ljnowell
Member
This may not interest many but for those few that have ever contemplated one of these presses but have been scared away by "horror stories" please read on.
I've been using the Lee Pro 1000 for around a month or so now. I've primarily used a lee turret, lee single stage, and loaded on a 550 in the past.
Many people complain about all the plastic. Yes, the casefeeder in mainly plastic, however it flat out works. My uncle with Dillon presses told me he wishes they made such a simple casefeeder for them(he just bought a Pro1k this weekend, btw, to load 44mag and 45 colt on). The case sensor is plastic also, big deal, again, it works perfectly.
I have now loaded 1k 380auto, 2300 38 special, and about 400 40 S&W on this press. I have had 1, again, 1 priming failure. It was my fault. I got out of rhythm and forgot to prime a case. This dumped 3.5 gr of AA#2 in the carrier and the next primer went in sideways. I didn't take anything apart, I simply cleared the shellplate, and blew it out with a can of compressed air. No more errors by me and no malfunctions by the machine. That could have happened with any machine, I believe.
I really find interesting that in all of those 38 special only two cases went in the feeder upside down. None of the 40s did, and the 380s had about eight or ten. I did not modify the casefeeder as many do to prevent that.
I do not want to cast stones or insult anyone, but I truly believe that those horror stories most post and all of us read are from people that do not follow directions well(some of that is Lee Precisions fault as their instructions are lacking) and when they become frustrated they push things and that causes part breakages.
People claim that a large amount of "tinkering" is required to keep these presses running. I do not believe that to be true. If you keep the machine lubed, take a few seconds to tape a piece if paper over the primer chute and keep a can of air to blow out the shellplate every 300-400 rds(just to get powder off it to keep it out of the priming station) it will run dead reliable with no tinkering at all. Oh, yes, and keep the chute full of primers. When the tray is empty I run out about four more primers to make sure there is room to reinstall the tray. That's it. The priming system just works.
I don't necessarily consider myself an expert in this press but it's very simple and I have already helped a few people troubleshoot online.
Oh, yeah, what everyone always asks, I can do 350 an hour without trying to push it at all. That includes refilling the case collator, primers, and powder. I could easily push that to 450 or 500 if I wanted too. I believe that a steady pace helps prevent malfunctions also.
I've been using the Lee Pro 1000 for around a month or so now. I've primarily used a lee turret, lee single stage, and loaded on a 550 in the past.
Many people complain about all the plastic. Yes, the casefeeder in mainly plastic, however it flat out works. My uncle with Dillon presses told me he wishes they made such a simple casefeeder for them(he just bought a Pro1k this weekend, btw, to load 44mag and 45 colt on). The case sensor is plastic also, big deal, again, it works perfectly.
I have now loaded 1k 380auto, 2300 38 special, and about 400 40 S&W on this press. I have had 1, again, 1 priming failure. It was my fault. I got out of rhythm and forgot to prime a case. This dumped 3.5 gr of AA#2 in the carrier and the next primer went in sideways. I didn't take anything apart, I simply cleared the shellplate, and blew it out with a can of compressed air. No more errors by me and no malfunctions by the machine. That could have happened with any machine, I believe.
I really find interesting that in all of those 38 special only two cases went in the feeder upside down. None of the 40s did, and the 380s had about eight or ten. I did not modify the casefeeder as many do to prevent that.
I do not want to cast stones or insult anyone, but I truly believe that those horror stories most post and all of us read are from people that do not follow directions well(some of that is Lee Precisions fault as their instructions are lacking) and when they become frustrated they push things and that causes part breakages.
People claim that a large amount of "tinkering" is required to keep these presses running. I do not believe that to be true. If you keep the machine lubed, take a few seconds to tape a piece if paper over the primer chute and keep a can of air to blow out the shellplate every 300-400 rds(just to get powder off it to keep it out of the priming station) it will run dead reliable with no tinkering at all. Oh, yes, and keep the chute full of primers. When the tray is empty I run out about four more primers to make sure there is room to reinstall the tray. That's it. The priming system just works.
I don't necessarily consider myself an expert in this press but it's very simple and I have already helped a few people troubleshoot online.
Oh, yeah, what everyone always asks, I can do 350 an hour without trying to push it at all. That includes refilling the case collator, primers, and powder. I could easily push that to 450 or 500 if I wanted too. I believe that a steady pace helps prevent malfunctions also.
