What's the bloody point of progressive presses?

A

Astute Observer

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So I spent money on a four die turret / progressive press. Bought the case feeder, powder dispenser, bullet feeder, priming dispenser... The while shebang.

After I got it all set up and running, it still took me three hours and twenty minutes to make 100 rounds of 9mm. In the process I ruined 23 cases, either lost or destroyed 17 bullets, and lost about a dozen primers.

* bullets wouldn't feed, or a dozen would spill out at once

* Cases wouldn't align with the dies, and then would get wrecked on the down press

* primers wouldn't seat properly

I had to stop and troubleshoot something every 6 or 8 rounds. I could have done this just as quick with a single stage press.

I've been reloading on a single stage press for precision rifle for years. I know what I'm doing. But this thing didn't speed my process up whatsoever, in fact it's probably slower, and DEFINITELY wastes more components.

So I ask, if you're reloading on a progressive press... Why?
 
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Turrets are a bit frustrating imo, but on a decent progressive 500 an hour is doable with few/no errors. On one with feeders, quite a bit more.
 
OP - in case "misery loves company" - I would likely be in same mess - I have reloaded for many decade on a single stage press - can often do a batch of 100 without an error - but will not guarantee that. The idea, to me of turret or progressive was that they would give me an opportunity to make dozens of errors before I noticed - instead of one or two. I do not load for handgun, so likely why the quantity of output is not a thing that I worry too much about - simply the switch for me over to MEC unit and start loading shotgun - I end up with shot and powder all over - should be simple and easy - it likely is - except I find ways to mess it up...
 
Astute Observer said:
So I spent money on a four die turret / progressive press. Bought the case feeder, powder dispenser, bullet feeder, priming dispenser... The while shebang.

After I got it all set up and running, it still took me three hours and twenty minutes to make 100 rounds of 9mm. In the process I ruined 23 cases, either lost or destroyed 17 bullets, and lost about a dozen primers.

* bullets wouldn't feed, or a dozen would spill out at once

* Cases wouldn't align with the dies, and then would get wrecked on the down press

* primers wouldn't seat properly

I had to stop and troubleshoot something every 6 or 8 rounds. I could have done this just as quick with a single stage press.

I've been reloading on a single stage press for precision rifle for years. I know what I'm doing. But this thing didn't speed my process up whatsoever, in fact it's probably slower, and DEFINITELY wastes more components.

So I ask, if you're reloading on a progressive press... Why?
Click to expand...

I have an older Lee progressive that I bought used, no bullet feeder though, and I can comfortably do 400-500 9mm/hour. You just need to get it set up correctly and get a bit of a “feel” for the rhythm of it. After the first ruined case it would have been wise to stop, figure out how that happened and take corrective action. Once you have everything set up correctly, a progressive is a lot of fun.
 
I load 400 rounds per hour on my Dillon 550 and it is indexed manually.

There was a learning curve and a few mods were made to the press and how I operated it to sort a couple issues but it's all good now.

Don't give up, search YouTube as people will have had the same problems as you with your press and there could be suggestions/mods to help you out.
 
Won't take me long to crank out 100 rounds on my old Hornady progressive and hardly ever do I wreck brass.

I do handprime instead of on the press but that is my choice, I could prime on the press.

Never had a Lee progressive press but seen some up close and it looks finicky to me.
 
You probably have to do some tuning, I’ve heard the Lee progressives don’t work well out of the box and you have to mod it to make it reliable.

I have a Lee turret press (not progressive) that I have to index manually, the turret doesn’t always line up just right, but even so I can do 50 9mm rounds in less than 20 minutes without component loss. It’s easy to have 250 rounds loaded and sorted into a zip lock in one night.

Once your press is set up I expect you’ll be able to do a lot more.
 
Lee Pro 1000?

I got a used one from a friend a few years ago just to give it a try: Years of only using single stage previously I thought it'd be interesting. Frustrating turned out to be the correct adjective. Gives credence to the phrase "some assembly required". I persisted instead of tossing it, and once you figure out the idiosyncrasies, identify (in my case worn or poorly adjusted parts)... decent rounds roll out the other end if you pay attention as one should with any reloading activity. It helps to have a mechanical aptitude. I just feed bullets manually... those few seconds allow inspection of all stages. It'll poop out maybe three hundred an hour comfortably at the pace which caters to my ocd. There are certainly better options but non at the same price.
 
3 hours?

Even with my turret I can do about 150rds in an hour and that was not even using a bullet feeder. But I did have the safety prime for it. So didnt have to manually load the cup.

Oh you got that new 4 turret breech lock pro. I hated mine. Sold it and went with a pro 1000. Which I can do 600 plus an hour with it.
 
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Lol tell me you bought a Lee, without telling me you bought a Lee.

500 rounds/hour on a Dillon 650 with a case feeder happens without much effort.
 
I have a loadmaster and it works fine
I use a charge master lite for powder measurement and manually put the cases and bullets in place and can still do over 100 rounds an hour
The chargemaster is what slows me down
Also the point of using a press with removable turrets is so you can set up your dies for each caliber so it’s quick and easy to change from one caliber to the next. You just have to buy extra turrets
I reload close to twenty different calibers and setup time is a cinch
 
I have both a LEE 1000 and a LEE Loadmaster. I prefer the LEE 1000. They both need some "tweaking" from time to time but the 1000 much less so.
 
Astute Observer said:
So I ask, if you're reloading on a progressive press... Why?
Click to expand...

While I have little good to say about LEE products in general I suspect your story is one of operator error. Sit back, take a deep breath and read the instructions again.

With literally thousands of these units sold I suspect we would have heard more stories like yours if this was a design problem.


BTW, I reload pistol - 45 ACP, 9mm, and .357 - on a Lyman 6 station turret and can load over 1000 rounds an hour starting with resized and primed cases.
 
I also suspect the Lee press is the issue. The Lee single stage I have has done tens of thousands rounds for myself, but after some reading I stayed away from their turret and progressive presses when I wanted to start loading 9mm.

I have a Dillon Square Deal B, which was the next affordable option when on sale at X Reload. Even the first thousand rounds through that were a learning curve, with some primers not seated fully or not seated at all, or missing a powder charge. Nothing unsafe, just annoying to find at the range. Even now after ten thousand rounds of 9mm I still don't use specific brands of cases, and have to diagnose and remedy some weird things it does every once in a while. But when I am going I can get about 300-400 rounds done and hour, and that's without a case or bullet feeder.
 
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