Lee Pro 1000 or Lee Classic Turret Press?

mutski · January 23, 2007, 12:52 AM

I am shooting .38 specials in a bullseye league and looking at reloading for consistent ammo and cost. I forsee shooting 150 to 300 rounds per week, mainly wadcutters loaded for accuracy. I also expect to lead a few .44 specials and magnums and maybe some 30.06 rifle shells.

I see high praise for the Lee Classic Turret Press in this forum. Anyone have experience with the Lee Pro 1000 or Load-Master Progressive? The Pro 1000 and Load-Master also allow loading of one case at a time for beginners.

Have people had good/bad experiences with the Pro 1000? Recommendations vs. the Classic Turret or Load-Master?

Thanks!

wilson133 · January 23, 2007, 06:15 AM

I just got started with the Lee Pro 1000 recently after 30+ years of loading with single stage equipment. There is a learning curve and at least some tinkering ability is requires to keep it running. I load several pistol calibers and the .38 special is the easiest to load in the Pro. The primer system can be a big PITA, you have to keep the primer tube nearly full and keep an eye on it while you are running it. You have to learn to feel the primers into the primer pocket.
The only other mentionable problem I have had is that the powder measure had some bridging problems, and I loaded a number of cartridges with no powder. Drier sheets wrapped around the body of the measure solved that. While I don't get the volume some report, it is noticeably faster than single stage.
There is an unofficial lee site you can google for that has some good info, but the best way to learn is to get one and play with it.

DaveInGA · January 23, 2007, 06:48 AM

Based on your round count and the fact you're new, the Lee Classic Cast turret will meet your needs easily and provide a much better initial reloading experience as well. If, after you've owned it, you find a need for a progressive, you can buy a progressive and still have it for lower volume rounds.

I would recommend the Classic turret press as an ideal new reloader press, because it's such a good compromise between the simplicity of the single stage and the speed of the progressive.

Dave

ECLIPSE45ACP · January 23, 2007, 07:37 AM

the lee turrett kit is 79.99 at cabellas. Comes with scale and powder measure. Get yourself a primer, a tumbler and a set of dies. Awesome deal and works great. I love mine...

XD-Guy · January 23, 2007, 07:47 AM

Why does he need a primer? He can prime right on the press

ECLIPSE45ACP · January 23, 2007, 07:54 AM

I prefer to hand prime over the safety prime, I have tried both methods and have found it is somewhat inconsistent, but to each his own...

RERICK · January 23, 2007, 08:10 AM

I've had my loadmaster for about a month now.No real issues came up that I couldn't deal with.I had some static in the powder measure,but once I used a little graphite on it it was fine.But static can happen on any powder measure.I get good consistent charges.I also bought the adjustable charge bar and the micro disk and I would recommend them.I'm not sure what some say when they talk about having to tinker with it all the time as I don't think it requires any more tinkering than any other type of mechanical device.I also thought about a Dillon as well .I tried a friends Dillon and to be honest I thought that my Loadmaster worked just as good as his Dillon.Dillon makes a good product,I just couldn't justify the cost.If I had it to do over,I would buy it again.

ECLIPSE45ACP · January 23, 2007, 08:13 AM

I agree, Lee makes great equipment, and I will continue to use their products at a great price as long as I am reloading.

DaveInGA · January 23, 2007, 10:46 AM

Eclipse,

You need to check out the new Lee Safety prime. Works as good as an Auto prime (I have both, so I've been able to compare them.), but works on the press and greatly speeds things up in conjunction with the Pro Auto Disk measure.

For someone who isn't invested in any press, the Lee Classic Cast turret press is a great value when combined with a Safety prime and a Pro Auto disk.

Cabella's has a darn nice kit for $150.00 including all of the above, a riser and a safety scale.

Dave

ECLIPSE45ACP · January 23, 2007, 11:11 AM

you can use that on the standard turret right?

jsflagstad · January 23, 2007, 07:27 PM

I started with the Turret and recently moved on to the Loadmaster. I have not had any major issues with either of them, and I wouldn't part with either of them. I would suggest starting with the Turret if you are new at it and then work into the Loadmaster as you get experience. I find it useful to keep the old Turret press around for "odd jobs" when they pop up, and I use it for my rifle calibers. There is a learning curve to the Loadmaster but it works great if setup correctly. It is really an awesome piece of machinery for the money.

JSF

DaveInGA · January 24, 2007, 05:29 AM

Eclipse,

Yes, you can. There's an adaptor kit you'd have to get. Check out Lee's website or Midway's and find the kit for the older turret. If there is an alignment issue, just use a found file to open up the hole in the mounting bracket a bit on the opposite side of the direction you need the safety prime to move to line up.

Buddy of mine did this with his three hole turret. But later on decided he wanted to use the FCD, so he sold his three hole and bought the New Lee Classic Cast Turret press.

Dave

PsychoKnight · January 24, 2007, 06:31 AM

+1 on the Classic Turret. The biggest complaint about the Classic Turret was that you couldn't get it in kit form, and people felt it wasn't fair that you had to buy all the necessary auxillary devices separately. As DaveInGA indicated, Cabelas is running a special deal (don't confuse w/ the older 4 hold turret, make sure it says "Classic"). I would like this kit so badly, but can't justify it as I still have an older Lyman Turret (what a mistake).

I don't think you should consider the Pro 1000. It was Lee's first progressive, a zillion years ago, has significant limitations, and was obsoletized by their LoadMaster, which is already around 15 years old and ready for a redesign. You can't go wrong w/ the Classic Turret, even if you eventually get a progressive.

Rico567 · January 24, 2007, 07:47 AM

These are very different presses. If you need the greater production, and are only going to be reloading pistol, you should favor the Pro1000. I used two Pro1000s to load all my pistol ammo for 20 years. You can achieve ±400 rounds per hour with the Pro1000, although I don't recommend trying to push it much faster. The Pro1000 IS a true progressive, and it's a good machine at an unbeatable price, if you accept certain rules: 1) you must keep it clean, 2) you must keep the primer trough full of primers, and 3) you must not try to push it too fast.

The Lee Classic Turret is not a progressive press. The case stays on the ram in a single shellholder, and the turret is rotated around until the case has gone through all the reloading steps. According to reports (I don't own a Classic Turret) this is a great machine, but limited to around 200 rounds / hour. On the other hand, you CAN load bottleneck rifle ammo on this machine, which IMHO the Pro1000 is not suited for, even though Lee sells it set up for .223. The Classic Turret is also a great bargain, and I wish I had an excuse to buy one.

DaveInGA · January 24, 2007, 01:10 PM

Rico,

Here's an excuse to buy one. The Classic Turret is a perfect press to load low volume batches of military surplus ammo, such as .303 Brit and it's also great for working up loads. I'm using mine for both, then when a rifle's reloading "development" is done, if I want high volume, I load it on my Hornady LnL. When I want low volume, I use my Classic Turret.

Also, the cheapness of the caliber conversions lets me add oddball and seldom shot/loaded calibers without feeling like I'm wasting money setting up the Hornady. $35.00 for a die set and a turret is pretty darn cheap ya know.

BTW, you can install a Hornady or RCBS CAPD with a RCBS Uniflow on the Classic turret if you wish. That's the measure I use to reload extruded powders on the Classic turret with. The Hornady measure is a bit too big, but there's about three jillion used Uniflows on the used market.

dave

blancoman · January 24, 2007, 01:53 PM

Got the Classic Turret over the holidays. Cabella's is cheaper in the kit form than putting the pieces together by about 20.00. took about an hour to set up the press and get the powder measure and safety prime set up. Then it started producing. Rate was over 200 an hour in the first hour on the press. Simple set up and fast. With extra turrets and leaving the dies set up in the press, the second session was a lot faster. simply fill the powder measure, plop the first case in the shell holder and off you go. I even left the primers in the safety prime. Nothing else out there in this price range that comes close. Have run the big blue but changing calibers and the cost makes it take a long time to pay for itself. Hard to justify when your needs for a press could add up to only a couple of hours a week.

Vitamin G · January 24, 2007, 01:55 PM

I Christmas'ed myself a classic turret kit (piece by piece, mind you), prior to them selling it as a kit. I think i've probably loaded as many rounds on it in the last month, as i have in the past YEAR or more on my anniversary kit. My good friend offered to buy the anniversary kit to offset the cost of the classic turret, to which i initially agreed. I changed my mind and told him that if he's serious about getting into reloading, i'd feel guilty to take his money knowing that he COULD have put that money toward the classic turret. Its just an outstanding press. I can do about 200rounds per hour, and thats taking my time and listening to the radio or watching TV. I know its taboo to distract yourself while reloading, but i dont really see how i could screw up the process. As long as the ram goes fully up and fully down, no worries. The pro-auto disk has been extremely consistent as well. No more than .1gr deviation, measuring every 25-75 rounds, for 2000 rounds of 9mm.

I'm extremely happy.

blancoman · January 25, 2007, 11:56 AM

The only thing that made me unhappy about the Lee Classic Turret was that I bought mine, just like VitimanG, before Cabellas made the kit available. So I lost about 20 bucks. I wish Lee would put together a kit price for the Classic turret like they do for the older turret. Other than that, this is a press in its own class. What a brilliant idea. The only other problem I see is the Lee Pro powder measure will only throw enough powder for pistol, even with the double disk kit, you just can't quite get there. I am using a funnel and placing it in the rifle powder pass thru die. I pour powder loads thru the die. Should be a better way. If you are only loading pistol rounds then this press is absolutely perfect.

mutski · January 28, 2007, 12:20 AM

OK, I ordered the Classic Turret from Midway USA - hopefully arrives in Monday mail. Thanks for all your wisdom! Now I'm studying The ABC's of Reloading, 7th Ed.; Lee's Modern Reloading is in the mail order. Can't wait to give it a try! I expect to try .38 wadcutters for Bullseye league.

CrustyFN · January 28, 2007, 10:37 AM

I could be wrong but I think the pro 1000 is a three hole press and the classic turret is a four hole. You can't use a FCD in the pro 1000. I like to seat and crimp in separate dies and the classic turret will let you do that. The classic turret press is very easy to setup and use for a beginner. You can see every primer before it is seated so you don't end up with any upside down primers or unprimed cases. I also added a small light to mine so I can see the powder charge in every case before I set the bullet on, just a peace of mind that there are no squib loads.
Rusty

HiltonFarmer · January 28, 2007, 01:54 PM

Quote:

I also added a small light to mine so I can see the powder charge in every case before I set the bullet on, just a peace of mind that there are no squib loads.

That's a great idea. Is it a gooseneck configuration Rusty or a pointed light?

HiltonFarmer

CrustyFN · January 28, 2007, 09:01 PM

Here you go. It is an LED light that works off batteries. It is supposed to last a long time on one set of batteries.
Rusty

klw · January 29, 2007, 12:11 AM

Had all three you originally mentioned. Wasn't fond of any of them. Bought the Lee Classic Turret a few months ago. Putting it together was a pain. Made sure I got it into working order but never used it. MUCH prefer a Lyman turret.

WestWorld · January 29, 2007, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Bought the Lee Classic Turret a few months ago. Putting it together was a pain.

Huh? Field stripping my Ruger Mark III is a pain... the Lee Classic Turret went together in seconds for me.

taybri · January 29, 2007, 07:34 PM

I am looking to replace a Lee Pro 1000 in .45acp and a Lyman turret that I use to make 9mm with a single turret press. The Pro 1000 doesn't prime .45's reliably, and I have no priming system on the Lyman.

I notice Lee's web site offers thier new Lee Safetfy Priming System in small primer, large primer, or small and large primer versions. Does the small and large primer version work reliably, or is it a compromise?

What kind of production rate can a Classic Turrect Press operator achieve? Is switching calibers hard/expensive? Will I be a happier person?

January 23, 2007, 12:52 AM	#1
mutski Senior Member Join Date: October 14, 2006 Location: fairbanks, alaska Posts: 127	Lee Pro 1000 or Lee Classic Turret Press? I am shooting .38 specials in a bullseye league and looking at reloading for consistent ammo and cost. I forsee shooting 150 to 300 rounds per week, mainly wadcutters loaded for accuracy. I also expect to lead a few .44 specials and magnums and maybe some 30.06 rifle shells. I see high praise for the Lee Classic Turret Press in this forum. Anyone have experience with the Lee Pro 1000 or Load-Master Progressive? The Pro 1000 and Load-Master also allow loading of one case at a time for beginners. Have people had good/bad experiences with the Pro 1000? Recommendations vs. the Classic Turret or Load-Master? Thanks!

January 23, 2007, 08:10 AM	#7
RERICK Junior member Join Date: July 9, 2005 Posts: 369	Loadmaster I've had my loadmaster for about a month now.No real issues came up that I couldn't deal with.I had some static in the powder measure,but once I used a little graphite on it it was fine.But static can happen on any powder measure.I get good consistent charges.I also bought the adjustable charge bar and the micro disk and I would recommend them.I'm not sure what some say when they talk about having to tinker with it all the time as I don't think it requires any more tinkering than any other type of mechanical device.I also thought about a Dillon as well .I tried a friends Dillon and to be honest I thought that my Loadmaster worked just as good as his Dillon.Dillon makes a good product,I just couldn't justify the cost.If I had it to do over,I would buy it again.

January 23, 2007, 07:27 PM	#11
jsflagstad Senior Member Join Date: January 29, 2005 Location: Up Nort Posts: 419	I have the Classic Turret and the Loadmaster I started with the Turret and recently moved on to the Loadmaster. I have not had any major issues with either of them, and I wouldn't part with either of them. I would suggest starting with the Turret if you are new at it and then work into the Loadmaster as you get experience. I find it useful to keep the old Turret press around for "odd jobs" when they pop up, and I use it for my rifle calibers. There is a learning curve to the Loadmaster but it works great if setup correctly. It is really an awesome piece of machinery for the money. JSF

January 24, 2007, 07:47 AM	#14
Rico567 Senior Member Join Date: October 19, 2005 Posts: 162	These are very different presses. If you need the greater production, and are only going to be reloading pistol, you should favor the Pro1000. I used two Pro1000s to load all my pistol ammo for 20 years. You can achieve ±400 rounds per hour with the Pro1000, although I don't recommend trying to push it much faster. The Pro1000 IS a true progressive, and it's a good machine at an unbeatable price, if you accept certain rules: 1) you must keep it clean, 2) you must keep the primer trough full of primers, and 3) you must not try to push it too fast. The Lee Classic Turret is not a progressive press. The case stays on the ram in a single shellholder, and the turret is rotated around until the case has gone through all the reloading steps. According to reports (I don't own a Classic Turret) this is a great machine, but limited to around 200 rounds / hour. On the other hand, you CAN load bottleneck rifle ammo on this machine, which IMHO the Pro1000 is not suited for, even though Lee sells it set up for .223. The Classic Turret is also a great bargain, and I wish I had an excuse to buy one. __________________ "Dear reader, suppose you are a member of Congress. Now, further suppose you are an idiot. But I repeat myself." - Mark Twain

January 28, 2007, 12:20 AM	#19
mutski Senior Member Join Date: October 14, 2006 Location: fairbanks, alaska Posts: 127	Done deal OK, I ordered the Classic Turret from Midway USA - hopefully arrives in Monday mail. Thanks for all your wisdom! Now I'm studying The ABC's of Reloading, 7th Ed.; Lee's Modern Reloading is in the mail order. Can't wait to give it a try! I expect to try .38 wadcutters for Bullseye league.

January 23, 2007, 06:15 AM	#2
wilson133 Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Posts: 194	I just got started with the Lee Pro 1000 recently after 30+ years of loading with single stage equipment. There is a learning curve and at least some tinkering ability is requires to keep it running. I load several pistol calibers and the .38 special is the easiest to load in the Pro. The primer system can be a big PITA, you have to keep the primer tube nearly full and keep an eye on it while you are running it. You have to learn to feel the primers into the primer pocket. The only other mentionable problem I have had is that the powder measure had some bridging problems, and I loaded a number of cartridges with no powder. Drier sheets wrapped around the body of the measure solved that. While I don't get the volume some report, it is noticeably faster than single stage. There is an unofficial lee site you can google for that has some good info, but the best way to learn is to get one and play with it.

January 23, 2007, 06:48 AM	#3
DaveInGA Senior Member Join Date: December 13, 2005 Location: Flowery Branch, GA Posts: 132	Based on your round count and the fact you're new, the Lee Classic Cast turret will meet your needs easily and provide a much better initial reloading experience as well. If, after you've owned it, you find a need for a progressive, you can buy a progressive and still have it for lower volume rounds. I would recommend the Classic turret press as an ideal new reloader press, because it's such a good compromise between the simplicity of the single stage and the speed of the progressive. Dave

January 23, 2007, 07:37 AM	#4
ECLIPSE45ACP Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2007 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 177	the lee turrett kit is 79.99 at cabellas. Comes with scale and powder measure. Get yourself a primer, a tumbler and a set of dies. Awesome deal and works great. I love mine...

January 23, 2007, 07:47 AM	#5
XD-Guy Senior Member Join Date: November 20, 2006 Posts: 102	Why does he need a primer? He can prime right on the press

January 23, 2007, 07:54 AM	#6
ECLIPSE45ACP Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2007 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 177	I prefer to hand prime over the safety prime, I have tried both methods and have found it is somewhat inconsistent, but to each his own...

January 23, 2007, 08:13 AM	#8
ECLIPSE45ACP Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2007 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 177	I agree, Lee makes great equipment, and I will continue to use their products at a great price as long as I am reloading.

January 23, 2007, 10:46 AM	#9
DaveInGA Senior Member Join Date: December 13, 2005 Location: Flowery Branch, GA Posts: 132	Eclipse, You need to check out the new Lee Safety prime. Works as good as an Auto prime (I have both, so I've been able to compare them.), but works on the press and greatly speeds things up in conjunction with the Pro Auto Disk measure. For someone who isn't invested in any press, the Lee Classic Cast turret press is a great value when combined with a Safety prime and a Pro Auto disk. Cabella's has a darn nice kit for $150.00 including all of the above, a riser and a safety scale. Dave

January 23, 2007, 11:11 AM	#10
ECLIPSE45ACP Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2007 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 177	you can use that on the standard turret right?

January 24, 2007, 05:29 AM	#12
DaveInGA Senior Member Join Date: December 13, 2005 Location: Flowery Branch, GA Posts: 132	Eclipse, Yes, you can. There's an adaptor kit you'd have to get. Check out Lee's website or Midway's and find the kit for the older turret. If there is an alignment issue, just use a found file to open up the hole in the mounting bracket a bit on the opposite side of the direction you need the safety prime to move to line up. Buddy of mine did this with his three hole turret. But later on decided he wanted to use the FCD, so he sold his three hole and bought the New Lee Classic Cast Turret press. Dave

January 24, 2007, 06:31 AM	#13
PsychoKnight Member Join Date: October 6, 2006 Posts: 29	+1 on the Classic Turret. The biggest complaint about the Classic Turret was that you couldn't get it in kit form, and people felt it wasn't fair that you had to buy all the necessary auxillary devices separately. As DaveInGA indicated, Cabelas is running a special deal (don't confuse w/ the older 4 hold turret, make sure it says "Classic"). I would like this kit so badly, but can't justify it as I still have an older Lyman Turret (what a mistake). I don't think you should consider the Pro 1000. It was Lee's first progressive, a zillion years ago, has significant limitations, and was obsoletized by their LoadMaster, which is already around 15 years old and ready for a redesign. You can't go wrong w/ the Classic Turret, even if you eventually get a progressive.

January 24, 2007, 01:10 PM	#15
DaveInGA Senior Member Join Date: December 13, 2005 Location: Flowery Branch, GA Posts: 132	Rico, Here's an excuse to buy one. The Classic Turret is a perfect press to load low volume batches of military surplus ammo, such as .303 Brit and it's also great for working up loads. I'm using mine for both, then when a rifle's reloading "development" is done, if I want high volume, I load it on my Hornady LnL. When I want low volume, I use my Classic Turret. Also, the cheapness of the caliber conversions lets me add oddball and seldom shot/loaded calibers without feeling like I'm wasting money setting up the Hornady. $35.00 for a die set and a turret is pretty darn cheap ya know. BTW, you can install a Hornady or RCBS CAPD with a RCBS Uniflow on the Classic turret if you wish. That's the measure I use to reload extruded powders on the Classic turret with. The Hornady measure is a bit too big, but there's about three jillion used Uniflows on the used market. dave

January 24, 2007, 01:53 PM	#16
blancoman Member Join Date: December 28, 2006 Posts: 37	Got the Classic Turret over the holidays. Cabella's is cheaper in the kit form than putting the pieces together by about 20.00. took about an hour to set up the press and get the powder measure and safety prime set up. Then it started producing. Rate was over 200 an hour in the first hour on the press. Simple set up and fast. With extra turrets and leaving the dies set up in the press, the second session was a lot faster. simply fill the powder measure, plop the first case in the shell holder and off you go. I even left the primers in the safety prime. Nothing else out there in this price range that comes close. Have run the big blue but changing calibers and the cost makes it take a long time to pay for itself. Hard to justify when your needs for a press could add up to only a couple of hours a week.

January 24, 2007, 01:55 PM	#17
Vitamin G Senior Member Join Date: May 25, 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 307	I Christmas'ed myself a classic turret kit (piece by piece, mind you), prior to them selling it as a kit. I think i've probably loaded as many rounds on it in the last month, as i have in the past YEAR or more on my anniversary kit. My good friend offered to buy the anniversary kit to offset the cost of the classic turret, to which i initially agreed. I changed my mind and told him that if he's serious about getting into reloading, i'd feel guilty to take his money knowing that he COULD have put that money toward the classic turret. Its just an outstanding press. I can do about 200rounds per hour, and thats taking my time and listening to the radio or watching TV. I know its taboo to distract yourself while reloading, but i dont really see how i could screw up the process. As long as the ram goes fully up and fully down, no worries. The pro-auto disk has been extremely consistent as well. No more than .1gr deviation, measuring every 25-75 rounds, for 2000 rounds of 9mm. I'm extremely happy.

January 25, 2007, 11:56 AM	#18
blancoman Member Join Date: December 28, 2006 Posts: 37	The only thing that made me unhappy about the Lee Classic Turret was that I bought mine, just like VitimanG, before Cabellas made the kit available. So I lost about 20 bucks. I wish Lee would put together a kit price for the Classic turret like they do for the older turret. Other than that, this is a press in its own class. What a brilliant idea. The only other problem I see is the Lee Pro powder measure will only throw enough powder for pistol, even with the double disk kit, you just can't quite get there. I am using a funnel and placing it in the rifle powder pass thru die. I pour powder loads thru the die. Should be a better way. If you are only loading pistol rounds then this press is absolutely perfect.

January 28, 2007, 10:37 AM	#20
CrustyFN Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Location: West Virginia Posts: 2,258	I could be wrong but I think the pro 1000 is a three hole press and the classic turret is a four hole. You can't use a FCD in the pro 1000. I like to seat and crimp in separate dies and the classic turret will let you do that. The classic turret press is very easy to setup and use for a beginner. You can see every primer before it is seated so you don't end up with any upside down primers or unprimed cases. I also added a small light to mine so I can see the powder charge in every case before I set the bullet on, just a peace of mind that there are no squib loads. Rusty __________________ I don't ever remember being absent minded.

January 29, 2007, 12:11 AM	#23
klw Senior Member Join Date: February 27, 2005 Posts: 118	Lee reloaders Had all three you originally mentioned. Wasn't fond of any of them. Bought the Lee Classic Turret a few months ago. Putting it together was a pain. Made sure I got it into working order but never used it. MUCH prefer a Lyman turret.

January 29, 2007, 07:34 PM	#25
taybri Member Join Date: July 7, 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 18	Lee Classic Turret questions? I am looking to replace a Lee Pro 1000 in .45acp and a Lyman turret that I use to make 9mm with a single turret press. The Pro 1000 doesn't prime .45's reliably, and I have no priming system on the Lyman. I notice Lee's web site offers thier new Lee Safetfy Priming System in small primer, large primer, or small and large primer versions. Does the small and large primer version work reliably, or is it a compromise? What kind of production rate can a Classic Turrect Press operator achieve? Is switching calibers hard/expensive? Will I be a happier person?