They're decent presses, can be finicky to setup at 1st, but once you get the hang of it they're nice. I bought one setup to reload .40sw and then got the conversion parts needed to load 45 and 38/357, still need to get the parts to load 44, 380 and 9mm.

If you're looking to go multiple calibers on it get the whole conversion set for the caliber, then you can just switch out the whole shell plate assembly and the die holder to swap between calibers. Your dies come out with the die holder so you dont have to reset depth every time you change calibers.

The dies are all powder through dies, so you can use any lee/lyman powder through die set, they're all 3 die sets, you can buy 4 die sets and use them if you catch a good deal on them you just dont have a station for the factory crimp die so you can't use the 4th one.

They are setup if you buy one with the caliber kit so that all you really need to get started reloading is the reloader, a good scale to check behind the microdisk setting, a caliper to set the shell depth and a tumbler to clean the shells.

You can load rifle calibers with it, but I think it's mainly meant to load handgun just from the way it's setup. It's a fairly quick press too, I can load about 7-8 boxes an hr without much of a hassle. I think it's a great beginners press for a progressive. You could prob load more in an hr, but I don't get in a hurry loading the primer tray or powder.

Eventually I'll find a decent deal on a dillion 650 and switch out to it, but I'm in no huge hurry.

 

Love it. I have one set up for 9mm and one set up for 45.

Easy and I would never think of changing as I have no reason to.

 

"myst" is right. They're nice presses at a good price. The primer feed and powder drop can be a little touchy to get running right, but once it is, you're good to go. In fact, a lot of people who use a Pro 1000 prime off the press with a Lee Auto Prime. That's a great little tool and it takes about 5 seconds to prime a case with it. You can get die holders for each caliber and shell plate holders/indexer, too. Makes changing calibers a snap!

 

I started with hornaday progressive , Then I found a good deal on a lee 1000. Set it up got 3 good rounds out of 10. Took it down and sold it. The primeing was the main problem with it. Plus it was build cheap. But I hear if you get it set up right it works.

 

I've been wondering the same thing about the Lee... Seems like a heck of a deal.

 

I've never had an issue with mine. As long as you keep the primer tray full I've been good.

Probably close to 10k rounds loaded with a 1000.

 

49erRider - I sent you a PM... please let me know what you think.

 

I've loaded thousands of rounds thru mine since 1996 no with real issues. You just need to pay attention to a few things and it will serve you well. Make sure you keep the primer tray FULL. The weight of the primers forces the primers down the feed tube. Make sure you don't let any old primers fall onto and then sit on top of the base beneath the shell plate assembly. It could interfere with the priming plunger operation.

 

I've loaded thousands of rounds thru mine since 1996 no with real issues. You just need to pay attention to a few things and it will serve you well. Make sure you keep the primer tray FULL. The weight of the primers forces the primers down the feed tube. Make sure you don't let any old primers fall onto and then sit on top of the base beneath the shell plate assembly. It could interfere with the priming plunger operation.

And make sure your powder die is properly seated and working properly. Confirm the powder drop. I somehow loaded some squibs a couple of months back. I have no idea how except I had changed the powder die and must of not gotten it seated properly.
This after thousands of rounds without a hiccup.
Confirm the powder drop is working properly before seating the bullet.

 

They will work. The problem with most users is that they incur a problem (primer feed for instance) and after some tinkering declare it junk. Got two of 'em.

Go to Walltworld, get a fish aerator and tape it to the powder container. When you start to load plug 'er in and it will settle the powder and stop the "bridging" of the powder. Flake powder is notorious for clumping over the dispense hole. A sharp tap will do it but who wants to smack the machine on every round. The Lee has little ridges in the posts. This is upposed to impart some shakin' to the machine but it ain't enough. Have aerators on all my Dillons.

The shellplate adjustment screw and adjoining parts is another tinkering part. I threw mine away. If a jam occurred, I simply advanced the shellplate to the next position manually and kept on keepin' on.

 

I've been tinkering with this product in 9mm for about 2.5 hours... At the moment it's a real POS. It will not consistently feed primers (even when the primer tray is full). It will not fully seat primers either, somehow it seated 1 primer correctly and about a dozen or so the primer was sticking out so far I had to wrestle the round out of the shell plate.

Sometimes the primer thats about to feed into the seating ram gets turned on it's side.

The arm that connects to the plastic case feeder kept popping out, fixed that.

It's came out of time twice.

 

I've been tinkering with this product in 9mm for about 2.5 hours... At the moment it's a real POS. It will not consistently feed primers (even when the primer tray is full). It will not fully seat primers either, somehow it seated 1 primer correctly and about a dozen or so the primer was sticking out so far I had to wrestle the round out of the shell plate.

Sometimes the primer thats about to feed into the seating ram gets turned on it's side.

The arm that connects to the plastic case feeder kept popping out, fixed that.

It's came out of time twice.

When you're ready to sell it at a good price, let me know.

 

I'm still chipping away at it, we'll see how it goes.

 

I've been loading 9mm on one for a few years now and my wonderful wife just gave me a brand new one set up for .223 as an early birthday present.

The only things I can add that haven't already Been said are to use a dry lube such a graphite and to use canned air to blow any powder or other debris out of the priming system as needed.

Beyond that I've been very happy with my 9mm press once I got to know it's quirks and I'm looking forward to getting the .223 press up and running.

 

<chiming in again> Given the known problems with the Lee 1000, I still think it's a good value for the money. I use the Lee Hand Primer and prime off the press. I also decap and resize off the press - on a Lee turret. This gives me two chances to inspect - by feel and visually - the cases. I've caught several with bad nicks and dents and a couple of split ones this way.

My first station on the 1000 is a powder-through flare die which flares the case mouth and charges the case. After I bought lots of Bullseye, I learned it wasn't the best power to use with the Lee powder delivery system. I've gotten around that by giving the powder container a couple of light taps with a small wrench while the charging chute is open. I visually inspect each case and weigh every 25 case. The second station seats the bullete and the third just barely touches the case with the Factory Crimp Die. This makes sure all the flare is taken out. My rounds feed reliably and are pretty accurate for practice.

Is it as fast as a big Dillon? No, not by a long shot, but I don't reload 1,000 rounds at a session, either. It's plenty fast enough to keep me from buying range ammo whenever I go shoot.

I have a separate die holder and shellplate/indexer for each caliber. Changing over takes about 5 minutes. All the dies are set, so all I have to do is move the powder dispenser over and recalibrate that. Maybe another 5 minutes.

 

I've been loading with three Lee presses since 1994. Pro 1000, Load Master, and a turret with the auto indexing attachment. I don't think they are the best presses made, but I'll tell you what, I can crank through some rounds with mine. You have to watch a couple of things but once you understand how they work and the sounds you're looking to hear on each pull and the feel then it'll load without a problem - as long as you hold up your end of it.

I found they were inexpensive enough to just leave them set up in certain calibers. So the Load Master I leave in 9mm, the Pro 1000 in 45, and the turret press I use for 44/357/38. If I sit at the Pro 1000 I can easily do 50 rounds in under 10 mins, no problem. I do have the case feeders on both the Load Master and the Pro 1000.

I've got a lot of Lee stuff so for myself I can't really make a case for switching to Dillon or RCBS. If you are patient enough to understand how it works and take some time to learn it I think the Pro 1000 will serve you well.

 

Well I tinkered with it for another hour or so and actually made about 30 rounds. I'm learning more and more about the feel and sounds to look out for on this press.

The powder measure system is no problem, I checked 4 out of 30 rounds and they were all consistent. It works like a charm.

The priming system still blows..... the only way I can make it feed is to use a prick to keep a little downward pressure in the primer shoot. I also have to pull the lever slow, if I try to cycle it quickly the primer does not feed onto the rod. I also had 2 primers turn onto their side again.......

To top it off I had a primer go BANG and I still don't know what happened.... Scared me for a second but nothing was damaged including me.

 

Lee powder system is pretty good. Don't go by the volumes on the charts though, that will get you close but you might have to adjust a bit. I throw a few charges, weigh them and make adjustments.

Lee cartridge feeder works well. And the dies / indexing and so on work well.

But the primer system, this is the one that only works well when everything is right and maintained to stay in that condition. It sounds like you need to replace the primer "foot". When the cartridge comes around the rim of it kicks out a black "foot" that in turn pushes on a spring and allows a primer to fall down on the primer ram. If your press has any age on it you probably need a new one. If your press has been stored with pressure on this piece, like on its side, or it has be subjected to heat like in an attic you'll need a new one. They are like $1.25 each and I by them five at a time and replace one about once or twice a year.

Now, if you've dumped some powder in the priming shoot it'll also not feed correctly. This most commonly happens when you deprime the cartridge but your primer fails to put a new one in place so some powder drops right down into the primer shoot and ram. Do it more than a few times and you really need to pull the cartridge plate and blow everything out with compressed air. Degrease this area too while you are at it, I use carb cleaner then blow dry. Oil/grease in the priming system will foul it up.

And lastly, as mentioned, keep the primer tray topped off and make sure the primers are feeding in a stead stream. A break in this stream will lead to primers getting half on the ram and getting cut in half, shoved in side ways, etc., although you should learn a feel for it and you'll avoid those problems.

Also, Lee has some pretty good debugging videos online.

 

I've had a Loadmaster for a while and it's a good press. Takes a little finagling, and I keep a healthy supply of spare primer feeders handy. That said, once everything's running good it will crank out a serious number of rounds per hour. If you're mechanically inclined, don't think twice. If you're not mechanically inclined, and have a surplus of discretionary income, buy a Dillon and call to talk to one of their mechanically inclined individuals when the press jams up. 'Cause they all jam up, just a matter of when.

 

It's a brand new machine.

I've looked at some youtube videos, the Lee videos, and I've looked and looked and I can't figure out why the primers turn on their side.

 

It's a brand new machine.

I've looked at some youtube videos, the Lee videos, and I've looked and looked and I can't figure out why the primers turn on their side.

Incomming PM. I'll try to help ya out. I love my pro 1000.... Check your PM's.

 

It's a brand new machine.

I've looked at some youtube videos, the Lee videos, and I've looked and looked and I can't figure out why the primers turn on their side.

Make sure you aren't running small primers through parts meant for large primers. Check each component. It takes room for a primer to flip.

 

Thanks everyone, but I just returned it.

The press is for 9mm, so everything should be good to go as far as primer size is concerned. When they turned over it was always the primer that was next to seat on the primer punch.

I beleive the primer BANG was from a primer that was not full seated on the punch. When I disassembled it I found a primer that had a nice groove cut into it consistent with the diameter of the primer punch. Looks like it was only about 1/3 seated on the punch when I pushed the lever.

 

Dang, in all my years of loading with a Lee I never detonated a primer. I stuffed a few in upside down and cut one in half once, but never set one off.

 

Leave it to me!!

If it wasn't for the primers getting turned on their side I would have continued to work on it but I thought that was a bad sign.

At any rate I should have a Dillon 550 Friday or Tuesday.