Who uses a Lee Pro 1000 or Loadmaster?

[Outer Rondacker]

While making the wife breakfast before she runs off to see the kids I find this on youtube. I think it is a simple fix I might use if I run into a primer skipping issue.
https://youtu.be/_vYymZZe4lo

[Bigslug]

Anybody with some mechanical ability and a boat load of patience can make a Pro 1000 work properly. They are a delicate machine and must be operated carefully. Many think there time is more valuable than that and they are probably correct for their situation. Some of us consider things like this to be a mechanical puzzle. Something therapeutic to occupy our spare time that can produce a useable thing. I could easily afford a new 550b if I thought I needed another one. Three Pro 1000s permanently set up for one and only one caliber at about $120 each and a Star set up for another caliber,it was free, a 550 set up for lg pistol primers a couple of turrets and a rock chucker and I can just go to a set up press and start loading for the stuff I shoot most. I'm now on the look out for a LM. Not because I need it but because I have heard bad things about them and I want to see for myself. I suspect they are not as bad as the Pro 1000. Anyone got a real basket case for sale cheap?

I have to ask: How much of your seemingly bottomless well of patience for the Pro 1000 resulted from being trapped inside for months on end during an Alaskan winter? Parallels to gnawing your own leg off to escape a trap seem appropriate. . .

[rbuck351]

If you wait for good weather in AK you will never get outside. Winter is for hunting from a snowmachine or cross country skis for small game..And then there is ice fishing. And the local shooting range has heated shooting sheds with lights for the ranges.

[JohnH]

Good show Sr. I have learned quite a bit about progressive reloading on and because of this thread . I at one point gave up on progressive reloading due to my lee load fast adventure , I am watching and counting my piggy bank as I read about your progress .

The real quality of progressive presses is not saving time but saving motion. Not being critical of you but the phrase you use "lee load fast" speaks volumes about how many think of progressive presses and why they get in trouble with them. My first progressive press was a MEC 650 Jr. fpr 20 guage shotshell. It was manually indexing but the powder/shot charge bar was mechanically operated. Gave me fits at first learning the sequence I needed to be "in time" with the machine. I'm finding the same thing on the Loadmaster I'm setting up. As I bought just a basic press with no priming or powder system, priming in batches off press and using a manual powder measure (RCBS Little Dandy) the curve on my timing is pretty steep right now. Am going to replace the manual powder measure with a case aactivated automatic type, but still there is some amount of "what you do and when you do it" with progressives. Good luck in your future venture.

[wawoodwa]

...but still there is some amount of "what you do and when you do it" with progressives.

Yes. Very true. As it is a tool, you can't pull the handle like it is a slot machine in Vegas hoping to hit the jackpot. Slamming it from stop to stop doesn't work. It is a flow...

[r1kk1]

I at one point gave up on progressive reloading due to my lee load fast adventure ,

I loathed the Lee Load Fast press. It went back within 30 days. Wouldn't index correctly to save its hide. I'm glad Lee dropped that press.

Take care

r1kk1

[Outer Rondacker]

I had a chance last night to cycle the powder measure 100 times. I dropped 10 charges to get a average each time. I am just dumb founded. Number 37 on the lee auto load drops 4.4 grains of tite group.
1- 43.9
2- 44.1
3- 44.2
4- 43.9
5- 44.0
6- 44.0
7- 43.9
8- 43.9
9- 44.0
10- 43.9

= 439.8 that is a difference on average of 0.002g For a junk cheap old measure I am happy with that. I think a lot had to do with me squaring the face of the disk and slider on the measure. Took two mins of my life to do this. It took a lot longer to do this test. I am going to dig out the tests of the Dillon measure I did on the SDB. I will say it was not this good but then again I was not using the same powder. This does mater when doing a test. YMMY. Rain on the map for today so I might get going on that 1k run. Lets hope so.

[toallmy]

The load fast was far from fast , the best I could do was one at a time all the way around . In my pursuit of a 366 I ran into a Mic 9000 after a little tinkering and adjustment it actually works . That is what I am looking for in a handgun loader . I am watching Mr Outer Rondacker with a loadmaster , because I could see setting up loaders for different calibers at the price . If not well then it's a 550 and conversion kits . I don't get in a hurry when I load I enjoy it . Same with casting .

[toallmy]

The suspense is killing me , it's like a soap opera for a man . Good luck in your adventure .

[Outer Rondacker]

Toallmy what has been killing me is my reloading room has been dropped in size with a new smaller bench. I have been having issues making it all fit. You forced me to make it happen. With that solid platform I can start the run. Not long now. Stay tuned for a the next episode.

[r1kk1]

I had a chance last night to cycle the powder measure 100 times. I dropped 10 charges to get a average each time. I am just dumb founded. Number 37 on the lee auto load drops 4.4 grains of tite group.
1- 43.9
2- 44.1
3- 44.2
4- 43.9
5- 44.0
6- 44.0
7- 43.9
8- 43.9
9- 44.0
10- 43.9

= 439.8 that is a difference on average of 0.02g For a junk cheap old measure I am happy with that. I think a lot had to do with me squaring the face of the disk and slider on the measure. Took two mins of my life to do this. It took a lot longer to do this test. I am going to dig out the tests of the Dillon measure I did on the SDB. I will say it was not this good but then again I was not using the same powder. This does mater when doing a test. YMMY. Rain on the map for today so I might get going on that 1k run. Lets hope so.

If you set your measure for 4.4 why does it drop around 44? I noticed your total was 439.8 divide that by 10 is 43.98.

please clarify.

R1kk1

[wawoodwa]

If you set your measure for 4.4 why does it drop around 44? I noticed your total was 439.8 divide that by 10 is 43.98.

please clarify.

R1kk1

He did 10 tests of 10 drops. The total weight of the 10 drops equals around 44. That divided by 10 is 4.4. He did the test 10 times.

Then he took the 100 test total and divided by 100 for the overall 4.39.

[r1kk1]

He did 10 tests of 10 drops. The total weight of the 10 drops equals around 44. That divided by 10 is 4.4. He did the test 10 times.

Then he took the 100 test total and divided by 100 for the overall 4.39.

Thank you. More patience than me.

When I set up, I measure the 1st 10 throws then if it's within a tenth, I measure every 10th cartridge. My wife averages a tenth with Unique, ball is just dead on, stick and other flake powders are a tenth and on a bad day two tenths.

I have some 800x and 3031 to use up today.

take care

r1kk1

[wawoodwa]

Thank you. More patience than me.

When I set up, I measure the 1st 10 throws then if it's within a tenth, I measure every 10th cartridge.

Me too! I haven't done Outer's test before. I might give it a run with some Power Pistol. I use a beam scale now. So that would take me a lot of time.

I do like you do. Measure a few and random sample while loading.

[toallmy]

Please don't let me rush you sir , If you are enjoying yourself doing it as much as I am watching your progress it is already a winner . I was posting at the same time as you this morning , but I caught the powder test .

[Outer Rondacker]

If you set your measure for 4.4 why does it drop around 44? I noticed your total was 439.8 divide that by 10 is 43.98.

please clarify.

R1kk1

OK I did not feel like testing 100 single powder drops. So I put my catch I was using under the powder measure and cycle it 10 times. Then I weight the total of the ten charges as one. I did this ten different times. Put all the numbers together and ran an average. Then took that average from correct total and divided it by 100. And you got me. It should of been 0.002g of per round. I had a typo sorry. I will go fix it. Standard deviation.

[jmorris]

The real quality of progressive presses is not saving time but saving motion.

With one comes the other, they are not mutually exclusive. It can be hindered a lot by folks that get frustrated with making a progressive work as intended though and give up on a priming system working and make two passes of each case through the press and hand prime inbetween.

Why there are a lot of folks that dislike the Lee presses but have moved on to presses that are closer to "just works" in terms of setup.

[dikman]

That is very true, JM. While I didn't get frustrated by the occasional primer jams (because I understood why it happened) I decided by splitting the functions across two presses I would probably come out ahead overall. When the press is functioning properly it's great, but I found that when a primer jam occurred I wasted a lot of time getting everything back in sequence. This way I'm still using a press to feed the cases and prime, but if the occasional primer mishap occurs it's now a simple, and quick, procedure to correct it, and when I load and seat boolits there is no reason for anything to go wrong now (other than operator error!!).

[jmorris]

I decided by splitting the functions across two presses I would probably come out ahead overall. When the press is functioning properly it's great, but I found that when a primer jam occurred I wasted a lot of time getting everything back in sequence.

I understand and agree, that's one reason why the Lee progressives are not my first recommendation for progressives.

[Outer Rondacker]

Warning LONG POST. Well I am around 100 rounds loaded with the LM. A few things I learned fast from my setup. I have taken some pics for you. This is the spot on my bench I picked for 45acp reloading off the Lee LM. I have put up some white back round to help keep the other things from making a messy pic. As you can see I am using WLP. I am not a fan of the new folding tray. It might work well for keeping the primers from falling out as you put it in the slot having the on off button but the fold makes it hard to move the primers from one side to the other without flipping the wrong way again. I have not had one issue with primer feed. I know I should be knocking on wood here based off others mileage. The case feeder is very simple and works like a champ. I will admit I forget to turn it in time and get an empty slot going around before I notice it. I think I will learn when to spin it with more time. I will be cutting the bolt on the case feeder tube as it sticks down far and makes it hard to remove my loaded bullet bin. Now for a moment of truth. I spent way to much time making sure this was going to run fine based off the horror stories of others. If you recall I got this press in a box. I had to order parts but that was ok since I got the updated ones. At first look of the case feeder I thought to myself what a piece of JUNK. After using it I see no need to make it more simpler then it is. It works great and fast. I could not be happier with the powder measure with no leaks and a very decent consistent drop. I will admit one more thing. I am using 45gap dies. That is no big deal but I still can not find my universal depriming die. So I had this idea I would drop a 243 or 308 die in the second station to keep the case centered over the priming pin. Not sure what I was thinking as those dies require lube. Two pulls in I could feel the resistance. I then grabbed a 45lc bullet seating die and screwed that into place. This solved the die issue and case wiggle if it ever had any. Not pushing the lever forward to prime is going to take some learning. You do get a feel for how you have to push the indexing bar in. A nice smooth stroke and all goes well. I will keep loading and give a report at 1k rounds. As of right now I feel it was well worth my 100 dollar investment. As for the full price well that is up to you. I will say this. Lee knows they want your sizing die in station two with the depriming pin removed. They claim to want you to use a universal depriming die in station one. I feel they should include this die in the full kit form when you buy it that way. Hint Hint Titan if your listening. I would also remind anyone reading this I took the few extra mins and polished things to make it all run smooth. Station 5 is a 45-70 crimp die. I do not own a 45acp crimp die. Its to keep the pressure on the shell plate even. Feel free to ask any questions. I might or might not have the answer.

I want to thank everyone who has read and posted in this thread. What started as a which do you use or would you use turned into me making one run. Like others have said if you have the skills perhaps a Lee LM is for you. I have many a friend who I would tell to stay away from this press. If you want to follow the thread more I will be updating any issues or fixes as they come about with the rising numbers of bullets. They are calling for rain Thursday maybe I will attempt to hit 1k.