First impressions: New Auto Breech Lock Pro

[OS OK]

@ Tom Meyers . . . I think what we are talking about is a 'Poor mans Progressive Press' ... something set up to get faster rounds than a turret can get out but not racing to set any records. I don't have the auto anything on my LnL so it gets hand fed case and bullet, on top of that I bring pre-primed brass to it...as far as my RPH I have to account for the pre-priming if I want to know the number. I really don't care though. I get all I need and in the process & I don't load squibs because I take even more time to peer into every case I set a slug on even after that case got by the powder lockout die...even more time spent at it but in the end I enjoy the press and the process and I get to shoot a bunch!

[dverna]

Gsdelong,

I want to thank you for sharing your experience honestly with us. It allows others to make an informed decision.

[JBinMN]

Gsdelong,

I want to thank you for sharing your experience honestly with us. It allows others to make an informed decision.

Ditto! As well as to all that have shared.

[gsdelong]

Gsdelong,

I want to thank you for sharing your experience honestly with us. It allows others to make an informed decision.

Thank you Don, If I could leave a couple of last impressions, the first would be that I like the trade off of the plastic carrier cover as it makes the process of the case feeding considerably more reliable than the pro1000. Also the tapered pin that goes into the holes in the carrier plate virtually eliminates the problem I always had of the carrier plate becoming misaligned causing you to have the case off center and smashing and distorting them on the pro1000.

As I stated in my first post I use this press in a way a lot of people don't but that also speaks to it's versatility. I was able to resize, decap and expand about 500 cases an hour.

After priming and inspecting off press, I will determine if it works for me to complete the process, I have yet to determine if this will allow me to use a powder check die in a Charge, Check, Seat and Crimp 4 die configuration, so far I can not see which it can not happen.

I will share my experience.

[dverna]

gsdelong,

I was very harsh in my post after your review but it was about my frustration with Lee. As I like to say, "They can snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory!"

My background is Mechanical Engineering and I did a lot of product development. I see things that are so obviously (at least to me) wrong that I wonder what Lee is thinking. They get so close and then try to save pennies here and there. The perfect example is the die index buttons you mentioned. Those buttons seem to work on their other press but they saved $2 or less by eliminating them from this machine. Why?

I know two people who had Pro-1000's and could not get them to work reliably...They both bought Dillon 550's after months of frustration. I believe everyone would like a machine that works every time but that is not possible as everything gets a hiccup. As we add other functions, like case and bullet feeders, the chances of failure increases. A 1% difference in consistency means a lot. For example if the reliability of each operation (case feed, powder drop, bullet feed, primer feed, indexing) is 99.9%. Then a progressive will have a reliability of .999**5 - or 99.5%. That is about what I get from the Dillon 1050. It would be impractical to automate the 1050 (as some have done) if it were much worse. If another press is just a bit worse, at 98.9% for each operation, it has a reliability of .989**5 - or 94.6%. Acceptable to some but unacceptable to most.

This is why some reloaders do operations off the press. Their equipment is not reliable. With the biggest issue, at least with most presses, being the primer feed. Many Lee owners prime off the press as do a few Hornady owners. This Lee press eliminates the automatic primer feeder and that should help its performance. I hate having to manually prime on a progressive but it beats the heck out of dealing with a Mickey Mouse primer feed that does not work!!! I am willing to take that trade off for a machine that only costs $125! Lee made a good decision on this. But the rest of the machine needs to run at 99% or it is a non-starter for my desires.

I look forward to seeing your post when you run it as a progressive.

Again, great job on the first review and sharing your experience and thoughts.

[gsdelong]

gsdelong,

I was very harsh in my post after your review but it was about my frustration with Lee. As I like to say, "They can snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory!"

My background is Mechanical Engineering and I did a lot of product development. I see things that are so obviously (at least to me) wrong that I wonder what Lee is thinking. They get so close and then try to save pennies here and there. The perfect example is the die index buttons you mentioned. Those buttons seem to work on their other press but they saved $2 or less by eliminating them from this machine. Why?

I know two people who had Pro-1000's and could not get them to work reliably...They both bought Dillon 550's after months of frustration. I believe everyone would like a machine that works every time but that is not possible as everything gets a hiccup. As we add other functions, like case and bullet feeders, the chances of failure increases. A 1% difference in consistency means a lot. For example if the reliability of each operation (case feed, powder drop, bullet feed, primer feed, indexing) is 99.9%. Then a progressive will have a reliability of .999**5 - or 99.5%. That is about what I get from the Dillon 1050. It would be impractical to automate the 1050 (as some have done) if it were much worse. If another press is just a bit worse, at 98.9% for each operation, it has a reliability of .989**5 - or 94.6%. Acceptable to some but unacceptable to most.

This is why some reloaders do operations off the press. Their equipment is not reliable. With the biggest issue, at least with most presses, being the primer feed. Many Lee owners prime off the press as do a few Hornady owners. This Lee press eliminates the automatic primer feeder and that should help its performance. I hate having to manually prime on a progressive but it beats the heck out of dealing with a Mickey Mouse primer feed that does not work!!! I am willing to take that trade off for a machine that only costs $125! Lee made a good decision on this. But the rest of the machine needs to run at 99% or it is a non-starter for my desires.

I look forward to seeing your post when you run it as a progressive.

Again, great job on the first review and sharing your experience and thoughts.

No need for any apology, I work in the IT industry and at one time owned a software development company, so my perspective is a little different, it always amazed me the way that people could find new ways to use and new ways to crash software.

Cost is not the reason I purchased this press, but value may be, I basically was looking for an easy way to process my bulk brass. It was not until after I started using it for that, I decided it may be worth a go at progressive loading.

[kmw1954]

Another thank you to you guys for taking the time to write up this review with your thoughts and findings. Very informative and objective.

For many of the reasons mentioned I believe this press will find it's niche, especially to people that are looking to just advance from a single stage to something more productive for pistol loading. Yes I push the pistol loading part as I believe that is what this was basically designed for. So to complain that this will not stand up to the rigors of rifle loading is really asking this tool to do something it really wasn't designed to do. Same as the small Pro1000. The difference between these and the Dillon SDB is that Dillon tells you right up front that the press is only meant to load pistol calibers.

I also am one of the few that is loading on a broken Pro1000, I say broken because for me it just works as it was designed. Including on press priming but then I am not trying to crank out 300 rounds per hour like a drunk at the nickel slots. My press still works and I will be staying with it.

Also I was really expecting to see the new, improved, upgraded Pro1000 come out as a 4 station press to accommodate and compliment the new Value Line turret press. I say this because of experience trying to work up new loads on the progressive press and was under the impression that Lee was going to move away from the 3 hole turrets..

[Kenstone]

When I start a loading session on a progressive (I own several different designs) I size/prime 5 or 10 cases and set them aside for when I have a problem priming a case.
I remove that problem case and insert a pre-primed/sized case and continue on.
I posted this in another forum, and many remarked that they never thought of doing that, so I'm mentioning it here.
I know it sounds simple but it's very affective at keeping the loading process moving on, and you can estimate how many pre-primed cases you'll need based on previous sessions.
Also, I de-prime and tumble before loading as it keeps the smooge from gumming up the primer seating.

The 2018 Pro 1000 has a shot pin to locate the Shell Plate

Most previous priming problems on a Pro 1000 were traced to the index adjustment, and it's addressed in Vids at Lee, but owners never go there to find out, just get frustrated and give up priming on the Pro1000, then bash the press online, a shot pin has been added for 2018 to minimize this.

[dverna]

Kenstone,

Having a few pre-primed cases to address the priming issue is an excellent idea! I have a progressive shotshell reloader that will occasionally mis-feed a primer and I will use your idea.

[MAGA]

I called lee yesterday about the safety prime I have the old style round black ones. They confirmed that those will not work with this press so I ordered the new attle along with this press

[sghart3578]

I called lee yesterday about the safety prime I have the old style round black ones. They confirmed that those will not work with this press so I ordered the new attle along with this press

I am in the same boat. I tried using my old primer but could not get it to work.

My new safety prime should get here today for me to experiment with.


Steve in N CA

[Tom Myers]

I am in the same boat. I tried using my old primer but could not get it to work.
My new safety prime should get here today for me to experiment with.
Steve in N CA

I shimmed up the Safety Prime mounting bracket from my Classic Turret Press with washers until the dispenser just set flat on the primer arm ramp and must have just got lucky, as the dispenser actually worked more reliably than when on the 4 hole turret press.

Then I had the bright idea to order out a New Model bracket so that I could put the old bracket back on my Classic Turret press and just use the same dispenser and switch back and forth between presses.

I should have known that there was no way the bean counters at Lee would allow a cheap and simple solution like that to happen. The new Bracket does not work with the old dispenser. So the new Model Safety Prime setup will have to wait until next month's budget rollover.

[Kenstone]

A guy on THR had Safety Prime problems, even with the newest version.
Here's a link to his fix:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...#post-10816105
I don't think I would have welded it though, maybe just put a filler under the pin to keep it from moving back down.

Edit: after reading @redoubt post I went back to review the pics and he is in fact using a mismatch of priming parts.

[redoubt]

A guy on THR had Safety Prime problems, even with the newest version.
Here's a link to his fix:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...#post-10816105
I don't think I would have welded it though, maybe just put a filler under the pin to keep it from moving back down.

I'm pretty sure he's using the old type Safety Prime. The feed arm is black. The newest version is grey.

[Kenstone]

I'm pretty sure he's using the old type Safety Prime. The feed arm is black. The newest version is grey.

Good Catch...
Yes, it seems he's using mixed components, old type Safety Prime, new mounting bracket, in his video.
Still a good fix though, as many who bought/own this press are attempting to use the older (black) Safety Prime they already have, and are not aware the newest design is needed.
I don't have a Breech Lock Pro (yet) but I'm very interested in it and follow many related threads on it.
Thanks for posting,