Lee Pro 1000 Press

[Route666]

What is everyone's opinion of this press? In terms of quality, is it good or bad, better or worse than a Dillon 650? It seems to be cheaper, and has gadgets like an automatic bullet placer, so I'm wondering why I don't here about it as much as Dillon.

Thanks!

 

[Cortland]

I don't have any experience with Lee's progressives, but don't expect the Dillon zealots to have anything good to say about them. I have heard that the bullet feeding mechanism tends to be pretty finnicky.

While you're looking I'd suggest you also research RCBS's Pro 2000 (that's 1000 than Lee! ) and also Hornady's Lock-N-Load AP. I'm a big fan of the Hornady, it gives you all the XL650's features at a 550 price with a number of improvements.

 

[Rhinodogg]

I have the Lee Pro1000. It's a pretty good press. I recommend setting it up for one caliber and leaving it alone. Most of the problems I have with this press, is when I switch calibers. The auto prime feature is what gives me the most trouble. It sits right under the powder, so as soon as you get a little bit of powder in the primer feeder, watch out. It's a good deal for the price.

 

[Papakeith]

I got the Lee Pro1000 this January. I love it. For the cost of a caliber conversion on some other presses, I got a fully progressive, auto indexing, case feeding press. I added the bullet feeder and the case collator. The bullet feeder is OK with 230gr fmj rn, but has some trouble with other bullets. Hand feeding the bullets might be just as fast, maybe even faster. The case collator is great. I consider it a "must have".
I agree that the primer system needs to be kept clean. a can of compressed air does the job nicely.
I've made 1500 rounds or so with this press so far. With everything that is going on at the same time, it took a bit to watch for everything. Once I learned it's quirks, and feel, I have been very happy with it.
I wouldn't bother changing calibers with it. I would simply purchase another pro1000.

I got mine for 118.00.

 

[HogRider]

I don't have the Pro 1000 but pretty much every other Lee Product. Went with the Load Master because I wanted more than 3 stages.

Here is a good read. Maybe that can help you to make a decision:

http://www.geocities.com/leereloading/leepro1000.htm

 

[larry408]

Before I upgraded to the Lee Loadmaster so that I could reload rifle rounds I had 2 Pro 1000's. You can get a reconditioned complete Pro 1000 from Lee for about $85.00 shipped. I did not use the primer feed but used the Lee Auto-Prime.

 

[g56]

Dillon has set the standard for progressive loading, high quality and long lasting backed up by the best support bar none, everything else is just an imitation. The Dillon is built to a quality standard, and not down to a price. There is nothing lightweight or flimsy about the Dillon, they don't use pot metal or other cheap materials like some of the copies.

For a comparison, the Lee uses a cheap ball chain to actuate the powder measure, some of the Lee presses use a piece of string to advance the cases.

 

[Black Snowman]

The Lee equipment is briliantly engineered and for me and many other loaders the best value available. If you're not loading enough to warrent the cost of the excellent Dillon products I have no problem recommending the Lee equipment. I personally own a Load Master. Over the last several years I've worn out about $50 in parts for the 9-10k rounds or so I've loaded on it. I have it set up to load 6 calibers from .40 S&W to .223 Rem.

Total investment over those, lets say 8000 rounds just to be pesimistic, has been roughly $400. That's about $.05 a round. Not too bad.

The Dillons are great, but to get 5 stations (which I use all 5 on 3 of my calibers) you have to go up to a Dillon 650. With 6 calibers on the 650 you're looking at $400 for the press and one caliber plus an additional $283 for the other 5 conversions. BUT that's a flat rate for an unlimited number of rounds. No replacement parts to buy unless you just want to have spares on hand, like I do. So if you reload a LOT, in particular with fewer calibers the Dillion is a better deal in the long hual. Say you load the same 8000 rounds on the Dillion it comes to closer to $.08 a round. BUT, if you load 16,000 rounds it's cheaper per round at $.04 each. So volume has a lot to do with the choice in my opinion.

No matter what anyone says all progressives are somewhat tempermental and tricky to set up correctly. The Dillions are about as good as you can get though. The Lee has a lot of things to check and can go wrong but once you get the hang of it changes go very quickly. Everythings a trade off. Just do plenty of reasearch. Oh, and new 1000s are 4 station which is nice.

 

[Rico567]

There are always those who have said, when it comes to machinery, "the only kind of equipment to own is of the highest quality and durability." When it comes to cars, I guess all those people must own Mercedes-Benz. No? Well, then, I guess there must be other criteria.

I agree with a previous post. Lee Engineering did for reloading what Henry Ford did for automobiles when he invented the Model T. The auto industry pre-Ford made intricate, heavy, highly engineered and superbly crafted automobiles- and no one but the rich could afford them.

Lee products can be spartan, but generally have great and innovative engineering, and get the job done. My two Lee Pro1000s produce quality ammo, despite the fact that I threw away the case feeder and put the cases in one at a time.

The advice in a previous post to just buy a Pro1000 and leave it set up for one caliber is good. My two are left set up for small primer / large primer, and I can swap out a shell plate and tool head in about 10 minutes.

I have three Pro1000 tips: 1) keep it clean, 2) keep it lubed- I use 30W motor oil, and 3) don't try to be a speed demon, no matter what you read or hear.

For those who may turn "blue" upon reading this post, I also own and load thousands of rounds on my Dillon XL 650, and don't feel the least bit "disloyal." I know from experience that ALL of my presses produce great ammunition, if I do my part.

 

[Black Snowman]

So far the lube my presses like best, all of the single stages I've used and the Load Master, has been some old manual transmission gear oil I found in the garage. Put on thin it makes even my Challenger glide like it's on roller bearings. I'm not home right now but I think it's 90W.

 

[Route666]

Thanks for your replies everyone! I'm thinking this press will be the way to go. I love the look of the Hornady, but they don't seem to be available locally, whereas the Dillon and Lee are.

After thinking about the bullet feeder, I don't think I'll get or use one.

I want to set it up just for 9mm, I don't plan on changing it, so thanks for the tip.

The pic of one on the Lee site appears to have 3 dies, so I assume it seats and crimps in one step? Is it possible to get a 4-die setup?

 

[Rico567]

The Pro1000 tool head has 3 holes for a standard 3-die set. A carbide die set will be included with your 9mm press. This includes the carbide size/decap die, the powder through/neck expand die, and the seat/crimp die. The seating die also applies a taper crimp in the semiauto rounds like 9mm, and a roll crimp on the revolver rounds, like .357 Magnum. If you desire to use a 4th die, you will have to use it on a separate machine, as another step, or look at another press, such as the Lee Loadmaster or a Dillon XL 650. These, of course, are more expensive than the Pro1000. I can only say that I have never had a problem with my Lee seat/crimp dies.

 

[stellarpod]

I currently load on a Dillon XL650 and wouldn't change. That being said, I loaded several thousand rounds on a Lee 1000 for several years and it did a very respectible job. There were certainly quirks that I had to watch out for, but once I began to understand these kinks it was easy to work around them.

The Lee 1000 caters to a different buying segment than does the Dillon. I believe they're both legitimate target markets. And I don't regret for one minute the years I spent loading with the Lee 1000. I believe it's a good way to dip your toe in the progressive pool without too large an investment. If, like me, you find you like it you can always upgrade to the Dillon later.

Make no mistake; there is simply no comparison in the heft and quality between the two machines. An analogous comparison of a Mercedes to a Geo Metro is no exaggeration so far as I'm concerned. But, guess what? The Metro will likely still get you down the road in a pinch! As stated by others, the primer feed is the root of most problems with the Lee 1000. Get used to some preventative fiddling with it and you can pretty much rock and roll.

By all means, opt for the 4-station version. You may want to install a powder check at some point and it's really not an option with only 3 stations.

Have fun and be safe.

stellarpod

 

[Route666]

Thanks for replying! Quality is a big factor for me, and I don't feel the cost of the machine should factor in to the cost of the ammo, I mean, you make the ammo to shoot, do you factor in the cost of your guns into the cost of the ammo? Without your guns, you can't shoot your ammo, so they're as necessary as a reloader, but I don't feel they are part of the cost of ammo. What I'm saying is, that at the time, I probably won't mind spending the extra cash on a better quality machine.