Lee Precision Introduces New Press

[Tokarev]

I've had the Pro 6000 for a few months now, actually got one of the pre-wide release 'blems', but it's purely consmetic. It's my first progressive press, but it's been simple to set up and fairly reliable to operate. The only issue has been from my own error, only loaded a few primers to test things out, then not realizing when I was out. The resulting powder spill went all over, including in the priming mechanism which is nearly impossible to clean sufficiently. After multiple vaccumings it's working again, but the primer system not feeding the last ~10 primers remains. It's loading nice 9mm and 223 though, and I'll load 10mm once I get a pistol. Attachment 98908

The quick change bushings are really nice. The shell plate probably takes me 5 min to change out. The alignment post works well, and for me it's a great warning when zive short stroked. Let me know if you have any questions.

No experience with this press, obviously, but Lee uses a similar gravity-fed slide chute on other presses. I've found the best thing to do is refill the primer tray as soon as the last primer leaves the tray and is in the chute. Otherwise the weight of the primer stack can cause misdeeds. Also handy on the bench is a pencil to manually push down on the primers if I'm trying to empty the chute while loaded. That's assuming Lee still puts a little open slot in the chute.

Keep us updated on how the press does after a few 1000 rounds. Thanks.

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[Eric_F]

Thanks, yeah and I've seen people (F Class John) recommend slipping a ziptie in the top to push them down, which does work. It is still open so I'd think a sharp pencil would work. The chute doesn't detach from the press, so changing out these stragglers I think requires running the press.

[Tokarev]

slipping a ziptie in the top to push them down

Yeah that would work too. Anything small and non-metallic would be fine. Probably a paperclip would work although I wouldn't recommend poking around in there with metal, just to be careful.

If you keep an eye on the chute and reload the primers as soon as you see the last primer at the top of the groove the system will probably work fine for you.

[Tokarev]

[MichaelD]

Has anyone else bought one of these? I've wanted to start reloading for years but can't justify spending Dillon money. This looks like a great option for us poors.

[mmc45414]

Has anyone else bought one of these? I've wanted to start reloading for years but can't justify spending Dillon money. This looks like a great option for us poors.

I got a bench full of Dillon stuff I love, but sure am glad I bought a 650 before they (750) cost over $1200 with a case feeder.
This press, with a set of dies, with a casefeed, costs less than a Dillon casefeeder and plate. I used to have a couple of APPs and found the simple collator worked well with 9mm, not so well with 223.

[mtnbkr]

Has anyone else bought one of these? I've wanted to start reloading for years but can't justify spending Dillon money. This looks like a great option for us poors.

The press in the OP looks nice, but you don't even need to spend that much money. I've been reloading for over 20 years with a Lee Turret press and can't justify replacing it. Sure, it doesn't have the output of a progressive, but it's enough to keep up with my demand (mostly rimmed revolver and bolt rifle loads). There's a lot of choice in the sub-Dillon price range.

Chris

[willie]

The press in the OP looks nice, but you don't even need to spend that much money. I've been reloading for over 20 years with a Lee Turret press and can't justify replacing it. Sure, it doesn't have the output of a progressive, but it's enough to keep up with my demand (mostly rimmed revolver and bolt rifle loads). There's a lot of choice in the sub-Dillon price range.

Chris

The Lee Classic Turret press of recent years is outstanding and may be the best turret press made. I have it and the fine Redding T-7. Both do the same, but the Lee is more versatile.

[GyroF-16]

I’ll chime in with a third endorsement of the Lee Classic Turret Press.
I’ve had it for 8 years, and loaded tens of thousands of rounds of 9mm, as well as thousands of .40 and hundreds of 300 BLK ,.380 and .32 ACP. I particularly like how easy it is to change calibers once a disk is set up with dies and a powder dispenser- I can (and do) load a couple hundred 9mm, then swap and load 100 300 BLK in the same evening.
I’m about to start setting up to load .223 this weekend.

[mtnbkr]

The Lee Classic Turret press of recent years is outstanding and may be the best turret press made. I have it and the fine Redding T-7. Both do the same, but the Lee is more versatile.

That's the one I have now, but I started off with the original 3-station model, then used their upgrade kit in the early 2000s to make it a 4-station version. When the Classic Cast came out, I bought that and gave my old one to a buddy who was looking to get started in reloading. He still has and uses that one.

I’ll chime in with a third endorsement of the Lee Classic Turret Press.
I’ve had it for 8 years, and loaded tens of thousands of rounds of 9mm, as well as thousands of .40 and hundreds of 300 BLK ,.380 and .32 ACP. I particularly like how easy it is to change calibers once a disk is set up with dies and a powder dispenser- I can (and do) load a couple hundred 9mm, then swap and load 100 300 BLK in the same evening.
I’m about to start setting up to load .223 this weekend.

I was doing that from the start. I have a pile of turrets with dies already set up. If I don't have to tweak settings for a new bullet or powder charge, I can be reloading at pace in a minute or two (main delaying factor is confirming powder charge settings). Once rolling, I can knock out about 150 handgun rounds an hour. rifle is a bit slower if I have to lube cases. My strategy for building up a large bulk of ammo is to have it set up and just knock out an hour's worth of loads here and there over the course of a week. By the end, I can have 1000 rounds without spending a lot of time in front of the press at one time.

Chris