Howdy:
INTRO (Feel free to skip to content below)
I finally decided to take the progressive plunge. I have experience with mostly RCBS and Lee gear. I do love my Rock Chucker (except for de-priming). And I own a Lee Hand Press, Reloader press, and Challenger O-press (the heart of my portable reloading setup).
The current market for reloading gear is pretty nuts. In my mind, I had winnowed down my progressive press options to Lee and Dillon. I might have been willing to swing for a 550, used 650, or 750, but I could not find one. I did find a Lee Pro 4000 kit, so I bought it. Never seriously considered the Pro 3000 or Loadmaster.
When I finally got it in front of me, I determined that I would set up and use it in a staged approach. There are just too may sub-systems to get up to speed on. I am sure some folks set up the entire deal plus a bullet feeder and tear into it, but I am cautious with mechanical devices. The first time I use something or do a new repair I take my time, fiddle with it, think on it, and then execute. Next time is a breeze, usually.
MOUNTING
All my bench-mount tools go onto various widths of 2x lumber, carriage bolts, pan washers, lock washers, and nuts. The Pro4k rated 16" of 2x12 in my book. I can secure it with several C-clamps to bench, table, portable workstation, wherever, no problem. Solid as a rock.
DIES: SETUP AND USE
I have RCBS and Lee dies. The RCBS have a nicer finish and are likely better construction. Lee dies have more interesting innovations. The Pro4k uses the Lee Breech Lock system, so you need one of their bushings per die, plus at least one Spline Drive BL bushing to secure the index rod. I felt less wasteful tossing aside the Lee lock rings than the RCBS lock rings. To get full use of the provided Lee Auto Drum powder measure you'll need the appropriate expander & powder drop die from Lee. Also, the Lee bullet seater/crimp die is superior to the RCBS in this application. The Lee requires two hands/wrenches, but the RCBS requires three hands to set it properly, as you are also fighting the Breech Lock threads (which are not as secure/stay-put as the traditional setup. My RCBS dies work, but Lee dies make using the Pro4k easier. I will get a set of Lee .38spl/.357mag dies to complement my RCBS dies. I load 158SWC, 148WC in .38spl and .357mag, so not an extravagance. Die setup is pretty straight forward. I like a sharpie mark to keep track of rotations.
AUTO DRUM POWDER MEASURE
Dang, this sucker is good. I like my RCBS Uniflow, but the Auto Drum is slick. For those unfamiliar with teh AD, it will dispense powder when a sized & primed cartridge enters the Lee expander die, on which the AD is mounted (with a riser in my case to get a bit more drop). You'll need a spare case with a primer (live or dead) to set the measure. The little key used to adjust the AD has flats molded into it and Lee claims that each flat is good for 0.1grain in rotation. Yeah, not quite. It is close for Win231 and Hodgdon HS-6, but no where in the ballpark for Trail Boss. Still, if you know were you are, you know the powders VMD, you can calculate how many turns you'll need to get there with one, maybe two adjustments later. And the AD has been boringly repeatable with W231, HS-6, and Trail Boss.
WHAT I DID NOT SET UP
At first, the Safety Prime arm deal and the case feeder. Later I set up and used the Safety Prime arm.
LOADING: MANUAL INDEXING
The Pro4k makes a decent manually indexed turret press, which is pretty much how I used it for load development, sending one cartridge through at a time. Only need 5-10 rounds, so changeout of the index rod did not make sense.
LOADING: AUTO INDEXING
Without the bullet feeder and with manual priming (Safety Prime or Finger Prime) the user is humping to please. Case/primer/bullet for every completed up & down stroke. It can be more than a little awkward. Oddly enough, the auto-indexing resulted in fewer hangups due to the user not getting the feel of the indexing as consistent as the machine. No way I can match the yootoobers' production rate.
SAFETY PRIME POS
And what a POS it is. When working, it is little faster than picking up a primer off a primer tray and plopping it into the primer cup. I get about 50% success with the POS/Saftey Prime. I learned to cup my fingers under the primer arm for the times when the primer does not go into the primer arm and fall down. I recover it in my hand and drop it in a little bowl I use. Once in the primer arm, the Pro4k primes easily and confidently. Well, until a piece of S&B brass comes along. Need to swage those primer pockets.
FUTURE: CASE FEEDER, BULLET FEEDER
Next on the menu to aid in production runs is the case feeder & collator. That ought to both speed up the process and reduce error, if any of the yootoober folks are to be believed. After that, I may try out the Mini Mr Bulletfeeder. The Lee bullet feeder and Hornady bullet feed dies explicitly say they don;t work with cast bullets. I can't recall loading anything but cast for my pistol rounds. The Mini Mr Bulletfeeder claims it can do cast, but not full wadcutters. If I can get case and bullet feed mechanisms working, I won;t mind so much hand-feeding primers into the primer arm.
DRAFT CONCLUSION
An interesting bit of kit. Even using it just as a manually indexed turret press, it sped up my load development. When auto indexing it beat my single stage production, big time, and reduced the times I have to handle brass. I would NOT suggest this as a first press. Go single stage or turret for that. Do I regret not waiting for a Dillon? Sort of like the way I regret not waiting for the one ton SRW diesel pickup I could not find--and maybe not afford--when I was ready to buy a truck. More/better is more/better, but everyone has a budget and sometimes the market does not take my schedule into consideration. I will withhold my final judgment until I take a swing at the case & bullet feeders.
INTRO (Feel free to skip to content below)
I finally decided to take the progressive plunge. I have experience with mostly RCBS and Lee gear. I do love my Rock Chucker (except for de-priming). And I own a Lee Hand Press, Reloader press, and Challenger O-press (the heart of my portable reloading setup).
The current market for reloading gear is pretty nuts. In my mind, I had winnowed down my progressive press options to Lee and Dillon. I might have been willing to swing for a 550, used 650, or 750, but I could not find one. I did find a Lee Pro 4000 kit, so I bought it. Never seriously considered the Pro 3000 or Loadmaster.
When I finally got it in front of me, I determined that I would set up and use it in a staged approach. There are just too may sub-systems to get up to speed on. I am sure some folks set up the entire deal plus a bullet feeder and tear into it, but I am cautious with mechanical devices. The first time I use something or do a new repair I take my time, fiddle with it, think on it, and then execute. Next time is a breeze, usually.
MOUNTING
All my bench-mount tools go onto various widths of 2x lumber, carriage bolts, pan washers, lock washers, and nuts. The Pro4k rated 16" of 2x12 in my book. I can secure it with several C-clamps to bench, table, portable workstation, wherever, no problem. Solid as a rock.
DIES: SETUP AND USE
I have RCBS and Lee dies. The RCBS have a nicer finish and are likely better construction. Lee dies have more interesting innovations. The Pro4k uses the Lee Breech Lock system, so you need one of their bushings per die, plus at least one Spline Drive BL bushing to secure the index rod. I felt less wasteful tossing aside the Lee lock rings than the RCBS lock rings. To get full use of the provided Lee Auto Drum powder measure you'll need the appropriate expander & powder drop die from Lee. Also, the Lee bullet seater/crimp die is superior to the RCBS in this application. The Lee requires two hands/wrenches, but the RCBS requires three hands to set it properly, as you are also fighting the Breech Lock threads (which are not as secure/stay-put as the traditional setup. My RCBS dies work, but Lee dies make using the Pro4k easier. I will get a set of Lee .38spl/.357mag dies to complement my RCBS dies. I load 158SWC, 148WC in .38spl and .357mag, so not an extravagance. Die setup is pretty straight forward. I like a sharpie mark to keep track of rotations.
AUTO DRUM POWDER MEASURE
Dang, this sucker is good. I like my RCBS Uniflow, but the Auto Drum is slick. For those unfamiliar with teh AD, it will dispense powder when a sized & primed cartridge enters the Lee expander die, on which the AD is mounted (with a riser in my case to get a bit more drop). You'll need a spare case with a primer (live or dead) to set the measure. The little key used to adjust the AD has flats molded into it and Lee claims that each flat is good for 0.1grain in rotation. Yeah, not quite. It is close for Win231 and Hodgdon HS-6, but no where in the ballpark for Trail Boss. Still, if you know were you are, you know the powders VMD, you can calculate how many turns you'll need to get there with one, maybe two adjustments later. And the AD has been boringly repeatable with W231, HS-6, and Trail Boss.
WHAT I DID NOT SET UP
At first, the Safety Prime arm deal and the case feeder. Later I set up and used the Safety Prime arm.
LOADING: MANUAL INDEXING
The Pro4k makes a decent manually indexed turret press, which is pretty much how I used it for load development, sending one cartridge through at a time. Only need 5-10 rounds, so changeout of the index rod did not make sense.
LOADING: AUTO INDEXING
Without the bullet feeder and with manual priming (Safety Prime or Finger Prime) the user is humping to please. Case/primer/bullet for every completed up & down stroke. It can be more than a little awkward. Oddly enough, the auto-indexing resulted in fewer hangups due to the user not getting the feel of the indexing as consistent as the machine. No way I can match the yootoobers' production rate.
SAFETY PRIME POS
And what a POS it is. When working, it is little faster than picking up a primer off a primer tray and plopping it into the primer cup. I get about 50% success with the POS/Saftey Prime. I learned to cup my fingers under the primer arm for the times when the primer does not go into the primer arm and fall down. I recover it in my hand and drop it in a little bowl I use. Once in the primer arm, the Pro4k primes easily and confidently. Well, until a piece of S&B brass comes along. Need to swage those primer pockets.
FUTURE: CASE FEEDER, BULLET FEEDER
Next on the menu to aid in production runs is the case feeder & collator. That ought to both speed up the process and reduce error, if any of the yootoober folks are to be believed. After that, I may try out the Mini Mr Bulletfeeder. The Lee bullet feeder and Hornady bullet feed dies explicitly say they don;t work with cast bullets. I can't recall loading anything but cast for my pistol rounds. The Mini Mr Bulletfeeder claims it can do cast, but not full wadcutters. If I can get case and bullet feed mechanisms working, I won;t mind so much hand-feeding primers into the primer arm.
DRAFT CONCLUSION
An interesting bit of kit. Even using it just as a manually indexed turret press, it sped up my load development. When auto indexing it beat my single stage production, big time, and reduced the times I have to handle brass. I would NOT suggest this as a first press. Go single stage or turret for that. Do I regret not waiting for a Dillon? Sort of like the way I regret not waiting for the one ton SRW diesel pickup I could not find--and maybe not afford--when I was ready to buy a truck. More/better is more/better, but everyone has a budget and sometimes the market does not take my schedule into consideration. I will withhold my final judgment until I take a swing at the case & bullet feeders.
