Lee Pro 1000

[D.Ed]

Does anyone have any experience with this press. Any pro's or con's would be appreciated.

[fal308]

Picked one up used last year but haven't reloaded much on it. I moved into a new (for me) this last year so I haven't done much reloading.
Make sure you devleop a rythym and watch out for short stroking. The height adjustment of the shell holder tubes must be as close above the shell slider(?) as possible as well or your shells may doublefeed. Watch out for the primer feed as well. The older feeders had a problem with a small spring that helped hold a swingarm in place. The newer presses don't have this feature. I'll post more if I recall anything else. Let me know if you have any more questions and I'll be happy to try and answer.

[Fred]

Boy, this is going to start the "Ford versus Chevy" debate all over again, or as it's called on a gun board, Dillon versus Lee I own and use a Pro 1000 with very little complaint. I have virtually no problems when loading rounds that use small pistol primers, but do have periodic jams with large pistol primers. Think I finally have that figured out. In any event, I paid $117 for it on sale at Midway a couple of years ago, and it was well worth it. I have no doubt that Dillon makes an excellent machine, but I just couldn't swing the price. For under $200 I wound up with a perfectly serviceable press, primers, powder, bullets, powder measure, etc. etc. I think it's a great way to start reloading on a progressive press for minimal cost.

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Regards - Fred

[Dennis Glover]

Fred,
I talked to one of the sales guys at a local Lee dealer who owns one of these presses. I was looking at the price and was surprised at the difference in the cost of the Dillon 550 XL and that the Lee was a heck of a deal. When I questioned the sales guy (how is an avid reloader) about his opion he told me that although he owns one, every time he loads 6 to 8 hundred rounds at a session that he is back in the store getting replacement parts. He also said that Lee would replace the worn out parts but since the store he works at has them it is just easier for him to get replacement there.
I'm interested in the Lee still for the same reason you stated. Price. I'd like to know if you have expierenced any of the problems the sales guy stated?
Thanks

[Fred]

Dennis,

This has not been the case for me. As mentioned in my first post, I've had my 1000 for at least two years. I know a lot of people say they don't hold up, so maybe I'm one of the "lucky" owners of one. All I know is that I haven't replaced any parts yet, load for 9 mm, .40 S & W, and .45 ACP, usually load 200 - 300 rounds at a time, and probably have at least 5000 rounds through it. Again, the only problem I have is that large pistol primers don't feed well. Finally realized that what was happening was that they seemed to be hanging up in the primer tray and not sliding down the chute consistently. When this happens there apparently isn't enough weight on the primers ready to feed onto the priming pin, and jams can occur. I verified this condition by inducing it with small primers (which normally feed OK), and was able to recreate it. Other than that, I am well pleased with the operation of the 1000. Would I buy another one? Based on my experience so far, the answer would be "yes". Any other ??'s, just ask. Hope this helps.

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Regards - AZFred

[JA]

got two and love them. last summer i filled two 50 cal ammo cans with 9mm reloads with no problems. with Lee reloaders, rule one is READ and FOLLOW all directions for trouble free reloading.

[MarkCO]

I have loaded well over 150K rounds of 9mm, .40 S&W, and .38/.357 on two Lee-Pro-1000s. I can load over 500 rounds per hour and I have had very littel trouble. The complaints listed here don't make much sense. The Pro-1000s do have problems with large primers (.45s) however. I recently sold one of my Pro-1000s to make room for a Load-Master which handles pistol and all rifles calibers. If you have any specific questions, e-mail me, more than glad to help.

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Good Shooting, MarkCO

[JerryM]

I have been called "cheap", "tight",and"frugal". I started reloading when I graduated from college in 1957. Rifles were my first love in firearms, and I found a single stage press completely satisfactory. Still do for rifles. A couple of years ago I got interested in handguns, and was shooting about 1000 rds/mo. The time it took to load that much ammo was more th;an I wanted to spend using my RCB Rockchucker. After a lot of checkin with people who had progressive presses I settled on a Dillon 650 without the optional case feed. I have been perfectly satisfied, and the Dillon people are superb. What is an extra 200 bucks (my press cost 398) when you consider the cost of the componentsand the trouble free operation of the Dillon vs the others? Dillon wins hands down.

[motorep]

This isn't intended to fuel the fires, but- pretty much what I do is shoot IPSC matches, I'm an NROI Chief Range Officer, I've RO'd thousands of shooters over the years and EVERY squib load I've encountered was loaded by a competitor on a Lee reloader. This includes 3 last weekend from an otherwise experienced shooter.

[FTG-05]

D. Ed,

Next time your in the grocery or books store, pick up a copy of "American Handgunner" and look for any article on any major matches in the country. Almost always they will print a table listing the equipment the top 10-15 finishers use (guns, gunsmith, ammo, bullet type, weight, etc.), including reloading press. You'll find that almost ALL of the top competitors use Dillons.

Quality will be remembered long after you forgotten what price you paid: Buy a Dillon. I bought one in 1989 and I've never regretted it. Look at the www.ar15.com site for others comments and you'll see a predictable pattern: Some will say Lee are OK, good etc., some will say Lee sucks the big one; virtually everyone who owns a Dillon is super pleased with it. Go and read for yourself.


BTW: Dillon used to have a deal where if you bought a reloader, they would charge your Visa/MC four equal payments over four months with no interest charges. Call them, they're on the web somewhere (try www.ar15.com for a link). (Found they're number: 1-800-948-3845).

Regards,

Albin