Lee Pro 1000 & Crimping

smokingunns

smokingunns

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I don't have a Lee Pro 1000 yet however I've been doing some reading about here on CGN.

From what I've been reading the Pro 1000 has priming issues and it does not allow for a crimping die (which I believe is a requirement).

I am wondering if

(1) If the unit comes with a 3 hole plate and can not add the crimping die, am I able to hand prime and utilize the extra plate hole for a crimping die?

If this is possible, I shouldn't see a bad primer feed...

(2) If the dies are changable and I can customize the die sets?

If so, couldn't I use this progressive as a single stage (sort of)...this is if I get absolutely frustrated with the progressive mode and it becomes easier to do a step or two by hand.

Thanks for the input in advance.
 
If I were you I would buy a lee 4 hole turret press, or a Lee LoadMaster 4 hole and not have to tear apart a pro 1000. in order to use the pro after depriming and repriming, the end result, hole 1 powder& flare, 2nd hole bullet seating, that you would have to reach around the back side to feed???, 3rd hole crimp. I don't know if this would work, because I haven't heard of anyone doing that.
You can't take advantage of the bullet feed kit either.
I don't know what caliber you are reloading, that has a big influence on which reloader I chose.
 
If you use Lee dies they crimp the way they should in a Pro 1000. You don't need a special crimp die. Also be aware the Lee Pro1000 only loads pistol cartridges with the exception of .30carbine, .223 and 7.62x39. If you want load other rifle cartridgesyou need a different press. I use a Lee Pro1000 for .45acp and an RCBS single stage press for rifle and some pistol cartridges that I don't need a lot of. The Primer feed is only a problem if you have about 5 or less primers left in the chute and when you can see that they are that low it is time to refill the feed magazine.
 
The first die decaps and resizes, the second die primes on the down stroke and charges on the upstroke, the third die seats the bullet and crimps - how far you screw in the die sets the amount of crimp, how far you adjust the screw on top of the dies sets the seating depth - this should be described in the instructions that came with the dies, also available on the web if missing from your die set.

Found the same issue with the primers, need to have a couple in the feed tube to provide enough force the move the primer below the die. There is also a little play in how the feeder seats in the press, moving the feeder up a little helped with mine. I also found I needed to put a little bit of folded tin foil underneath the second station to have the primers seated a little deeper.

Once set up it goes pretty smoothly. Careful if issue with primer as may end up having dumped some powder in the case which may still be there when you try to prime and charge a second/third/fourth time... Also dont chew the primers.

You may find people on the board in your area willing to help you setup/reload your first batch.
 
lineofsight said:
The first die decaps and resizes, the second die primes on the down stroke and charges on the upstroke, the third die seats the bullet and crimps - how far you screw in the die sets the amount of crimp, how far you adjust the screw on top of the dies sets the seating depth - this should be described in the instructions that came with the dies, also available on the web if missing from your die set.
Click to expand...
This is exactly it.
From a setup Lee-1000 the operations go like this.

Begining. Handle up position. No cases in the carrier. Powder set, dies set, primer tray full.
  1. Handle Down. Case feed slider moves back and picks up the empty case.
  2. Handle Up. Case is fed into the plate carrier.
  3. Handle Down. Case is deprimed and sized in Die #1
  4. Handle Up. Case is indexed to next station and primer is seated.
  5. Handle Down. @ Die #2, Case is throated/expanded and powder charge is put into case.
  6. Handle Up. Case is indexed to final Position (Die #3), position bullet on case (for those w/o bullet feeders).
  7. Handle Down. Die #3, seats bullet and crimps case.
  8. Handle Up. Carrier indexes and loaded round is ejected off the carrier.

There are several videos on the lee website which show how to adjust the dies and even do setup :)
 
Thanks for the great responses.

I'll throw this out to the forum....Is there anyone from the Cambridge, ON area that has a Lee Pro 1000 that could lend a hand setting up my new reloader?

I guess I had the wrong perception of the crimping on the 1000 as it does have this functionality. I will be only loading .40SW pistol ammo for a while....

I do have one last question regarding priming...I am told that you will "feel" when the primer is properly set...can anyone describe what this "feel" is?
 
LOL...thanks for the health lesson Griffoneur.

In this reloading case, I do feel like I'm 15...I've muttled my way through it before, I'll muttle my way through it again. I wonder if I'll get as much satisfaction as the first time....nahhh.
 
smokingunns said:
I do have one last question regarding priming...I am told that you will "feel" when the primer is properly set...can anyone describe what this "feel" is?
Click to expand...

The difference with a pro-1000 (and most prgressive presses) is that primer seating is uniform di a depth and not a "Feel" compared to single stage. You can on a hand primer "feel" the looseness and depth of a primer pocket as you insert primers for the most "solid/secure" feel. On a progressive it seats primers to a uniform depth and unless the primer pocket is smallers than speck or your primers are off center, you won't feel a whole lot on the seating stroke. One of the reasons I actually hand prime alot of my own ammo. Sit in front of the TV for an hour or so and prime a few hundred rounds.
 
Primer/Powder Issue

Griffoneur said:
Much as many other things in life... you will "feel" it slide into the hole. :slap:
Click to expand...

Griffoneur, now I understand what you mean by "you FEEL it slide into the hole".

Now the issue I have is that the primer feeder seems to feed primers upside down, side ways, etc....I must have wasted 20 primers compared to the 60 I loaded. The 20 were either jammed in sideways, some halfway in and some upside down...I couldn't see how they were seated on the primer tool as the cases were in place. Anyone know how to fix this?

Oh yeah, I kept the primer count over 100+

The other issue I had was the powder measure....when the case goes up the powder through expander die, the disk does not move to enought to drop the powder into the case. I replaced this powder through die and put in just an expander die....I then handfilled and weighed each measure on a digital scale...then bulleted the cartidge to complete the round.

I'm currently using a progressive as a semi-progress. Any suggestions to help resolve the 2 issues above and make this Lee Pro a "progressive" press?
 
smokingunns said:
Griffoneur, now I understand what you mean by "you FEEL it slide into the hole".

Now the issue I have is that the primer feeder seems to feed primers upside down, side ways, etc....I must have wasted 20 primers compared to the 60 I loaded. The 20 were either jammed in sideways, some halfway in and some upside down...I couldn't see how they were seated on the primer tool as the cases were in place. Anyone know how to fix this?

Oh yeah, I kept the primer count over 100+

The other issue I had was the powder measure....when the case goes up the powder through expander die, the disk does not move to enought to drop the powder into the case. I replaced this powder through die and put in just an expander die....I then handfilled and weighed each measure on a digital scale...then bulleted the cartidge to complete the round.

I'm currently using a progressive as a semi-progress. Any suggestions to help resolve the 2 issues above and make this Lee Pro a "progressive" press?
Click to expand...
Not sure if I'm understanding you right, but here goes. I have a turret press with the auto disk and powder through expanding die. It seems you can put the disk on wrong.

Well, it's in the right place, but too far back(think I did it once) I'm not familiar with the progressive press, but an easy check is to use a deprimed brass, with the powder hopper off. When it goes up into the die, see where the auto disk hole is in relation to where it should drop through.

If the progressive is anything like the turret press, problem fixed. If not, I just wasted 30 seconds of your life.:D
 
Possibly too much slack in the chain that pulls the powder disk back. Solution, tighten chain a bead or two.

Primers: CCI slide better than Winchester. CCI primers are harder to fire, they need a harder hit from the firing pin. so if you have a weak piring pin spring, it may be an issue.

If primers are getting squashed, check your indexing screw adjustment, philips screw bottom left side. Your unprimed case must be inline with the primer pocket when you start your downstroke.
 
I had the primers getting squashed with mine some time ago, but it ended up being the issue that Griffoneur menitioned where it was out of index. Once I adjusted the carrier for this, the problem went away. It comes back from time to time and I have to readjust, but I bought the presses off somoene cheap and they are used enough that the notches to shake the primer tray are worn down quite a bit.
 
smokingunns said:
The other issue I had was the powder measure....when the case goes up the powder through expander die, the disk does not move to enought to drop the powder into the case.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with Griff. According to Lee (and it works well), You setup the press so that when you tension the "pull chain" You have the carrier plate elevated slightly so that when seating a primer on a down stroke, you actually engage the small spring on the chain.
Lee's website has a good video on that here..
http://www.leeprecision.com/html/HelpVideos/videos/Progressive%20chain%20attachment-1.wmv

Otherwise my question would be is if you have screwed in the flaring/thru-powder die in far enough to fully engage the powder measure.
 
Jarlath said:
I have to agree with Griff. According to Lee (and it works well), You setup the press so that when you tension the "pull chain" You have the carrier plate elevated slightly so that when seating a primer on a down stroke, you actually engage the small spring on the chain.
Lee's website has a good video on that here..
http://www.leeprecision.com/html/HelpVideos/videos/Progressive chain attachment-1.wmv

Otherwise my question would be is if you have screwed in the flaring/thru-powder die in far enough to fully engage the powder measure.
Click to expand...

"Otherwise my question would be is if you have screwed in the flaring/thru-powder die in far enough to fully engage the powder measure.[/QUOTE]
"
Acutually, that is what I was thinking...the casing is supposed to push the flaring tool up much higher to push the powder disk forward moving it from the hopper opening to the powder drop hole.

The disk (currently) only goes back and does not move the disc foward enough...when I manually push the whole powder measure unit up (which I believe the case is supposed to do), it will move the disk to drop the powder in the case.

I would thow this question out...if anyone has reloaded different calibres on the Pro 1000 (i.e. .44 to .40), did you need to change anything on the powder measure or flaring tool, etc?
 
I use a pro100 for my pistol rounds (.45 .455 Webley, .38spl, .357 ect) and I went thru all this as well. The primer feeding problem could also be that you have the wrong primer ramp/spring. Make sure you're not using the large ramp with small pistol primers. Other than that, I find giving the primer holder a tap every couple rounds keeps the flow going.
For the auto disk measure--I advise getting rid of the disks and chain and getting the micrometer instead. You can set any weight you want and you can use your powder thru expansion die. That whole chain setup was sketchy as far as I could see. But if you don't want to get the micrometer you should be able to tighten the chain so you can use the disks.
I don't crimp with the bullet seater die, I just seat the bullet, then when I'm done loading I have my factory crimp dies in a turret on my Lee turret press, I just give 'em a run thru on that for crimping.
Hope this helps.
 
lister said:
I use a pro100 for my pistol rounds (.45 .455 Webley, .38spl, .357 ect) and I went thru all this as well. The primer feeding problem could also be that you have the wrong primer ramp/spring. Make sure you're not using the large ramp with small pistol primers. Other than that, I find giving the primer holder a tap every couple rounds keeps the flow going.
For the auto disk measure--I advise getting rid of the disks and chain and getting the micrometer instead. You can set any weight you want and you can use your powder thru expansion die. That whole chain setup was sketchy as far as I could see. But if you don't want to get the micrometer you should be able to tighten the chain so you can use the disks.
I don't crimp with the bullet seater die, I just seat the bullet, then when I'm done loading I have my factory crimp dies in a turret on my Lee turret press, I just give 'em a run thru on that for crimping.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice...I'm going to try your suggestions.

Also, with your factory crimp suggestion, will this provide a better crimp than my RCBS bullet setter/crimper? I had tried my first reloads a couple of days ago...the first 4 were very good (I really liked them) however the 5th one jammed in my barrel and I was not able to get it out. I had to take it to a gunsmith to get it out....I heard a couple padded hits (boom, boom) and he came out with the bullet. You can see the stress marks on the casing right near the bullet and also near the bottom of the case (wish I knew how to upload pictures and I could show you).

Lastly, speaking of pictures, anyone out there that has a picture of what a good powder measure set up looks like (especially the disk)? The Lee website PDF instructions are all black and I can't see a dam thing:mad:
 
I'll soon start reloading .223 in my pro1000. for the factory crimp die, i'm thinking of purchasing a separate turret (or single die) press.

I also want to get a hand-priming tool. Sometimes, i get so frustrated with this priming issues on my pro1000. Must keep your primer chute very clean (get rid of any powder flakes or oil). the indexing is important, as griffoneur mentionned.
 
I could be getting them mixed up, but the factory crimp is a press crimp (if you really crank it you can see the press marks on the case neck) and the bullet seater/crimper is a roll crimp. There's great debate over which is better I think. I like the factory crimp dies, have one for all calibers.
If you had a bullet stuck in your barrel I doubt it was the crimp that caused it unless you're really leaninig on it, which isn't a good idea. Probably you had a low powder charge.
I don't have a digital camera or I'd take a pic of my setup, but it sounds like I have the same as you. The Lee auto-disk measure set on the powder thru expansion die, except I have the micrometer instead of the disk/chain.
Like I said, I did have primer feeding issues, but got them straightened out. Make sure you have the right ramp, index properly, tap the ramp every couple rounds to keep pressure from above on the primers in the ramp, and blow into the primer post area now and then to clean out any scrap.
Good luck!:)
 
lister said:
I could be getting them mixed up, but the factory crimp is a press crimp (if you really crank it you can see the press marks on the case neck) and the bullet seater/crimper is a roll crimp. There's great debate over which is better I think. I like the factory crimp dies, have one for all calibers.
If you had a bullet stuck in your barrel I doubt it was the crimp that caused it unless you're really leaninig on it, which isn't a good idea. Probably you had a low powder charge.
I don't have a digital camera or I'd take a pic of my setup, but it sounds like I have the same as you. The Lee auto-disk measure set on the powder thru expansion die, except I have the micrometer instead of the disk/chain.
Like I said, I did have primer feeding issues, but got them straightened out. Make sure you have the right ramp, index properly, tap the ramp every couple rounds to keep pressure from above on the primers in the ramp, and blow into the primer post area now and then to clean out any scrap.
Good luck!:)
Click to expand...

Actually, the bullet wasn't stuck...it was the entire casing including the bullet (I should have taken a picture of it:()
 
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