Lee pro 1000 reloader issues

HTreinen · Jan 25, 2012

The wife bought me a Lee Pro 1000 reloader for Christmas- Pretty cool until I went to set it up. Powder leaking all over and that started the primer feed jamming issue that is a common complaint across the internet posts I read. Very frustrating and ruined a lot of cases and supplies. Turns out the powder drop tube was not seated properly causing the powder disk to overtravell and dump powder everywhere. Lee has a repair video on their website regarding this issue and I made the repair once I figured out the cause. My questions are, Has anyone else experienced this issue? If so, how long ago did this happen. I am trying to understand why Lee has no recall for this problem or at least stuck warning labels on their packages to alert people. Powder leaking all over my bench with crunched misaligned primers is a recipe for disaster that could cause great personal harm. Thank goodness I did not use any of the the primers they warn you not to use. No telling what could have happened. Any one else have similar issues?

Skip Sackett · Jan 25, 2012

It's simple! After you buy one of their presses, all you have to do is buy one of these!

Look at the name of the shield!

Load-Master Progressive Press Primer Explosion Deflector

Hey, your wife though, that girl needs some TLC for even THINKING about getting you a press! SERIOUSLY!

Make it work, don't complain, then see if you can sell it on ebay and get a real progressive, Dillon or Hornady!

papajohn428 · Jan 25, 2012

The warning about not using certain brands of primers is bogus, there are NO dimensional differences that would cause issues. It was a riff between Federal and Lee that prompted the warning, as I hear it. I've been using Lee stuff for 30 years and never had an issue with "bad" brands of primers.

I've used the Auto-Disk measures for decades, and still do, though I'll admit the "Pro" upgrade is worth every penny they cost, which ain't much. The disks can stick and yes, leak or toss powder around, but a few tweaks can fix that. Sanding them flatter (on very fine grit paper) can make them far more consistent in use, and picking powders properly can also change things for the better.

I've helped a few people get their Lee 1000's set up properly, but don't care much for the on-press priming system. I prime off-press with a hand tool, then batch-load from there. I'm using an ancient Lee 3-hole Turret press, and can load 300 rounds an hour with prepped brass. I bought the press with the auto-index feature, but neutered it to single-stage use the day I set it up. Surely others here can help with the issues you're having, I'm less experienced with the 1000 than most folks.

If I ever upgrade, it will likely be to a Lee Classic 4-hole Turret Press. I bought a Lee Loadmaster a few years ago, fought with it for three months (and ruined a LOT of 45 brass because nothing would stay in adjustment) and finally sent it back for a full refund.

We all eventually figure out the system that works best for the way we want to reload, give it some time and you'll probably figure out what works best for you. I might someday buy a Dillon to load 45ACP, but I load for about 15 calibers right now, and the Lee system of changing turrets is so fast I can't justify $600 or more to load one caliber I already load with good success.

GyMac · Jan 25, 2012

I have a Pro 1000 that I bought back in the '90's and loaded a lot of ammo on. It worked well for me, but eventually it really loosened up and is now very wobbly. I bought a Classic Turret and am using it now for all my reloading. I doubt that I will ever buy another press.

Argonnakid · Jan 25, 2012

I also got a press for christmas, a lee 4-hole turret, I haven't really given this thing a good work out yet, but I know one thing about the set up that was not thought out was the spent primer ejection on the 4-hole, those little buggers where getting everywhere, till i came up with a home fix, a bit of clear tubing and some of the wife's old stockings, works like a charm,

Skip Sackett · Jan 26, 2012

papa,
My comments ONLY apply to their progressives, nothing else. I am an avid supporter of their Classic Cast Turret Press. Good stuff.

In one of THEIR manuals though, it shows a shield that was blown up with Federal primers. Is that just a ploy then?

papajohn428 · Jan 26, 2012

Skip Sackett said:
In one of THEIR manuals though, it shows a shield that was blown up with Federal primers. Is that just a ploy then?

Anyone can make a primer go off if they're not paying attention to what they are doing. I think they just mentioned it was a Federal primer just to stick it to Federal, who had said bad things about Lee in one of their press releases. From what I HEAR, the two companies have since made up, but there are all those copies of the Lee Manual already out there, so the legend continues........

Argonnakid, after years of dealing with primers getting tossed all over the floor, I finally figured out a way to avoid the Lee Turret press's tendency to throw primers all over creation. I turned the ram around backwards, which wasn't an issue since I prime off-press. I whittled a piece of 2X4 down, drilled holes in it to fit down over the rear posts that support the top, and it catches 99.5% of the primers as they're punched out of the shells. It has worked well for me.

I recently bought a Classic Cast single-stage press, and the primers are directed down through the center of the ram and into a catch-tube. It's a good system.

Jellybean · Jan 26, 2012

My Pro 1000 was an older model with a different disk measure set up. I had loaded a couple hundred test rounds and everything worked fine, at least as fine as it would. Then I loaded about six hundred up for a school I was going to. It was a miracle that I caught that squib and didn't shoot another round behind it. After giving the press a thorough examination I found that the disk powder measure would bind up every now and then and wouldn't drop a full charge of powder. I tried to de-bug it but nothing worked so I threw it in the garbage.

I use an RCBS Piggyback 2 now, but because of the Lee I don't trust any progressive press set up for speed shooting.

As for the primer issue...in their first manual Lee says to use CCI or Winchester primers only! In their second manual they break the different primers down into groups of if you can use 100, 20 or 10 in the tray at once, and anything not listed is to be considered unsafe. They still say not to use Federals at all. It has nothing to do with an issue of Federal vs. Lee, although there might have been an issue after Lee started saying this. The other primers have softer cups and are not as forgiving as the CCI and Winchesters when being crushed in the Lee priming system. It's sort of funny reading though in case anyone wants to, especially how they slam RCBS, with emphasis on the BS.

GyMac · Jan 26, 2012

Jellybean said:
My Pro 1000 was an older model with a different disk measure set up. I had loaded a couple hundred test rounds and everything worked fine, at least as fine as it would. Then I loaded about six hundred up for a school I was going to. It was a miracle that I caught that squib and didn't shoot another round behind it. After giving the press a thorough examination I found that the disk powder measure would bind up every now and then and wouldn't drop a full charge of powder. I tried to de-bug it but nothing worked so I threw it in the garbage.

Don't know if this is related, but I got a bunch of squibs using my new adjustable charge bar. The issue is binding. I'm not sure how I will handle this, but of course I'm currently not using it. Never have had a problem with the regular disks.

mstuhr · Jan 26, 2012

Return chain

Howdy,
You fellows with squib problems could have the return chain out of adjustment.
Also, if you store powder in the measure, it does not hurt to give it a stir before loading.
I use a wooden dowel to keep the chance of a spark down.
If the chain returns the disc like it it supposed to and you don't have any lumps in your powder the 1000 should not produce any squibs.
Good luck
Mike

Jellybean · Jan 26, 2012

GyMac, yes it was binding, but there was no way to stop it that I could find.

mstuhr, mine was an older model that didn't have a chain. (the original auto disk) It was operated by the powder through expander die and returned by a spring. There was no problem with the return, it was the powder dispenser itself that would bind the disks and not let them move forward enough to drop the powder.

Bib · Jan 26, 2012

From my personal experience of loading thousands of rounds of 9mm and 45 on my two dedicated Pro 1000 presses:

If you put 100 primers into the tray DO NOT EXPECT TO LOAD 100 ROUNDS. The primers start out travelling vertically, then go horizontal...they need the weight of the primers above them to feed. Stop when the tray is empty and you can see the top primer in the chute. The primers have a tendency to "bridge" at the top of the chute....when the handle is down, glance at the tray and tap if necessary. As the handle nears the top of it's stroke glance at the primer chute...you'll see the primers move in the chute. A little bit of powdered graphite sprinkled into the chute before you put on the full primer tray will help keep things moving. ...and keep your indexing screw properly adjusted.

Argonnakid · Jan 26, 2012

Thanks for the photo's Papa, might give that method a try,

Dadsnugun · Jan 27, 2012

I currently use a Lee Challenger single stage and recently thought about buying a reconditioned pro 1000 as they had them for a good price on the LEE website. After looking closer though it just seemed like too much of a Rube Goldberg contraption and I decided to stick with what I've got as it works for me and I've got more time than I have patience for fiddling with recalcitrant mechanisms.

papajohn428 · Jan 27, 2012

Jellybean said:
As for the primer issue...in their first manual Lee says to use CCI or Winchester primers only! In their second manual they break the different primers down into groups of if you can use 100, 20 or 10 in the tray at once, and anything not listed is to be considered unsafe. They still say not to use Federals at all. It has nothing to do with an issue of Federal vs. Lee, although there might have been an issue after Lee started saying this. The other primers have softer cups and are not as forgiving as the CCI and Winchesters when being crushed in the Lee priming system. It's sort of funny reading though in case anyone wants to, especially how they slam RCBS, with emphasis on the BS.

I have yet to have a single primer issue, but I'm not using Lee's on-press systems, so maybe there is something to it. What I can tell you is that after priming north of 700,000 shells with a Lee hand tool (and nowadays a Hornady unit) I have NEVER had a primer go off while priming. The Lee Loader, however, was a different story!

Dadsnugun, the logical step up for you is a 4-hole Turret Press. If I ever upgrade, that's what I'll get. After close to 3/4 Million rounds (at least three strokes of the handle per round) my Lee 3-holer is getting a bit loose!

Jellybean · Jan 27, 2012

papajohn, the only primer I've ever had go off accidently was in a Kirby sweeper.

But I have crushed more than one in Lee equipment, the Pro 1000 and the Auto Prime 2, which are about the same set up. As Bib noted above you have to watch the primer feed when the tray gets empty because they need the weight of the other primers to make them feed. And if you try to shake the tray it might pop the top off of it because it rattles loose from the expander die shaking the press to death. I used a paper clip between the groove in the feed tube to keep the primers going. Between that and pulling every case out to make sure it had a full powder charge it wasn't very progressive at all.

In spite of what Richard Lee claims in his manual, I like RCBSs primer systems a lot better, both the tube and the APS system, which is the slickest set up I've ever seen.

Revolver-time · Jan 27, 2012

I have the Lee Pro 1000 and upgraded it with the adjustable measure. I load eight different calibers and have loaded tens of thousands of rounds. All for an initial cost of $120. The Lee products are real winners in my book.

Smith357 · Jan 27, 2012

I have a Lee 1000 .38/357 setup that has been producing my .38 target ammo for nearly 20 years. during that time it has had a lot of tweaking and special modifications made to it so that it continues to work. Everything has been polished and redone down to my own adjustable conversion too the old auto disk mess.

The primer feed system was one of my biggest headaches to over come. but some simple common sense solutions fixed it right up. I believe the whole primer feed design while over all good and better faster than the Dillion when it comes to refilling was just poorly implemented in a 3 station press. By design if it dumps a load of powder and misses the shell or just some powder that did not make it into the last shell you just polluted your whole primer feed area with powder that jam it all up.

The first thing is pretty much all the sensor springs have been bent and twisted for more positive readings of whether or not a case is present at the priming station. I have also modded the primer feed ramp with a shim epoxied up under it to change the angle just a tad for better feeding. I also keep a brush, needlenose pliers, dental pick and air hose at that station for powder dumps to clean it all out if need be. Yes the press can be a pain in the butt but get going but once you get it tweaked it really pretty well for what it is. Now that I know that press inside and out I have considered buying a new one to replace my 20year old franken press.

Dadsnugun · Jan 27, 2012

papajohn428 said:
I have yet to have a single primer issue, but I'm not using Lee's on-press systems, so maybe there is something to it. What I can tell you is that after priming north of 700,000 shells with a Lee hand tool (and nowadays a Hornady unit) I have NEVER had a primer go off while priming. The Lee Loader, however, was a different story!

Dadsnugun, the logical step up for you is a 4-hole Turret Press. If I ever upgrade, that's what I'll get. After close to 3/4 Million rounds (at least three strokes of the handle per round) my Lee 3-holer is getting a bit loose!

Just curious papajohn, are you using the Hornady hand tool because of the change in design of the LEE model? I just received the new version after losing a piece of my old one (and then finding it again, later

. The new model seems an over-engineered contraption that is uncomfortable, and scary to use. IMO they should've just left the design alone, my old model works fine.

Sorry about the hijack, but it's sorta in the ballpark...

HTreinen · Jan 27, 2012

Good replies one and all-
Now that I have the press operational it seems to work ok. You really need to get a nice rythym going and don't yank the handle. It has sped up the process but the primer feed really is a weak link. I have read a lot of stuff over the past few weeks regarding the press and you either love them or toss them in the trash.
I was really surprised by Lees customer service. With a potential for liabilty in this lawyer overpopulated country they really have been indifferent and even uncaring regarding this issue. When I asked for some sort of compensation for reloading supplies ruined by their defective merchandise, they won't return messages or e-mails. Kind of dissapointing as I was only asking for $20.00 worth of merchandise from their catalouge to make it square.
As they are in Wisconsin, I decided to file a complaint with the Wisconsin BBB. Shipping a product that could start a fire/cause a primer detonation on my bench really did bug me. Product should have been recalled if they know enough about it to make a video.
Had my eye on the Lee 4 hole turrent press to update my rifle bench, but I'm not to sure now. I have owned 4 challenger pressses and actually wore the first one completly out after 25 years.
Time to look at other brands I guess- Lee seems to be the Harbor Freight of reloading these days-Cheap and poor quality

Lee pro 1000 reloader issues

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