LEE Pro 1000 Press from Titan

Johnny McCrae · December 16, 2012, 10:51:38 AM

Yesterday I picked up a LEE Pro 1000 Progressive Press from Titan Reloading in Hartford, Wisconsin. Fortunately for me Hartford is an hours drive from my home. Hartford is also the home of LEE Precision. Titan is a distributor of LEE Products. Titan's prices are excellent and their owner is extremely knowledgeable with LEE products & reloading. Someone starting out in reloading may want to check out the LEE reloading kits that they offer. Here is a link to their website: www.titanreloading.com

This press was purchased to reload .38 Special cartridges exclusively. I use .45 Colt & .45 Schofield for matches but my son and I use a lot of .38 Special cartdidges for practice. I will continue to use my Lee Classic Turret Press for the other seven calibers that I reload. I took my time setting the press up and forced myself to read the directions (have a bad habit of throwing directions away). I also viewed some of the help video's available from LEE & Titan. LEE recomends loading at least 100 rounds single stage to get the feel of the press. This is good advice! After loading a bunch of rounds single stage, I started slowly reloading in the progressive mode. I'm pleased with my progress so far as I'm able to produce quality rounds in the progressive mode.

I will admit that my experience in learning the basics of reloading in the single stage mode and then progressing to the full turret press mode has been invaluable to me with setting up my new press. Two of my friends also use the LEE Pro 1000. They are having good results which helped to influence my decision.

wildman1 · December 16, 2012, 01:13:48 PM

Both of mine work fine (after I learned how to use em). Changing calibers is relatively simple and doesn't take very long. WM

Johnny McCrae · December 16, 2012, 02:56:18 PM

That's good to hear Wildman.

My new press seemed just a little bit stiff as compared to my Turret press so before the Packer game started I sent an email to Titan. Shortly therafter I got an email back from the owner. He told me to try loosening the link bolt slightly. During half time I went upstairs with my wrenches and adjusted the link bolt. Now the press is as smooth as my Turret press and works easily with one hand.

That's real customer service! A reply tomorrow would have been just fine.

By the way, the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears to clinch the division title.

Dynamite Bill · December 16, 2012, 08:37:22 PM

packers had a little help from stripes there at the end,..............go cheese heads!

joec · December 17, 2012, 08:38:15 AM

I found this site and don't let the name put you off of it as it is excellent for learning the Lee Pro 1000 press. http://www.sanfranciscoliberalwithagun.com/default.html He pretty much covers every thing that can go wrong and how to stop it as well as fix some of the major oddities with it as they all have.

rickk · December 17, 2012, 08:48:49 AM

Be cautious the primer feed and primer tray on the 1000.

I had one go "Claymore Mine" on me. There were fortunately only a few primers still in the tray when it exploded. I was wearing glasses at the time. If the tray was full or if I wasn't wearing glasses I don't think I would have made out so well.

I had two of the 1000's at the time. I quickly sold them for 100 bucks apiece (dies included), switched to RL550's a few weeks later and never regretted it.

I know lots of people use the 1000's every day. Just be aware of the possibility of an explosion and take suitable precautions to protect yourself.

Johnny McCrae · December 17, 2012, 10:51:11 AM

Howdy Joec,
Many thanks for the link. This will very helpful to me.

Howdy Rick.
Many thanks for the heads up. My prescription glasses have safety lenses but I'm going to add my side shields also. Lee says to not use Federal primers on the Pro 1000 and I will heed their warning on this press.

I've found that taking your time, focusing on what you are doing and working at a steady pace works the best.

RickB · December 17, 2012, 02:36:51 PM

Rickk, may I ask you what brand of primers you were using when they went boom?

joec · December 17, 2012, 03:09:01 PM

Quote from: Johnny McCrae on December 17, 2012, 10:51:11 AM
Howdy Joec,
Many thanks for the link. This will very helpful to me.

Howdy Rick.
Many thanks for the heads up. My prescription glasses have safety lenses but I'm going to add my side shields also. Lee says to not use Federal primers on the Pro 1000 and I will heed their warning on this press.

I've found that taking your time, focusing on what you are doing and working at a steady pace works the best.

Glad to point it out as I started with a pair of them I bought used just found them doing too much for me at once so stepped back to a Lee Classic Turret which fits me better. With that said I never got a bad round from my Pro 1000's either nor any problem after watching his videos.

Oh and the reason for not using federal primers is they are probably the easiest to set off and have been done with a chain detonation on Lee equipment mostly the other Lee progressive though.

rickk · December 19, 2012, 07:27:11 AM

RickB, the BOOM happened over 20 years ago... I don't recall the brand of primers. The only thing I still remember vividly was the BOOM.

Ironically, next to my pair of RL550's is a basic LEE 3 holed turret press that I have had for over 30 years. It still works fine, and I still use it a lot. It is an awesome press that I would recommend to anyone.

The PRO1000 version however just didn't work out for me. Besides the explosion, I remember regular jambs and a nylon piece that drives the shell plate breaking often during a jamb. The RL550's that replaced my PRO1000's just seem to work every time.

joec · December 19, 2012, 12:22:23 PM

Quote from: rickk on December 19, 2012, 07:27:11 AM
RickB, the BOOM happened over 20 years ago... I don't recall the brand of primers. The only thing I still remember vividly was the BOOM.

Ironically, next to my pair of RL550's is a basic LEE 3 holed turret press that I have had for over 30 years. It still works fine, and I still use it a lot. It is an awesome press that I would recommend to anyone.

The PRO1000 version however just didn't work out for me. Besides the explosion, I remember regular jambs and a nylon piece that drives the shell plate breaking often during a jamb. The RL550's that replaced my PRO1000's just seem to work every time.

I think Lee has on about the 3rd version on the Lee Pro 1000 and have a new system out for their top of the line progressive press.

rickk · December 22, 2012, 06:46:32 PM

Joec,

I still see the picture on LEE's web site of the plastic primer tray facing the operator. It scares me. I like the double metallic enclosed tube of the Dillon that points upward.

I don't know much about any changes they have made to the feed mechanism. Is the primer being inserted still near the rest of the primers? Dillon's system moves the primer being handled far away from the rest of the primers. I don't know if LEE does this now or not. The one I had didn't.

Rick

Johnny McCrae · December 23, 2012, 07:43:01 AM

Howdy Rickk,

I see your point about primer insertion. I'm being extra careful about priming and taking my time. I'm also paying attention to LEE's recommendation on using CCI or Remington primers.

By the way, it looks like primers are getting hard to find again. Most local sources in my area are out of small pistol primers.

joec · December 23, 2012, 06:14:57 PM

Quote from: rickk on December 22, 2012, 06:46:32 PM
Joec,

I still see the picture on LEE's web site of the plastic primer tray facing the operator. It scares me. I like the double metallic enclosed tube of the Dillon that points upward.

I don't know much about any changes they have made to the feed mechanism. Is the primer being inserted still near the rest of the primers? Dillon's system moves the primer being handled far away from the rest of the primers. I don't know if LEE does this now or not. The one I had didn't.

Rick

That is the one on the Lee Classic Turret or Cast presses and is operated by hand one primer at a time.. Completely different than the auto feed primers and I would say as safe as a hand primer. With that said I still ware eye protection when loading.

RickB · December 24, 2012, 10:59:46 AM

The reason I asked about the brand of primer is because Lee says not to use anything but CCI and Remington primers in their presses. I use CCI only. I've never had a problem and I've been using a Lee Pro 1000 for 20+ years now. I even use the primer feeder as it works well for me.

It appears that others on here have also stated which primers are good in Lee presses.

Johnny McCrae · December 24, 2012, 02:51:36 PM

Lee's instruction sheet is pretty clear about only using CCI or Remington primers on the Pro 1000. They specifically mention not to use Federal primers. Up until now I've used Federal primers almost exclusively on my Lee Classic Turret Press but that press used the Lee Safety Prime. I am heeding their warning on the Pro 1000.

Its kind of funny.... before when I looked for Federals all I could find were CCI and Remington's. Now lots of Federal's but I had a tough time finding CCI or Remington's. I finally did locate some CCI's at Cabella's. I have more being shipped to me. I ran the CCI's through and they seemed to work just fine. It looks like reloading supplies are starting to become hard to get again

Right now I'm running lots of 25 through and then inspecting them. So far so good. I'm in no hurry and want to get a good grasp of how this press works.

Many thanks to everyone for your input.

joec · December 25, 2012, 07:30:53 AM

Quote from: RickB on December 24, 2012, 10:59:46 AM
The reason I asked about the brand of primer is because Lee says not to use anything but CCI and Remington primers in their presses. I use CCI only. I've never had a problem and I've been using a Lee Pro 1000 for 20+ years now. I even use the primer feeder as it works well for me.

It appears that others on here have also stated which primers are good in Lee presses.

I also used Winchester in mine without problem. Now the reason about Federal from speaking to their service department is the are a bit easier to set off. They have been the primer in use when they have gotten a couple of chain fires. A chain fire for those that don't know is when one is set off and sets off the rest from the loading area all the way to the storage container. The Lee Load Master is considered even easier to have it happen. That is at least till recently when they added a whole new loading system, that will work on older models. However they still sell a shield to protect the operator something they don't sell for the Lee Pro 1000.

Johnny McCrae · December 25, 2012, 11:10:30 AM

Howdy Joec,

I've had a few people tell me not to use Winchester primers in the Lee Pro 1000. They said there is a coating on the Winchester primers that comes off and clogs the primer feed. It's good to know that Winchesters work for you because they still are readily available locally for me.

wildman1 · December 25, 2012, 11:23:59 AM

I use Winchester primers in mine because thats what I have. My first P1000 did not exclude Winchester primers, my second one does. I find the Winchester primers do not seat easily in all cases (Winchester esp.) I have had failure to fire on a couple of occasions. I thought it was a bad primer. I brought them home, pulled the bullet and dumped the powder. put them back in the gun, boom, both went off. Both of these were in guns that have had no spring lightening. I don't baby the press when I'm seating these primers but some of them go in very hard. WM

joec · December 26, 2012, 10:18:45 AM

Quote from: Johnny McCrae on December 25, 2012, 11:10:30 AM
Howdy Joec,

I've had a few people tell me not to use Winchester primers in the Lee Pro 1000. They said there is a coating on the Winchester primers that comes off and clogs the primer feed. It's good to know that Winchesters work for you because they still are readily available locally for me.

I didn't have a problem with them causing clogs but I did clean the Pro 1000 about every 500 to 1000 rounds or so. I paid close attention to the primer feed when doing this, especially the track on it. But then I clean my current Lee Classic Current after about the same number of loads. I followed Cowboy T's method of cleaning and never had a problem with any primers I used. Never used Federal primers as I had a lot more of them fail even in factory ammo so for the most part avoid Federal ammo in general. I tend to use CCI, Winchester, Remington, Magtech, Fiocchi and Tul with out problems. I tend to buy what they have when I go which in my area is usually CCI, Winchester, Remington as well as Fiocchi for the most part.