Lee Pro 1000 Progressive Press
- Thread starter greg40
- Start date
- Location
- Montreal, Quebec
I have a pro 1000. Works very well. Good value for the money. I have turned out LOTS of ammo with mine. Yes, it is NOT a "Dillon", but it is a lot less money invested.
I use it in .40s&w
Get the collator, I just got it and I should have bought it from the biggining.
I got a Bullet feeder kit on the way, should put it pretty quick.
Once it's setup good, it's easy and painless. Once in a while I get a no primer round, but most of the time I can tell when.
Get the collator, I just got it and I should have bought it from the biggining.
I got a Bullet feeder kit on the way, should put it pretty quick.
Once it's setup good, it's easy and painless. Once in a while I get a no primer round, but most of the time I can tell when.
- Location
- North of Toronto and South Carolina
Mine is fine. It does exactly what it is supposed to do.
It's a bit fiddly sometimes, but I defy anyone to see a difference between a Lee round and a Dillon round.
It's a bit fiddly sometimes, but I defy anyone to see a difference between a Lee round and a Dillon round.
Pro-1000 is a great progressive press. The biggest drawback is the primer mechanism. I love the simplicity of the case detector, but the gravity feed primer feed is iffy at lower levels (Under 20-30 primers).
2x for the collator. Holds 100 .40 cases at a time. Dunno about the feeder however. I have heard it is more finicky than valuable.
2x for the collator. Holds 100 .40 cases at a time. Dunno about the feeder however. I have heard it is more finicky than valuable.
The pro 1000 will reload the 38 spl and 40 cal quite nicely. The 4 brass feeding tubes and bullet feed kit with 4 tubes will comfortably crank out 2-300 pr hour of 40 cal.
The 38 spl is slower because the longer bullets don’t allow you to use a feeding kit for 158 grain semi-wad cutters, my experience.
The Pro 1000 performs best with brass that has small primers, 38spl, 357, 9mm, and 40cal.
When I tried it with 45acp any little flake of powder offset the primer and jammed it.
Everyone doesn’t like the primer feeding system for the Pro 1000 but after 300 primers through the tray I wipe out the primer trough with a q-tip and it removes the green slime (win primers) from the trough and everything feeds fine. I have never had any problems with it if I do my part and maintain it. I also oil the ram every 300 reloads.
I presently have 8000 loaded rounds of 9mm, 38, 357, loaded on a Pro 1000, this gives you an idea how much I like my Pro 1000.
I have bought a Dillon XL650 for my 45ACP.
Happy reloading.
The 38 spl is slower because the longer bullets don’t allow you to use a feeding kit for 158 grain semi-wad cutters, my experience.
The Pro 1000 performs best with brass that has small primers, 38spl, 357, 9mm, and 40cal.
When I tried it with 45acp any little flake of powder offset the primer and jammed it.
Everyone doesn’t like the primer feeding system for the Pro 1000 but after 300 primers through the tray I wipe out the primer trough with a q-tip and it removes the green slime (win primers) from the trough and everything feeds fine. I have never had any problems with it if I do my part and maintain it. I also oil the ram every 300 reloads.
I presently have 8000 loaded rounds of 9mm, 38, 357, loaded on a Pro 1000, this gives you an idea how much I like my Pro 1000.
I have bought a Dillon XL650 for my 45ACP.
Happy reloading.
Ive got 2 LEE 1000s one dedicated to 9mm and the other switchs between .38 &.45acp! Both presses were well used when I got them and Ive done probly another 10,000 on each press with out any real trouble...like anything mechanical, keep it clean & well lubed and it will run a long time. The primer feed may be the big issue and I have replaced the plastic tube a couple times but othewise if you dont let the primers get too low it works fine. Most of the guys I shoot with have Dillons but as long as the LEEs keeps working I cant justify replacing them.
mine has done well over 100 thousand reloads, I have replaced a few parts but have still spent less than I have on my Dillon ,yes the Dillon is a much better press but you really can't beat the pro 1000 for a starter progressive press if you are on a budget.I have had my Lee press for about 14 years and it's still going strong.
That is exactly it.
If you are planning to shoot 20000 rounds a year of EACH caliber then by all means get a Dillon. If you are only shooting a few thousand a year, a Pro-1000 is all you need. Pretty much all reloading companies have great service and you cannot get much cheaper than Lee for replacement parts.
I have 2 Lee-1000's, one for .40, one for .38/.357, As previously mentioned if you keep the system lubed, the primer tray filled and the drop path clean you will rarely if ever have an issue. You can easily get into a rhythm of a round every 2-3 sec with you placing the bullet in place. So that works out to 100 rounds in 10 minutes. Then you remove the primer tray, empty the primer chute, swab it, refill primers & cases in about 5-6 minutes. So your rate is about 400 rounds per hour. The powder measure holds about 1/3 of a pound or so of Titegroup so the powder capacity is good for nearly 500 rounds.
(I originally loaded 1000 rounds of .40 on a single stage press, I quickly got a progressive after that 8 hours of loading).
I just bought one last week. Haven't used it yet, still fiddling with set up. Switched the factory .357 to .45colt, and realized the primer feed is too small for large pistol. GAH!
Anybody know who stocks the larger primer feed tubes? (Ontario if possible) I'd like to get rolling asap.
Anybody know who stocks the larger primer feed tubes? (Ontario if possible) I'd like to get rolling asap.
kharlingca
CGN Regular
- Location
- Montreal Region, QC
I just started reloaded last week, It roughly took me 1 week on and off to set up the Lee Pro 1000 9mm (including building of the bench). I also did some of the mods found on this site (easy to find with a quick search). I found once the mods were done the lee pro ran a lot better. My only problem right now is sitting the bullet, takes some practice, so once I get some extra cash I am going to order the lee bullet feeder. Lee clam this speeds up the process something like 50 to 100%. While I don’t believe 100% I am sure it will speed it up quite fast as of right now I find this the hardest part.
My only advices is the same as most of the others, if you plan on reloading to save money this press saves money and is made for the average joe looking to shoot weekends and small(>200 rounds) ipsc match’s once a month or less. If you plan on reloading to produce massif amounts of ammunition for future zombie invasions, or plan on going outright hard core on ipsc type matches, go with the Dillon
My only advices is the same as most of the others, if you plan on reloading to save money this press saves money and is made for the average joe looking to shoot weekends and small(>200 rounds) ipsc match’s once a month or less. If you plan on reloading to produce massif amounts of ammunition for future zombie invasions, or plan on going outright hard core on ipsc type matches, go with the Dillon
True. Like I said. If you only shoot a few thousand of a calibre a year then this is a great way to save money. If you are high volume (aka 10K+ a year) definitely invest in a bigger faster loader (aka Dillon 650/1050). That being said there are many low end progressives that work equally as well, Lee just is one of the least expensive 
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Ive had a Lee 1000 for 14 years and have probably loaded about 80K+ on it.It really is great value for money.They can be a bit finicky,but once you learn its operation it works well.Ive found that removing the primer sensor (take the small spring out) helps the primers feed alot better.Ive just finished a batch of 2K 9mm rounds and didnt have a single primer misfeed.
As others have stated,you must keep it clean and especially the primer chute filled.I keep a can of compressed air on the bench,and give the plate/primer punch,the odd blast to keep it clean.Lightly lubing the cases(especially the 9mm)really helps the press operation as well
The case collator is very useful,but I think that the bullet feeder is a waste of money.When loading,I keep a handful of bullets in my left hand ready to put into the case mouths,so I dont think that things slow down at all.
I bought my original press when I was a (relatively) poor student,and although Ive subsequently thought of getting a Dillon,my Lee works so well,that I couldnt really justify it.Infact,Ive recently bought another pro 1000(just over $140 from Cabelas!) so I dont have the hassle of changing calibers.I think that I will stick with my Lee for the next while!
As others have stated,you must keep it clean and especially the primer chute filled.I keep a can of compressed air on the bench,and give the plate/primer punch,the odd blast to keep it clean.Lightly lubing the cases(especially the 9mm)really helps the press operation as well
The case collator is very useful,but I think that the bullet feeder is a waste of money.When loading,I keep a handful of bullets in my left hand ready to put into the case mouths,so I dont think that things slow down at all.
I bought my original press when I was a (relatively) poor student,and although Ive subsequently thought of getting a Dillon,my Lee works so well,that I couldnt really justify it.Infact,Ive recently bought another pro 1000(just over $140 from Cabelas!) so I dont have the hassle of changing calibers.I think that I will stick with my Lee for the next while!
NO...
blacksmithden
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I've got one in 44 mag. I hate the thing. Primers don't feed well. The case sensor to stop the primers if a case isn't present broke almost the first day. The plastic block that pushes the shells in doesn't slide freely even after cleaning and lubing. A few flakes of powder and the primer feed jams completely. The finished cartridges don't always release from the shell plate. The powder dispenser constantly jammed and broke the pull down chain. If you don't mind endlessly screwing around with the thing, then it can be forced to work. I might have loaded a thousand rounds with it before I finally gave up.
Now it sits in a box in the "junk I never use and should throw out" pile in the garage. I don't have time for the thing. I took it off the bench and bought an RCBS rockchucker. It's damned slow reloading any quantity of ammo, but it works better than that Lee POS. I'll keep using the rockchucker until I can afford a Dillon.
Now it sits in a box in the "junk I never use and should throw out" pile in the garage. I don't have time for the thing. I took it off the bench and bought an RCBS rockchucker. It's damned slow reloading any quantity of ammo, but it works better than that Lee POS. I'll keep using the rockchucker until I can afford a Dillon.
Well if you are having so much troubles with it, I'll gladly take that "junk" from you for a cheap price
