New Auto Breech Lock Pro

ess45 said:

Looks like the sub plate is plastic/covered. I wonder how it will hold up with repeated compression.

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ess45 said:

After viewing the video again, the shell-plate is also the sub-plate for the brass.

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Not quite.

If you look at the schematics posted on Lee Precision's website, there is a hole under station #1 (where case slider is located to the front right of press) where ram is mounted to the metal sub plate.

On Pro 4000, ram is not centrally located under shell plate (like Load Master, Dillon, Hornady LNL AP, etc.) but rather like Pro 1000, is located under station #1. On Pro 1000, resizing load on station #1 will drop the "free floating" shell plate and bottom of shell plate will make contact with the top of shell plate carrier thus limiting downward travel of shell plate. This design makes resizing of brass more consistent as shell plate tilt cantilevering on subplate is eliminated.

On Pro 4000, we really need to physically inspect station #1 to see what limits downward travel of shell plate. At this point, we are all just speculating, including myself.

I have already started a new technical support thread for Pro 4000 actual problems / solutions - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...ch-lock-pro-support-thread-no-bashing.835405/

But as requested by member Hokie_PhD, I started another thread for "Unboxing Pro 4000 - User Review Discussion Thread" to share actually how the new press operates instead of speculating - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...r-review-discussion-thread-no-bashing.835426/

Of course, we can continue speculating on this thread how the new press is supposed to operate.

Mine shipped today from Midsouth Shooters Supply. Midsouth's website is showing the press as back-order right now but the shell plates are now in stock.

I went to Titan Reloading this morning and looked at and touched the new press. It left a good impression. I'm a LCT user and it looks like it would be a very simple transition. Yes there are some plastic parts but it seems like those are parts that don't need to be metal. I like the sight lines. I like the priming system a lot. It's not huge (to me Dillons are huge).
I'm looking forward to reviews.

kidneyboy said:

I went to Titan Reloading this morning and looked at and touched the new press. It left a good impression. I'm a LCT user and it looks like it would be a very simple transition. Yes there are some plastic parts but it seems like those are parts that don't need to be metal. I like the sight lines. I like the priming system a lot. It's not huge (to me Dillons are huge).
I'm looking forward to reviews.

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Is the priming system manual only or is there a way to make it feed automatically? Ive never used the classic turret system and am not familiar with the setup. Also does it seem fairly sturdy? My first ever press was a Pro 1000 and while I got it to where it was close to 100% reliable for priming it took a pretty good forward press to seat the primers, mainly due to the lack of leverage in the handle.

Also, from the pics it looks like visually checking the powder level will be a bit tougher with the case being on the back side of the press after rotating from the powder drop station. Is that accurate or am I missing something due to the one dimensional angle in the videos? Thanks for your input.

Priming is with the Lee Safety Prime which means its manual. Some won't like that but its effective, easy and you can see each primer. I am not a fan of primer tubes.

We will have to see what the reviewers here have to say about sight lines for powder check. From my perspective today it didn't look like it would be a problem for me.

If there are no major bugs i may have to get one. Less than $200 for me as I own dies already.

kidneyboy said:

Priming is with the Lee Safety Prime which means its manual. Some won't like that but its effective, easy and you can see each primer. I am not a fan of primer tubes.

We will have to see what the reviewers here have to say about sight lines for powder check. From my perspective today it didn't look like it would be a problem for me.

If there are no major bugs i may have to get one. Less than $200 for me as I own dies already.

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Thanks. I have 3 Loadmasters but really only use one, if this press pans out ok I may sell the other two and replace them with this. Not a fan of the manual primer system, maybe I could get use to it. Otherwise, the function looked pretty good. Looking forward to some real world experiences.

someguy2800 said:

Mine shipped today from Midsouth Shooters Supply. Midsouth's website is showing the press as back-order right now but the shell plates are now in stock.

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I got an email about 1 hour ago, saying my order from Midsouth shipped.I had placed my order on the 31st of March.

Ordered mine from MidSouth February 21st. This is what my email from MidSouth says:




We just wanted to let you know that your backorder has finally come into stock!
It has not been processed yet.

Your order will be shipped by US PRIORITY.

Your backorder is finally in stock and can be shipped once we get a response from you.
Please REPLY back to this email as soon as possible, and let us know if you want this order shipped, or if we need to cancel it.
Your order will be cancelled in 7 days if we have not heard from you. Please respond to this email to CANCEL or SHIP.






What!? Anyone else get this? Ship it, of course! Guess I’ll call Monday morning.

Just checked I didn't get that email

Rule3 said:

But please be sure to post any issues in the "correct" designated thread.
Once out of the "box" any issues would go to the problems thread.
This is the speculation/bashing thread.

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LOL.....

Rule3 said:

This is the speculation/bashing thread.

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After 17 pages, we are still speculating about a press none of us had a chance to reload on yet.

Somehow, I have a feeling even long after the presses are delivered to members, speculation/comparison to other presses/Lee bashing will continue as to what is "wrong" with the new press.

Walkalong said:

I would strongly suggest a new thread when the presses come in.

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It is my hope that two < No Bashing > threads will give proper technical support and objective press review by ACTUAL owners/users to benefit other members interested in the new press.


Of course, this thread will continue on to allow members to discuss everything else related to the new press.

Walkalong said:

This has been fun, but is all cluttered up.

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Bang! said:

Ordered mine from MidSouth February 21st. This is what my email from MidSouth says:




We just wanted to let you know that your backorder has finally come into stock!
It has not been processed yet.

Your order will be shipped by US PRIORITY.

Your backorder is finally in stock and can be shipped once we get a response from you.
Please REPLY back to this email as soon as possible, and let us know if you want this order shipped, or if we need to cancel it.
Your order will be cancelled in 7 days if we have not heard from you. Please respond to this email to CANCEL or SHIP.






What!? Anyone else get this? Ship it, of course! Guess I’ll call Monday morning.

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Did anything change with your CC after you placed the order. Expiration date, new card issuance?

kcofohio said:

Did anything change with your CC after you placed the order. Expiration date, new card issuance?

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First thing I checked. All my information is still the same.

I am sure a call to Midsouth on Monday will clear things up.

Bang! said:

Ordered mine from MidSouth February 21st. This is what my email from MidSouth says:




We just wanted to let you know that your backorder has finally come into stock!
It has not been processed yet.

Your order will be shipped by US PRIORITY.

Your backorder is finally in stock and can be shipped once we get a response from you.
Please REPLY back to this email as soon as possible, and let us know if you want this order shipped, or if we need to cancel it.
Your order will be cancelled in 7 days if we have not heard from you. Please respond to this email to CANCEL or SHIP.






What!? Anyone else get this? Ship it, of course! Guess I’ll call Monday morning.

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Now I feel bad, I ordered mine March 29th.

Tracking on mine says it will be here Monday. Mail usually comes at noon so I should have mine setup and running by Monday evening. I'll take a video of it for those interested.

Some videos are appearing on youtube:

Not yet one worth watching. BDS still has time for a quality well presented video. One that is organized and doesn’t peg the ahhhhhh ummmmmm ahhhhhh ummmmmm meter.

Put one on backorder from Midsouth last month for $124 . Got an email it's on the way and they gave me the sale price of $106 !

Rule3 said:

UNBOXING! bds is going to be crushed!

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Not at all.

Unboxing video had me at not using the spring at bottom of Pro Auto Disk chain - A BIG NO-NO as user will experience inconsistent powder drops as the result.

And video did not cover our key points of discussion that span the past 17 pages.

So here are more speculations:

• Ram mounted under Station #1 did not rise above the steel subplate or red plastic housing on top. We do not know if ram could be mounted higher.
• Shell plate appears to be "free floating" type like Pro 1000 so we have to wait to verify that
• So during heavy resizing, we do not know if the bottom of shell plate contacts the top of red plastic housing.
• Video did not cover consistency of OAL variance of Station #1 alone and all the stations full

Overall, I am glad the press performed better than I expected and I "speculate" many will like the new press.

@bds
Would also like to know the reliability of the case feeder/collator. If 99% reliable, it can compensate for the manual primer charging.

TIA

bds said:

Not at all.

Unboxing video had me at not using the spring at bottom of Pro Auto Disk chain - A BIG NO-NO as user will experience inconsistent powder drops as the result.

And video did not cover our key points of discussion that span the past 17 pages.

So here are more speculations:

• Ram mounted under Station #1 did not rise above the steel subplate or red plastic housing on top. We do not know if ram could be mounted higher.
• Shell plate appears to be "free floating" type like Pro 1000 so we have to wait to verify that
• So during heavy resizing, we do not know if the bottom of shell plate contacts the top of red plastic housing.
• Video did not cover consistency of OAL variance of Station #1 alone and all the stations full

Overall, I am glad the press performed better than I expected and I "speculate" many will like the new press.

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If it were me handloading bottle neck rifle I would size then measure and trim if necessary. This would obviously require removal from the press. Of course speculation aside one possible limitation of this press is that it will not be easy to reassign stations to put the seating under the ram station #1 for the tight seating tolerance some might be looking for.

Another question since Lee is going after Dillon with this press, will it be possible to manual index the shell plate when the indexing rod is removed (to knock the 550 out of the market)?

More speculation since we can still do that on this particular thread. I figured out why it is called the Lee Auto Breech Lock Pro. Once Lee gets the bugs worked out on this one they will introduce another press aimed at the budget handloader called the Lee Auto AM (AM is short for amateur). Sort of like the Lee non classic turret this will allow those short on cash to participate in the progressive experience. This press, based on the Lee Auto Breech Lock Pro, will have some plastic where steel is used now and will further reduce cost by skipping the Lee Breech Lock feature.

ess45 said:

@bds
Would also like to know the reliability of the case feeder/collator. If 99% reliable, it can compensate for the manual primer charging.

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With 40S&W and 45ACP, case collator will fill the tubes with cases mostly right side up. If you fill up the collator with too many cases, you will get upside down cases in the tubes.

For 9mm, case collator needs to be modified to fill the tubes without upside down cases. You can easily do this by drilling a hole in a penny to accommodate a spent 22LR casing. Penny with 22LR casing simply drop in the center hole and will give you 99%+ right side up case filling of tubes - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/lee-pro-1000-small-case-feeder.709948/#post-8830830