "up and running"? A reloading press is a fairly complex mechanical device, it takes some time to get all of the various stations set up to run smoothly. Instant gratification is not gonna happen. It takes some practise to get each station fine tuned to work well, especially bullet feeders.
How clean were your cases? Did you clean and swage the primer pockets? Were the failures at each station the same or were there multiple failure modes? At the first failure it's best to diagnose that problem before moving on (this from personal experience).
I have 2 Dillon machines (an automated 1050 and a manual 650) and even with all the sensors and adjustments on the 1050, things can, and do go wrong. Expecting to buy a machine and throw a bunch of components at it and make 100% good rounds is unfair.

Reloaders are not toasters.
 
giphy.gif
 
Last edited:
I used a Hornady projector progressive that I took on trade for a 22 gun.
I used it for 45, 38sp and 357m , It could load 1000 rds /hr, but never worked that fast.
you had to hand load the bullet, but that gave you a chance to watch the powder drop.
That went south on me once, I use carbide dies always, don't think I ever buggered a case.
A P.S. Had some 45 acp cheap thin case stuff yrs ago and that stuff gave me trouble, think it was east block stuff.
Never used a Dillion, but lots of good reports.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom