Done with Progressive reloading

[Hangingrock]

I've never claimed to be a Handloader but rather a Reloader. With that said I favor the Progressive as opposed to the Single-Stage but I do have one single stage press which is used exclusively for rifle reloading. Two of the progressives are for dedicated usage one for 9mm Luger and the other for 45ACP. The third progressive is not setup dedicated to one particular cartridge.

 

[david bachelder]

I have a new LNL. It took a while for me to get things right, I'd say about 500 rounds. Now I'm almost to 1500 and the press is running great. It took a little time and some patients but the reward is good.

The biggest problem was trying to figure out exactly what was wrong. Most of the time it was me that was the problem, not the press. Tinkering is part of the hobby. I'm sure every press made requires a bit of break in and tinkering. I hear it a lot form Red to Blue to green.

Now days I need to stop loading, I'm getting a lot of ammo stacked up and unable to do any shooting. Last time I counted I had about 2000 rounds in storage and for me, thats a lot.

I would suggest a LNL to anyone looking to take the progressive dive.

As far as the OP goes, I'm glad you found something you are comfortable with.

 

[Constrictor]

I hate to bash but you started with a Lee progressive. Thats all you have to say. frustrating as hell, ive not had one but ive loaded on my buddies and its no fun.

Its a shame this has to happen over a few bucks, the amount you save is what, $100 bucks over a dillon 550?

I liken this to my other hobby, flying rc airplanes. If a guy tries to learn on his own or with a plane that isnt set up properly, or equipment thats never
gonna run right they will give up before learning to fly.

 

[CraigC]

Can't relate but it probably has something to do with that particular press. I have one turret and one Dillon 650. When I get my new bench built, I plan on having a bank of Dillons but no more single stage presses or turrets.

 

[Potatohead]

I hate to bash but you started with a Lee progressive. Thats all you have to say. frustrating as hell, ive not had one but ive loaded on my buddies and its no fun.

Its a shame this has to happen over a few bucks, the amount you save is what, $100 bucks over a dillon 550?

I liken this to my other hobby, flying rc airplanes. If a guy tries to learn on his own or with a plane that isnt set up properly, or equipment thats never
gonna run right they will give up before learning to fly.

Do you really want to learn to fly with an expensive one? sounds like a bad idea...crashin and burnin....

 

[Potatohead]

Hate to jump on the bash wagon, but the Lee progressives must suck REALLY bad. Their must be some value somewhere with them, right? With all the gnashing of teeth they invoke, it seems they would be out of business.

 

[Katitmail]

Hate to jump on the bash wagon, but the Lee progressives must suck REALLY bad. Their must be some value somewhere with them, right? With all the gnashing of teeth they invoke, it seems they would be out of business.

Price is soo good - people buy them. Similar to HF I guess I was thinking about Lee progressive too. (I heard loadmaster little better than 1000) Finally decided to go with Dillon. Resale value is very good so I will be out not by much worth case scenario. I wanted press to produce ammo, not to be another hobby. If I had time - I would ge Lee just to play with.

 

[Constrictor]

Do you really want to learn to fly with an expensive one? sounds like a bad idea...crashin and burnin....

You get help with the training. And basically yes you learn on an expensive used plane. They fly better
You will actually learn and not give up.

 

[Beentown]

Hate to jump on the bash wagon, but the Lee progressives must suck REALLY bad. Their must be some value somewhere with them, right? With all the gnashing of teeth they invoke, it seems they would be out of business.

Lee does not live or die by the Pro. They have many other products. If the press is so bad (Pro) I wonder why no change on their part? My Crazy Uncle swears by his but he sets them up for each caliber and then leaves it. I know of two others with multiple Pros and they haven't had any major issues. One had to tinker with the priming system though as I recall.

I have only had one Lee press and it is a Classic Turret. Perfect from day one and quite easy/flexible with caliber conversion. One day when the kids are all out of the house I may have a room full of 650's but until then the CT is doing just fine. I may buy a Lee later to just try one and have first hand experience...I am a tinkerer.

 

[frankge]

I really tried to hang in there with the Lee 1000, I tried everything and loaded amny thousands on it, but in the end I dont think Lee progressives are the way to go. Got a LNL and it runs smooth with both rifle and pistol. I shoot USPSA and eat alot of ammo between me and my son. That said, I use all thier dies in the LNL, thier prep tools, and hand primers and never had any issues. I always use lee dies because they just work for half the price - I've got about 100k 9mm though the original die set. I use the Lee Turret for lowe volume stuff and I've had it for years.

 

[Schwing]

I know I am going against the grain here but I have a lee pro 1000 and love it. It was the first press I loaded on and am thinking about buying a second because I am getting too lazy to trade out carriers when I switch from small to large calibers. I have a buddy who started on a pro 1000 before buying a Dillon and he gave me a whole laundry list of tips and mods to do. He actually regrets selling his lee because he had very few issues with his as well. At the time I started reloading, I was working on half of my normal income. I figured I would start out with it and buy something else when I had more money coming in.... I do now but see no reason to upgrade. I have virtually none of the problems that are being listed here but I did take the time to trick out my press before I even used it. These tips are available with pictures (i think there is even a thread on THR). If anyone has specific questions, please let me know. I will list some below though I don't have pictures at the moment.

1. wrap a loop of 12 gauge copper wire around the post that rubs against the primer tray pin. The posts have indentations about every inch or so. If you wrap the copper wire around the post inside one of those indentations, the primer tray pin rolls over it each time you cycle the press giving the primer tray a little shake. This almost completely gets rid of the problems with the primers not feeding. The mod takes about 2 minutes and I have not had to fiddle with it or replace it since buying the press 8 months ago.

2. Put a slight bend in the shell plate ejector pin. This is the little wire pin that ejects finished rounds from the shell plate and down onto the ramp. This keeps them from getting the jamming that people talk about. This mod takes less than 1 minute. I am still using the original pin and have not had to make any further adjustments. I have never had a round jam in mine like you hear about.

3. Inside the case feeder hopper, there is a small hole in between the 4 tube holes. drill a .22lr sized hole in a penny and then use a .22 shell to secure the penny in that center hole. This will completely prevent shells that are 9MM or smaller from going through the case feeder upside down. If reloading larger than 9mm, simply remove the penny. Since doing this mode I have had less than 5 upside down shells. This mod was, by far the most time intensive... taking an entire 5 minutes.

4. Keep your dies clean especially when loading lead or hard cast. The lube likes to work its way into the seating/crimp die and can wreck havoc with your OAL.

The final tip is just keeping the whole thing clean. I keep an air compressor next to mine and blow out underneath the shell plate every 25 rounds or so. I think the biggest failing of the pro 1000 is that even a single grain of powder down below the shell plate can jam things up. I also wipe down all moving parts with prolix to clean them and lube them regularly (just about any non-oil based or dry lube will do).

I hope you can get more comfortable with your pro 1000. If you do, don't get upset for buying the single stage. I am actually ordering one myself for bullet sizing etc.

 

[Catpop]

I saw no mention of the Dillon SDB. I've used one since the late 70s with only one little glitch after an extended lay up (which Dillon took care of with out hesitation) while I dealt with some of lifes new poker hands. It was easy to use and supplied me with quality 357 foder even as we now speak. It cut 50 reloads from one hour to 10 minutes.
Now that I bang a 45acp 1911, I am faced with a new delima- SDB conversion, 550B since I already have the dies (Lee), or SDB complete dedicated to 45acp. Then another for 9mm which my son shoots. Decisions, decisions. I presently single line 45acp, 9mm, and all rifle on a 1973 Lyman Spartan, my first press and powder still dropped on a # 55.

 

[Hondo 60]

I started with a Lee Breech Loch single stage.
Once I figured out what I was doing I bought a Lee Pro1000.
I hated it! There was always something wrong.

I finally boxed it up & bought a Lee deluxe turret.
Well it ain't so deluxe...
The worst part is the spent primers all over the place.
Maybe 10% actually go down the chute. :banghead:

Sold both of them (kept the SS)

Finally lucked into a 2nd hand Dillon 550.
I will NEVER go back.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

The first new press I ever bought when I was young was a pro 1000. I can't say it was a mistake but it was certainly trying at times.

I can honestly see why people get so irate over them. I have been using one for 22yrs.
I agree with BDS:

There should be a warning on the box.

Something like
"You have to be a masochist to want to use one of these",

Since I bought my LNL-AP my pro1000 just sits on the bench and does nothing but remind me that when I bought it, I couldn't afford to buy anything better at the time.
The priming system on my LNL-AP works really well and after a year I bought the case feeder for it. It also works really well. I take all the dies out and put a universal depriming die in pos 1 and deprime 9mms at 1300-1400 and hour with no problems from the case feeder.

If you would have started out with a Hornady, RCBS, or Dillon auto progressive you wouldn't have been turned against them.

Lee Pro1000? It depends on your fortitude as to how long you will last.

 

[gojones]

Moved recently from single stage to Progressive

I started reloading with the Lyman 310 tool when I was 18. In my 20,s I bought the Rock chucker and thought I was on top of the world. Got married and kinda put everything on hold except for the annual session getting ready for hunting. Now that I am retired, I got the LNL AP and do some pistol shooting. Having more fun than I ever could have imagined. I also do not load from case to completed bullet either. But by breaking up the process, I can handle 300 to 400 rounds and do the primer pocket cleaning, tumbling and so forth and be ready to shoot by the next day. Am moving away from hand priming somewhat and using the LNL priming tool more. So far I just had to back out the left pawl half a turn to tweak the indexing. After two weeks I can break the press down and reassemble in my sleep. Don't have to rush now a days.

 

[Crashbox]

I started with an LnL progressive and still use it for loading my standard-strength .357 Magnum rounds. With the .40 S&W I use a hybrid approach- I bell, charge and semi-seat the bullets on the progressive, then do the final seating and taper crimp on the single-stage.

All of my .357 Magnum nuclear-strength rounds are done single-stage because I don't like the powder rattling out and making itself home all over the shell plate. I used to load them on the LnL AP...

All of my rifle rounds are single-stage only (currently only .405 Winchester).

All de-priming is done on the single-stage since I use an ultrasonic cleaner, and all priming of all cases is accomplished with a dedicated priming tool.

 

[DSling]

OP I've been reloading on my lnl ap for a bit (haven't hit a year yet) and love it. My mentor taught me on a rock chucker. I don't think I will give it up for a single stage but I will get a single stage to do my match loads.

Another post tracked by the government.

 

[a2x4bbl]

LNL Hornady

Have had my Hornady LNL for years now , works fine for me .Have reloaded thousands of rounds , rifle and pistol . I will do 100 rounds in 20 minutes being slow and careful. I looked at Lee stuff but the Dillon and Hornady presses just looked beefier and better built to me .A fellow at work has all Lee reloading equipment ( progressive ) and he always complains of the primer feed . Still have the Hornady single stage (which I bought first because of a lack of funds , no other reason ) . I really can't ever see getting rid of it . Maybe it's just one of those things where you should just have both. Rifle or shotgun ? Both really is better . Revolver or Autoloader ? Again , both is better . Carry gun or target pistol ? Both wins again . Mill or Lathe ? Both clearly the victor .

 

[nooooobie]

It's like marriage...

When I was a starry-eyed young buck, I dove head-first into marriage. Unlike many, I vowed I would make it work, no matter what. Yes, there were times when it would've been easier, and more satisfying to chuck it. I've been married 30 years, with much credit to my better half.

It's the same with my Pro-1000. I have set my jaw and made a vow I will make it work. I have learned a lot, and continue to learn. In return, I am satisfied with the results, most of the time, and when problems arise, I work to address them. This forum helps.

There might be a woman out there who fetches my adult beverage and doesn't complain how much I spend on my toys, but that's not the path I've chosen.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

ill put it this way. If i had to go back to single stage loading for handgun ammo id quit loading. Secondly if the lee progressives were the only brand available i would personaly rather load on a single stage.

 

[RandyP]

I am a happy satisfied Lee gear user - so sue me - LOL

For my realistic ammo needs the Classic Turret with its 150-175 round per hour output is a perfect match - and it is very budget friendly. Were there no Lee products I would not be able to afford the hobby. If I ever need to upgrade to a progressive, it WILL be the Lee Loadmaster.

Could I get a 'better' press at 3-4 times the price by buying a Dillon mega-machine? Sure. But if all I need is to go to work and the grocery store, I don't need to buy an Aston Martin. If I realistically needed the very high output of the 650/1050 machines? then THEY would be the perfect match to my needs. Dillon, RCBS, Hornady et al make SUPERB hardware.

 

[Potatohead]

You get help with the training. And basically yes you learn on an expensive used plane. They fly better
You will actually learn and not give up.

i hear you..your post reminded me of a funny story from my youth..

 

[Constrictor]

I guess it all depends on how much and what you shoot but if an average shooter shoots 200 rounds of 38 special twice a month your going to save $120 per month, $1,440 per year, $43,200.00 over 30 years the extra $200 the Dillon cost seems cheaper than Bayer aspirin from headaches for that time.

 

[jmorris]

Its a shame this has to happen over a few bucks, the amount you save is what, $100 bucks over a dillon 550?

I would say if it makes you quit even trying to load with a progressive you didn't save any money, just waisted it.

 

[LiveLife]

Actually, it's way more than $100. Natchez has Pro 1000 kit with dies for $160 and it comes with case feeder.

Scheels/Graf has Dillon 550B for around $390 and a set of Dillon dies for $66 and you still don't have a case feeder. If you load multiple calibers, you also need to factor in caliber change costs. And Dillon 550 don't have auto index like the Pro 1000, you will need Dillon 650 for auto index.

I agree that over time, even the cost difference for 650 with case feeder and caliber changes can be justified but some reloaders may not want to or be able to spend $700 - $1200+ on a progressive set up. For them, Pro 1000 offers another progressive option that is initially affordable (Keep in mind that some of us were/are starving students/young adults who still want to shoot a lot ).

Is Pro 1000 option for everyone? No. Is it viable for some? Probably and I wonder just how many thousands of Pro 1000 owners successfully reload on them all across the nation every month?

For me, I have become spoiled by the convenience of 3 dedicated Pro 1000 set ups for 9mm, 40S&W and 45ACP all with case feeders and my entire set up costed less than a single caliber Dillon 650 set up without the case feeder.

I have considered replacing/adding the Dillon/Hornady progressive press but when my wife asks me, "But honey, will they load more accurate ammo?" I have to ponder and tell her no.