I have always used a Lee Classic Turret press (3 hole) to reload my pistol ammo. I could never get the auto index to work properly so I learned to operate it by hand. But I like a four stage reloading process with seperate bullet seating and crimping, so I have always deprimed/resized in a single stage press, primed by hand in front of the TV, and used the turret press to finish loading the primed cases.
Over the years I have worked out a rhythm. Right hand places case on the ram, left hand pulls the handle and flares the case/drops the powder while the right hand reaches for the projectile. As right hand places projectile on the case left hand rotates the turret then pulls the handle again to seat the bullet. Right hand then rotates turret to crimp case. Right hand removes loaded round from ram, passes it to left hand which places it in a tray (so I can check primers and overall case length- I have dozens of old plastic 50 round trays) while right hand reaches for the next case to start again. As I place the new case on the ram left hand rotates the turret back to the case flare/powder drop die.
Using this process I can get over 400 rounds an hour loaded after case prep.
The only problem is with 9mm cases. They are just a bit too small for my stubby fingers, so about 18 months ago I decided to try a progressive press.
Now I know that Big Blue is the way to go with progressive presses and that the Pro 1000 has a pretty dismal rep, but the Dillon presses retail for over NZ $1000 at present fully set up. And that was a sum I would rather put to my shooting, so I bought a Pro 1000 in 9mm or around 1/3 of the cost of a Dillon hoping that it was not as bad as everyone said it was. And yes, it was a dog!
First problem, the primer feed ramp would start to seperate into the two halves without rubber bands around it to hold it together. Next the auto-disk powder measure is open and leaks powder. Only a few grains falling into the primer ramp start to slow down the primer feed, even when I only emptied it enough to remove, replenish and replace the primer tray with another 100 primers. And that lead to sideways inserted primers or no primer at all which then causes the powder to run right out the bottom of the case and into the shell plate carrier/primer feed ramp, gumming the whole press up. And that didn't include issues with the bullet feeder fingers getting jammed between the case and the turret underside and being crushed, so after finally getting around 700 loaded rounds out of my first 1000 primers the press just sat there unused!
Until recently when I worked out a way to get the thing to work like clockwork.
First up I got a spare turret ring, removed the sizing/decapping die and mounted it in the spare ring which I placed on the press. I then filled the case hopper with cases, gave it a few shakes to fill the tubes, and proceeded to simply run them through the press with only the single die in place.
In half an hour I had several hundred sized and deprimed cases sitting in a small bucket.
Next it was inside with the cases, primers and hand priming tool to sit in front of the TV and prime those cases. Next day it was back to the bench where I took the original turret, put it back on the top with the case mouth expander/powder drop die in the first position, placed a factory crimp die in the now vacant third position, filled the case collator with primed brass and the hopper with powder and away I went.
Pull the handle with my right hand, place a bullet on top of the case after it moves into the second position with my left hand, and repeat. Every 3 or 4 pulls of the handle sweep the loaded rounds off the ramp and don't go so fast that the empty cases bounce on the way to the shell plate causing the case to miss feeding into the plate. All I have to do is watch the powder measure to ensure it activates and monitor the powder level and keep an eye on the case feeder tubes, rotating them or filling them up again when needed.
The addition of the new Lee Auto Drum powder measure has eliminated 99% of the powder spill too. Every time I have to refill the case feeder tubes I run a 1 1/2" paint brush over the shell plate carrier and top of the turret a few times just to get rid of the very small amount of powder leaking from the drum. And the result is 200 rounds loaded in just under 18 minutes starting from a full set of case tubes.
One issue did arise yesterday when I was loading some brand new .45 cases for the first time. The necks were a bit tight on the expander button and needed a stiff pull to come away from the expander. My bench is rather light in construction and jumped around a bit casing cases between the bottom of the drop tubes and the shell plate to bounce off occasionally, so I think in future I would possible return to the turret press with virgin cases. In the meantime I have full containers of 9mm, .45ACP and .38 Special loads all ready to go, something that I have not had in several years due to the time it takes to reload.
And all with a Lee Pro 1000!
I can say that I am one happy Pro 1000 user, so much in fact that I recently bought second Pro 1000. One is set up for small case feeder tubes and the other press with large case tubes so i don't have to change shell plate carriers and drop tubes so often.
Over the years I have worked out a rhythm. Right hand places case on the ram, left hand pulls the handle and flares the case/drops the powder while the right hand reaches for the projectile. As right hand places projectile on the case left hand rotates the turret then pulls the handle again to seat the bullet. Right hand then rotates turret to crimp case. Right hand removes loaded round from ram, passes it to left hand which places it in a tray (so I can check primers and overall case length- I have dozens of old plastic 50 round trays) while right hand reaches for the next case to start again. As I place the new case on the ram left hand rotates the turret back to the case flare/powder drop die.
Using this process I can get over 400 rounds an hour loaded after case prep.
The only problem is with 9mm cases. They are just a bit too small for my stubby fingers, so about 18 months ago I decided to try a progressive press.
Now I know that Big Blue is the way to go with progressive presses and that the Pro 1000 has a pretty dismal rep, but the Dillon presses retail for over NZ $1000 at present fully set up. And that was a sum I would rather put to my shooting, so I bought a Pro 1000 in 9mm or around 1/3 of the cost of a Dillon hoping that it was not as bad as everyone said it was. And yes, it was a dog!
First problem, the primer feed ramp would start to seperate into the two halves without rubber bands around it to hold it together. Next the auto-disk powder measure is open and leaks powder. Only a few grains falling into the primer ramp start to slow down the primer feed, even when I only emptied it enough to remove, replenish and replace the primer tray with another 100 primers. And that lead to sideways inserted primers or no primer at all which then causes the powder to run right out the bottom of the case and into the shell plate carrier/primer feed ramp, gumming the whole press up. And that didn't include issues with the bullet feeder fingers getting jammed between the case and the turret underside and being crushed, so after finally getting around 700 loaded rounds out of my first 1000 primers the press just sat there unused!
Until recently when I worked out a way to get the thing to work like clockwork.
First up I got a spare turret ring, removed the sizing/decapping die and mounted it in the spare ring which I placed on the press. I then filled the case hopper with cases, gave it a few shakes to fill the tubes, and proceeded to simply run them through the press with only the single die in place.
In half an hour I had several hundred sized and deprimed cases sitting in a small bucket.
Next it was inside with the cases, primers and hand priming tool to sit in front of the TV and prime those cases. Next day it was back to the bench where I took the original turret, put it back on the top with the case mouth expander/powder drop die in the first position, placed a factory crimp die in the now vacant third position, filled the case collator with primed brass and the hopper with powder and away I went.
Pull the handle with my right hand, place a bullet on top of the case after it moves into the second position with my left hand, and repeat. Every 3 or 4 pulls of the handle sweep the loaded rounds off the ramp and don't go so fast that the empty cases bounce on the way to the shell plate causing the case to miss feeding into the plate. All I have to do is watch the powder measure to ensure it activates and monitor the powder level and keep an eye on the case feeder tubes, rotating them or filling them up again when needed.
The addition of the new Lee Auto Drum powder measure has eliminated 99% of the powder spill too. Every time I have to refill the case feeder tubes I run a 1 1/2" paint brush over the shell plate carrier and top of the turret a few times just to get rid of the very small amount of powder leaking from the drum. And the result is 200 rounds loaded in just under 18 minutes starting from a full set of case tubes.
One issue did arise yesterday when I was loading some brand new .45 cases for the first time. The necks were a bit tight on the expander button and needed a stiff pull to come away from the expander. My bench is rather light in construction and jumped around a bit casing cases between the bottom of the drop tubes and the shell plate to bounce off occasionally, so I think in future I would possible return to the turret press with virgin cases. In the meantime I have full containers of 9mm, .45ACP and .38 Special loads all ready to go, something that I have not had in several years due to the time it takes to reload.
And all with a Lee Pro 1000!
I can say that I am one happy Pro 1000 user, so much in fact that I recently bought second Pro 1000. One is set up for small case feeder tubes and the other press with large case tubes so i don't have to change shell plate carriers and drop tubes so often.
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Case and primer feeding are the weak points on their progressives IMHO. I wouldn't even consider a bullet feeder. 
