Lee Pro 1000 in 45 ACP

MudChucker

MudChucker

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Niverville, Manitoba, CA
I picked up a Lee... I decided that they cant be bad and was sucked in by the price...

what a mistake...

what a mistake...

Im returning it after a couple days use - I couldnt make a cartridge that I could shoot... primers wouldnt load, the sticking powder disk BS, cases wouldnt push all the way into the shell plate.. oh the shell plate... what a farce...

I cant believe people have success with these things.. I have a hard time accepting the credibility of someone who sells this stuff and suggests that its OK.

crushes primers, dented primers, half seated primers

the case sensor works... some times...

the die holder thingy moves... it moves !!!! Im not match shooter but holy he11, I want to make consistent ammo... not going to do that with a frikin die thats moving about. sometimes the cartridges line up, but more often they dont...

if I were a vendor selling this junk Id look for a new product line in a hurry..

this must be the most dangerous bone brain press on the market today...



rant off...
 
OK, slow down, take a deep breath, there see.....You are experiencing what most Lee purchasers experience.....have you used a good single stage press in the past? Without experiencing any problems? I'd use a good single stage for a bit just to calm yourself down, then call Dillon if you want to increase production rate. I'm pretty sure there's nothing wrong with the bullets you're using....Ben
 
sounds like you havent found the "lee rhythm" yet...

with that said, im keep my lee turret for limited cartridges and grabbing a Hornady Lock N Load at xmas!
 
chrisward3 said:
sounds like you havent found the "lee rhythm" yet...

with that said, im keep my lee turret for limited cartridges and grabbing a Hornady Lock N Load at xmas!
Click to expand...
Lee rhythm?.....Doesn`t that go like this: Load a round..stop..adjust..load a round..stop..repair..load a round..stop..clear jam...repeat?....;)
 
Lee 1000s are kinda love/hate.......

My first one was a bear to get running smoothly, but once I did it's all roses.

In my experiance all 1000s need to be 'tuned'. You gotta frick with this or that, you need to time the turn table, you gotta 'lube' the disks, you have to keep the primer tube full and primer tray not full, you have to adjust all of the dies and torque them to spec. etc. etc......

This is the same for the Dillon SDB in my experiance, I am probably one of hte few people you will find that went from a SDB to a Lee for progressive loading.

I now have 4 1000s, one in 9mm. 40, 45 & .223

If you want to get your lee running smooth; just ask

If you would rather give up on it; take it back to the store you bought it from.

Cheers!
 
It comes down to how much money you want spend or how much time you want to spend. I put my "dues" in for the Lee 1000 and am glad I did. I have two one in 9mm and one in .45 that run "smoothly". Yes I have to know when to tap the primer tray and get the feel for the handle pull, etc. but I have no frustration whatsover with both my reloaders.

Don't get me wrong. When I first started using the Lee Pro 1000 I lost several thousand folicles on my scalp from the stress! :p
 
Ben, you are hilarious...

I realize that others have these clunkers working, I see the videos on youtube, I dont know how many of those bullets actually are any good tho - do they have powder in them ? do they have properly inserted without damage primers ?

If I spend money on something that is brand new, I shouldnt have to tinker with it to make it work, and then tinker with it, and then tinker with it... this morning I went out and made after a little more tinkering was able to make about 30 in a row without issue... then a primer got stuck again.. and again.. and again...

its going back to WSS today...
 
Sadly, at this point the Lee rhythm has very little to do with it, primers get stuck, the case feeder doesnt feed the brass all the way in, and either the top die holder or the shell plate is just sloppy enough that the alignment is off slightly from time to time so one position will not line up without a little niggle...

maybe I got a lemon... either way, Lee had their chance and blew it.



chrisward3 said:
sounds like you havent found the "lee rhythm" yet...

with that said, im keep my lee turret for limited cartridges and grabbing a Hornady Lock N Load at xmas!
Click to expand...
 
I have a LEE Loadmaster that run's great.
It's set up for .45 Win Mag.
Case's feed,primer's go in,powder and flaring done right,crimped and I haven't gotten around to buying a bullet feeder yet but I will.
I remember my 1000. You have to go right to the bottom of the stroke and then right to the top.
 
I use Lee 1000's for 38, 9mm, and 45. The 45 came, got set up, and started off without a hitch. I tinkered a bit with the other two. I have loaded thousands of rounds with all three. Lee bashers always have fun when someone posts their problems.......w:h:

Edit: Come to think of it, I also load .44 mag with a Pro 1000.
 
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zuke said:
I have a LEE Loadmaster that run's great.
It's set up for .45 Win Mag.
Case's feed,primer's go in,powder and flaring done right,crimped and I haven't gotten around to buying a bullet feeder yet but I will.
I remember my 1000. You have to go right to the bottom of the stroke and then right to the top.
Click to expand...

FORGET THE BULLET FEEDER- it's nothing but trouble, and the "fingers " break easily- i have one, and i've replaced about 6 fingers on it- you can feed it just as fast if not faster with a hand full of bullets and placed manually on station 3- i found that the feeder COULD NOT KEEP UP with the loadmaster, ( must have had somethig to do with the linkage ) and then there's the WEIGHT LIMIT to keep in mind- in the 44 mag, using 240 grain swcs. i found that you can only carry about a dozen bullets in the tube before it would misfeed- well, a tube on the case feeder side is 16 rounds- i load 15 just to keep my count even- lee says not to exceed 4000 grains in the bullet feeder tube, which is EXACTLY 16 rounds and a bit, but in real life that's being OPTOMISTIC- it feeds best at 12- well my hand is big enough that i grab about 20 with one scoop ouf of the bucket-
oh, and btw, i have 3-1000s that i use regularly and have since 90- even the 223 gives little trouble unless i FORGET to LUBE THE CASES- and i have yet to lube the discs- it's just a matter of tolerance as to how tight you screw the resevoir against the disc- a minor bit of spillage is normal for the design-
 
Will the lee pro 1000 auto index with .223 rem cases??? I always thought you had to hand turn the shellholder with .223, thats why I never got one?

If it auto index's .223, here i come lee pro 1000!
 
Lee pro 1000,s are mostly hate.Buy a Dillon SDB if your just loading handgun you will be pleasantly satisfied with the loading experience.
 
I read the manual, a few times... I adjusted the index screw underneath I bent the Z bar to handle the larger 45 ACP brass, and I even took some online advice to pin the case detector open so that the pin would drop all the way and permit a primer to fall, I also wrapped the detented column with electrical tape "rings" to make it more bumpy so it would shake the primers more...

sadly, this wasnt enough. In a nutshell, if I had bought the press used for a 100 buks Id have no problem tinkering for hours adjusting and modifying and tweeking, I love that sort of stuff... but not when I buy brand spankin new should I have to start modifying just to get it to work correctly.

the last straw was related to the slop in both the shell plate and the tool head component, 2 out of 3 brass in the process would line up perfectly and one wouldnt... and not the same one each time... this didnt look like something that was adjustable, and I found no mention of this online, perhaps I had a lemon... Lee had their chance to have me as a customer, sadly, they blew it.



notsorichguy said:
Apparently you didnt read the instruction manual.......

All the things you are complaining about are adjustments that need to be made and are spelled out n the instructions........
Click to expand...
 
I currently have RCBS single stage presses, Im thinking that as Im not really in a big hurry to crank out cartridges Im just going to continue doing it on my single stage... a couple hours ever other evening and I make 1400 rounds in around a week or so...

I really just wanted the cool factor of pulling an arm and making a cartridge... who knows, hornady or dillon may be in my future... its only money :)

WSS was good to take back the press with no questions asked. If anyone in Winnipeg wants a 4 day old pro 1K for a good deal go see WSS on St. James ;)
 
P-J said:
Will the lee pro 1000 auto index with .223 rem cases??? I always thought you had to hand turn the shellholder with .223, thats why I never got one?

If it auto index's .223, here i come lee pro 1000!
Click to expand...

yep- they have to be under 50mm in order for the auto-index to work- that lets the 308 win out, but 7.62x39 in- there's even a FACTORY 1000 in 223- that's the one i have- there's a couple of "tricks" to it though-1- being only 3 stations you HAVE to lube OUTSIDE the press- 2 you can't put the 15 degree forward tilt on it to help with the primer feed,as it throws the decapping pin off centre - probably does the same thing with the 39 and the rest of the bottle-necks
for the 223, et al, the loadmaster is a BETTER set up, and you can put a lube die and a factory crimp die in there with the extra stations- the ONLY things i would use the 1000 for would be automatic pistol cartridges- where you don't need at least 4 stations
 
you know, there was a fella calling himself odin's something or other about 2 months ago from manitoba that had a 1000 in 9mm that had a lot of problems with his as well- we did all we could to help him out , but in the end he ended up taking it back to wholesale in winn-the fact that you had to bend the z-bar tells me yours was NOT a factory 45 acp as the Z-bar is ALREADY BENT in FACTORY models- wonder if it could be the SAME PRESS - just re-stapled/taped to LOOK new?????
 
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