Unboxing Lee Auto Breech Lock Pro - User Review / Discussion < No Bashing >

[Rule3]

Nice. That's a plus for me.

For those that have and use a Hornady AP press, what if any reason would there be to buy the Lee press? Other than just another "toy" to play with?
I have been on the fence for a LnL AP press for a long time,now RCBS has a Chucker 5 for around the same price I had a RCBS Pro 2000 but sold it as I change calibers so often..I just can't see the need or use for this Lee press I guess due to the primer system.?

FWIW, to ward off quotes and nit pickers., I am a long time Lee Breech lock and Classic Turret press user(the primer works fine), and have nothing but Lee dies.

 

[ray15]

There's the obvious price advantage, making it a different class of product to most.

 

[Rule3]

There's the obvious price advantage, making it a different class of product to most.

I guess. Around $250. depending on what "extras" are added like case, bullet feeder.
I have powder measures and primer "Pez dispensers" (just learned that term) Just hung up over the lack of auto primer feed or I would buy the darn thing!

 

[someguy2800]

LOL

Overall all it seems like you're happy with your new press which is good!

I get the general impression that if the handloader is willing to prime off press then it might be a good choice for someone who wants an inexpensive dedicated press for a single caliber (handgun) short production runs.

I just wanted to make the distinction since people were wondering about the construction and many people don’t realize there is any such thing as cast steel. Also I would not make the distinction that this is particularly good for a dedicated caliber. It will only take mabey 5 minutes to change the shellplate, swap in a new set of dies in bushings, and adjust the case feeder. But yes if you already prime off the press this will be your best friend.

I am delighted by the actual press, the safety prime just doesn't work as well as it does on the turret, at least for me. Unfortunately without a working primer system its not a complete product. I'll work on it.

Occasionally I'll get this on my LCT. The primer takes a sideways trajectory out of the case and makes it out through the little gap just under the shell holder.

Yep I get that on my turret too, it bounces of the primer arm and away they go. On this the primer arm is on the next station so there is no opening that looks big enough for a primer to come out of but somehow they do anyway lol

Interesting about the primer difference. I have had the same experience on my LCT.

Got S&B primers on sale at Cabela's last year and am now back to Winchester. It is a big difference for me too.

Dave

I never had an issue with them on my turret. I've loaded probably 10,000 of them. I probably won'y buy them anymore since they have gone up in price and the american primers are coming down.

There's the obvious price advantage, making it a different class of product to most.

That's always a consideration. A press that makes 400 rounds an hour but drops 20 primers on the floor in the process is still better than a press someone can't afford and didn't buy. For me price was really only about 30% of the consideration. The appeal of this to me was actually in the safety prime. In other presses the priming system is all under shell plate and if something jams up or breaks you have to take it apart to remedy the situation. On this its all out in the open in front of you where its easy to see a problem and fix it without touching the shell plate. Now if we could just get the primers in the priming arm! I'm thinking of setting 100 primers out in a flip tray and try doing 100 setting them in by hand like some like to do with the turret to see if its actually any slower.

 

[someguy2800]

Oh and one other thing I have not mentioned about this. I average between 150-200 rounds an hour on my turret, but about 200-300 rounds is all I want to do because after 1000 pulls of the arm my back is totally shot. I did about 550 rounds total yesterday on this and I felt totally fine. That's a big difference for me.

 

[ray15]

I'm thinking of setting 100 primers out in a flip tray and try doing 100 setting them in by hand like some like to do with the turret to see if its actually any slower.

Yep, 'some' do. When you don't even have set or round trays to fall back on I find it hard to love the SP. I'm 24-25 minutes per 100 on the LCT using the flip tray and fingers.

 

[Rule3]

Are you having problems with the Safety prime due to it just not being adjusted correctly? I recall messing with mine on the turret and it takes just a fraction to move the holder, so the angle of the dangle is just right. Is it the same plastic (nylon) holder bracket??

Yes, there is a BIG difference in seating SB or Wolf primers VS say Win or Federal. They mash in the pocket much raiser.

 

[kcofohio]

I know the Safety Prime on my LCT likes the ram firmly up and the slide pushed horizontally to the cup. And I can feel if I did it right or not.
I guess I'll find out soon if that is the case with this press.

 

[someguy2800]

Are you having problems with the Safety prime due to it just not being adjusted correctly? I recall messing with mine on the turret and it takes just a fraction to move the holder, so the angle of the dangle is just right. Is it the same plastic (nylon) holder bracket??

Yes, there is a BIG difference in seating SB or Wolf primers VS say Win or Federal. They mash in the pocket much raiser.

I played with the angle back and forth for quite awhile. There is a very narrow angle that works properly. The problem is that I've found that its difficult to get it to sit in the right spot all the way forward on the arm when it triggers. If its not in the exact right spot on the arm when it triggers they fall on the floor. Plus I think the stem sticking up on the primer arm is a tiny bit too short. There is about a mm gap between the top of the cup and the primer dispensor which seems to be enough space for them to get turned sideways and then get knocked out when the dispenser retracts. You can feel it happening with your fingers.

The S&B primers are always harder to seat in the pockets than others but I never had any trouble getting them to feed into the primer arm. That is the only problem I had. Once in the primer arm all the primers seated flawlessly, which is something the turret sometimes has issues with.

 

[Zendude]

I guess. Around $250. depending on what "extras" are added like case, bullet feeder.
I have powder measures and primer "Pez dispensers" (just learned that term) Just hung up over the lack of auto primer feed or I would buy the darn thing!

Why not get a Loadmaster if an auto primer feed is a requirement? For $270, it comes with dies, shellplate, Pro AutoDisk, and primer feed. Or you can start with a bare bones Loadmaster for about $170 if you already have most of the accessories

 

[vaalpens]

I am delighted by the actual press, the safety prime just doesn't work as well as it does on the turret, at least for me. Unfortunately without a working primer system its not a complete product. I'll work on it.

Is the priming issue just due to the safety primer? I have actually stopped using the safety primer on my Lee single stage and went back to placing the primer by hand. As long as the actual priming still works well, I'll be ok with it.

 

[someguy2800]

Is the priming issue just due to the safety primer? I have actually stopped using the safety primer on my Lee single stage and went back to placing the primer by hand. As long as the actual priming still works well, I'll be ok with it.

Yes the priming system works 100% perfect for me once you get a primer in the arm.

 

[Hasaf]

I just wanted to make the distinction since people were wondering about the construction and many people don’t realize there is any such thing as cast steel.

There is a very good book on the development of cast steel is the "House of Krupp." It is well worth the read.

Back to the topic at hand. I am currently using a Lee Classic Turret. This one looks interesting. I am not a real fan of the Safety Prime system. Other than that I like what I am seeing. I am actually a bit surprised that no one is reporting any real trouble. That is not a jab at Lee, it is just a new product thing.

While I am reading these threads, I do not see myself getting a new press until next fall.

 

[someguy2800]

After doing some more tinkering I believe I have discovered the cause of the problem and a fix for it. I decided to compare the primer arm and dispensor on my Turret press which work perfectly for me to the parts on the new press. I noticed that there is a slight difference in the height of the primer cup on the primer arm on the old vs new ones. Measured with a cheap calipers they are approximately .012" different in height.



If you place the primer arm into the safety prime head you can see that there is a considerable gap between the top of the cup and where the primer slides out. I believe this gap is too large and causes the primer to tip as it enters the cup. When the safety prime head retracts the flipped up primer is caught and gets knocked out of the cup.



So we need to raise the height of this cup in order to reduce the clearance so the primer does not have room to tip sideways. The cup is mounted on a steel pin that is press fit into the die cast primer arm. By sharpening a punch to a flat chisel point it was relatively easy to drive the punch between the pin and the dies cast body to force the shaft up and raise the height of the cup.



After raising the pin up out of the arm I set the height of it so that the cup is about .010" or so below where the primers slide out of the safety prime.



Next I tested this on the press by loading 100 primers into the tray and feeding them into the primer arm on the press, and then manual taking them. All 100 primers fed without issue and none were dropped. At first I was using the same slow and deliberate technique I had found to work yesterday, but for the last 50 I was just stabbing the primer are with one finger as I do on the turret and it still worked just fine being rather careless about it. I even tried lowering the press about 3/8" from the top of the stroke and they still fed fine.

Finally to prevent the shaft from sliding back in I gave it a quick blast with the mig welder into open window to hold it in place, and ground it back smooth. The primer arm is not steel so it will not weld, its a die cast alloy of some sort, so you need to weld directly onto the steel pin. If you just fill up that window with a good bead it will not be able to move.



Below you can see the heights of the classic cast primer arm, and the auto breech lock before and after modification.



I will relay these results to Lee customer service so that possibly they can do something about it.

 

[thomas15]

Prolly could do the fix by cleaning with acetone and filling with JB Weld

 

[D Rock]

Great analysis and pictures, thank you!

Dave

 

[maxxhavoc]

How did you end up mounting the Safety Prime to the press? Mine was not even close to the correct height. I had to get another bolt and stack washers to get it to the height I wanted. Once I did that, primers have been seating perfect. Well, the last 50 at least. It's hard to get into the rhythm of the press after using the Pro 1k so long. With another added manual operation I put the case feeder on, and remembered how much the case feeder doesn't like .38spl.



Oh, and until I get a Powder Cop die, the powder riser off the turret makes a good place to stick an endoscope.

 

[kcofohio]

How did you end up mounting the Safety Prime to the press? Mine was not even close to the correct height. I had to get another bolt and stack washers to get it to the height I wanted. Once I did that, primers have been seating perfect. Well, the last 50 at least. It's hard to get into the rhythm of the press after using the Pro 1k so long. With another added manual operation I put the case feeder on, and remembered how much the case feeder doesn't like .38spl.

View attachment 786144

Oh, and until I get a Powder Cop die, the powder riser off the turret makes a good place to stick an endoscope.
View attachment 786145
View attachment 786146

I just found the same problem in setting up the primer also.

 

[kcofohio]

I just found the same problem in setting up the primer also.

I should add, that the spacer that was on the LCT may be the proper thickness, it is too big in diameter to sit level on the Pro.

 

[WestKentucky]

lso I can't figure out where in the heck they are coming from but mabey 1 or 2 out of 100 spent primers come shooting up out of the press during sizing and fall on the floor. I havn't figured out how this is even possible but I thought I would mention it.

I was having that issue on my Classic Cast with a couple of rifle die sets. It was eventually isolated to those die sets and after much fiddling around I rounded the noses of the primer punches and polished with fine sandpaper (800 grit I think) and they started popping off into the tube like they were supposed to. Look closely at your punch and you may find a sharp edge or a burr which may be part of your issue.

 

[someguy2800]

How did you end up mounting the Safety Prime to the press? Mine was not even close to the correct height. I had to get another bolt and stack washers to get it to the height I wanted. Once I did that, primers have been seating perfect. Well, the last 50 at least. It's hard to get into the rhythm of the press after using the Pro 1k so long. With another added manual operation I put the case feeder on, and remembered how much the case feeder doesn't like .38spl.

View attachment 786144

Oh, and until I get a Powder Cop die, the powder riser off the turret makes a good place to stick an endoscope.
View attachment 786145
View attachment 786146

Here is the bracket I’m using. This is the new one they are including in the safety prime kits now. I have been talking with Lee customer service about this and they said the new press was designed specifically to use the new grey safety prime system.



Another tidbit of info. I cannot find this anywhere in the instructions but they said you should set the sizing die in station 1 to touch the shell plate and then turn it in 1/4 turn more. He said it is to make sure the carrier is in the correct relative position to the toolhead for the safety prime to work. I have absolutely no idea how this can possibly have an affect on how the primer dispenser works but I guess I’ll do it anyway.

 

[D Rock]

EDIT: Apologies someguy 2800, your post didn't show up on my small screen when I posted this earlier.

In the pictures I'm seeing the Auto Prime is the older round style. I'm wondering if using the newer style with the triangular shape is meant to be used here.

I know when I got the newer style for my LCT I didn't need to add spacers like I did with the round version.

Dave

 

[kcofohio]

Here is the bracket I’m using. This is the new one they are including in the safety prime kits now. I have been talking with Lee customer service about this and they said the new press was designed specifically to use the new grey safety prime system.

View attachment 786215

Another tidbit of info. I cannot find this anywhere in the instructions but they said you should set the sizing die in station 1 to touch the shell plate and then turn it in 1/4 turn more. He said it is to make sure the carrier is in the correct relative position to the toolhead for the safety prime to work. I have absolutely no idea how this can possibly have an affect on how the primer dispenser works but I guess I’ll do it anyway.

Thanks for that update. I might have to order the updated primer version. That way the LCT would still have a bracket on it.
I'll keep that in mind about turning the sizing die in a quarter turn.

 

[maxxhavoc]

Here is the bracket I’m using. This is the new one they are including in the safety prime kits now. I have been talking with Lee customer service about this and they said the new press was designed specifically to use the new grey safety prime system.

Ah, they made a new bracket. That's cheating.

they said you should set the sizing die in station 1 to touch the shell plate and then turn it in 1/4 turn more.

Good to know. The Pro 1000 did not like extra length on the sizing die...it tended to bend things, or break them if you are talking about the cast parts. I set mine up like I did on the Pro 1000s, touch shellplate and back off 1/4 turn. I'll run it down and see how it works.

 

[Redoubt]

Question for those who have received their presses: Does this press use the same mounting hole pattern as the Classic Cast Turret press?