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Thread: Who uses a Lee Pro 1000 or Loadmaster?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    Who uses a Lee Pro 1000 or Loadmaster?

    I have used RCBS singles Lee singles, turrets, Hornady LNL, Dillon's 650,550,SDB, some old ones I cant even remember. I have never used or even seen a Lee Pro 1000 run. Same goes with the Load Master. So who here uses one or the other. I am looking to get one going. Would you tell a friend to buy one or stay away? If so what would you go for? I am looking to do one thing. Load 45 ACP and leave it set up for this one cal forever. I think the price point is not bad on the Pro 1000 but then again I have never paid much for a press.
    Last edited by Outer Rondacker; 02-17-2016 at 06:40 PM.

  2. #2
    Boolit Mold
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    I use a loadmaster, purchased from Titan reloading. Its run flawlessly for me, loading 9mm and 30-30. No issues that inexperience didnt cause. Titan provided a troubleshooting guide with my press and following their recommendations there have been none of the issues that Ive heard others suffering. I wouldnt hesitate to purchase a loadmaster based on my experiences to date. I can run up to 300 9mm rounds per hour pretty easily.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master on Heavens Range
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    I use a Lee Pro 1000 just for prepping brass ( to save wear & tare on my good press )
    Shoot'em If You Got'em...

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    Bonz are you using the press like this because you do not like the way it works or does it not work correctly?

  5. #5
    Boolit Mold
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    I use a loadmaster for 45acp. I don't use the primer system for multiple reasons. I cant seem to get the depth correct (to many high primer) but the main reason I don't prime on the press is because with 45acp you have both lpp and spp cases I can tell you from experence that the loadmaster will make a large primer go bang when you try to put it in a small primer hole (don't know how that piece of brass got in there). with the hand primer I can feel that something is not right

  6. #6
    Boolit Master 1bluehorse's Avatar
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    If you don't mind seating and crimping at the same time (three die stations) I'd go for the Pro 1000. I have had a couple of them and I've owned (have two right now) Loadmaster presses. My opinion is that you'll have fewer "possible" issues with the 1000. AND, if there are issues they are easier to rectify also. The two LM's I have right now both work very well but I've also installed some after market parts (priming system) to them and a couple other small tweaks but nothing major at all. Priming is the weak spot for both presses, the indexing and case feed issues SOME have with the LM is generally just improper setup adjustment. Same with the Pro 1000. They both can be made to run, some just need a bit more effort. If you're not willing to spend some time working with either of them then I'd look for something else.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    Thanks 1bluehorse. I do not mind putting in the time. I currently run a Dillon SDB in 9mm. Two single stage presses for loads of rifle and small runs. Two Hornady LnL with every shell plate they make. I am looking to keep one going on 357 and the other on 44mag. Leaving me with one cal I need to load a decent amount of. 45ACP. The small runs like 22tcm and 10mm I do not mind doing on the singles. No way I am running 45 acp on a single. The LnL's primer set up is just a pain. So I am turning to my fellow reloaders to feel out what I should buy. I really wish I could get a good deal on another SDB in 45 but I have looked and the price is to great. I guess I would not mind doing some on my single if charging was not SO SLOW.


    Vaskeet do you add the case in station two with it pre primed? You must deprime in a single run first?

  8. #8
    In Remembrance

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    I have the Pro 1000 set up for 9mm. As long as you don't try to get really fast with it it works just fine. Slow down and get the feel of the press before you try to get a LOT of production. I can do 200-300 per hour when everything (me) is working right. As stated befor, the priming system leave something to be desired but it is workable. If you get one, go to Lee's website and watch the videos on the 1000. I have had mine for about 10,00 rounds and I still learned a few things watching the videos. Have fun.
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  9. #9
    Boolit Mold
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    Quote Originally Posted by Outer Rondacker View Post

    Vaskeet do you add the case in station two with it pre primed? You must deprime in a single run first?
    I deprime using the loadmaster with a separate turret with a lee universal decapper installed. Then I hand prime with a auto prime. The 45acp turret is set up with a resizer (with deprimer removed) on station 1 a lee powder through die with a auto drum powder measure on station 2 ( the primer feeder and screw that seats the primer are removed) rcbs lockout die on station 3 seating die done on 4 and LFC die on 5. I load the cases in the case feeder and go to town. I use the loadmaster for all depriming. I do load the 9mm on a LNL progressive

  10. #10
    Boolit Master

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    I have a shooting buddy set up with a Lee Pro 1000 in 40 SW. He bought it new, or his new wife did, and we set it up for a two turret system. I don't like to primer on certain progressives if possible.
    1) first turret deprimes brass in station one, resize in station two, and flares in station three.
    2) second turret has the powder charge on the first station, seats on the second station, and crimps in the third.

    You could deprime and resize in step of you desired, and flare with the powder charge. But I find that the more one step operations you do on certain presses the smoother the operation.

    Im thinking of setting one up for SP 45ACP brass only just to have it. But getting these old Dillon 450s being thrown at me and I can't pass them up! LOL

    The good thing about this two step operation is you can prep brass quicker than hand priming or using a single stage press. You can inspect the brass after the first run. Like Bonz, I'm thinking of getting one setup for brass prep.
    I'll be needing that for squirrels and such.....

  11. #11
    Boolit Bub
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    I have and use a pro 1000, it is a good press but has it quirks, for 45acp i use a lee 4 hole turret press and think that is your better option for a newbie to lee presses.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master dikman's Avatar
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    When the Pro 1000 is running as it should it does a great job. The priming stage, however, is where trouble is most likely to occur. The feed area has to be kept scrupulously clean, and it works better if the primer tray is kept fairly full, as the weight of the primers in the tray and slide pushing on the primers helps them feed better. Unfortunately, powder has a tendency to work its way from the powder-dropping area into the priming area and once this happens it starts mis-feeding primers. It then requires stripping and cleaning.

    There are many posts about this issue. Lefty mentions one solution - use two turrets to separate the priming and powder-dropping functions, I use a slight variation on that and have two presses (I got both used at good prices), one for de-priming, sizing and priming and the second for powder-dropping/flaring, seating and crimping. By not allowing powder anywhere near the priming function I expect the presses to operate perfectly.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    I have three of the Pro 1000s and have managed to get all three working very well however as dikman says the powder spitter spitting powder into the primer jammer will bring things to a halt right quickly. There are many posts on fixing these issues. Start with the powder measure and sand the top and bottom of the powder disc you will be using to flatten it and the top of the bottom part of the powder measure that the disc slides on. This slows down the powder leakage a bunch. Any powder that does leak will fall directly into the primer slide and jam it up. Take apart the primer slide and deburr every thing the primer touches on the way to the primer punch and wax with JPW. Make sure the hole the primer punch fits in is CLEAN and that the primer punch drops completely level with or very slightly below the bottom of the primer slide or they can hit the punch and turn up on their side. Cut a piece of plastic milk jug to fit on top of the open slot in the primer slide from as close as you can get it to the empty case up the slide until it locks against the top of the primer slide. The idea here is to prevent ANY powder from getting into the primer slide. Then polish the expander part of the powder through die so it slides out smooth and doesn't shake powder out of the powdered case. And last, keep an air hose regulated to 25/30lbs handy to occasionally blow off any powder that got out of where ever. Also if you do have a jam up (spilled powder) in the primer feed, you can blow all the primers left in the slide back into the primer tray. If you have drilled a paper clip sized hole through the spout of the primer tray a pin can be dropped in to stop the primers from all spilling out as you remove the tray. Then use the air hose to clear any spilled powder and start again. Cycle the press while blowing everything off especially around the primer punch. It saves a bunch of time over disassembling half the press to clean. I got pretty good at this before getting the bugs out of my three. Oh yeah, polish every part that moves and touches another part and wax the ones that shouldn't be oiled. They will produce a lot of ammo in a hurry if properly set up. Using a slow smooth stroke seems to work better than trying to push things too fast. There are different methods of dealing with the issues of the Pro 1000. I would not recommend one of these to anyone not having some tinkering skills and a serious amount of patience. I started out with two used ones that folks had lost patience with and a third Lee reconditioned one just to see what all the fuss was about. There is a reason why some folks hate them but other folks can make them work rather well.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    Some good info here. If I was going to spend the money to buy two Lee Pro 1000's I would just grab a new Dillon or LnL. I helped a friend get a four hole turret set up by Lee a years ago and after doing so I would never use one as a progressive.

  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy

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    Both are good presses. Most progressive presses have issues in certain areas, all of which require the operator to keep an eye on to ensure they continue to operate smoothly. They all need adjustments eventually. I've loaded with a Loadmaster for 25 years and I will use it for all my handgun reloads. I do however hand prime because I've never purchased the upgrades for the priming system, and the priming system on mine sucks. For the money, I don't think there are any progressives better than the LM.

  16. #16
    Boolit Grand Master jmorris's Avatar
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    I was given a basket case loadmaster, was able to get it to work after a few hours.



    I don't tell friends to buy one though, all of the other presses you mentioned in the OP would be more reliable.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master on Heavens Range
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    Quote Originally Posted by Outer Rondacker View Post
    Bonz are you using the press like this because you do not like the way it works or does it not work correctly?
    Just like my father always told me, "you get what you pay for". I bought it specifically for prepping brass and nothing more. It only has 3 stations so I would never use it to reload ammo on. The brass feed system does not work very well. It was difficult to mount a brass feeder on but I finally got one working. The method of collecting de-capped primers it terrible. I'm sure that there are ways to improve this press but thats not going to be me. I use a Hornady LNL for all my reloading and it works perfectly. I'm sure that all or most progressive presses have their quirks but once you understand them, its easy to figure out how to compensate and get them to make ammo.
    Shoot'em If You Got'em...

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    I came across this video a few days back. At the time I said man the press runs smooth. Good job. I am ok with 200 rounds an hour more would just be a plus. Looks like size in slot 1 with ? in 2 flare powder drop 3 rcbs bullet feeder in 4 and five is a seat crimp. Am I correct? Still not sure what is in two or why you didnt move them all back one and do a FC in the last hole. But hey it runs like a top dont mess with it.

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy longshot1154's Avatar
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    I've reloaded with a loadmaster for 20 plus years, handgun only. I have it set up with the case feeder and 1st station is size/deprime, 2nd is priming, 3rd is powder, 4th is bullet seating and 5th station is factory crimp die. The 5th station being factory crimp is something I just started doing as I only did this on rifle in the past on my single stage Lee. Been running it like this since the day I got it and never felt the need to do any portion off press. I did update to the new primer systems when they came out and I just installed a new Lee auto drum powder measure that I haven't used yet. The only issue I have run into lately was when I set the press up to reload 44 mag. The shell plate had a burr so one shell would not go completely into the shell plate causing it to hit the edge of the sizing die. A few seconds with a small file and I was able to run nonstop.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    Thank you longshot1154. I am thinking more on the LM.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check