Lee Pro 1000 and 30-30 winchester question

[blacksmithden]

Ok. So I bought the Lee Pro 1000 to make up cartridges for my pistols. It works pretty well after a few mods to make it a little smother.

So, I decided I want to load up some 30-30 cartridges from my little model 94.
Don't ya know it.....they don't list a shell carrier for it. WSS had 3 different ones in stock and I tried them all....no joy there.
I got home, and tried what I had, and wouldn't ya know it, the shell plate for my 44 mag fits pretty darned close, if not perfectly. Now, I haven't bought the dies yet, or any other components.

My question is, has anybody ever tried 30-30 winchester using this press, a 4 mag shell plate and a set of standard Lee dies?????? How did it work out for ya????

Thanks in advance.

 

[Griffoneur]

A progressive is not recommended for rifle calibers, which is why you don't see a shell plate for it.

Get yourself a single stage press for rifle cartridges.

 

[t-star]

there ARE progressives for rifles- ie the dillon 550b, and others-the loadmaster, just not the lee 1000 in 30-30- it does come in 223, however and works well- i've had one since 1990 and fed an ar 15 from it- back when we could use 30 rd mags- however, back to the question- it can't work there isn't a shell holder close enough-your rim diameter is .506 and your rim thickness is .063- the closest is a 45 colt but it's way up at .512 and your 44 is .514, both rim thickness a run .060-in other words your rim is too thick and your diameter is too small- it plain won't work- your rim won't fit in the hole due to the thickness and if it did , it would pull right out due to the diameter- there's nothing for the "walls" of the shellholder to grab
you could, however write to lee and ask them to make you a custom shell holder- they will make most anything on demand

 

[blacksmithden]

Well, I picked up a set of Lee collet dies and gave it a shot. It worked perfectly. Resized, decapped, and primed with no trouble at all (which is all I really wanted to do, and expected of it.) The autodisk, or whatever it's called would have needed to have double stacked disks to hold all the necessary powder so I loaded the powder, seated and crimped on my manual.
So, if anybody owns a pro-1000 and wants to get the first few steps out of the way fast when they're loading 30-30, get yourself a 44 mag shell plate.