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Old 05-17-2018, 11:32 PM
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Default New Lee Progressive Press

Has anyone tried or even seen this new press? Lee Auto Breech Lock Pro Progressive Press | MSS by Lee
I have a cast Turret that works fine , but It would be nice to complete a loaded round in one cycle of the handle.
Price is not bad, add a few shell plates and maybe a case feeder.
I don’t need more speed really, I just like the mechanics of how a progressive works. Thoughts, opinions?
Thanks,
David.
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Old 05-18-2018, 02:29 AM
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I'm really thinking about it. Btw:

Lee Auto Breech Lock Pro Progressive Press | MSS by Lee
Midsouth has it for $103.
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Old 05-18-2018, 05:32 AM
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Bought mine for $106 from Reloading and Shooting Supplies | Midsouth Shooters Supply Was easy to set up out of the box. Have 9mm installed but haven't loaded anything yet. Just got the new Safety Prime to install. Case feed will probably be next. One thing I noticed is how smoothly it operates. Hope to load a few rounds next week. I have shell plates coming for 38 Spec. and 45 auto along with more bushings. Will keep you posted...:-)
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Old 05-18-2018, 08:57 AM
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I've been so impressed with my Auto Drum I'd buy it in a second if I was in the market.
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Old 05-18-2018, 12:40 PM
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Originally Posted by 68Dave View Post
Has anyone tried or even seen this new press? Lee Auto Breech Lock Pro Progressive Press | MSS by Lee
I have a cast Turret that works fine , but It would be nice to complete a loaded round in one cycle of the handle.
Price is not bad, add a few shell plates and maybe a case feeder.
I don’t need more speed really, I just like the mechanics of how a progressive works. Thoughts, opinions?
Thanks,
David.
The jury will be out for awhile on the new Lee, their others have been pretty spotty. Yes, a progressive isn't just about speed/production but about doing less work. 1000rds on a turret is 3-4000 handle pulls. On a good progressive, 1004.
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Old 05-18-2018, 02:21 PM
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Does this press use swappable die plates (a.k.a. turret plates)?
If so are they the same 4-hole plates that I use in my Classic Turret?
If the die plates are compatible, then buying one of these is a complete no-brainer for me....

EDIT: A quick check on their website answers the question. The Breachlock Pro doesn't use a removable turret plate (unfortunately), so swapping calibers requires swapping all 4 dies individually. Using the locking collars will simplify the swap over, but it still won't be a super quick-n-easy swap like with my turret. DARN!

Last edited by BC38; 05-18-2018 at 03:16 PM.
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Old 05-18-2018, 03:06 PM
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I've been so impressed with my Auto Drum I'd buy it in a second if I was in the market.
I’ve heard people knock the auto drum but I have 2 mounted on separate turrets and found them to be extremely accurate and dependable. Also very easy to adjust.
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Old 05-18-2018, 03:15 PM
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Originally Posted by BC38 View Post
Does this press use swappable die plates (a.k.a. turret plates)?
If so are they the same 4-hole plates that I use in my Classic Turret?
If the die plates are compatible, then buying one of these is a complete no-brainer for me....
That’s what I was thinking too. Eleven bucks for each plate and
never having to pull the dies is great. Too good to be true if they would just swap right into a $100 progressive.
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Old 05-18-2018, 03:22 PM
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But you got to buy all them adapters, for 12 calibers, that is way too much additional for me
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Old 05-18-2018, 03:49 PM
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Originally Posted by dannyabear View Post
But you got to buy all them adapters, for 12 calibers, that is way too much additional for me
Actually you might not need one for every caliber. Several of them work with multiple calibers. For example:
Plate #4 works for 222, 223, 380 Auto, 32 S&W Long, 32 H&R Mag
Plate #11 works for 44 Special, 44 Magnum, 45 Colt
Plate #19 works for 40 S&W, 10mm Auto, 9mm Luger, 38 Super, 38 Auto, 41 AE

I load 8 calibers and would need to buy 5 plates. On the Lee site they are $25 each - though I'm sure they would be less from some of the discount sellers.

I sure wish it had the swappable turret plates...
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Old 05-18-2018, 04:20 PM
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Default I would do well....

I'd do well just to do 9mm. I go through a LOT of that.
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Old 05-18-2018, 04:27 PM
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I'm happy with my Lee turret press but I'm going to keep an eye on this. I wouldn't mind kicking out an extra 150 rounds an hour for a minimal cash outlay. Still, I'd like to see some feedback from multiple users before getting involved. Especially since my turret press is so easy and reliable.
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Old 05-18-2018, 04:42 PM
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Originally Posted by BC38 View Post
Actually you might not need one for every caliber. Several of them work with multiple calibers. For example:
Plate #4 works for 222, 223, 380 Auto, 32 S&W Long, 32 H&R Mag
Plate #11 works for 44 Special, 44 Magnum, 45 Colt
Plate #19 works for 40 S&W, 10mm Auto, 9mm Luger, 38 Super, 38 Auto, 41 AE

I load 8 calibers and would need to buy 5 plates. On the Lee site they are $25 each - though I'm sure they would be less from some of the discount sellers.

I sure wish it had the swappable turret plates...
I meant the adapters that hold the dies
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Old 05-18-2018, 04:42 PM
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Want to see how this goes. For the price I'd set one up to do 9mm and then leave it alone.
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Old 05-18-2018, 05:07 PM
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Originally Posted by dannyabear View Post
I meant the adapters that hold the dies
AHHH, I see. You're talking about the Breech Lock Bushings.

At $11 a pair and 4 needed per caliber those could really get expensive. Basically twice the cost of the $12 turret plates for my Classic.

So to be able to load everything I'm loading with my turret I'd need 4 extra shell plates @ $25 each and 14 pairs of the breech lock bushings @ $11 each.

That's $154 worth of accessories to use with a $106 press.

Of course if I only wanted to use if for two or three of my most used calibers (9mm, 38, 357) the cost would be a lot more reasonable. Still, $47 worth of bushings and shell plates per caliber adds up fast.

Last edited by BC38; 05-18-2018 at 05:13 PM.
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Old 05-18-2018, 05:27 PM
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Unless I am missing something...

Why would you ever need another one of those breech-lock die collets? I mean, the press comes with them and dies screw in to them. Dies screw in and out for the last hundred years before the breech-lock collars were invented... could you not simply screw in the 3 or 4 dies you wish to use and never buy another collar?

When Lee debuted the Breech-Lock concept a handful of years ago, that was my thought exactly.

Surely we can screw dies in and out, yes?
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Old 05-18-2018, 05:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Eddietruett View Post
I’ve heard people knock the auto drum but I have 2 mounted on separate turrets and found them to be extremely accurate and dependable. Also very easy to adjust.
I run three auto drum dispensers, one each on my .45 and 9mm progressive presses and the third goes back and forth between the .38 progressive and my Turret press (44/40 and .32 auto).

They are so much more reliable than the old auto disk setup I am thinking I really need a forth to complete my setup.

As to the new press: A better priming system than the old Pro 1000, although if you do not already have a safety prime on your Turret it is an added cost (I don’t but I like the look of it).

Does not use the 3 stage pro 1000 shellplate, which again is added cost for the press.

Wooden handle on the lever. I’ve worn out the synthetic one on both my .45 and 9mm presses. They are currently wrapped with duct tape. Hope I can get a wooden one to replace Them.

I did find a YouTube video unboxing the Auto Breach setup which said US $150 shipped ($200 NZ plus additional shipping and taxes). And undoubtably a better press than the 1000.

Last edited by Kiwi cop; 05-18-2018 at 05:47 PM.
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Old 05-18-2018, 05:40 PM
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Unless I am missing something...

Why would you ever need another one of those breech-lock die collets? I mean, the press comes with them and dies screw in to them. Dies screw in and out for the last hundred years before the breech-lock collars were invented... could you not simply screw in the 3 or 4 dies you wish to use and never buy another collar?

When Lee debuted the Breech-Lock concept a handful of years ago, that was my thought exactly.

Surely we can screw dies in and out, yes?
Absolutely. If you want to take the time and go through the hassle of re-adjusting all the dies every time you switch calibers.

The idea is to adjust the dies one time while they are in the bushings and lock them down so that then you can just swap them bushing and all - without having to fiddle with re-adjusting them every time. Same reason I have a turret plate for each set of dies I use in my Classic Turret.

Unless you only load one caliber on the press, a good part of the time you save with a progressive gets eaten up in re-adjusting everything at every caliber change. Most of us don't particularly enjoy the fiddling around part of reloading and would rather put that time into cranking out ammo.

Last edited by BC38; 05-18-2018 at 05:42 PM.
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Old 05-18-2018, 06:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Kiwi cop View Post
I run three auto drum dispensers, one each on my .45 and 9mm progressive presses and the third goes back and forth between the .38 progressive and my Turret press (44/40 and .32 auto).

They are so much more reliable than the old auto disk setup I am thinking I really need a forth to complete my setup.

As to the new press: A better priming system than the old Pro 1000, although if you do not already have a safety prime on your Turret it is an added cost (I don’t but I like the look of it).

Does not use the 3 stage pro 1000 shellplate, which again is added cost for the press.

Wooden handle on the lever. I’ve worn out the synthetic one on both my .45 and 9mm presses. They are currently wrapped with duct tape. Hope I can get a wooden one to replace Them.

I did find a YouTube video unboxing the Auto Breach setup which said US $150 shipped ($200 NZ plus additional shipping and taxes). And undoubtably a better press than the 1000.
I would to make it more convenient. I switched my older auto disk to the Auto Disk Pro and no longer have the problems I had with powder leakage, changing disks is easy with powder hopper cut off and brass thumb screws instead of unscrewing the entire hopper. Can change discs now without empting the powder hopper.
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Old 05-18-2018, 07:18 PM
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Absolutely. If you want to take the time and go through the hassle of re-adjusting all the dies every time you switch calibers.

Loading since 1989 almost exclusively with Lee dies and the original rubber o-ring die lock rings that so many seem to despise. In handgun chamberings... I think I am set up for 16 different? Typically only doing about 10 common calibers these days.

Sharpie black medium point marker:
--Index line vertically on the die body
--unaltered index line on my press... first one a Lee O-frame Challenger and then a Lee Classic Cast somewhere around 2006 maybe. Index line on the Classic Cast since the day I took it out of the box. Haha... in the interest of full disclosure, I darken the ink line every two years or so...?!

Probably approaching 150,000 loaded with Sharpie marker index lines handle all but the absolute fine tuning. It was only about six years ago that I began logging production numbers.

I'll never understand why some make simple things far more difficult than they need to be. I must have almost 30 sets of loading dies. Sharpie market and a black index line versus Breech-Lock collets? For what amounts to maybe 75 or 80 dies?!
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Old 05-18-2018, 07:29 PM
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Unless I am missing something...

Why would you ever need another one of those breech-lock die collets? I mean, the press comes with them and dies screw in to them. Dies screw in and out for the last hundred years before the breech-lock collars were invented... could you not simply screw in the 3 or 4 dies you wish to use and never buy another collar?

When Lee debuted the Breech-Lock concept a handful of years ago, that was my thought exactly.

Surely we can screw dies in and out, yes?
I load 23 calibers. For each caliber I load multiple type bullets. Every time i reload i have to readjust the dies.

I put the breech lock collet in my press that uses them. Then I drilled it, pinned it and secured it with J-B Weld. Thus, making it into an old fashioned press.
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Old 05-18-2018, 07:31 PM
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BC38, try an experiment -- even with your dies in turrets, try an index line with a Sharpie. Put a line on the turret and a line on the bidy of the die that indexes perfectly with your line. Take the die out. Put it back in... see what it does.

Your bullet seater die eould be the easiest to check your results after trying.

If my method works then you can use any Lee product that uses the Breech-Lock collets and you could ignore the collets.

If my method doesn't work to your satisfaction, all you lost was a couple minutes spinning a die out, then back in.

If it does work then you can investigate the new press and care nothing about the cost of the collets.
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Old 05-18-2018, 09:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Sevens View Post
BC38, try an experiment -- even with your dies in turrets, try an index line with a Sharpie. Put a line on the turret and a line on the bidy of the die that indexes perfectly with your line. Take the die out. Put it back in... see what it does.

Your bullet seater die eould be the easiest to check your results after trying.

If my method works then you can use any Lee product that uses the Breech-Lock collets and you could ignore the collets.

If my method doesn't work to your satisfaction, all you lost was a couple minutes spinning a die out, then back in.

If it does work then you can investigate the new press and care nothing about the cost of the collets.
I tried that already, and it worked great until I accidentally moved one of the locknuts or the seating stem or the crimp knob and couldn't tell if it was 1/2 turn too far left or 1/2 turn too far right.
Either way you're still futzing with getting all your sharpie marks all perfectly lined up. Like I said its a convenience thing and you pretty much always pay for convenience.

Locking them down still requires messing with a wrench to loosen and re-tighten the lock nuts. With the bushings you do all that once and then just spin the bushing down until they bottom into place and there's no futzing with wrenches or aligning everything etc.

I did think of an alternative though. Replace the single rubber-washer locknut with a pair of locknuts tightened against each other. That would work basically the same as the bushings. Those are less than a buck fifty apiece, so that would be a really economical solution that would allow you to just "spin them down" into position.

Last edited by BC38; 05-18-2018 at 09:35 PM.
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Old 05-18-2018, 09:10 PM
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Originally Posted by BC38 View Post
AHHH, I see. You're talking about the Breech Lock Bushings.

At $11 a pair and 4 needed per caliber those could really get expensive. Basically twice the cost of the $12 turret plates for my Classic.

So to be able to load everything I'm loading with my turret I'd need 4 extra shell plates @ $25 each and 14 pairs of the breech lock bushings @ $11 each.

That's $154 worth of accessories to use with a $106 press.

Of course if I only wanted to use if for two or three of my most used calibers (9mm, 38, 357) the cost would be a lot more reasonable. Still, $47 worth of bushings and shell plates per caliber adds up fast.
Plus a powder measure & primer feed. It appears neither come with?
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Old 05-18-2018, 09:42 PM
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Plus a powder measure & primer feed. It appears neither come with?
Yeah, and I'm not even sure their auto-prime will work with this press.

Even if it does, it still isn't an automatic primer feed - you have to operate it manually for each round.

So for every stroke of the handle you have to manually drop a case, load a primer, & set a bullet in place.

Seems like a lot of stuff to do between pulls of the handle.
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Old 05-18-2018, 10:29 PM
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Unless you only load one caliber on the press, a good part of the time you save with a progressive gets eaten up in re-adjusting everything at every caliber change. Most of us don't particularly enjoy the fiddling around part of reloading and would rather put that time into cranking out ammo.
Only if you try to use your progressive as a turret, BC.

Turrets work well when you're always changing calibers and producing small batches of ammo. The Lee turrets, in particular, can be swapped back and forth with zero adjustments.

So if you're reloading in one or two sessions a week, to make 100-200 rounds a week to shoot, they're great. Especially if you like to experiment and don't want to commit to a particular load.

Progressives have more setup time. The Lee isn't so bad, with die bushings and the easily-switched Lee Safety Prime. And of course, they have more expenses associated with adding calibers. Which I have to admit, seeing people complain about buying die bushings is pretty hilarious compared to the per-caliber setup costs of some other companies.

Where the progressive excels is when you've settled on your loads, and you want to stop screwing around with small batches. When you just want to convert 500 LSWCs into 500 cartridges of your favorite load, progressives are it.

So--don't buy bushings for 12 different cartridges. Ask yourself what you really shoot in volume. Me, I'd definitely do 9mm and probably .45 on this thing, but probably not anything else. .38 Spl would be debatable--I've picked out The Load for it, but I just don't shoot that kind of volume.

Last edited by Wise_A; 05-18-2018 at 10:30 PM.
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Old 05-18-2018, 10:33 PM
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On my Lee Classic Turret with Lee dies setup for 9mm, I removed the rubber rings and locknuts. Then I turned the locknuts over and re- tightened them, they haven't moved after loading a couple thousand 9 mm.

Another thing I did, I loaded a lot of 50 shells for several of my favorite calibers using the Classic as a single stage. I took my time and tweaked the dies that needed fine tuning, now everything seems to work like I want it too, with no problems.

Have a blessed day,

Leon
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Old 05-18-2018, 11:25 PM
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On my Lee Classic Turret with Lee dies setup for 9mm, I removed the rubber rings and locknuts. Then I turned the locknuts over and re- tightened them, they haven't moved after loading a couple thousand 9 mm.

Another thing I did, I loaded a lot of 50 shells for several of my favorite calibers using the Classic as a single stage. I took my time and tweaked the dies that needed fine tuning, now everything seems to work like I want it too, with no problems.

Have a blessed day,

Leon
Yup, I've done pretty much the same for all of my calibers. I have each set of dies all set up in its own turret plate. The only thing I ever tweak is the bullet seating stem and/or adjust the crimp die a 1/2 turn more or less when I change what bullet I'm loading. I left the o-rings in place but tightened the locknuts down with a wrench so they don't budge.

Like I said above, it would be pretty easy to put two locknuts without the o-rings on each die and once you have them set where you want them, tighten the lock nuts together like a jamb-nut arrangement and then you could very easily reset them to exactly the same spot every time you swap them without the expense of buying multiple sets of bushings. You'd accomplish the same thing for a very small fraction of the cost.

I usually load in batches of 300-500, and the turret with it's swappable plates works well for this, but it would be nice to have one of these progressives to do bigger runs of 1000 at a time. Especially if I could do a run of 1000 for the same time and effort that I'm currently expending to load 300 or so.

Last edited by BC38; 05-18-2018 at 11:28 PM.
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Old 05-20-2018, 10:49 PM
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Bought mine for $106 from Reloading and Shooting Supplies | Midsouth Shooters Supply Was easy to set up out of the box. Have 9mm installed but haven't loaded anything yet. Just got the new Safety Prime to install. Case feed will probably be next. One thing I noticed is how smoothly it operates. Hope to load a few rounds next week. I have shell plates coming for 38 Spec. and 45 auto along with more bushings. Will keep you posted...:-)
Where do the spent primers go? Is there a tube to catch them?
My single stage Breech lock rarely sent primers down the tube, but the Turret couldn’t miss. The Wife fusses about old primers rolling around the garage. If I’m ever gonna get to move my bench inside I’ve got to keep spent primers contained.
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Old 05-20-2018, 11:25 PM
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Yeah, and I'm not even sure their auto-prime will work with this press.

Even if it does, it still isn't an automatic primer feed - you have to operate it manually for each round.

So for every stroke of the handle you have to manually drop a case, load a primer, & set a bullet in place.

Seems like a lot of stuff to do between pulls of the handle.
Lee's case feeing tubes fit on this press so no case feeding.

The primer movement is a simple push at the bottom of the handles travel/top of the shell plate movement.

So it's lower handle, push primer feed, raise handle, place bullet on case. Then repeat.

As I don't use press mounted priming on my Pro 1000's due to the terrible feed system this would be a lot quicker than a Pro 1000 or a turret press.
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Old 05-20-2018, 11:26 PM
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Where do the spent primers go? Is there a tube to catch them?
My single stage Breech lock rarely sent primers down the tube, but the Turret couldn’t miss. The Wife fusses about old primers rolling around the garage. If I’m ever gonna get to move my bench inside I’ve got to keep spent primers contained.
Thanks,
David.
A tube clips onto the bottom of the ram and catches all the spent primers.
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Old 05-21-2018, 12:52 PM
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As mentioned, it appears to be the same recovery system used on the Lee turret presses. I would say it is quite rare to have spent primers end up on the floor.
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Old 05-21-2018, 10:57 PM
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Some folks is just being obstinate. It's got a case feeder. It's got a bullet dropper. And what the Safety/Auto Prime loses in automation, it gains in switching between large and small primers at will.

I did, however, manage to have spent primers on the floor, though, 1sailor. It took effort with my turret, but I done it.

I emptied the spent primer tube a few hundred rounds ago, having left it for too long. I proceeded to load another 300 or so rounds, when I had an extremely rare occurrence: I dispensed a live primer onto the seating gizmo, and when the dispenser withdrew, it ever-so-delicately flipped the primer out of its little cup, into a slot on the ram, and down the spent primer passage.

So I figured I'd have to shake out a few dead primers, and pick out the one live one. Because I abhor having a flat of ammo with one empty space.

Trouble is, when I pulled the endcap off the spent primer tube, it was empty. Dead empty. That was when I realized that the inside of the ram was jammed full of spent primers.

I wound up gingerly tapping and scraping out the clog of primers--hundreds of the the things--with a brass cleaning rod, looking for the live one. A tub underneath the press caught maybe 30% of the primers that fell out, but most bounced off my hand and arm. And by the time I thought to put on gloves, my hand was already covered in unimaginable primer filth.
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Old 05-22-2018, 01:01 AM
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I'm not being obstinate. If it has an auto feed for the case and bullet and all you have to do manually is feed the primer using the AutoPrime it might be a pretty good system. I could use it to crank out 9mm and 45acp and load everything else on my turret. Might be pretty worthwhile for about $150 to load those two calibers.
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Old 05-22-2018, 08:53 PM
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This is "the fastest, easiest and most economical progressive press ever made." Get one now. Your friends with Dillon's and Hornady's will probably stop talking to you so be prepared.

https://leeprecision.com/userfiles/a...echLockPro.pdf
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Old 05-22-2018, 09:26 PM
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So far, I'm into the press, new safety prime, 3-shell plates 2-pks lock ring eliminators and 3-pks bushings @ $227. This will load my 4 pistol calibers: 9mm/40 S&W (same shell plate), 38 Spec. and 45 auto. Not sure yet on case feeder, since I haven't loaded anything yet. Been busy getting ready to get married this Thursday and haven't had any time in the loading room! :-)
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Old 05-23-2018, 02:53 PM
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I don't think Dillon and Hornady are too worried.
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Old 05-23-2018, 03:05 PM
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I don't think Dillon and Hornady are too worried.
Not if they wish to not gain a lot of new customers.

LEE is far better than the pricing suggests and most who look down on LEE have no experience with one and only listen to the tripe of others who think price is only indicator of quality.

For those who have a budget or who want to try their hand without a large financial commitment LEE is an excellent setup. I have an LEE single stage press owned since the 80s and a budget (older) turret for 10 years never give me a problem once all were set up according to directions. I've just updated my turret to the Classic Cast model just because I wanted one. The old model has over 20,000 rnds thru it and still going. I'm giving it to a new reloader. My single stage puts out ammo that consistently puts 5 rounds in a 3/8ths MOA every time I shoot. With LEE dies.

Don't tell me LEE is a cheap problematic setup.

Last edited by medic15al; 05-23-2018 at 03:06 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old 05-23-2018, 03:27 PM
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At 20,000 rounds your old Lee turret press was just getting broken in. I had well over that many when I sold mine. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it except it was the older version and I decided I wanted the classic because it had a better method of spent primer disposal. Since then I've loaded close to 20,000 on the new press. Either of those presses is easily capable of producing close to 200 rounds an hour while working at a steady pace. I am now considering one of the new progressive's for the increased speed. I shoot on average between 1000 and 1200 rounds per month every month and being able to cut my reloading time in half would be nice. I'd still keep the turret press though. People who don't use Lee equipment tend to knock it. I suppose if I spent 3 times the money with no appreciable gain I might be inclined to express doubt over Lee quality also. Very few people will willingly admit that they way overspent on their equipment for the sake of a name. I have no doubt that some of the more expensive presses are really pretty nice. But, you load 1000 rounds on your expensive press and I'll load 1000 on mine and we'll see if your ammo is any more fun to shoot because of it. Having used Lee equipment for many years I tend to not pay much attention to the others now.

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Old 05-23-2018, 03:45 PM
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I hope the new press has a 45 Auto Rim shell plate

I wanted to buy a Lee Loadmaster progressive a while back but Lee doesn't have a 45 Auto Rim(#13) shell plate for it.

I'm mostly happy with the Lee Classic Turrets.

About 95% of my reloading is 357,44 Mag and 45 Auto Rim cases
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Old 05-23-2018, 05:06 PM
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Looks like Amazon has that #13 shell plate for 20 bucks.
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Old 05-23-2018, 05:13 PM
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..I have two of the previous gen set up for 38 wc and 45 swc.

since I prime by hand (iot clean prmr pockets) the decap/size station is modified accordingly.

the secret is "clean and dry" to keep things running smoothly - I love mine!
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Old 05-23-2018, 06:09 PM
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At 20,000 rounds your old Lee turret press was just getting broken in. I had well over that many when I sold mine. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it except it was the older version and I decided I wanted the classic because it had a better method of spent primer disposal. Since then I've loaded close to 20,000 on the new press. Either of those presses is easily capable of producing close to 200 rounds an hour while working at a steady pace. I am now considering one of the new progressive's for the increased speed. I shoot on average between 1000 and 1200 rounds per month every month and being able to cut my reloading time in half would be nice. I'd still keep the turret press though. People who don't use Lee equipment tend to knock it. I suppose if I spent 3 times the money with no appreciable gain I might be inclined to express doubt over Lee quality also. Very few people will willingly admit that they way overspent on their equipment for the sake of a name. I have no doubt that some of the more expensive presses are really pretty nice. But, you load 1000 rounds on your expensive press and I'll load 1000 on mine and we'll see if your ammo is any more fun to shoot because of it. Having used Lee equipment for many years I tend to not pay much attention to the others now.
Yeah the primer disposal was the biggest reason I decided to change. Along with the priming arm falling out on the down stroke at times. The Cast turret design took care of all that.
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Old 05-23-2018, 06:23 PM
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I've got nearly a dozen 4 hole turrets set up in an equal number of calibers. This allows me to change calibers on my Classic Turret in minutes without further adjustment. When they make a Progressive that A) Isn't finicky like their previous progressives and B) accepts the turrets I already have, I MAY take a look. Meanwhile, 4 strokes to a round gives me a great mix of speed and process control.
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Old 05-23-2018, 06:26 PM
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I keep all my calibers set up in turret plates along with the Auto Disk powder measure. I went with a new Pro Auto Disk on my new Cast Turret and will be phasing in other calibers as well, MUCH more easier to use!
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Old 05-23-2018, 06:59 PM
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Lee has not stayed in business for the last 60 years just because they can beat most other manufacturers prices. They have stayed in business because they give excellent value and quality for the amount of money spent. I don't think that there are many companies who can honestly make that claim.
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Old 05-23-2018, 08:17 PM
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................ I shoot on average between 1000 and 1200 rounds per month every month and being able to cut my reloading time in half would be nice. I'd still keep the turret press though. People who don't use Lee equipment tend to knock it. I suppose if I spent 3 times the money with no appreciable gain I might be inclined to express doubt over Lee quality also. .........
Well then since the new Lee press is the fastest progressive press ever made you will be sooo happy when your new press is mounted on your bench! Your time will be cut more than half probably about 1/4 time!
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