777 and the Lee Pro 1000

[Adirondack Jack]

Now, ya'll "blue bleedin' Dillion folk" hush.

I got my Lee pro 1000 workin with 777 and .45 250s today.  I was makin' warthog smokeless rounds with it, using the adjustable charge bar in the pro measure, and a single tube on the bullet feeder.

Never did like the way the primer gizmo worked, and truth be told, trusting the measure was beyond my comfort zone, so I always use a dental mirror to check for a charge and about half the time would just decap and size on the single stage, and prime with an auto prime instead of the press.

Soo, when I set it up for 777, I added the disk stacker, adjusted the disks by trial and error (forget the chart, it is absolutely as useless as teets on a boar) and whilst I was at it, got the multi-tube bullet feeder gadget.

So, I use the single  stage to decap and size a couple hunnert rounds, which gives a chance to eyeball for any that need scrappin', prime em with the lee auto prime, and use the Pro1000 with only two dies, expand/charge and seat crimp.

Fill the hopper all the way, charge the bullet feeder tubes with 96 rounds, toss a goodly 50+ primed cases in the case collator and give er a shake, and commence to yankin the handle.  In this mode, the ole press will load at a cyclic rate of around 500 an hour!!!

Oh, almost fergot.  "upgraded" the return on the measure too.  I broke the dang light chain (again) so I wrapped three rubber bands around the die and with a bread twister, attached them to the arm on the measure.  Just as positive as the chain, and lighter resistance than the spring.

With a 250 (NE BULLETS) and 23.5 (wt) ya get just enough compression to feel it at the top, which almost makes me comfy enough not to use the mirror (but not quite).

About the time the bullet feeder runs dry so does the meaure, and if I was using the primer feed, it would too.  So now, ya feed cases twice per feed of bullets and primers, making things a lot faster.

Next will be a dedicated press for the "short colts" OR a "Spur" carrier for the marlin so I can run the shorties in riflle and pistol.

Ya ain't gotta be a Luddite to run smokey stuff.  ya can use this Rube Goldberg contraption after all.

[Malacai Johnson]

Jack,

I also had problems with that wimpy little chain breaking. I got the idea from another forum to replace the chain with a small spring from the hardware store. The one I use is about the diameter of a .22 and maybe 3 inches long. I hooked it to the return arm on the powder measure (where the chain went) and the tab on the press that the chain used to run thru and no more problems. I unhook the spring when I'm not using the press so it doesn't stay stretched. Did that a few thousand rounds ago it works great. And I also use a small mirror to check for powder charges. It adds a bit of time, but eliminates squibs.

Mal