Lee pro 1000

13 January 2003, 13:32

David Foberg

Lee pro 1000

Any of you guys ever play around with one of these. I got a used one from a friend and I can't seem to get the primer feed to work right. The primerseems to to get caught right between the primer piston and the feed ramp and winds up tipping the primer side ways and jamming the feed.What parts should I replace or should i just junk it.

13 January 2003, 16:40

Leftoverdj

I have one I won't use because that primer feed system is flat out dangerous. I had about 70 primers go off at once and once was enough for me.

It's been laying in a corner for years waiting for me to figure out a shield so that WHEN it happens again I won't get hurt or to order a ram from Lee to turn it back into a simple turret press that does not need the primer feed.

I an a little too scrupulous to dump it on an innocent and a little too cheap to just junk it.

14 January 2003, 11:16

JerryO

quote:
Originally posted by David Foberg:
The primer seems to to get caught right between the primer piston and the feed ramp and winds up tipping the primer side ways and jamming the feed.What parts should I replace or should i just junk it.

While I love this little press, it easy to screw up.

First, if you don't make the primer feed work, the surest fix is to deprime & resize first, then hand prime with a hand primer. Many loaders do this with all brands of progressives. It is called brass prep by those who did single stage reloading for many years.

2nd, to make the primer feed work:
Make sure the trough is full. The tray holds only 100 primers and they are used up in a hurry. I fill the trough, then put a 100 primers in the tray. I then take ONLY 2 boxes (100 cases) of empties. I then add primers (100) every time I get 2 more boxes of empties.

Also, The trough must be clean. Any oil in the trough and the primers won't slide down. Remove the trough and carefully wipe off all the parts to remove any trace of oil. DON'T LUBE any of the primer feed.

Do drill a 1/16 inch hole at the exit of the tray so a pin can be used to hold the primers in the tray while handleing the tray full of primers. I drill through the lid, tray and trough, then slot the trough such that the tray with a pin will slide o and off the trough.

Grease the post where the shaker wire slides across the grooves to shake the tray and keep the primers going into the trough.

Finally, I drill a small hole on the carrier (for the shellplate) next to where the primer trough sets. I then bolt (screw?) a piece of 1/16 inch music wire which is bent to hold the primer tray up and tip the trough forward.

Now when replaceing the shellplate, use a slight amount of GREASE, not oil so oil doesn't get into the primer mechanism.

I leave off the case feeder, It's not used on other brands (until the dillon 650) and gains no speed compared to droping a fresh case in front of the case slider as the handle is pushed to the bottom.

I also leave the eject wire off and pick each round out of the shellplate and box it. This is because the chute isn't steep enough for the shells to slide out of. Also, it is how I learned to handle rounds coming out of my MEC grabber shot gun reloader.

No eject wire and no case feeder lets me turn the shellplate nut off and lift out the shellplate for very quick caliber changes. The nut can be removed by turning the advance rod backward with a 1/4 inch wrench.

I did fail to press some primers all the way in when I started. This leaves the loaded round caught by that ridge that used to be on the shellplate carrier. Until I got out my dremel and ground it off. Don't put a case over the bullet and squeeze the primer in with a vise like I do!!!

POWDER DROP:
don't expect to drop less that 4.5 grains of flake powder such as bullseye or 700x. These can be used by tapping on the side of the measure each time while the disc is under the powder (ie. the ram is at the bottom).
I suggest looking at the powder level while setting the bullet on the case mouth.

And lots more!

JerryO