Lee Breech Lock Pro

[Axis II]

Guy at work was asking about progressive presses. I only have experience with the older Lee Pro 1k. He is looking at the breech lock pro for pistol loading and maybe 5.56. I told him I would ask your opinions on it.

 

[kcofohio]

Guy at work was asking about progressive presses. I only have experience with the older Lee Pro 1k. He is looking at the breech lock pro for pistol loading and maybe 5.56. I told him I would ask your opinions on it.

A recent thread,
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/lee-pro-4000-solid-choice-for-the-money.898807/

I believe the same press with the bells and whistles.

Is he an experienced reloader? I have the press, and it is solid. I haven't used it for .223/5.56. Just 9mm and 380 Auto. I'm not a high volume shooter, so I still like the slower going LCT.

 

[Axis II]

A recent thread,
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/lee-pro-4000-solid-choice-for-the-money.898807/

I believe the same press with the bells and whistles.

Is he an experienced reloader? I have the press, and it is solid. I haven't used it for .223/5.56. Just 9mm and 380 Auto. I'm not a high volume shooter, so I still like the slower going LCT.

He’s a veteran reloader just trying to speed up reloading.

 

[WeekendReloader]

Once setup, the LEE ABLP is a good press. I use mine in "manual" mode. I drop a case in, put a primer on, measure and dump the powder in, and place a bullet. There are many add-ons to make it a more automatic progressive, but I don't use those.

My additions to the press are the LEE safety prime (it came with my LEE single stage press) and the LEE Perfect Powder Measure. I found an adapter on eBay to mount the PPM on top of the powder die. I manually drop a charge with it.

I can say that it is a lot faster than a single stage press. At my volume of shooting (1000-2000 of 9mm per year), I can load faster than I shoot and the press sits idle a lot.
I still load 380 and 30-30 on my single stage due to low shooting volume on those.

Note that the LEE ABLP is made for making ammo. The special dies and tools that are made to fit in a single stage press with a punch/tool that snaps on the ram will not work on the progressive press. I use my single stage press a lot for bulge busting cases and sizing cast bullets. This can't be done on the ABLP.

 

[Zendude]

It’s a good press for moderate speed reloading. The ABLP is definitely not as “fiddly” as the other two Lee progressive presses regarding adjustments and tuning. I have the ABLP and the pro 1000. The ABLP has an easier learning curve in my opinion.

 

[kcofohio]

He’s a veteran reloader just trying to speed up reloading.

Once it is set up properly, it's mostly about getting a rhythm going with no distractions.
There are some good videos that may give him a good idea if it's what he is after.