Elkins45, I sorta did that when I started match shooting. Out of OCD, I first only installed the resizing/decapping die in station #1 and resized/decapped all the cases. I then chamber tested all the cases in the match barrels to sort out any over-bulged cases (this was pre-bulge kit days) and cleaned the primer pockets. I then hand primed all the cases.
Then I reloaded in progressive mode with the resizing/decapping die removed from station #1. The rounds per hour is very high this way and seems to produce more consistent OALs as there's less tilt effect of shell plate from not resizing cases. I did this in pursuit of utmost consistency in reloading match loads but it also circumvented the primer feed issue. For range practice/plinking loads, I press primed and reloaded in "normal" progressive mode.
raddiver said:
But on the flip side of that coin, BDS did do a wonderful set of write ups to work the kinks out of a those lee progressives. Im not a lee user, so i dont know if its the same press. But i do know it was pretty in depth and full of seemingly useful information.
Yes, it's the same Pro 1000 press OP posted on the other thread -
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=8965013#post8965013
On that thread, we addressed the most common primer feed issues and resolutions but did not discuss basic press set up and routine operations. Perhaps such discussion would have helped OP with introduction to Pro 1000 and avoided much of the problems. Perhaps I will do a detailed Pro 1000 initial set up and operations support thread with resolution mods and troubleshooting guide.
Which leads me to my next thought, why was i looking at that Lee thread since i don't own one. *shrugs* That i will never know.
Maybe people are curious about presses they never got to use and interested in how thousands of Lee users successfully reload with a such subpar/low quality/piece of junk press?
When I started reloading, I was planning to get a Dillon progressive as that's what all the other match shooters used. Only because my reloading mentor trained me on both Dillon 550B and Pro 1000 that I considered it. Like everyone else, I thought since it was a cheaper press, it could not load as accurate of match loads as the Dillon. My mentor laughed at this and said my pistols won't know the difference as long as the finished rounds had consistent powder charges and dimensions. We even did comparison range tests with rounds loaded on both presses and the shot groups were comparable.
Had I not had that introduction to Pro 1000, I too would have been a Dillon user from the start and would be wondering what all the Lee Pro 1000 issues were about.
Knowing what I know now, if I were to do it over again, I would still choose Pro 1000 and that's why I bought 2 more kits so that I now have dedicated set ups for 9mm, 40S&W and 45ACP. It is nice to walk up to the bench and simply place a handful of cases in the collator and start reloading after verifying a few powder charge drops.