If you would like to prime on this press you will absolutely need to mount this press so that it does not move. Does not wiggle, flex, shake, jerk or tilt. The reason being is that if you study the priming system you will find that the primer is set and balanced on an open anvil. There is nothing there to hold it in place. It does not drop into a cup like just about every other primer system does. So it the press wiggles or vibrates it can and does shift the primer off center and then you have all sorts of problems.
I have been reloading on Pro 1000 mounted on a castered portable bench for 10 years including press priming. Before that, I used heavier 6' and 8' castered bench in the garage that could support the weight of engine blocks but I built a smaller one to be able to reload anywhere inside the house in the comfort of air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter.
This 2'x3' castered portable bench was built so it could turn into bedroom doorway from even narrow hallways and be able to be stored in walk in closets when not in use. Not only have I successfully used the Pro 1000 to press prime but also resized military .308 cases with thicker brass with C-H 205 press mounted on the opposite end (Even with empty weight of the bench due to presses mounted at the ends) -
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/mounting-a-press.848607/#post-11072171
As to Pro 1000 priming issues, we have addressed it to resolution long before you arrived at THR - And it is a PREVENTABLE issue.
Picture below shows normal operation of Pro 1000 primer attachment with top of priming rod falling almost/slightly below flush with the primer attachment sliding surface. Primer alignment on top of the priming rod is done by the weight of the primer column in the attachment chute against the end of the attachment (Even while being primed on a castered portable bench
).
But as below picture illustrates, when there is debri that falls into the priming rod channel (Like powder granule), priming rod cannot drop fully and will stick up above the primer attachment slide surface causing the primer to tilt up (see white arrow in picture below), even to make contact with the bottom of shell plate and if bad enough, lock up the press operation (which prompts choice 4 letter words to be uttered by the operator).
So how did powder granule get into the priming rod channel?
Powder falling from the powder measure on top of the primer attachment chute opening - This is why I suggested using some kind of a cover (even simple one made from paper or clear plastic) to catch powder granules and to keep the primer attachment slide surface clean -
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...lutions-no-bashing.507454/page-3#post-7878007
So how many reloaders use their Pro 1000 without any cover over the primer attachment chute opening? Maybe the same number of reloaders having priming issues?
Forcing ram lever when shell plate is locked up by tilted primer - And if you force the ram lever when the primer is tilted by the priming rod, it will gouge/mar the primer attachment sliding surface making the primer feeding less reliable as now gravity based primer feed (especially with lighter small primers) will have greater difficulty sliding onto the top of priming rod not dropping to below flush.
Lee Precision released this quick fix video in response to this issue, but if powder granules are not cleared from the bottom of the priming rod channel, shell plate needs to be taken off to release the primer attachment from the shell plate carrier to have the bottom of channel cleaned out to allow the priming rod to drop down below flush again. (Using compressed air to blow out the granules from the bottom of the priming rod channel could resolve this issue as well)
Of course, once the primer attachment slide surface is gouged/marred, primers will not feed (slide down the chute) reliably and primers placed partially on top of the priming rod will once again tilt up instead of sliding up into the primer pocket and if the case is allowed to be charged with powder, powder granules will leak down on top of the priming rod and down into the priming rod channel, repeating the "Pro 1000 priming problem" that is preventable in the first place.
Doing a QC check at the start of each reloading session to manually activate the case sensor to drop the priming rod should be part of pre reloading session checks to avoid priming issues -
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...lutions-no-bashing.507454/page-6#post-9614898
Tilting primers can also be caused by shell plate index not zeroing - This is easily preventable problem as shell plate index can be checked at the start of each reloading session and adjusted.
Here's Lee factory video showing proper index adjustment
Repairing damaged/gouged/marred primer attachment sliding surface - Picture below shows mildly/moderately damaged primer attachment from forcibly operating the ram lever when tilted primer locks up the shell plate.
To repair the damage, primer attachment pin was removed with padded pliers and two halves carefully pulled apart
And using folded copy paper, damaged slide surfaces (white arrows in below picture) were "burnished" by sliding/rubbing the folded edge of paper hard and fast until surface was smooth and polished.
Below picture shows damaged attachment surfaces on the left and new/repaired primer attachment surfaces on the right. Of course, if damaged surface cannot be repaired smooth, the primer attachment needs to be replaced with a new unit to perform reliably.
Primer brand / Size / Cup hardness contribution to feeding reliability - On top of these issues, when metric sized primers started selling in the USA, some brands having slightly larger diameter primer cup (If primer attachment slide surface was already damaged/gouged/marred), made even clean new reloading session primer seating difficult. This problem was made even worse by certain headstamp brass (S&B, RWS, etc.) having tighter primer pockets. With metric primers like Fiocchi, seating below flush or even to flush is not doable with tighter primer pocket cases (And when I was using Fiocchi primers with once-fired brass, I had to cull S&B/RWS brass and use Winchester primers).
Based on my experience, CCI/MagTech/Winchester SP primers are the best feeding primers for Pro 1000. Some may raise the issue that diameter of primer cups are close enough or even same BUT there is difference in cup hardness (pliability) and ability for the anvil feet to give during seating as brass quality can vary by manufacture.
Here is Tula SP of particular lot that many reloaders had ignition issues with due to cups being harder. We all know CCI SR primer cup should be harder than SP primer cup yet below comparison picture shows Tula SP primer cup with lighter indent (BTW, CCI primer ignited and Tula primer did not) -
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...ts-your-experience.630512/page-3#post-7807007
Comparison picture showing different brass/nickel plated primer cup of varying hardness and anvil shape (PMC with softest, most malleable primer cup and Tula with hardest, least malleable primer cup).
