What's the bloody point of progressive presses?

tokguy said:
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
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I love my single stage Lee Classic Cast press. It's a beast. And I use quite a few Lee dies for certain calibers; never had a problem with them. But when I wanted a progressive press I went with a Hornady Lock n Load. A work friend got a Lee progressive press and I was appalled at how chintzy it is compared to the Hornady press. He doesn't mind the Lee because he leaves it set up and dialed in for one caliber. He ended up with two of them so far. I'm sure a Dillon is even better than the Hornady but I haven't ever seen one in person.

I've loaded 9mm, 223, and 308 so far on my Lock n Load. With 3D printed case and bullet feeders that were quite easy to get set up. Everything seems to work well on the Hornady with minimal fuss. Just keep the primer feed system clean of any brass slivers and it cranks out ammo all day. Just my 2 cents worth; as people have stated, the Lee can work, too! I just prefer big cast iron presses.
 
Astute Observer said:
This is what I'm referring to - it's an add-on.

https://leeprecision.com/reloading-...rogressive-press-accessories/bullet-feed-kit/


Yeah, by tray I mean the shellplate. Sorry.

By feedarm, I mean this thing on the bullet feeder:

Z4AnaqU.jpg


When the entire batch of bullets in the feed tube fall out, they're not coming out the arm but rather the base of the tube, they come out in rapid succession spilling everywhere.



Ok, that's cool. My issue is the red plastic base on which the case base slides along, has a dent in it from the first time it didn't feed all the way. I didn't notice, pulled the arm, and apparently pushed the case down before it was seated in all the way and put a depression into the plastic - now the base is too low for the rim to enter the shellplate.

Anyways, I realize that the issue isn't progressive presses - it's Lee. In my opinion it's cheap junk and not worth buying. I'm glad you've had luck with it but my experience has been terrible.
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OK, your pictures help explain what you are talking about. Just out of curiousity did you make sure that the bullet feeder you bought matched the correct length of 9mm bullet you are using? There are 3 different length 9mm feeders (.46", .60" and .75") and if you bought a longer feeder and tried to use it with shorter than the minimum length bullets I can understand how they could jam or have several drop out at the same time.

I don't have the bullet feeder on my Breech Lock Pro but I did try it several years ago on one of my Loadmasters and it was undependable to say the least. To be honest, if you have the case feeder installed all you have to do in addition to pulling the handle is manually place a bullet on the primed/charged case so there is very little time to be saved with the bullet feeder anyway.

As for the plastic case feed ramp I am guessing that you could fill the dent with epoxy, sand it smooth and the cases would feed as they should. The carrier is also pretty cheap if you have to replace it.

Since it sounds like you are fairly new to the game a bit of advice with progressives is don't go all Schwarzenegger when pulling on the handle. A slow steady pull is best and if you feel any resistance STOP PULLING because if things are going as they should you will not get any significant resistance.

if you give up on it let me know. I might be interested in picking up another one.
 
ted_dent said:
Just out of curiousity did you make sure that the bullet feeder you bought matched the correct length of 9mm bullet you are using?
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Yeah, I have one for the .60-.75 and another for the one size lower. I'm using X Metal coated bullets, so they might be too slippery...

ted_dent said:
if you have the case feeder installed all you have to do in addition to pulling the handle is manually place a bullet on the primed/charged case so there is very little time to be saved with the bullet feeder anyway.
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I might go that route if I decide to keep this thing

ted_dent said:
As for the plastic case feed ramp I am guessing that you could fill the dent with epoxy, sand it smooth and the cases would feed as they should.
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Very good idea, I like that.

ted_dent said:
Since it sounds like you are fairly new to the game a bit of advice with progressives is don't go all Schwarzenegger when pulling on the handle. A slow steady pull is best and if you feel any resistance STOP PULLING because if things are going as they should you will not get any significant resistance.

if you give up on it let me know. I might be interested in picking up another one.
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For sure, you'll be the first one I contact. I might look into a Dillon in which case this Lee would be surplus to my needs.
 
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Astute Observer said:
Yeah, I have one for the .60-.75 and another for the one size lower. I'm using Western Metal coated bullets, so they might be too slippery...
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I haven't used my bullet feeder in years but I seem to recall that the bullet feeder tubes also vary in diameter depending on the bullet calibre. Mine are actually a two tube asssembly. You use the large diameter tube by itself for larger bullets like 44-45 but if loading smaller diameter bullets like 9mm-38 you put the smaller tube inside the bigger one so the bullets sit straight in the tube. If you were using a 45 calibre bullet feeder tube alone with 9mmm bullets I could see how they might tip and jam or several drop out at one time because the bullets would not sit straight in the tube. Otherwise I am rather mystified by this.

Typically the 'fingers' grab a bullet and pull it towards the seating die while the remaining bullets drop down but the weight of the overlying bullets should hold the botton bullet in place. Is there any way to adjust the space between the platform the bullet sits on and the bottom of the dispensing tube assembly? There should be only enough space so that the tip of the bullet just clears the dispensing tube assembly when the fingers grab it the same way empty cases in the case feeder just clear the case feeder tubes.
 
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OkayShooter said:
But I also don't use my Progressive press to prime, or deprime. I use my Single Stage/Turret to deprime, and I prime using a Hand primer. Keeps the Pro 1000 clean and gives me no issues.
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Although I have no issues with priming on-press I can see why guys don't want to do it. However, running only a depriming operation through a progressive in the bees knees, I've done it for many cases that I don't actually reload for to sell (guys like have already deprimed cases)... just load up your case feeder and go nuts.
 
I learned many years ago on a shotshell press, about the foibles of a progressive. They are a mechanical device, things have to be set just so, they have to be operated just so, and you do need some patience to own one. They get clogged with dust and dirt, things wear out on them, and to an extent, you need a spare parts stash for them. Your patience level is the defining factor, if you don't have the patience, don't bother with one.
 
I run an RCBS PiggyBack II Conversion for 9mm only since 1993, it is a 5 station auto-index progressive press. I 3D printed a bullet feeder for it as well. I can reload 100 rounds in 6.5 minutes...

That includes sizing/de-priming, beveling/priming, powder drop, bullet drop, seat/crimp...

I don't like Lee products, they are very good until they are no good...
 
The Lee progressives work but they're harder to set up and can be temperamental. A Dillon progressive press is a better press, as you'd expect from the price difference.
 
209jones said:
I learned many years ago on a shotshell press, about the foibles of a progressive. They are a mechanical device, things have to be set just so, they have to be operated just so, and you do need some patience to own one. They get clogged with dust and dirt, things wear out on them, and to an extent, you need a spare parts stash for them. Your patience level is the defining factor, if you don't have the patience, don't bother with one.
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Every newbie that sets up a progressive shot shell press should be instructed to set it up in an old bathtub...inevitable shot spillage is a lot easier to clean up....just drains out the hole into a catch pan.
 
mactroneng said:
Although I have no issues with priming on-press I can see why guys don't want to do it. However, running only a depriming operation through a progressive in the bees knees, I've done it for many cases that I don't actually reload for to sell (guys like have already deprimed cases)... just load up your case feeder and go nuts.
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I just don't prime on the press as I got a turret and single loading primers can get tiring, because I sold my safety prime, and the Pro 1000 primer system is hit or miss.. It is easier with a hand primer.

And I don't deprime on the Pro 1000, as I gotta remove all the other dies. Then I have to worry about setting it up again, to use it..
 
OkayShooter said:
I just don't prime on the press as I got a turret and single loading primers can get tiring, because I sold my safety prime, and the Pro 1000 primer system is hit or miss.. It is easier with a hand primer.

And I don't deprime on the Pro 1000, as I gotta remove all the other dies. Then I have to worry about setting it up again, to use it..
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Ah, that makes sense. I have multiple turret heads and I have one that just has a universal depriming die in it, swapping out turret heads take like 15 seconds for me.
 
mactroneng said:
Ah, that makes sense. I have multiple turret heads and I have one that just has a universal depriming die in it, swapping out turret heads take like 15 seconds for me.
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Same, I have a die plate with a bunch of random dies.. Since my Pro 1000 is just setup for high volume 9mm. But Lee value turret is my main press I use for everything else, as I don't reload high volume for anything but 9mm. I like it better than a single stage, for the quick changing die plates. Also you can remove the indexing rod, and just turn to goto the next stage and not worry about swapping dies. AND I modded it with a thumb screw, that locks the die plate, so there is zero play, esp for using my collet bullet puller. But even when I was using the turret press to load 9mm, I could push out 150rds plus an hour.

But I have the Lee quick change base mounted on the bench.. So I just remove 3 nuts and I swap over the presses.

But I'm retired so I don't mind the extra time, to hand prime things.
 
reading this thread and chuckling as my 1050 processes brass at 3500rph for me as I load at 3000rph on the Revolution and the Rollsizer is doing 6000 case an hour for me.
so yeah.
 
Slavex said:
reading this thread and chuckling as my 1050 processes brass at 3500rph for me as I load at 3000rph on the Revolution and the Rollsizer is doing 6000 case an hour for me.
so yeah.
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Maybe invite op over for an hour every year or so and load his ammo for him.
 
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