The Lee Pro 1000 and why it was returned

[mastiffhound]

Yesterday while decapping (depriming) my .223 shells I was having problems. I had got 3 shells stuck the prior day. 2 to 4 shells every time I used it. The rotating tray kept getting stuck where the primers feed. It was awkwark to pull the lever and took way more force than necessary to pop a primer out of a shell and size it. I cleaned it the day before and almost every time I used it. Yes I was using case lube, I am not asking anyone to tell me how to fix that piece of hog crap. I am just listing problems the day before.

Yesterday was the final straw. Things were going ok. I hadn't had a stuck case in 20 rounds or so. Then one stuck, and it was bad! I couldn't pull or push the lever even an inch. I tried to unscrew the die with the hope that turning the case might loosen it. No dice. I then decided to push up on the handle with considerable force, I had torn the bottom of a case up before but I at least got it out of the press and took the die out. That was when the ram decided to disconect itself from the rotating shelf. I was done, I removed the case from the die, boxed everything back up, and took it back to Cabela's. I had only had it since 5/22/12

Cabela's is only 35 to 45 minutes away so not a big deal. I had only run 102 shells through the Lee Pro 1000. When I got there they said that since I still had the box, receipt, and had it less than 90 days they would return it. When talking to the guy who works in the reloading section he told me that the Lee Pro 1000 didn't have a very good reputation and gets returned alot. I then got a Lee Breech Lock Challenger press and the parts to start back up when I got home. I was very angry, if it didn't work then Lee was going to loose a customer. My dad has used their products for around 30 or so years now.

I set up the new Lee Breech Lock when I got home. In about an hour and 45 minutes I had decapped almost 200 cases! The handle was easier to push and pull, and in general felt much sturdier. I am glad I took it back. I would recomend any other Lee loader than the Pro 1000. It is poorly manufactured in my opinion and is not worth 3 times as much as the Breech Lock. With the Breech lock it is faster to reload shells than my dad's old Lee too! All you do is set up your die in the lock and tighten it down. After that you just push a button and twist, the die comes out the new one goes in and you are on your way. Has anyone else had these kinds of problems with the Pro 1000?

 

[LiveLife]

Has anyone else had these kinds of problems with the Pro 1000?

Yup. Although you can load .223/7.62x39 on Pro 1000, it is more suited for high volume pistol loads. I load .223 and .308 along with several pistol calibers but load .223 on C-H single stage or the Classic Turret press ... much more pleasant experience, especially depriming crimped primer pockets and resizing thicker walled military .308 cases.

The rotating tray kept getting stuck where the primers feed.

Pro 1000 uses gravity based primer feed system and relies on the weight of the primers in the feed ramp/primer tray to push the next primer into station #2. If you get any powder flakes in the feed ramp or feed ramp is not full of primers, you will not get reliable primer feed.

 

[Miata Mike]

I have 2 and would like at least one more. I have one setup strictly for 9mm and another I had dedicated to .45acp until I decided to load .38 special on it too. I am having a slow go on converting it to run smooth, but the problem I had was due to not having the ram seated deep enough before setting up the dies.

I tried to do all steps from decapping to seating all at once and had the tool head seat all the way on the ram messing up all of my die settings. I got them all reset but ran out of time. It was my fault and not the presses on that one.

I personally doubt that I would decap .223 on a Pro1000 since I trim, debur, chamfer, swage and clean primer pockets before loading. I wouldn't ever try to prime on that press without being 100% sure that there were no crimped primer pockets.

I will use the Pro1000 to decap ice cream pails of 9mm at a time, and then hand sort out all crimped brass before loading. I then prime on press with the sizing die removed and crank'em out. Nothing worse than not seating a primer and dumping powderall over the place.

My .45acp press I have been hand priming like a thousand at a time to make sure I don't get a small primer case mixed in by mistake.....another buzz kill. Not my fault that manufacturers at will change their specifications. Man does that press crank'em out with the shell feeder and collator!

I guess I am far enough off topic by now.

 

[jmorris]

Lee makes some good stuff, their progressives and bullet feeder are an exception.

 

[mastiffhound]

That is what I was told right after I bought the Lee Pro. I decided to give it a try, a fair chance if you will.

 

[Sport45]

I won't defend the press as I've never used or even seen one. But the problem you described of cases being stuck in the sizing die doesn't sound to me like it's related at all to the press manufacturer. That was a lube issue, plain and simple.

Instead of the breech lock, did you consider the Classic Turret? It has the same mechanical advantage of their big single stage press and keeping 4 dies locked in a turret makes for very quick changes. I don't use the auto index feature on mine, never have and don't plan to start.

 

[ranger335v]

Cases don't 'stick' in a die because of the press, they stick because of poor lubrication and nothing else.

 

[mastiffhound]

I was just decapping by the way, not loading or putting primers in. I only used it single stage. That makes the Lee Pro seem worse, It couldn't even do one thing right let alone three! Maybe it just doesn't do well with rifle cartridges?

 

[mastiffhound]

Your right they stick because of the die. I put 3 sprays of case lube per 10 rounds in my gladlock bag directly on the cartidges. I then rolled them around to make sure they were coated. I went from that to 5, to finally 10 sprays. I still had the problems. So now that that is settled my guess is a bad die? The press had numerous problems on it's own. I follwed instuctions on assembly to the letter. I'm just glad that it is gone. I am overjoyed with the new one. Its like trading in your old 1993 Buick that keeps breaking down. Every time you turned the key you would wonder if it will leave you on the side of the road again. Or even start for that matter!

 

[mastiffhound]

The new press and dies are working just fine with 3 sprays of case lube per 10 rounds.

 

[Ken70]

"I was just decapping by the way, not loading or putting primers in."

You're resizing during that decapping operation, if you are gonna stick one in the die, that's when it will happen.

What kind of lube? I've tried the spray stuff, went back to cream, applying with my fingers or squirt some on cardboard and roll the brass on that. You can tell if you have the right lube and applied it right by how hard it is to resize a case. Night and day difference between a greasy one and something that is pretty much dry.

 

[kingmt]

I had problems when I first started using it but found out it was crimped primers so the problem was me not the press. This is a very nice press.

 

[Lost Sheep]

Sorry to hear of your troubles. I had problems with the Lee Pro-1000, but mostly it was the trouble I had trying to monitor multple simultaneous operations.

I switched to the Lee Classic Turret and am much happier.

I wish I had known of your complaints earlier. I recommend it over the Challenger, though if you will be doing only batch processing, the difference is not very much. If you want to do continuous processing, the difference is staggering.

Good luck.

Lost Sheep

 

[mastiffhound]

Hornady One Shot case lube is what I use. Again, I haven't had problem one with the new press or dies. I am decapping and sizing with out so much as a squeek or hard pull on the handle.

 

[Sport45]

Hornady One Shot case lube is what I use.

That particular lube is the one used in probably 80% or more of the stuck case stories on internet forums. YMMV

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

get you some imperial die wax

or just about anything other than that one shot

 

[mastiffhound]

I do have some Cabela's case lube but I never tried any? I thought for sure Hornady would be a better lube. I still haven't had a stuck case with the Hornady case lube though since switching the press and dies.

 

[franke1951]

I recently purchased a LEE Classic 4-hole press along with ancillary products that came with it. I love the auto indexing. Probably will only use my 25 year old 3-hole LEE press for larger rifle calibers.

I’ve bought several kinds of non-oily case lube, but the best I have yet used for resizing 556 mil brass is Lemon Pledge with moisturizer. It’s crazy, but it works great.

I hold about 10 cases and spray it down the necks, then just start rolling them around in my hands.
Thanks

 

[rem1858]

Case lube problem, no doubt.

I use RCBS lube soaked into a pad.
Roll cases over pad and use cutip to apply inside case mouth.
never a problem.
Just saying...

Clarence

 

[Eb1]

the best I have yet used for resizing 556 mil brass is Lemon Pledge with moisturizer

WOW! Another use for pledge. You can clean Harley's with it, and also lube brass. Cool!

 

[Dakotared]

The Lee Pro 1000 is a great press for pistol. Well at least 9mm, 10mm, 45 acp, and .380 as I load these on a pro 1000 with no problems what so ever. So maybe it does not like 223 but I will find out soon as I will start 223 within a year.

 

[mastiffhound]

I just got done decapping and resizing some more 5.56, still haven't had a stuck case. I am up to over 400 done. I have taken the die out and cleaned it about every 200 shells. I couldn't get more than 40 or 50 tops without a stuck case in the last die. I also don't have to worry about the carousel getting stuck or indexing problems.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Both presses are Lee and you said you changed dies. Which dies did you have and what do you now have?

Like said already, the press did not cause the stuck case problem, the lube did. Hornady One Shot is the problem. Buy and use Imperial Sizing Wax and your Lee 1000 setup would have been just fine... You really shouldn't bash a product because you made a mistake.

 

[kingmt]

Most people that don't know what they are doing blame there tools instead of looking to find the problem. I always look at myself first & that is where the problem is most of the time.

It is to late to teach the OP anything now because he already took the press back. He also said in his first post he didn't want to learn anything. You can't teach someone that doesn't want to learn.

 

[Scimmia]

Hornady One Shot case lube is what I use.

And did you let it dry as per instructions? Being faster, the Pro1000 won't let it dry as much as a single stage. Adding more and more would just exerbate the problem. The Pro1000 has it's problems, but stuck cases has nothing to do with the press. One-Shot's reputation is just as bad as the Pro1000's.