Lee Pro 1000

Wait until you get a bunch of primers all jammed up, repeatedly.
Many years ago after owning a Pro 1000......I went to either single stage presses and Turret presses . Never looked back.
Now I have 4 of those type presses in my reloading room and I enjoy reloading at least as much as shooting.

sfl_gunner said:

I got a Lee Pro-1000 last year finally set it up last month and cranked out a few rounds. [snip] Is it normal to have so many issues with Lee presses?

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I started progressive reloading on a Pro-1000. It is not "normal" for Lee, but it is more "normal" for the Pro-1000.

You must understand, the Pro-1000 was Lee's first shot at a progressive press. Hardly anyone was making progressives back then. They were blazing a new trail. Of course things didn't turn out exactly the way they envisioned, and people were willing to put put up with a little more back then. I think they introduced that press about 1995. So you can't look at that product and compare it to a press designed and made in 2021.

However, if you call Lee they will quickly follow-up with repair parts.

I use a pro 1K but I don’t prime on it. Tried all the fixes and gave up. I also don’t use the chain return. I use a pro auto disc and use the built in spring return which works perfectly.

Can’t help with indexing... I follow the instructions and mine works perfectly.

I have broke a few chains. Order a good stainless one. Can get a roll of it for cheap. And a few couplers

I have a couple pro 1000 for calibers I dont shoot a ton. They are cheap enough to just buy one for each caliber you shoot a few k a year. Better to not go taking them apart once they are working lol. Never had any indexing issue with any ive owned. The primer feed can suck for sure. But it can work too. Make dang sure it doesn't get low though, if it does your done. Other than the primers hanging and the chain I haven had a lot of issues. Even the bullet feeder works great with some bullets. Not worth a crap for others.

Sometimes with fluffy powders in full-ish cases the shell holder will jump into the ball detent and fling powder out too.

I have two Pro1000s. Learned early that they were a tinkerer's wet dream. I don't mind making an adjustment or two but hate to have to baby these things. I'm spoiled as dad and I had a pair of Starrs.
What I do now is size and prime a bunch of brass ahead of time. I set up the Pro to expand and charge on first station, seat on 2 and crimp on three.
Priming station on the Lee is the weakest link.

Make sure you put the spring on the chain below where the chain attaches to the press. Adjust the chain so that it has just enough tension to pull the Autodisk slider to the rear position.

Not indexing at all is not a common problem for the 1000. Something must be broken or not set up correctly. Every time you change shellplates, you do have to adjust the indexing.

well... I have had about eight of them since the 80's for the difference in caliber changes back then I just bought complete presses...I ran them pretty regular back then...after 30 years I started buying dillon presses just because I could but still have a few of the old lees...if ya are handy at all and can tinker nthink they work well... a clean press and proper lube n adjustment go a long way. Plenty of info on the web how to run them...Dont let the press snobs run ya away!

If the shellplate is not indexed correctly, it could cause the auto indexing to malfunction. Does the shellplate turn when you turn the indexing screw? If it does not, put some sideways pressure on the screw toward your left when you turn the screw. Sometimes the screw does not make good contact with the ratchet gear inside the shellplate carrier.

I run a Pro1000 with two carriers and 4 shell plates for 380, 9mm, 38Spl and 45acp. Don't use the measure with the chain as I also use these measures on the turret press and the chain doesn't work on the turret press. There are two plastic ratchet parts in the carrier for the indexing and just one screw to adjust the indexing.

I am one of the true freaks that seems to be able to run this press as it was designed w/o a bunch of BS. Two of the most important aspects to this press is that one; it must be mounted to a solid work surface were it will not bump, jiggle, shift, flex or bounce. Two; it must be kept clean from debris and spilled powders. If priming on the press these issues are even more pronounced and never let the primer chute become less than half full. As soon as I see an empty space in the chute I stop and add primers. Only takes a few seconds.

Try this site: https://www.lee-loader.com/index.php

I use the auto disc on all/different presses, even green ones.
I don't use the chain return though, I use the wrap-around spring arm but not the spring as I found it to be clunky.
I use an extension spring instead, it's easier to disconnect and throw a charge to weigh/varify the weight.
On the Pro 1000 (with a lee riser):

And on my piggy back (with 2 risers ):

no chains to break..
I use mostly ball type powder though,
As far as indexing problems there's lot of vids on you tube on the Pro 1000.
There's even a vid on Lee's website about Pro 1000 index adjustments.

Geeze, all this makes me want to trade my Lee Loadmaster for a Pro 1000; the former could entertain a dozen NASA engineers. Your first question could draw a lot of comments. Lee has some wonderful stuff, my Lee dies have been great.

bob40caliber said:

Wait until you get a bunch of primers all jammed up, repeatedly.
Many years ago after owning a Pro 1000......I went to either single stage presses and Turret presses. Never looked back.
Now I have 4 of those type presses in my reloading room and I enjoy reloading at least as much as shooting.

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Of the turret presses you have, which would you say is the simplest and most reliable?

LEE also makes an auto return spring setup for the auto disc series of powder measures that can be found on fleabay among other places if you don't care to gerry rig conversion.

LEE Precision - Spring for Auto-Disk Powder Measure - AD2296

LEE Precision - Lever for Auto-Disk Powder Measure - AD2309

The LEE Value or Classic 4 Hole Turret presses are both simple and worth the money.

wst38tx said:

Of the turret presses you have, which would you say is the simplest and most reliable?

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As far as I know only Lee offers an Auto Advance Turret Press. All others are manual indexing. Also the Lee's are only 4 station while some of the others are 6 - 7 station.

I am not doing any 30/06 class bottleneck case resizing nor am I doing any case reforming so I do not need the biggest, strongest, heaviest press on the market. Others are and that is who those presses are aimed at. The RCBS Rockchucker is a great press though I can do everything I need to do on the smaller RCBS JR3.

Of the Turret presses I have........simplest is my Lee Turret Press....simple, light
Works well.
And you can get tool heads for each caliber you load for.
Makes changing caliber a snap.

The old Lyman Spar T Turret Press I have is built like a brick ****house.
Works great. Turret has room for 6 dies.

I had several issues with priming and powder drop with my Pro-1000’s, which isn’t anything new to those who have used them. I couldn’t ever get them to be consistent so I’ve relegated them to resize-deprime-flare .44 and .38 sized cases after cleaning. These processes are a snap and go quickly with the auto feed for the cases and the indexing.

I then hand prime, charge with a powder measure on a stand, seat and crimp using my O presses.



It’s a lot slower than using the progressive presses as they were intended, but I haven’t had a single issue since.

Stay safe.

I had a Pro-1000 back in the early 90's. It cost $125.00 then, cheaper than the Dillon. Got tired of priming issues, sold it and went back to my single stage. I would advise NOT to use Federal primers. They are perhaps the most sensitive on the market. A friend used a Pro 1000 and had a tray of primers go off. Fortunately he was wearing glasses but his face got peppered pretty good. I don't know if the current Pro 1000 has better protector from the primers.

Thomas Mayberry said:

I had a Pro-1000 back in the early 90's. It cost $125.00 then, cheaper than the Dillon. Got tired of priming issues, sold it and went back to my single stage. I would advise NOT to use Federal primers. They are perhaps the most sensitive on the market. A friend used a Pro 1000 and had a tray of primers go off. Fortunately he was wearing glasses but his face got peppered pretty good. I don't know if the current Pro 1000 has better protector from the primers.

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Sigh!! 30 year old second hand information followed by conclusion jumping. The internet is just awesome.

I had a LEE pro1000 years ago.

I had a lot of trouble with it.

I have 2 DILLON machines now, a 550b, and XL650.

they are very trouble free and wonderful for many years.

I've never had a Dillon or a Hornady but I do have these and they just keep working and producing very accurate ammunition in 380auto, 9mm, 38Spl, 45acp and 223Rem.. I also believe I have about the same amount of money invested in these 3 presses and conversion parts as some do in just one Dillon or Hornady. Nice thing about it also is I can swap out any three of these presses on the bench in a matter of minutes with just 3 button head screws and a 1/4" hex wrench in a 1/4" drive ratchet.

kidneyboy said:

Sigh!! 30 year old second hand information followed by conclusion jumping. The internet is just awesome.

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Well this is right out of Lee's instruction for their own press, the pro 1000:

"Use only Remington™ or CCI™ primers. Other brands, especially Federal™, can explode with sufficient force to seriously injure the user or persons nearby"

Here's their manual, look item #4 on the second page: https://leeprecision.com/files/instruct/TR2441.pdf

Why don't you contact Lee and let them know they've jumped to conclusions

Hi I read your post with interest as I am completely new to reloading and have purchased a Lee Pro 1000. I have broken 3 chains so I would like to know whether the spring you mention below can be used on the Pro 1000 as a return spring to the powder measure.

Tilos said:

I use the auto disc on all/different presses, even green ones.
I don't use the chain return though, I use the wrap-around spring arm but not the spring as I found it to be clunky.
I use an extension spring instead, it's easier to disconnect and throw a charge to weigh/varify the weight.
On the Pro 1000 (with a lee riser):
View attachment 969066
And on my piggy back (with 2 risers ):
View attachment 969067
no chains to break..
I use mostly ball type powder though,
As far as indexing problems there's lot of vids on you tube on the Pro 1000.
There's even a vid on Lee's website about Pro 1000 index adjustments.

Click to expand...