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Posted: 11/8/2013 5:13:04 AM EDT
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are the lee progressive presses really as bad as I've been lead to believe?
I've looked at them a bit and they seem to offer a ton of features for very little money... |
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No personal experience but it appears there is a love or hate relationship with them. I was thinking about taking a gamble on the Loadmaster but I'm just afraid I'd be pissing my money away. When I see the videos on Youtube of them working they sure do crank out the rounds just as fast as any other progressive.
Extremely happy with the Lee Classic Cast Turret though, if the output was higher per hour I wouldn't even think about upgrading. Probably just going to wait to take the blue pill. |
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Several thousand rounds loaded on a Lee Pro1k.
My uncle bought a Hornady LNL progressive, my Lee was removed from my bench. Its totally a love hate relationship. I spent more time fixing problems than reloading ammunition. Please save your money and buy something better. |
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Several thousand rounds loaded on a Lee Pro1k. My uncle bought a Hornady LNL progressive, my Lee was removed from my bench. Its totally a love hate relationship. I spent more time fixing problems than reloading ammunition. Please save your money and buy something better. The overwhelming concensus is this ^^^ (red). As with most things in life, you get what you pay for. 
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are the lee progressive presses really as bad as I've been lead to believe? I've looked at them a bit and they seem to offer a ton of features for very little money... I had one. It is just as bad as reported. Terrible unreliable piece of shit. Imagine a reloading press engineered by Lucas Electrics. Lee took a page out of Lucas's book and made sure the Lee Progressive would never work properly. For me it never did even after a trip back to Lee. I can load faster on my Lee Challenger press because it doesn't break down. I ran a Dillon 1050 for a year when working for a commercial ammo reloading company. Once Dillon 1050's are set up, they just work. They work for thousands of rounds a day every day. I hate to sound like a Dillon fanboi. Get a Dillon 550 or 650. Unlike a Lee Progressive, Dillon Progressives work |
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They do offer lots of features, but do they deliver? If you want a budget piece of equipment - Lee Turret. It will take care of you by and large. If you want to make lots of rounds in a short amount of time, belly up to the kool-aid dispenser and grab a big glass of the blue. Square deal for one caliber pistol is a great deal. Otherwise, 550b does it all. |
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I have a Lee Pro 1000 that is a designated pistol caliber, and .223 reloader. It takes a little while to change calibers, but at the price I paid for it compared to the "Blue Pill" I am way ahead in terms of components bought with the savings. I shoot .223, 38/357, and 45 acp more than anything else and I was able to set up for those calibersfor about half of the Dillon's cost. I have been using it for over 15 years now with no problems. For all of my other calibers I use my 40 year old Rockchucker, as they are primarily hunting guns that I generally only load a couple of boxes at a time to my proven recipes.
I am not knocking Dillon. Every one I know who has one loves them. It really comes down to assessing exactly what your reloading needs are. Think about it before you drop any cash. Both work, Blue is a little prettier, one will leave you more money for components. Hope this helps. 44-40. |
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I have a Lee Pro 1000 that was given to me for free. Love/hate relationship.
My most used pistol round is 45acp - so I simply leave it set up for one caliber. I find that if you get it set up right and DONT TOUCH A DAMNED THING it will work just fine as a progressive press - including the notorious primer feed. I was ready to pull my hair out before I got to that place however. If you want cheap and sort of progressive get a Lee Classic Turret. Otherwise I would say just save your pennies and get a better quality progressive. |
| I loaded on a Pro 1k for a couple years before stepping up to a Dillon 650. If you like fiddling with things, constantly tweaking, and are not in a hurry, they are fun little presses. If you want to sit down and knock out a couple hundred rounds in the shortest amount of time possible, it will cause you to pull all of your hair out. The priming system is definitely it's downfall. When I started wet tumbling, I pulled all my decapping pins out of the sizing dies and hand primed cases before they saw the press. That helped out tremendously with failure rate. I found that the powder measurer was not consistent with flake powders (W231 specifically). It ran great with fine ball powder (AA#2). If you are a tinkerer and enjoy reloading, they are a great value. If you want a progressive that will work pretty much every time, save your money and get a Dillon/Hornady/RCBS. |
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I have 4 presses currently. Dillon 550RL, RCBS rock chucker, Lee Pro 1000, and the Dillon 650 in that order.
I wanted a true progressive press since the Dillon 550's shell plate has to be manually indexed. There is NO perfect press. Every press has their inherent great design and flaws. I got a new Lee Pro 1000 in 9mm with lee dies and case feeder/collator. So far i loaded a little over 10,000 rounds on it. Here are my observations. 1.) Get a real good solid bench or workspace. No flexing or moving it makes a big difference since there are alot moving parts going during its operation. 2.) Please watch youtube videos on how to set it up and run properly. 3.) Priming the cases is best done thru experience...cannot be explained via words on the internet or on video. 4.) If you do not have good trouble shooting skills or patience then this press is not for you. Be as it may even my Dillon's are not perfect and they need tweaking and maintenance to run. 5.) Faster to load and feed primers then my dillon presses. 6.) Faster then my 550 but a little slower then my 650. 7.) The Lee auto disk is pretty consistent with the powder drops...but can be a pain to adjust different charges. 8.) gotta tap the primer tray to keep feeding the primers...no big deal for the cost of the press. In the end i really don't know if my Dillon 650 with auto case feeder was worth the money. I was reloading great and with very nice rate of about 500 rounds a hour with my lee. Oh the lee dies are great! i use a Lee seater Die on my DIllon presses. If you can get it to run right then you will be happy as i was. |
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Had a pro 1000 I used for 45 ACP back in the 90's. When it was working, it loaded well. But you had to constantly tinker with the primer feeder. Now days I have 4 Dillon's. The primer feeders work flawless if correctly adjusted, and you don't spill powder into it. Owners manual tells how to adjust. Spilled powder is the operators fault, not the press. My advice is to save your money and get a RCBS/Hornady/Dillon progressive. If the budget is just not there, look at the Lee Classic turret press. Good luck with your choice.
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I loaded on a Pro 1k for a couple years before stepping up to a Dillon 650. If you like fiddling with things, constantly tweaking, and are not in a hurry, they are fun little presses. If you want to sit down and knock out a couple hundred rounds in the shortest amount of time possible, it will cause you to pull all of your hair out. The priming system is definitely it's downfall. When I started wet tumbling, I pulled all my decapping pins out of the sizing dies and hand primed cases before they saw the press. That helped out tremendously with failure rate. I found that the powder measurer was not consistent with flake powders (W231 specifically). It ran great with fine ball powder (AA#2). If you are a tinkerer and enjoy reloading, they are a great value. If you want a progressive that will work pretty much every time, save your money and get a Dillon/Hornady/RCBS. You shouldn't be reloading in a hurry, that's dangerous on ANY press. Mine is very consistent with W231(which IS a ball powder). It, however is not very consistent with bulky flake powders like Unique. Also the primer system works pretty good, but you must use a blower occasionally to blow out any spilled powder or you have problems. Most problems I have with it are ME. But it does sometimes need a little tinkering. If you lack patience or mechanical aptitude, this press is definitely not for you. |
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In almost 22,000 rounds of reloaded ammo, to include 9mm, 45acp, .40s&w, and 5.56mm, I can say that the Lee Pro1000 has been a GREAT value. The simple fact is that the press is NOT a Dillon and really shouldn't be compared to one. It is a budget press, works well, and has its quirks. The primer system will drive you nuts...that's why for small primer operations, I prime off press. The large primers work pretty well. You WILL tinker with it. That being said, it IS a hobby. My only real complaint with the Pro 1000 is that it is only a 3 hole press. I'd really love it if they made a 4 hole version so I could use my Lee FCD all in one operation. I guess if I really wanted to, I could go to the LoadMaster...but I don't. Guess it isn't that big a hassle after all.
If I was going to load commercially, I'd get a dillon...but, I don't...so I haven't. ka |
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I purchased my Lee Loadmaster a little over a month ago. wMine came with the pro auto disk.It meters spherical well, albeit a tad on the shy side for me without a vibe to help pack the charges. I was torn between it & the Hornady for $200 more.
I read much input from all over the web but seemed to miss the primer issue, which I posted about a little while back, that I wasn't pleased with. It can be fixed & only seems to effect 9mm using the 19S plate.. That aside, I have made nearly 800rnd of 9mm & once set properly it will make ammo that is relatively consistent & goes bang. You have to do your part & make it make rounds that are accurate in your weapons. I am not saying that there aren't better choices for more money. Only you can decide what is the definition of value is for you. I plan on going to a 6S plate, add a bullet feeder & a case hopper & do some other tweeking to help it run better. Biggest piece of advice is to take your time & set up each stage separately & then verify results as you begin using the stations together. I actually started with pre-primed cases so I set up the feeder, bullet & crimp dies first. Once those were set then it was easy to get the depriming & priming sorted out. Now it makes consistant ammo relatively quickly. |
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I use the pro 1000. The first 2 weeks I tinkered and made improvements. I load 223 for now.
So far it works as intended. So long as you keep the primer tray full it operates correctly. The last 10 need assistance. I loaded a few hundred last sunday with zero issue |
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Loadmaster works. Not that hard to figure out. Pistol is a breeze. Rifle is a little more involved, but still a short learning curve. Definitely worth the $$$. I own a LoadMaster and a Lee Turret. The Turret gets used about 100x as often as the LM. Turret is for prep, and load development: ladders, and small groups of 5-10 rounds. Once I settle on a load then it goes over to the loadmaster. I would really HATE doing ladders and 5-10es on a LM. Go here for full support: http://forums.loadmastervideos.com/forums/ One key item is this: the LM is NOT READY TO ROLL straight out of the box. You have to assemble, test, tweak before you start. |
| I have a Loadmaster and it works exactly as its supposed to. All I did was follow the directions and watch some videos on ultimatereloader.com. The people who tell you they are junk are people who 1, probably cant read directions and 2, probably couldnt fix a bicycle. Are they the best? No. But they do work. If you have two functioning brain cells. Lee has been making Loadmasters since '91 I believe. Im sure they wouldnt still be making them after all these years if they were all junk. |
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I have loaded thousands of rounds on each
of my 2 Pro 1000's, 9mm & .45acp, with no issues. I have them since about 1995. I intend to buy one in .40 soon. I use powdered graphite for lubing the turrets and primer chute. I always refill the primer tray no later than 1/2 chute full. I have had no mechanical failures with the presses, or bad loads. I know they have a bad rap here, but I love mine. John |
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I have a Loadmaster and it works exactly as its supposed to. All I did was follow the directions and watch some videos on ultimatereloader.com. The people who tell you they are junk are people who 1, probably cant read directions and 2, probably couldnt fix a bicycle. Are they the best? No. But they do work. If you have two functioning brain cells. Lee has been making Loadmasters since '91 I believe. Im sure they wouldnt still be making them after all these years if they were all junk. Thats what I've seen with them. Got a couple buddies that use them with really no hassle. |
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Thats what I've seen with them. Got a couple buddies that use them with really no hassle. Quoted:
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I have a Loadmaster and it works exactly as its supposed to. All I did was follow the directions and watch some videos on ultimatereloader.com. The people who tell you they are junk are people who 1, probably cant read directions and 2, probably couldnt fix a bicycle. Are they the best? No. But they do work. If you have two functioning brain cells. Lee has been making Loadmasters since '91 I believe. Im sure they wouldnt still be making them after all these years if they were all junk. Thats what I've seen with them. Got a couple buddies that use them with really no hassle. And these are the posts that make me wonder if I should gamble on a Loadmaster (don't want Pro1000 because I like to seat and crimp separately). The ones without having too much issues are you running a Universal Decapping Die in Station 1? |
| With pistol ammo..yep. Says to in the instructions.. On 223 I use a lee full legth size die in 1, and a lee full length size die body only with no expanderball/decapping pin in 2. Titan sells these part no. SD2178. Hand feed brass, no case feeder. Simple easy setup. No issues. Go to www.ultimatereloader.com hit the lee tab and watch this guy run a loadmaster and you will see what i mean. I studied all his videos before i bought mine. I notice no cobbled up modifications to his press either. |
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I run an LNL AP, that being said, mine was a b-day gift from my sons. If they hadn't I would be running a Lee press either the LM or the Turret. I spent months pouring over forums, videos etc. and came to the conclusion that they will work for the intended function. There are probably more reloaders using Lee equipment than others even with the challenges. Blue, Green, and Hornady Red are great machines but for those that are on tight budgets the Lee get's you in the game and there is nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately most will reply it's Blue or nothing else.
Good luck with your decision and either way welcome to the club regardless of which brand is getting it done for you. 
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Loadmaster works. Not that hard to figure out. Pistol is a breeze. Rifle is a little more involved, but still a short learning curve. Definitely worth the $$$. This I've had a LM for almost 25 years. I now have two. The newer primer systems work great. Lots of help and tweaks on the net. Buddy of mine just bought one, his first press. He has been using mine for .45 and wanted his own. I helped him set it up and he's off and running. |
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