Lee Pro-1000 reloading solution

My latest challenge with the Lee1000 is the powder dispenser. My Pro Auto Disk seems to completely miss a charge every 5th or 6th throw. It DOES have a return chain. In fact, I have worked an improved pull back chain as the little ball-link kept snapping even with the spring in place.

I have used graphite on the disks to make them travel smoothly, I have downloaded a template for a baffle and put one in the hopper to keep the extra powder weight from packing the tube. I have tried Winchester 231 and Universal powders. I have wiped everything down with dryer sheets to remove static and even have tried a drier sheet in with the powder...

Thoughts?
 
jonl1968 said:
My latest challenge with the Lee1000 is the powder dispenser. My Pro Auto Disk seems to completely miss a charge every 5th or 6th throw. It DOES have a return chain. In fact, I have worked an improved pull back chain as the little ball-link kept snapping even with the spring in place.

I have used graphite on the disks to make them travel smoothly, I have downloaded a template for a baffle and put one in the hopper to keep the extra powder weight from packing the tube. I have tried Winchester 231 and Universal powders. I have wiped everything down with dryer sheets to remove static and even have tried a drier sheet in with the powder...

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I just went through the annoyance of getting proper throws from the Powder Disc Measure, and the only thing I did that seemed to fix the issue for me was to make absolutely sure the thumbscrew nuts were completely tight so the measure didn't move in anyway. This also seemed to fix the chain getting overstressed inadvertently and coming apart. I haven't used any extra baffle or anything else, and I was metering Unique at 8gr (which is supposedly a difficult powder and charge size for it to work with). I never really had any missed measures, just light ones, but I do make sure to have a positive stop at top and bottom of every throw and that seems to have made the charges much more consistent.
By thumbscrew nuts, I mean those that attach the feeder to the die, not the ones that trap the disc between the hopper and the base, although those need to be snug too!
 
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Maybe

jonl1968 said:
My latest challenge with the Lee1000 is the powder dispenser. My Pro Auto Disk seems to completely miss a charge every 5th or 6th throw. It DOES have a return chain. In fact, I have worked an improved pull back chain as the little ball-link kept snapping even with the spring in place.

I have used graphite on the disks to make them travel smoothly, I have downloaded a template for a baffle and put one in the hopper to keep the extra powder weight from packing the tube. I have tried Winchester 231 and Universal powders. I have wiped everything down with dryer sheets to remove static and even have tried a drier sheet in with the powder...

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Hi,
I check to see that the lever where the chain is attached is reset. I use my left hand and make it part of the process just top be sure the disk has come all the way back.I check it just when I have seated the primer.
Also, I keep a pop sickle stick (non sparking) handy and every time before I start to reload I will give the powder a good stir if it has sat in the hopper, tap the hopper a few times to settle things after stirring.
 
My old Lee 1000 loads very accurate ammo. I know they take some patience and experience (some of it frustrating) to learn.....I enjoyed figuring mine out. It would have been simpler if I had read the directions. Their website videos are very good. I learned two things to try in this thread...decap first, then hand prime...which I like to do, sort of like crocheting or whittling I guess.
I don't have too much trouble with the press priming, but I'm going to look to change the angle of the feeding tube as suggested here.
The case feeders work remarkably well as they probably do with other manufacturers.
Never heard a bad word about a Dillon, but never owned one.
I just bought a second Pro 1000 in the .327 Federal so I don't have to switch heads for the small primer calibers.
 
A couple months ago I pulled my old 1000 out of storage to set up exclusively for 38/357. I got everything set up and then that ol primer feed issue raised its head (for the umpteenth time). Getting the pro auto disk to work reliably was also time consuming and then the case feeder pivot arm started working its way out on the down stroke so much that the case would sometimes miss the die hole and stop up production. For a while I just used the press to decap and size brass for later loading on my RCBS. When a press requires more vigilance watching for malfunctions, taking time away from watching for consistency in the ammo, it is counter productive. I realized why I had put that press away in the first place and came up with a brilliant solution.
I put it on Craigs list and sold it. I think I got all my money back after 25 years so I guess you could say it eventually paid for itself.
 
The point of a progressive press is to load a lot of ammo in a short period of time. Doing ANYTHING off press sort of defeats that purpose. THat is why I can never recommend a Lee anything for a progressive. Truth, you have to spend more money for better engneering & mat'ls to get a workable progressive. The Lee will work, sort of, with a lot of tinkering & then never break it down once setup, or you are back to tinkering. For that you might get 300rds/hour sustained.
Just pony up & buy the Dillon, 550 or 650. A Lee with everything for one caliber, call it $300, is $1.25/m over 20yrs. The 650 would be call it $1200 or $5/m over 20yrs. The Lee might get you 300rds/hr, the Dillon will get you 700/hr easily, every hour over 20yrs. The $3.75/m diff won't buy you a gal of gas a month, A no brainer to me.
 
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After setting up 2 pro 1000s for my self, getting them running 100% and helping half a dozen or so people do the same (yes they need a little tweaking to work perfect but at one tenth the cost of Dillon, I say it is worth it for a first or backup progressive press) I still maintain that anyone who can't get one running with all the help on the net shouldn't be reloading.

Knock the burs off the priming arm/pin and cast sub base, keep the feed shoot and lower sub assembly clean (I blow mine out with shop air every 500 primers or so) and make sure when you bolt the sub base to the ram that the protrusion on the feed shoot is fully resting against the right rear arm (your primers should be jumping as the protrusion works its way over the ridges, no matter how slowly work the press).

I have yet to hear of a pro 1000 that still had problems after these simple tips.
 
My single-stage press and hand primer continues to turn out quality rounds, abet a bit slower.
 
In my experience when I start getting primer-issues it's traced to the following: Keep the chute full...when the handle is at the bottom of it's stroke the primer tray is at the top...LOOK to see that the primers havent bridged and the chute is getting empty (I also look at the disc to see that powder has been dispensed). As the handle is coming back to the top you can look through the machine and see the primers move down the chute, then look for a double or missing powder charge. The case sensor screws up when the slot underneath where the wire spring passes through gets tight due to the carrier coming down on spent primers that lay on top of the base rather than going down into the base of the machine like they're supposed to. Insert a small screwdriver in the slot and pry it open a tiny bit so the wire spring doesn't bind.

I think the single biggest issue causing priming problems is NOT the priming mechanism itself, rather improper indexing is the culprit. If the shellplate isn't stopping dead center on the detent the edge of the primer touches it and turns sideways or inverts completely. The indexing WILL change over time...don't ignore it. I recently put all new internal moving parts in my 9mm machine....I just readjusted the indexing a few minutes ago...I've only loaded 6 or 7 hundred rounds since the new parts went in.

I would never try to convince anyone that a Lee is as good as a Dillon but with care, they can make good ammo with no problems.
 
when i first started to reload money was tight and the lee pro 1000 was the only press i could afford. 25 years later i am still using it even though now i can afford any one out there.
 
Thankfully I just got rid of 2 1000s. I took 'em on a trade and after looking at them decided to just get rid of 'em. I also have a new Load Master that i have never set up. It too is going somewhere else. I used to be a dealer/distributor for Ponsness Warren. Did maintenance on them too. They were quality machines(for the most part) and i found most problems were associated with operator error. After looking the Lee machines over..I decided I really didn't want to have to deal with a machine that, while clearly engineered well.. didn't have the resultant refining to make it work great. I've had a Dillon 450 for many years that has been upgraded with all the bells and whistles except the removable die plate. It works really well. Had a 650 also but it had a few issues mainly with priming. But i bought a Dillon 1050 in 45 auto at an auction for 300 bucks..Have never looked back. I now own 3 Super 1050s. I do maintenance(mostly cleaning) and then load 4-8000 rounds with no problems..long as I remember to put in primers and powder. Those things use those items in prodigious amounts. I must admit I am not a fan of most Lee equipment... but have a Lee Classic cast single stage press..Made in the USA and a Classic cast turret of the pistol cals I don't load as many of such as 44 spec/mag 41 mag and 45 Colt. Lee dies are ok in handgun types..but they regularly seem to break carbide rings out. Had 2 500 S&Ws break already. One after 11 rounds. And Lee would not replace it.. The other was a sizer where the carbide just came out. Never had a carbide sizer break in any other brand..Not even an old Herter's which I still have. I even have an old CH Mk IV 38 machine with a Chevron case feeder. Last time I used it I loaded a 5 gal bucket of 38 specials with it with very few problems Think I will end up selling it too. Been sitting for a few years. Not trashing the lee machines. I just don't need to keep a machine I need to keep tweaking. I'd rather tweak my loads than work on machines.

BTW Kenjen..money was always tight for me..and it seems as though it is happening to me again...LOL!!
 
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