Coming soon - lee six station progressive press

[GWS]

I put my name in for one of the blemished ones. Got an email back a week later that said, "very sorry to inform you that we've already sold all the blemished presses." signed by John's sister? or daughter, maybe? Anyway fresh out of luck on that one. Probably just as well because I have all the progressives I need, others' needs are, I'm sure, more needful and important.

To be honest, I was wanting a new "winter project" to play with as I do less and less at work. Still may get one down the road.....I'm a curious type, and I'm an addicted modder. IOW's.....what can I do to make it better.....maybe nothing....but it'll be great fun trying. Besides, I then have an excuse to print my 5th set of bullet and case collators.

When I bought the APP when it first came out, I had similar needs and curiousity. Even before I bought it I was thinking what great upgrade to any single stage press......a bullet/case feeder!! I have an RCBS Summit press with similar open faced design, and thought how neat it would be with a few Lee APP parts! Finally got around to that mod and it came out pretty fair.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...=1#post5442483

So I'm wondering what fun this new press can conjure up in 2023. Maybe I could add TylerR's caliber quick change to it?

[dverna]

I put my name in for one the the blemished ones. Got an email back a week later that said, "very sorry to inform you that we've already sold all the blemished presses." signed by John's sister? or daughter, maybe? Anyway fresh out of luck on that one. Probably just as well because I have all the progressives I need, others' needs are, I'm sure, more needful and important.

To be honest, I was wanting a new "winter project" to play with as I do less and less at work. Still may get one down the road.....I'm a curious type, and I'm an addicted modder. IOW's.....what can I do to make it better.....maybe nothing....but it'll be great fun trying. Besides, I then have an excuse to print my 5th set of bullet and case collators.

When I bought the APP when it first came out, I had similar needs and curiousity. Even before I bought it I was thinking what great upgrade to any single stage press......a bullet/case feeder!! I have an RCBS Summit press with similar open faced design, and thought how neat it would be with a few Lee APP parts! Finally got around to that mod and it came out pretty fair.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...=1#post5442483

So I'm wondering what fun this new press can conjure up in 2023. Maybe I could add TylerR's caliber quick change to it?

You are the perfect beta tester for something like this, so I hope you get one and give people interested in this press the low down on it.

I see them on sale at Titan for $340 but "out of stock". I don't need one either but might get one just for giggles. Winters are long and cold here in MI...LOL. If they work, I could sell my 1050 stuff and get one for every caliber I load on the 1050 (9mm, .38) and have $1000+ left over. I don't shoot 15-20K rounds a year anymore so can get by with a slower machine if it is reliable.

[GWS]

You are the perfect beta tester for something like this, so I hope you get one and give people interested in this press the low down on it.

I see them on sale at Titan for $340 but "out of stock". I don't need one either but might get one just for giggles. Winters are long and cold here in MI...LOL. If they work, I could sell my 1050 stuff and get one for every caliber I load on the 1050 (9mm, .38) and have $1000+ left over. I don't shoot 15-20K rounds a year anymore so can get by with a slower machine if it is reliable.

On your last point.....Exactly! That is why I won't buy a 1050 as good as it is. Not made for many small batches of many calibers. I'm NOT a competitor firing a 1000 rounds a month of 9mm.....or .223, and caliber change on one of those is NOT very fast.

I also bought the seven station RCBS Prochucker just because my curious got out of control.....believe it or not....it is my rifle press! I guarantee you the factory case feeder is not stock, and tho I bought their really nifty rifle "tube" bullet feeders.....they get fed by 3D printed electric collators, not hand fed tubes.

This is all about fun.....IMO having a ammo factory that is fast enough to supply the world is not my idea of fun. Reasonably fast is good though.

[megasupermagnum]

They are actually cheaper than that, you are looking at the kit price. The press alone is $239.59 at Titan, or it would be if Lee would release the press officially.

I too do not need another press, and I definitely don't need another project. I still have a flintlock I need to get together... and an engine into a truck now that I think of it. I still am interested in this 6 pack. All the pieces are there that I want to see in a modern progressive press. Lots of stations, easy to fill priming tray, wide open frame design, easy changeover.

[dverna]

Joined the Facebook forum on this press. We are not hearing everything from the "Lee Lovers" on this forum. So far it is not "perfect".

Some presses shipped with "cracked bases". Lee is standing up and getting them replaced but it makes one wonder if there was no QC, poor QC, or just Lee's way to beta test the first 70 or so presses.

Some of the videos show a lot of bench flexing so I expect issues that will not be the fault of the press. Inexperienced reloaders do not value things like good press mounting.

MSM, yes, good catch. I will get the $240 option when it becomes available and after Lee gets its act together. I am no Morris, but decent with mechanical things. If the Six Pack works half way decent I will put my last 1050 up for sale. At 72, I do not need that much production from a machine. I will keep my 550 as a back up and buy two Six Packs. One set up for 9mm and one for .38 Spl.

I will give the Six Pack an honest try. If they work, they will set me back $500. I can sell the 1050 and extra tool heads for $1500 and be $1000 ahead. I am not expecting Dillon quality but "good enough" will be good enough.

I am concerned about the slew of plastic bits and pieces Lee is using. I used to work in the injection molding business and know stuff like that will not last. I will end up buying at least 4 spares of everything needed to run the presses. BTW, it is another justification to have two Six Packs and keep the 550.

At this point, I want to increase the chance of success. I plan not to add a bullet feeder and KISS. It must be able to feed cases and I would like to incorporate the Dillon Powder Check die.

If the primer system is as crappy as reported on other Lee's, it will be a fail for me. I will not prime off the press. If I need to deprime off the press it will be a fail as a true progressive, but I am willing to deprime off the press using the Lee APP. I will not be happy about needing to use the APP.

[GWS]

They are in stock at Titan Reloading.....let the games begin.

Update.......and already....out of stock again. A feeding frenzy? Lee is good at causing them. I'll wait til the dust settles...I'm in no particular hurry.

Livelife got his "blemish" pre-order that was held up for a time...yesterday. https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...stency.911743/ Probably a production minus blemishes.

[megasupermagnum]

Good, so I'm not crazy. I finally got the email from Titan, but when I went to look they said out of stock. I'm probably not going to buy one until after Christmas at this point. Too much to do now, and I need a new chainsaw first.

[dverna]

Good, so I'm not crazy. I finally got the email from Titan, but when I went to look they said out of stock. I'm probably not going to buy one until after Christmas at this point. Too much to do now, and I need a new chainsaw first.

I sold my chainsaw this weekend. $300 to “waste” on a new Six Pack.

[megasupermagnum]

I could get by with my current saw, but I'm getting sick of starting it over and over, being as it doesn't have a brake (it's older), I shut it off when moving. I think it's finally time I get a bigger saw, with a brake. Probably a Stihl 250.

[deces]

I sold my chainsaw this weekend. $300 to “waste” on a new Six Pack.

I thought the expensive Dillon was on the chopping block.

[dverna]

I thought the expensive Dillon was on the chopping block.

Not if Lee has produced another ***. If the Six Pack does not meet my expectations, both Dillon’s are paid for.

If the Lee works well, I will sell the 1050. I will share my experience with the members here. BTW, the Six Pack will be compared to the 550.

Either way the members here win. Either they get to know they can get a press as good as a Dillon for less money, or they know not to waste their hard earned money.

And I will be completely transparent. I am a Dillon lover because the only Dillon press that did not meet my expectations was the 900SL.

[GWS]

I'm impressed with Livelife's picture review so far over on THR.org. When people get their own, betcha it'll be a useful source of initial info. What my problem is at the moment is figuring out where I'm going to put another press.....until I figure that out, I need to remain on hold.

Probably my only reservation so far is the priming system.....I'm hearing from Livelife that it feeds well down to three primers.....would prefer that number to be ..... zero... but probably not a deal breaker. Would be nice if there was a spring or something behind the primers to provide a little push.

[deces]

They are in stock at Titan Reloading.....let the games begin.

Update.......and already....out of stock again. A feeding frenzy? Lee is good at causing them. I'll wait til the dust settles...I'm in no particular hurry.

Livelife got his "blemish" pre-order that was held up for a time...yesterday. https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...stency.911743/ Probably a production minus blemishes.

Thanks for posting that. I learned something new to me, about primers being marked as non-toxic.

[dverna]

They are in stock at Titan Reloading.....let the games begin.

Update.......and already....out of stock again. A feeding frenzy? Lee is good at causing them. I'll wait til the dust settles...I'm in no particular hurry.

Livelife got his "blemish" pre-order that was held up for a time...yesterday. https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...stency.911743/ Probably a production minus blemishes.

Thanks for posting this. I added it to my favorites and will keep updated.

[dverna]

I'm impressed with Livelife's picture review so far over on THR.org. When people get their own, betcha it'll be a useful source of initial info. What my problem is at the moment is figuring out where I'm going to put another press.....until I figure that out, I need to remain on hold.

Probably my only reservation so far is the priming system.....I'm hearing from Livelife that it feeds well down to three primers.....would prefer that number to be ..... zero... but probably not a deal breaker. Would be nice if there was a spring or something behind the primers to provide a little push.

When I downsized my reloading set up, I only had enough space to mount three presses. The two Dillons are permanently mounted, and the third spot has an In-Line Fabrication mount for the two SS presses and sizers etc. So far that has been very workable.

As to the primer feed issue. I had numerous issues with gravity feed problems on a Green Machine I bought decades ago so I am not confident about it working well. A little bit of dirt and....

On the Spolar there is a small vibrator that runs for a couple of seconds to help feed primers and it worked well. I am thinking of trying something like that on the Six Pack if I can figure out how to mount it. But I expect keeping the primer trough clean and lubed (I use a silicone spray on primer tracks of shotshell reloaders) will become a regular routine on this press. That is acceptable IMO if it can go 2000 rounds between cleanings and is easy to do.

[Kenstone]

Info on the sixpack most here may not have seen:

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...stency.911743/

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...-press.905987/

.

[Chapo]

I finally got my six pack pro press few days ago. Already broke the primer feed spring. But other than that, seems like a solid press. I can answer any questions you guys might have.

[dverna]

I finally got my six pack pro press few days ago. Already broke the primer feed spring. But other than that, seems like a solid press. I can answer any questions you guys might have.

Did the spring fail due to forcing something, or is it a design flaw?

How will you prevent it from happening again?

[guzma393]

I finally got my six pack pro press few days ago. Already broke the primer feed spring. But other than that, seems like a solid press. I can answer any questions you guys might have.

Following, would like to know how this press fares out at a "true progressive". I haven't jumped the gun on one simply because I do not need another press, but the lee pro600 is supposedly the successor of the lee loadmaster and I'm considering getting one as a replacement to my lee loadmaster and lee acp combination, where I prime off the press using the lee ACP and to brass prep/progressive load with primed cases on my lee lm. I already have a lee ALBP, and that ran fine, but was too small for anything >223 length. A few questions:

- How's the indexing mechanism on the lee pro 6000? The lee ALBP index mechanism was a bit flimsy to my liking, indexing started to go out of timing the moment a jam along the shell plate happens (primarily caused by a partially decapped/sticky spent primer along a case seizing along the ram aperture) causing the index rod or plastic index clutch (mainly the aperture that receives the index rod) to deform. Spent moments where I had to either rebend the indexing rod or re-shape the indexing rod receiving aperture along the plastic index clutch using a butane soldering iron with a heating tip.

- Been seeing some posts about small quirks about the priming mechanism, but this is the first that I heard about the primer spring failing. Like the previous post, how did it fail?

[GWS]

I finally got my six pack pro press few days ago. Already broke the primer feed spring. But other than that, seems like a solid press. I can answer any questions you guys might have.

That ought to be an interesting story.....other that running over it, or stretching it across the room, I can't even imagine how you could break a spring. I needed an inch longer spring for my APP'd Summit project....and I found one at ACE Hardware. Stock was 3 inches and Ace had one just like it and a 4" one too......maybe check your local Ace if you want one fast. In their nut,bolts, and screws section.