Hi
I have owned a Lee Pro 1000 for 6 or 7 years and made quite a bit of 9mm on it. Finally got so it wasn't fun any more, things sticking and messing up so I quit about a year ago. Tried again this week and I gave up!!
Bought a Hornady lnl last night from Midway, got a coupon, yesterday and that was enough, $45 off a $300 purchase.
Anyway not wanting a war this brand is better or whatever, just some tips from users. Doesn't come til next week but I am excited.
My bench is 3/4 inch plywood, think I need to reinforce it with a steel plate?? Read some reviews that said especially with the case feeder it needs a stable base?? Can't really tell but there is a space between the cabinets, thing a piece of plate underneath??
Steve
"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again.".............. Ronald Reagan
If the top is secured to the cabinets beneath it I don't imagine you'd need anything more than that. I'd try it as-is and see if I needed to do any reinforcing.
On a side note, too bad I don't live closer as I'd be willing to come haul off the Lee to save you the trouble of throwing it away. I've been very happy with mine - after the initial tweaking to get it set up right, it just cranks out round after round, 9mm, .45, .38, .357, it doesn't matter.
I hope the Hornady works better for ya!
Christian, Husband, Father
NRA Life Member
NRA Certified Range Safety Officer
NRA Certified Pistol & Rifle Instructor
I doubled up the 3/4" plywood on my cabinet top to stiffen it. I was using an old heavy duty computer desk from a former employer, but I reorganized things and changed my setup. I have both the case feeder and the bullet feeder, boy are they noisy when they are running. I've been very pleased with my Hornady setup. The powder measure is very consistent.
The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny
Mark
NRA Training Counselor-Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun, Reloading, Personal Protection in the Home, Personal Protection Outside the Home, Home Firearms Safety, Chief RSO. NRA Endowment Life member.
JustaShooter wrote:If the top is secured to the cabinets beneath it I don't imagine you'd need anything more than that. I'd try it as-is and see if I needed to do any reinforcing.
On a side note, too bad I don't live closer as I'd be willing to come haul off the Lee to save you the trouble of throwing it away. I've been very happy with mine - after the initial tweaking to get it set up right, it just cranks out round after round, 9mm, .45, .38, .357, it doesn't matter.
I hope the Hornady works better for ya!
Thanks, and thanks for the offer... I actually have 2 pro 1000's one for 9mm and another setup for .45, they are pretty reasonable. The .45 keeps on cranking but the 9mm has problems, made a lot more 9mm then .45, I know overkill... Now I have spare parts...
Actually I may have it/them sold
Steve
Steve
"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again.".............. Ronald Reagan
mreising wrote:I doubled up the 3/4" plywood on my cabinet top to stiffen it. I was using an old heavy duty computer desk from a former employer, but I reorganized things and changed my setup. I have both the case feeder and the bullet feeder, boy are they noisy when they are running. I've been very pleased with my Hornady setup. The powder measure is very consistent.
I think I will do something... I have read that the case feeder can be finicky if there is any shakin going on.. I should have come over to try yours before buying, but a friend came over and we made some .45 and I got the fever...
Steve
"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again.".............. Ronald Reagan
I'd double up your bench top. I've never used a Hornady but every reloading bench I've built that worked well was made from 2x material. My current bench top is made from 2x10s and it's worked well for 14 years even case forming.
walnut red wrote:I'd double up your bench top. I've never used a Hornady but every reloading bench I've built that worked well was made from 2x material. My current bench top is made from 2x10s and it's worked well for 14 years even case forming.
Thanks for the input, Took my son down to get another opinion and we discovered that on the underside of the 3/4" sheet is 1/2 inch boards til it gets to about 2.5"'s of the front... (Where the press is actually mounted) I had forgotten I did that... Why I didn't go to the end is beyond me, been a long time since I built that bench. Now do I try to turn the top around?? i think I will just put another sheet of plywood on it then it will have 3 layers. Except where the press is actually mounted, only 2 there... but it should stiffen the entire top.
Steve
"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again.".............. Ronald Reagan
I dont have a case feeder for mine but the two things that have given me problems are a loose shell plate and dirty primer slider. I use a small screwdriver in the spent pimer hole to hold the shell plate and crank it real tight. If the primer slide gets crude in it then it wont come full foward and u will have primer seating issues. I clean it with a tooth pick and q tip every time I refill the primer tube.
sdelam wrote:I dont have a case feeder for mine but the two things that have given me problems are a loose shell plate and dirty primer slider. I use a small screwdriver in the spent pimer hole to hold the shell plate and crank it real tight. If the primer slide gets crude in it then it wont come full foward and u will have primer seating issues. I clean it with a tooth pick and q tip every time I refill the primer tube.
Great tip, Thanks
Steve
"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again.".............. Ronald Reagan
No tips on the setup but, nice looking work room I Like the double work surface setup! Lee pro 1k's can be tricky monsters. Once it fits the budget I am going to buy a hornady ammo plant myself and upgrade from the pro 1k's
Imcrazy wrote:No tips on the setup but, nice looking work room I Like the double work surface setup! Lee pro 1k's can be tricky monsters. Once it fits the budget I am going to buy a hornady ammo plant myself and upgrade from the pro 1k's
Using the Pro 1000 (my first attempt at reloading) was a great starting point and I loved using them. Overtime the hassle overcame the fun and I decided to move up, and stopped being fun!!
Steve
"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again.".............. Ronald Reagan
I have no experience with the Hornady progressive but I don't recall many instances where folks aren't happy with them.
One of the really great things about the (much cheaper!) Lee Pro-1000 is that just about everything that does ANYTHING (works well or gives major hassles) is all contained in the shell plate carrier. It's like the central brains of the operation. If you are truly at the end of your rope with a P1K, a new shell plate carrier pretty much revamps the whole dang press.
Of course, I don't use my P1k as others do, or as it was designed. I'm probably going to chunk over 100,000 run through it this year... which is not a bad milestone when you consider that I bought it used and have no idea how much it ran through before I got it.
I like to swap brass... and I'm looking for .32 H&R Mag, .327 Fed Mag, .380 Auto and 10mm. If you have some and would like to swap for something else, send me a note!
Sevens wrote:I have no experience with the Hornady progressive but I don't recall many instances where folks aren't happy with them.
One of the really great things about the (much cheaper!) Lee Pro-1000 is that just about everything that does ANYTHING (works well or gives major hassles) is all contained in the shell plate carrier. It's like the central brains of the operation. If you are truly at the end of your rope with a P1K, a new shell plate carrier pretty much revamps the whole dang press.
Of course, I don't use my P1k as others do, or as it was designed. I'm probably going to chunk over 100,000 run through it this year... which is not a bad milestone when you consider that I bought it used and have no idea how much it ran through before I got it.
Sounds like you're getting your value out of it for sure...
Steve
"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again.".............. Ronald Reagan
Hi
For the Pro 1k people out there. This is not a bash, just bringing up something I didn't realize.
When i removed my press today, found quite a pile of Spent primers and powder under the press.
Might be a good area to check once in a while, I didn't.
Steve
"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again.".............. Ronald Reagan
Yep, that's where spent primers are *supposed* to go - when they don't bounce off in whatever direction they choose of course. Anyway, I have mine mounted to a board that bolts to the workbench (I have all my presses and other bench-mount tools done that way since my bench is only 4' wide). I bored a big hole in the mounting board and covered it with a piece of duct tape and when it starts getting full I take it off the bench, hold it over a bucket and remove the tape and shake out the primers & other crud.
Christian, Husband, Father
NRA Life Member
NRA Certified Range Safety Officer
NRA Certified Pistol & Rifle Instructor
I've been very happy with mine - after the initial tweaking to get it set up right, it just cranks out round after round, 9mm, .45, .38, .357, it doesn't matter.
I actually have 2 pro 1000's one for 9mm and another setup for .45, they are pretty reasonable. The .45 keeps on cranking but the 9mm has problems, made a lot more 9mm then .45, I know overkill... Now I have spare parts...
been a long time since I built that bench. 
