I've had four progressive presses over many years and finally decided I had no need for such machines. My first was a used Pro 1000. It actually worked pretty well as I recall, but I had been handloading thirty years when I got it twenty or more years ago. It had quirks; they all do. I was amazed at how accurate the Auto-Disk powder system was.

I suspect many of those who bellyache about such machinery are impatient, inexperienced, and expect everything to run perfectly all the time. That seldom happens. Operators may lack the prerequisite understanding of the mechanics involved because they have never loaded on a simpler machine. Whining in some situations is no doubt justified, but a lot of it may not be.

I don't believe a truly poor loading machine can survive in the very competitive market for very long at all. I'm not endorsing the Pro 1000 or anyone else's machine, but the 1000 has been around for a while.