What is the differnece between the Lee Pro1000 and the Lee Autoloader?

[mailler]

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the Lee Pro 1000 and the Lee Autoloader? As I understand it, one can handle rifle cases whereas the other cannot. Opinions?

Mailler

[xebec]

The two Lee progressives are the Pro 1000 and the Loadmaster. I own a Loadmaster and it is an excellent press-- many, many thousands of rounds through it--.45 ACP, 9mm Luger, .270 Win, 7.62x39. The Loadmaster can handle rifle cases larger than 7.62x39 and .223 Rem, which the Pro1000 can not. The Loadmaster has 5 die stations to the Pro 1000s 4. Both load great ammo, but the Loadmaster is more versatile.

[JA]

Pro 1000 will load rifle cases up to .223 length. It has 3 stations so only 3 dies can be used. The first station deprimes and sizes the case. The second station primes and drops powder in the case. The third station seats and crimps the bullet.
The Loadmaster has 5 stations and will load all length cases. The first station deprimes,second primes,third powder,fourth seats bullets and crimps. I use a RCBS lube die in station one. It lubes the case and deprimes.The second has a full length resizing die with the depriming rod raised up into the die so it does not deprime the case as it is primed at this station. Third station drops the powder. Fourth station seats the bullet and the fifth has a Lee factory crimp die in it.
The Loadmasters advantages over the PRO 1000 is the five stations allow for more versatility i.e. use of lube and seperate crimp dies. Also it will load all rifle cartridges.

[1911a1]

ja, how would you compare a dillon 550 to the lee loadmaster? right now i,m loading on a rcbs rockchucker, and my brother bought a lee 1000 off some guy. it had been sitting up for years. had too get some new instructions from lee some of the original was ate up by rats. heh! heh! it had 2 extra turrets and shell plate carriers. its taken quit a bit of tinkering to get it to work properly. i'm only loading 45 acp on it now. i just run 1 round at a time. i don't trust it at multiple stations yet. beats the heck out of the rockchucker for pistol loading!

[JA]

The 550 is a heavy duty machine but I can't see where the preformace is any better than the Loadmaster. I guess I am spoiled by the case feeder and automatic indexing of the Loadmaster. You know insert bullet in case,pump handle and out falls a loaded round. Plus the lower cost of the Loadmaster.
To me to compare the two is like: you have 500 lbs of manure to deliver across town. Would you rather buy and use a 1 ton GMC dualey with no a/c and stick shift or a Nissian pickup with auto transmission and a/c? Sure both will get it there but one is easier/comfortable to drive and costs less.
You need to get that Pro 1000 running "full auto" and get a case collator. You just dump in a handfull of brass and shake. The brass will fall into the feed tubes and have them filled in about 10 seconds. I have filled 3 50 cal ammo cans with 9mm ammo + 1000's of reloads of other calibers using one of my 1000's. I had to replace one part a plastic indexing gear but no problem as a extra one is included with every new press in the small plastic bag of spare parts.

[1911a1]

thanks for the imput ja. i noticed you like the lee crimp die too. as far as i know no body makes anything like it. it is especialy good on auto pistol calibers. when i load 45's with that old lee 1000 i still use the lee taper crimp die on my rockchucker to crimp.

[JA]

The only taper crimp die I own is for .308. I bought it and use it in the Loadmaster because there is room for it. But I can tell no difference between using it and not. My Winchester model 100 and VEPR .308 rifles shoot no better with taper crimp reloads vs standard seat/crimp die reloads. I have fired all rounds in their mags except one and measured it's oal. There was no bullet set back in seat/crimp die reloads. So the only use I see for the taper crimp die is if the ammo is going to be fired in a machine gun as they are pretty ruff on ammo.

[1911a1]

ja the thing i like about the lee taper crimp die is that its not as picky about case length, and it will not buckle the cases like you can if your not careful with conventional seating/taper dies. but your right some auto rifles aren't that ruff on ammo when firing and won't jam bullets like some can. i shot dcm matches with a colt hbar and did not crimp, the guy who got me started shot for the navy and he convinced me not to crimp the ammo.a friend of mine blew up a grizzly win mag once with ammo he bought from a small independant loader at a gun show, the ammo left in the mag had the bullets shoved into the case quit a bit. don't know if this blew the gun up or if it was just overloaded. i've gone back to separatly crimping on all my 223 ammo for semiauto's

[JA]

I load all my .223 on a Pro 1000 so a crimp die would be a extra step. 3000+ so far. I use the bench push test on them. Take a cartridge and push the bullet aganist the side of the bench with all my weight(356lbs). I haven't had one bullet pushed into the case yet just using the seat/crimp die.

[Frontsight!]

I completely dissagree with the pro-Lee Slo 1000 posts. I had one, and was only using it lo load .45 acp. I never could get the priming system to work correctly, even after calling the factory twice (they verified my zero adjustment procedures were correct) and having another Po-Slo 1000 owner to come over. He told me that his wouldn't work either, and he HAND PRIMED all his ammo because his press sucked so hard. I wound up selling it and bout a Dillon 550B and I have not shed one tear about the money spent. The primers would always get sideways, upside down, or wouldn't feed. There is no governing system on the 1000 to make sure that the primer always goes to the same place on the ram...unlike the Dillons. Manual indexing has a lot of benefits...like if you mess up a load, it's much easier to repeat the process or even "back-up" the shell plate if necessary. This also comes in handy when working up loads. I can load 10 rounds a minute with my 550B not including replenishing primers into the machine.
In Summary:
Sure, the Dillon is like a 1 ton truck with no air...if you think auto-indexing is really that great.
The Slo-1000 is like a Nissan with air, BUT, it often jumps out of gear requiring a minute or two to put it back in gear (priming system). Also, the Nissan is not available with a "Park" or "Reverse" gear, so if you miss something, you have to go all the way around the block to get back. STUPID.

[This message has been edited by Frontsight! (edited 07-28-2000).]

[JA]

The only problems I have had with the primer feed on the slow Pro-1000 is oil and spilled powder. I oiled the shell plate carrier when I first got one and it got into the primer feeder and gummed it up. But cleaning it with brake parts cleaner and using graphite for lube on the shell plate carrier cured it. The other problem was letting a military case with crimped primer pocket get in with the commerical cases. This resulted in a case that wouldn't prime and it spilled podwer into the primer feeder. Blowing on the primer feeder while pushing the primers back into the tray removed all the powder and it was back to 100% priming.
I have 2 of the slow Pro-1000's that work great!

[Jaeger]

My Loadmaster is gathering dust because the damn priming system keeps getting fouled up. Primers inserted sideways, upside down or not at all. It is very frustrating! Lee sent me a bunch of spare parts and that worked for a while but it back to it's old tricks again. Currently, the priming ram is stuck in the up position and has frozen up the entire press. This happened right after I ordered and received all the parts I needed to load the 223.
I have never been able to make the case feeder work properly either. I am going to tinker with it one more time and if it doesn't work it's going back to Lee!
This press has so much potential but if it won't prime it's useless to me.
On a more positive note I love Lee's dies. I have tried many of the other brands but I feel Lee is the best.

[Frontsight!]

Jaeger, I feel your pain. The therapist says to buy a Dillon and relax. Your wife's perfume will smell sweeter, the skies will be bluer, and air will be fresher. "Man, I need to load up 300 rounds for my next competition...oh, no problem, that's only 30 minuted on my Dillon"

[Jaeger]

I worked on the press this morning. I took the priming system apart and replaced the little plastic piece that pushes the primers into position. It was mangled. I reloaded about 100 rnds. without too much trouble. Only 1 sideways primer! The press still won't index properly. I took it apart, cleaned it and tried to adjust the arm that controls the automatic indexing. Now its worse! I'm going to email Lee later today and probably send the press back to them. Man, this pisses me off!

[JA]

Jaeger,
Is your primer feeder oil/grease/lube free?
Does it sit level or slope down toward the rear? Have you lubed the oil and grease fittings?
I traded for a used Loadmaster that the previous owner said was a piece of s%%t. After using a can of brake parts cleaner on it them lubing the oil and grease fittings it is 100%. The case feeder had oil on it and it wouldn't work right. But after degreasing,reading the instructions,and tweaking it a little it is 100%. I changed out the 1/4" bolt that holds the case feeder to the press with one 1-1/2" longer and now it feeds .308 and 30-06. The only indexing problem I had was when setting the dies and primer seating depth. I didn't move the handle all the way up or down the full stroke.

[Jaeger]

The priming system is dry and clean. Everything is properly oiled and greased. I have tried all manner of adjustments with the case feeder and I just can't get it to work. The problem with the autoindexing is new. It seems like there is too much play in the indexing rod and it will not follow the contours of the press. Now it seems to be getting jammed on somthing under the shell plate carrier and won't work at all. I'm contacting Lee today to see what they will do about it. I have a feeling my solution will be a new Dillon or maybe RCBS's new press. I've about had it with this one!

[xebec]

Jaeger-- I too have a Loadmaster press, and I too had trouble, initially, with the primer feed. I discovered the problem and now well over 15,000 rounds through it with no primer feeding troubles. As JA pointed out the primer slide and punch must be clean, but more importantly you must not bang the arm into its stops-- particularly during the upstroke when the shell holder indexes. When the shell moves into the priming postition it actuates a lever which moves a primer onto the punch. The primer is sitting atop the punch at the moment that the press arm completes its upward travel, and if the arm jolts at the stop, the primer will flip sideways or completely over. Here's my advice-- get a new primer slide assembly (the Lee nylon parts won't work well if they are damaged) and practice smooth press strokes.
The case feeder problem is simply one of set-up and tuning-- the case-slider must push the case until it slides fully into the shell plate, but must not exert pressure on the case against the plate. Once the angled feed arm is set up properly (must be straight inline with the up and down motion of the case-slide assembly) then you can fine tune the slide by adjusting the phillips screws on the portion of the slide assembly that moves on the angled arm, tightening it (make sure its not so tight that it binds up) or loosening it as needed. I find that a rather tight fit works well on my press.
The indexing problem is easy-- The indexing bar is adjustable by unscrewing the nylon piece at the arm end-- unscrewing it a turn will (obviously) make it longer, thus causing the shellplate to index a bit further (if your shellplate tends to "back up" after indexing then this is the solution. Conversley, if the plate indexes too far then screw the indexing arm down one turn and try it again. The binding that you are experiencing is precisely how the Loadmaster behaves when the indexing arm is improperly adjusted.
The Loadmaster will work flawlessley if you take your time to tune it and operate it properly.



[This message has been edited by xebec (edited 08-04-2000).]

[royce]

I, too, have enjoyed my Pro 1000 in a love/hate relationship. It's a fine press but you have to learn its little quirks to make it run right.

Jaeger, this is obvious, bt make sure that the shell plate is screwed down and not loose from handling.

My pro-1000 primer-feed assembly is sitting a little low & left such that the bar that rubs up & down the right/rear vertical post is NOT making good contact. THe result is that the primer assembly is not getting 'bumped' to keep the primers feeding. Anybody got a fix for this?

[This message has been edited by royce (edited 01-02-2001).]

[JA]

Just bend the bar to touch the post. One of my large primer feeders had the same problem after I dropped the carrier on the floor and this is what I did. It works fine now.

[manzai]

I use a Lee M1000 on .38S, 9mm and 45ACP reloads.......bought one for each caliber.

As for rifle, I use a single station RCBS.

The Dillion doesn't get used anymore. Just sits there on the bench for a rare occasion.