primer problems with Lee Pro 1000

[VHunter]

If you have a can of Air, try blowing some through all the parts around the primer area. There is probably a few specks of gunpowder jaming things up. When the primer tray is amost out, I'll use small screwdriver or paper clip to push the primers forward.

I have a Lee Pro 1000, and I like it. I have loaded several thousand rounds of both .357 and .40 through it.

 

[slippingaway]

Doh! Figured out why the de-priming wasn't happening. When I had the press out of index, the de-priming pin hit the shell plate carrier and got driven back up into the die. So I just had to undo the collet at the top and push the pin back out!

I still don't like the Pro 1000, but it might grow on me if I don't smash it to bits with a 20 pound sledge first...

That's one thing I really like about the Lee depriming dies. If you get a case with something stuck in the flash hole, or the odd berdan primer, the Lee pin just slides up without breaking. I now have 2 extra depriming pins for my RCBS .223 dies, because the first day I started using it, I got 40 cases through the sizing die and then broke the pin on a berdan primed case. Since it was a Friday night, it was almost a week before the replacement pin showed up in the mail.

 

[sfhogman]

Revhigh, I was trying to be nice. I gave my Loadmaster away years ago; I just got tired of dealing with it. The only Lee parts I have left are a couple of die sets, which work just fine in my Dillon press.

Finickikly yours,
Jeff

 

[Leucoandro]

Aussieshooter,

I have The Lee Classic Turret Press.

I believe that it has the same nylon part that the progressive does. If you tighten down the part that contains the nylon part too much, then it will screw it up. The nylon part will last for a very long time as long as you do not over torque the unit it is contained in.

I know because my father was working with the Turret press. We normally use it as a single stage, but he wanted to test the progressive feature. He was trying to tweak it to get the indexing just right. he over torqued the unit containing the nylon part as well. The replacement nylon part is only a couple of dollars, so I am ordering 6 to last for a while.

I actually prefer the turret press. A large part of this is because I usually hear 2-3 times a year on this board about someone blowing up a gun using the dillon press. I assume this is because it normally functions so perfectly, some become complacent, and overlook things. It seems that people using Lee presses must pay closer attention to the working of things.


For my turret press, I typically deprime/resize 100 cases with the press.
Then I prime them using the lee primer (I check every primer as I go along)
Next I index the press and dump the powder. I check that the charge is correct three times. After everything is calibrated, I dump the powder into all 100 cases.
I then take my flashlight and look in all of the cases to see if the charge levels are all the same, verification that I did not make a mistake and the machine did not make a mistake.
Then I seat the bullet in each case. I put all the cases together and make sure that they are all seated correctly.
Finally I use the factory crimp die on all the cases. I check all the cases to make sure that the final product is up to snuff.

I do not know a single person that has blown up a gun using this process, when using the correct powder (I know a person or two that has forgotten to change powder when shifting from one pistol to rifle). As mentioned before I have seen several reports from people that have blown up a weapon using dillon progressives.


Charlie

 

[slippingaway]

Aussieshooter,

I actually prefer the turret press. A large part of this is because I usually hear 2-3 times a year on this board about someone blowing up a gun using the dillon press. I assume this is because it normally functions so perfectly, some become complacent, and overlook things. It seems that people using Lee presses must pay closer attention to the working of things.

Charlie

I load .45acp on a dillon, and there have been a couple times that I've caught myself doing something stupid. I think one of the times I realized the primer didn't seat fully, so I backed the plate up to try and re-seat it, and realized I would be double charging a case. However, I make sure to use a powder that takes up most of the case volume, so if I try to do something dumb like that, it's obvious. Even doing that, I've always caught myself before the powder actually dropped.

 

[gregs45auto]

Aussie: You can find a used RCBS press that will outlast you. I bought an RCBS Jr. for 20.00 Do your brass in stages, hand prime with a Lee autoprime. I also use a Lee powder measure, checking with a rcbs scale. It is not quite as fast as a progressive but you can see that the primer-powder is there. keep us updated. best,greg

 

[AussieShooter]

Thanks, Greg. The update is that I got the press working, after a fashion, with the help of a guy at my local gun shop. I managed to load a couple of hundred rounds yesterday, with only a couple of primer issues (they went sideways, probably because there weren't enough primers behind them to push them onto the pin properly).

The cartridge sensor on the priming pin doesn't work, so I get a primer fed onto the pin whether there is a case coming through or not. That means I have to keep a pair of pliers handy to pick them up off the pin if I haven't put a case in the press for some reason. If anyone can tell me how to fix that problem, I'd be grateful but I can live with it.

My assessment of the Pro 1000 remains that it is a cheap piece of junk. But it can be made to work if you've got time to mess around with it. The next time I have major issues with this press, I will either get rid of it, or cease using it as a progressive press.

Rather than buying a whole new press, I would probably just get a hand-primer and use the Pro 1000 for decapping, sizing, throwing powder (maybe), seating and crimping. I can see that it would be a pain in the neck to put the cases through with the decapping/sizing die on the press, then hand prime them, then put them back on the press to throw powder, seat and crimp (with the decapping/sizing die removed). But probably less of a pain than dealing with the priming issues on the Pro 1000. Eventually, I'd spend the money on a Dillon 650.

Cheers

 

[Sgt Garcia]

Aussieshooter,


I actually prefer the turret press. A large part of this is because I usually hear 2-3 times a year on this board about someone blowing up a gun using the dillon press. I assume this is because it normally functions so perfectly, some become complacent, and overlook things. It seems that people using Lee presses must pay closer attention to the working of things.

Charlie

When this happens it's not caused by a malfunction of the Dillon press but rather by operator error. These double charges occur I believe, due to the 550 not being an auto advance press. If the operator for some reason neglects to operator the manual advance and cycles the press they will have a double charge.....operator error. Dillon now has a powder check tool to protect these errant operators from themselves, or some just use a powder charge that can't be doubled.

I think you are correct in that the Dillon 550 works so well that the less diligent can become complacent....not good in ANY reloading operation. One just needs to pay attention....

I prefer the Dillon Square Deal press, partially for its auto advance, and use several for my handgun loading. On these I've loaded many 10s of thousands of rounds without any sort of ammunition related problem, much like your turret and single stage presses....just faster.

Dennis.