Lee Pro 1000 Re-Doux CROW for supper

Glockster

Glockster

CGN Regular
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Well, after the new wore off (400 rds) the Lee 1000 wheels completely came off.:bangHead:Seems the evil (Lee?) loading fairies showed up and sprinkled their pixie dust on my press. 6 hours since I started loading 9mm again, I have less than 55 rounds completed. The first primer feed failure started at round number six. Things went down hill fast after that. I became very intimate with the internal workings of the Pro 1000 in the next 6 hours after those first six cases. I finally packed it in after the press would NOT feed primers at all (yes it is spotlessly clean and assembled properly), the case feed packing it in (round 47, Z bar is popping out on every stroke) and the auto index is completely froze up (round 52). In 20 years of loading I have never been so frustrated with a press, even my old Lee Turret Press behaved better, ready to pack it up and return.

CROW is pretty dry and something I hope not to eat again.:p

Alright, mix up the BLUE KOOLAID, my visa will get a work out Monday.w:h:
 
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I must be stuborn as it took me years to park a Hornady AP LNL beside my Lee 1000.

Good place to hang my hat now!
 
I'm surprised you did as well as you did, and you have more patience then I do. When I spend my money on something new, it better work slick or back it goes yesterday.
 
I have a Lee Load Master for 2 years now and have loaded about 10,000-9mm, 500-.308 Win, 1,500-.223 and a couple hundred 300 WM and I don't have as many problems as some of you have. Now, they are a bit finicky with the set up and the priming system sucks donkey b@lls but I have never been to the point that I wanted to pack it up and send it back.
 
Totally different experience here. I bought a pro 1000 used about 5 years ago and I've loaded 8-10,000 rounds per year since then. 300/hr is easy and fast enough for me. It can be finicky, but I've been totally satisfied with mine.
 
Glockster said:
Alright, mix up the BLUE KOOLAID, my visa will get a work out Monday.w:h:
Click to expand...

You might also want to check out the OTHER red... ;) See sticky #2 at top of Reloading Forum.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=127691

and the review

http://www.comrace.ca/cmfiles/dillonLeeHornadyComparison.pdf


I picked up a Loadmaster a number of years ago and it took a couple hours of fiddling, polishing a couple contact areas, and minor deburing the primer feed path. After that, just keeping all grease and oil away from primer feed path (not just clean, but degreased with a solvent) and it doesn't skip a beat.
 
Glockster said:
Well, after the new wore off (400 rds) the Lee 1000 wheels completely came off.:bangHead:Seems the evil (Lee?) loading fairies showed up and sprinkled their......Okay, CROW is pretty dry and something I hope not to eat again.:p
Alright, mix up the BLUE KOOLAID, my visa will get a work out Monday.w:h:
Click to expand...

Oh well, another one bites the dust.:(

The Pro1000 is not the ideal machine for the novice reloader for sure.
 
Time for the blue haters to chime in, but here it goes; I bought my Dillon 550B in Dec 1990 and the only problem I have had with it is something that broke due to my stupid mistake and they replaced the part for free anyway. There are better and faster machines available now but 20 years ago the 550B was it and mine has paid for itself so many times over and has never caused me any grief.
 
I know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy........

As the story goes....

'Buddy" had a SDB in his basement, tragedy strikes and there is a house fire (unrelated to the reloading). His most prized SDB is basically a puddle on what used to be his reloading bench.

Insurance comes out to clean up and he rescues his destroyed SDB out of the garbage bin, for nostalgia sake......

Fast forward 9 or so months, He's back in his house reloading on his new (insurance paid for) SDB, when he looks over at his old melted SDB and thinks to himself 'I should send that off to Dillon to see if they want it'. So he sends it off to Dillon.

3 Weeks later he gets a new SDB in the mail, completly covered by warrenty.....

That's how good Dillons warrenty is..... If you believe the story I was told.....

Cheers!
 
Guys, I've been reloading for 20 years, my first press was a Lee Turret press to load .223 and .357. I've been around the block a few times and know quality from Rube Goldberg. I had just hoped the reams of negativity about the Pro 1000 was unfounded, and for the most part much of the criticisms are valid. It requires lots of upkeep, the priming system could be so much better and it goes out of time (at least for me) every 50 rounds (after the first 400 rounds), requiring additional tuning. It is a very finicky press that requires LOTS of fine tuning before and during a loading session. Given the price gap between the Pro 1000 and the LnL/XL650 I had hoped for more consistency between services. The Lee will work but it is a high maintenance machine that must be kept absolutely clean and timed. Its working now, I just wish I had not cheaped out. Damn it I know better.:bangHead:
 
I have had many problems with my two in the past but SEEM to have them running properly now. Mine were used and the previous owne had loaded MANY rounds had never replaced the ratchet gears; the probelm is by the time I had done this, I had gotten angry and had over torqued the retaining bolt and had warped the carrier (mian platic gear would not turn freely anymore) and started having the same problems. It cost me $40 for both carriers; I torque it very lightly and only torque them more when the carrier slips off the ram.

I have placed a shoe lace in one notch on the rod that is supposed to agitate the primer system, no primer feed issues since. The 38 Special setup chgs along with no porlbems at all now. The 9mm has to be run slowly over the downstroke to make sure the case hits the primer drop lever properly or it will s**t the bed. Once that was determined I have had no problems in the last 1100 rounds.

All said and doen I have about $160 in both sicne I got them used and I dumped some parts inot them. If I were to buy soemthing new, it probably would have been a Hornday or Dillon 650, but the price was right.
 
Glockster said:
Guys, I've been reloading for 20 years, my first press was a Lee Turret press to load .223 and .357. I've been around the block a few times and know quality from Rube Goldberg. I had just hoped the reams of negativity about the Pro 1000 was unfounded, and for the most part much of the criticisms are valid. It requires lots of upkeep, the priming system could be so much better and it goes out of time (at least for me) every 50 rounds (after the first 400 rounds), requiring additional tuning. It is a very finicky press that requires LOTS of fine tuning before and during a loading session. Given the price gap between the Pro 1000 and the LnL/XL650 I had hoped for more consistency between services. The Lee will work but it is a high maintenance machine that must be kept absolutely clean and timed. Its working now, I just wish I had not cheaped out. Damn it I know better.:bangHead:
Click to expand...

My Lee 1000 keep jugging along, with no upkeep before and after session, other than to brush away any dirt or stray powder. The primer feeds works, and I don't have to tune the shellplate, ever. Somehow they have produced over 10K rounds, and I currently work at a 0% defective rate.
Certainly, if it doesn't work for you, that is evident. But that doesn't mean it is not good value for money, and that they are reliable.
Perhaps you are trying to drive it too fast. I too work around 300+ rounds per hour.
 
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