Which would you recommend?? Lee Turret, Lee Pro 1000, something else ...

really, unless you are the kind of guy that likes piercings, stepping on broken glass or other pain inducing stuff, I would really not recommend a lee progressive.
you WILL get frustrated.
I have one and I am pissed.
Mostly with the priming system, and then the indexing system, and then it would not index because I had to adjust that bolt so that the indexing rod touches the press just enough,and then you must not go too fast because the indexing rod will throw out of sync and jam the press, and then.....
The "case collator" (casefeeder for the poor) is total garbage. half 9mm cases are upside down, and then you shake it and nothing happens, and then you end up removing that crap and manually feeding tubes...
And then, when the tube is almost empty, all your cases will dump on the floor. so you have to keep it at least half full
oh and forget about 223, 1 in 2 will fall on the side, and on the floor, I don't know why.

That means, I use my LM to reload cleaned, sized and primed brass, that I hand feed, to charge, seat bullet, and crimp.
That works well, and I like the LM for those 3 operations.
but it's taking me 3x the time. you decide.


really, I would say, get a turret press, or another brand of progressive. I would buy dillon, some guys prefer hornady, I guess they are both good.
 
Yeah after reading many reviews, listening to your comments, and watching some videos I think the turret is the way I will go. I really can't see myself shelling out for a dillon considering that I'm not strictly a pistol shooter (grew up shooting trap and skeet) and the idea of reloading is to save money not be a large investment. So lets talk about the turret press if you don't mind. In particular where to order one from considering I'm living in Windsor and how consistent and precise the auto disk powder measure is. Specifically what increments are there, I think someone said they were able to adjust in .3 grain increments. This seems rather clumsy or large considering we are only dropping 3 grains of powder sometimes less. Is there a possibility to get a more precise bushing set to use with the lee turret?
 
The discs are in 0.3 to 0.4 cc increments. For WSF this is 0.4 of a grain between discs. You can use an adjustable charge bar to adjust to your exact load. My throws can have 0.1grn variance, with either the disks or the charge bar, so I like to be a little below max.

I have found that I need the charge bar for 9mm since only one disc is within the powder max and min and it does not group. I have found the disks work for my 40 and 45.
 
All depends on which powder you will be using. The Lee powder throw I found worked good and was accurate for pistol powders. When I went to start reloading for 223 it was not accurate, .4 grain spread was common( Varget & 8208). If you go to the Lee website and find the instructions it will tell you what the increments will be for a given powder.
 
The Lee 1000 is a viable machine but its not for everyone.

If you're the kind of person who enjoys tinkering with your own car and would rather spend a weekend doingthat than having a commercial shop do tbe work for you, then you will do well with a lee 1000. It's not a good choice for people who don't have the time or mechanical inclinations.
 
hogie said:
All depends on which powder you will be using. The Lee powder throw I found worked good and was accurate for pistol powders. When I went to start reloading for 223 it was not accurate, .4 grain spread was common( Varget & 8208). If you go to the Lee website and find the instructions it will tell you what the increments will be for a given powder.
Click to expand...

Ifind it works well with ball powders, not quite as well with flake powders but still decent, and is useless for extruded type powders. Powder selection is a major consideration with any powder measure.
 
If cost is your main consideration then go with the Pro1000. I have one and have loaded many thousands of rounds.
Yes the primer feed is problematic, but if you spend a few extra dollars and get one of the Auto-prime or the ergo -prime hand primers, you will eliminate the biggest week-point of the Pro1000.
Also I would recommend the purchase of the "Adjustable charge Bar". It is well worth it and eliminates the need to change disks when wanting to change the powder charge.
With these modifications I can easily run 200 plus rounds/hour.
fsreloading.com has great prices and with you being in the Windsor area I would set up an American address with a company like Kineks.com and have your order shipped to the American address. Then you just go and pick it up ( kineks charge $5.00 per order) and bring it across the border. No Brokers fees, you just pay the taxes at the border,(Sometimes they just wave you through).
Personally I would also get a digital scale, a decent inexpensive one is the Hornaday GS1500 for around $40.00 from any Hornaday dealer.

Most important, hookup with an experienced re-loader to learn the ropes with him. Re-loading is not difficult, but mistakes can be very costly!!!!
 
Kryogen said:
really, unless you are the kind of guy that likes piercings, stepping on broken glass or other pain inducing stuff, I would really not recommend a lee progressive.
you WILL get frustrated.
I have one and I am pissed.
Mostly with the priming system, and then the indexing system, and then it would not index because I had to adjust that bolt so that the indexing rod touches the press just enough,and then you must not go too fast because the indexing rod will throw out of sync and jam the press, and then.....
The "case collator" (casefeeder for the poor) is total garbage. half 9mm cases are upside down, and then you shake it and nothing happens, and then you end up removing that crap and manually feeding tubes...
And then, when the tube is almost empty, all your cases will dump on the floor. so you have to keep it at least half full
oh and forget about 223, 1 in 2 will fall on the side, and on the floor, I don't know why.

That means, I use my LM to reload cleaned, sized and primed brass, that I hand feed, to charge, seat bullet, and crimp.
That works well, and I like the LM for those 3 operations.
but it's taking me 3x the time. you decide.


really, I would say, get a turret press, or another brand of progressive. I would buy dillon, some guys prefer hornady, I guess they are both good.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you are doing wrong but my LM has none of the problems you describe. I can't remember the last time the case collator dropped a 45 case the wrong way and I get maybe 1 or 2 9mm per hundred upside down. You need to drop the cases in and move the collator in a circular motion. As for the indexing system I can only guess at how many thousands of rounds I have loaded without any problem. If I were you I'd check out the many Loadmaster videos online. They will help you resolve the vast majority of common problems encountered with the LM.
 
I have an older 3 hole Lee turret that's giving me a bit of grief right now. Indexer either doesn't want to, or over indexes :mad:. Really no biggie. I run it without the rod.
Been thinking of replacing it with a new classic, but then I'd have to get a load of die plates :(.

My LM used to give me all kinds of grief. Wouldn't cycle smooth, primer issues, case issues.......:mad: :mad: :mad:. Tinkered with it endlessly. Seriously questioned myself why I bought this thing and was going to rip it off the table and smash the fu©k out of it. On what I thought was the press's last night on earth, I ripped the case feeder rod off. Problems went away :confused:. Smooth in use, I can feel the press functioning better now. I glued a handle (cut down case) to the case feed slider and use it. Not a true progressive anymore, but I think it's faster and easier to use now.

(E) :cool:
 
(((Echo))) said:
My LM used to give me all kinds of grief. Wouldn't cycle smooth, primer issues, case issues.......:mad: :mad: :mad:. Tinkered with it endlessly. Seriously questioned myself why I bought this thing and was going to rip it off the table and smash the fu©k out of it. On what I thought was the press's last night on earth, I ripped the case feeder rod off. Problems went away :confused:. Smooth in use, I can feel the press functioning better now. I glued a handle (cut down case) to the case feed slider and use it. Not a true progressive anymore, but I think it's faster and easier to use now.

(E) :cool:
Click to expand...
The case feeder rod is very poorly designed in that it's a round end rod held by pressure from the end of a bolt. Obviously over time and with many cyclings the round end rod starts to rotate. Once that happens the case feed slider no longer slides parallel on the feed tongue (or whatever they call it). The result can be anything from jerky case feeding to outright binding. Filing a flat on the round rod would probably solve the problem. I just loosen the tensioning nut and reposition the rod so that the case feed slider is once again parallel to he tongue. Solves the problem.
 
(((Echo))) said:
I have an older 3 hole Lee turret that's giving me a bit of grief right now. Indexer either doesn't want to, or over indexes :mad:. Really no biggie. I run it without the rod.
Click to expand...

The weakness in the Lee 3 hole turrent is the little plastic guide rod follower, when its worn it will under index. I use a synethic grease every so often on the rod to make it last longer. You can still get the plastic piece, just not the metal indexing parts anymore from lee.
 
ted_dent said:
The case feeder rod is very poorly designed in that it's a round end rod held by pressure from the end of a bolt. Obviously over time and with many cyclings the round end rod starts to rotate. Once that happens the case feed slider no longer slides parallel on the feed tongue (or whatever they call it). The result can be anything from jerky case feeding to outright binding. Filing a flat on the round rod would probably solve the problem. I just loosen the tensioning nut and reposition the rod so that the case feed slider is once again parallel to he tongue. Solves the problem.
Click to expand...
Did the readjustments, didn't think of filing a flat on the round part. Rod was probably a little warped due to my forcing it when it was starting to wander. In the end, it was very cathartic to rip the rod off, with a very loud FU, and find that it worked better without.

(E) :cool:
 
Seems like everyone has had a few troubles and part wear with their lee's and I'm sure other makers aren't without their fatigue as well. So how many pulls have you gotten out of your current presses and is their some spare parts I should order with the Classic Cast Turret Press to keep it running for the long haul (such as this plastic follower you speak of) ??
 
(((Echo))) said:
Did the readjustments, didn't think of filing a flat on the round part. Rod was probably a little warped due to my forcing it when it was starting to wander. In the end, it was very cathartic to rip the rod off, with a very loud FU, and find that it worked better without.

(E) :cool:
Click to expand...

Yeah, the rod will bend if it is very far out of line (ask me how I know). And there are very few problems in life that can't be solved with a good dose of heavy cursing (or at least it feels that way). :dancingbanana:
 
I have the 4 hole classic turret press and have loaded about 3000 rounds. No issues to date.

The new press comes with an extra plastic indexer. I have not used my spare yet. No sure if this helps but I complete a quick clean and oil my press every reloading session. I will reload for a couple of hours on the weekend and therefore about about every 300 rounds.
 
7Stringer said:
Seems like everyone has had a few troubles and part wear with their lee's and I'm sure other makers aren't without their fatigue as well. So how many pulls have you gotten out of your current presses and is their some spare parts I should order with the Classic Cast Turret Press to keep it running for the long haul (such as this plastic follower you speak of) ??
Click to expand...
I bought my turret press used. Ran like a top when I got it. Loaded many, many thousand rounds with it. The load count dropped big time when I started loading 9 & 40 on the LM, but it still gets used, auto index issues and all :). Should actually get off my ass and change the ratchet out:(.
Definitely get a few of the plastic auto index ratchet thingy's :).

(E) :cool:
 
I recently got tired of reloading my 9mm on my lee single stage I got in the anniversary kit, I've been shooting upwards of 300 rounds a week (I know its not much compared to some). A few years ago I had a Dillon 650xl set up for .45 but never used it much and sold it (kicked my self ever since) so I was looking at all the different turrets and progressives. I decided not to mess around and just bit the bullet and ordered another XL650 set up for 9mm. From unboxing to set up and cranking out rounds was just over an hour, I'm now going to order the case feeder as my wife said "that's it" after feeding 300 cases for me (took 20-30min). The Dillon really is worth the money.

4efc76aa05ec5a4b989e4c5c1922dcab_zps0ad7618a.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom