Lee Pro 1000 9mm issues

[Dcav]

Allright all, trying to iron out the issues after setting everything up earlier this morning. First round through the primer missed the piston that seats it, picked it out and started over. Next round through primer did not fully seat (checking the Lee site for adjustments now). #rd round through the station caused the press to lock in the upper most position and the shaft moved down but the tray stayed up. Looking on the site as well, figured someone else might have had this issue as well? Thanks in advance.

 

[Dcav]

Ahhh primers not seating is the issue, now to reassemble and try again.

 

[Dcav]

Ugh the die adjustments after disassembly, gonna be a long night figuring it out.

 

[Dcav]

No matter what I do creep the resizing/depriming die in or out slightly the shell is jamming up the press and getting stuck at the first station, I am having to remove the resizing/depriming die in order to lower the tray.

 

[Dcav]

dug up a old thread on the high road that had the fix, had to tighten up a hex bolt hidden under the tray, problems solved.

 

[Texas1911]

dug up a old thread on the high road that had the fix, had to tighten up a hex bolt hidden under the tray, problems solved.

My Dillon has a set screw under the tray that can do something similar.

 

[bryonbush]

dont know what you came up with for a solution to the problems but i can tell you what i did when i had that press.. i had the same problems as yourself and no matter how much tinkering around with it i did, it would never work. so i sent it back to cabelas and purchased a lee single stage press and been using that for years now. return it while you can, and get a system that you can learn on and will be dependable.

 

[Dcav]

dont know what you came up with for a solution to the problems but i can tell you what i did when i had that press.. i had the same problems as yourself and no matter how much tinkering around with it i did, it would never work. so i sent it back to cabelas and purchased a lee single stage press and been using that for years now. return it while you can, and get a system that you can learn on and will be dependable.

Getting close to that now. The hex set screw was fairly tight, I was able to tighten it maybe a 1/2 turn more. Now I cannot get primers to feed into the plates, they are getting stuck and mangled.

 

[Dcav]

Ahh success just loaded my first 50 rounds. The primer system on the press is way to unreliable. Bought a hand primer and it is flawless. But now I have to run the shells through the press twice, once to deprime and resize and the 2nd time to charge and seat the bullets. But it is better then having to clear out mangled primers every few rounds.

 

[Rifleman55]

Ahh success just loaded my first 50 rounds. The primer system on the pess is way to unreliable. Bought a hand primer and it is flawless. But now I have to run the shells through the press twice, once to deprime and resize and the 2nd time to charge and seat the bullets. But it is better then having to clear out mangled primers every few rounds.

You should have bought a Dillon, their customer support is second to none.

 

[lonestardiver]

You should have bought a Dillon, their customer support is second to none.

+1

My first progressive was the the lee 1000. I went and got the double disk kit and used a spreadsheet to figure out the
combo's for various powders. The press worked once you got it figured out but it required a lot of watching to catch
issues. I had used it for 38special, 357, and 45acp. I bought a Dillon Xl650 and have never looked back.

Now for my bolt guns and hunting loads for handguns I'll use my rockchucker.

 

[skinman]

How do you know you would not have had a similar learning curve if you had started out with the Dillon? Maybe you would be singing praises for the LEE and calling the Dillon a POS if the scenario was reversed. It is more likely that you learned a lot with the LEE and was able to use the knowledge to avoid the same setup and operation problems with the Dillon.

They all are what they are...machines. And while one may be better than the other in one way or another, both are only as good as the knowledge and skill of the operator.

 

[Texas42]

How do you know you would not have had a similar learning curve if you had started out with the Dillon? Maybe you would be singing praises for the LEE and calling the Dillon a POS if the scenario was reversed. It is more likely that you learned a lot with the LEE and was able to use the knowledge to avoid the same setup and operation problems with the Dillon.

They all are what they are...machines. And while one may be better than the other in one way or another, both are only as good as the knowledge and skill of the operator.

Yes and no. A simple google search will show lots of similar examples of how their Lee press either didn't work or needed some serious work to make it work properly. I haven't had any problems with my Dillon. I know that is just anectodal, but you'll find a lot less people with problems with their Dillon press. I haven't worked with a Lee press, but reading enough stories like the above one made me avoid it. It might have worked, it might not. I like their other stuff, I just don't think its worth the risk of time and money to get a progressive press that might not work.

 

[skinman]

I am not an advocate for LEE nor am I a critic of Dillon or RCBS or Hornaday. My personal hands-on experience with reloading presses is limited to the LEE Classic Turret and RCBS single-stage, and since I have not used a Dillon, I cannot offer an opinion of the Dillon based on my experience nor whether or not the substantial added cost of a Dillon or an RCBS is worth it in the long run. However, there are some folks who are quick to offer an opinion that one is better than the other although they do not have experience with both. That does not make sense and does not help someone who is researching to purchase and asking questions about a product or someone who has an issue and is asking for help. If we have not been there or done that, then how do we know, and how can we answer the question? In that case, it is better to help find answer than to offer our own opinion that is based solely on what someone told us or something we read somewhere and not on our own experience.

I have also read about the problems with the LEE systems and also the problems with the Dillon and RCBS systems. I know that the LEE system seems to have more reported problems but I also see where folks have solved these problems with simple adjustments and are quite satisfied with their choice. Some folks just cannot get them to work and maybe it is because of the system or maybe it is because the operator is not mechanically adept enough to find and solve problems. I read where Dillon seems to have less problems but I would expect a mechanically challenged person would also have difficulty in finding and solving the problems it does have. Maybe the cost of a particular Dillon progressive system compared to the cost of a comparative LEE system is justified, maybe not. As for the turret system, the increased cost was not justified.