Lee Pro 1000 shell plate questions

[LinuxJack]

Backstory: I recently picked up a Pro 1000 kit in 380ACP, and have been using it for simple sizing/priming/flaring of 380 brass with great success (I still do powder drop + seating on a single-stage, and not really keen to change that part - I feel like having each shell in my hand and staring at it real hard, feeling what the press does on each shell by itself (and my single-stage CH has a LOT of feel - even relatively minor neck tension differences are discernible), etc gives me better quality control than any progressive would - and I can still crank out 200+ rounds an hour like that). I have also done some testing with 223/5.56 brass, and while I haven't done a production run of that yet, it looks like it's going to work great for a size+prime job on 223/5.56 as well. Anyway, that brings me to my points below:

Dilemma: I also load a fair bit of 9mm as well (probably at least equal numbers to what I do for 5.56+380 combined), so I ordered a 9mm shell plate when I ordered the press. I had presumed a shell plate change was a fairly straightforward plug+play kind of deal, but looking at the directions and the videos, that looks like a lot bigger deal than I would want to be doing on a regular basis. So, what to do about that...

Thoughts on possible solutions:
a) I may be making more to-do regarding the shell plate swapping than it warrants, and if I do some level of planning my reloading batches, I could probably not have to change that out more than a couple times a month, and maybe it's not as big a deal as it looks to me from the perspective of never having done it.

b) 9mm rim/case size is not THAT much different than 5.56/380, if I installed the 9mm shell plate, that would probably work to size/prime 5.56/380, although it is notably sloppier a fit for 380/5.56, and I am not overly confident that wouldn't cause problems for 380 cases if I just tried to use the 9mm shell plate for 'all the things'.

c) Hrmmm... give up one of the shell sizes on the progressive press... or buy a second press.... hrmmm....

Solicitations for comments: Any of you with some more experience than I on the Pro 1000 want to weigh in on my dilemma and thoughts on solutions?

Thanks,

[Ranch Dog]

The setup is why I ended up with four Load-Masters and one Pro-1000. The setup during changeovers robs the time savings from a turret press.

The above said I do some common stuff, such as 25 & 32 Auto on one press. I was doing 380 Auto, 9mm Luger, and 9mm Makrov on another. I no longer have a 9mm Luger so it will be just the two. The other two Load-Masters are dedicated to 45 Auto and 7.62x39. The 1000 was a revolver, but I no longer have it (38 Spl).

[LinuxJack]

The setup is why I ended up with four Load-Masters and one Pro-1000. The setup during changeovers robs the time savings from a turret press.

The above said I do some common stuff, such as 25 & 32 Auto on one press. I was doing 380 Auto, 9mm Luger, and 9mm Makrov on another. I no longer have a 9mm Luger so it will be just the two. The other two Load-Masters are dedicated to 45 Auto and 7.62x39. The 1000 was a revolver, but I no longer have it (38 Spl).

So from your description of doing 380 and 9mm on the same machine - were you swapping shell plates in between runs? Or just running the 380 on the 9mm shell plate? If it's the latter, than I reckon I'll be fine - 9mm, 223, and 380 are the only 3 things I need to run on the progressive at the moment. I was concerned that the 9mm shell plate wasn't going to have enough grip on the 223 and 380 and I was going to get stuck cases in the sizing die when the plate slipped off the rim.

Setting up the dies and stuff in between runs doesn't really bother me (or if I decide it does, I can buy another head plate so I can leave the dies setup).

[Ranch Dog]

So from your description of doing 380 and 9mm on the same machine - were you swapping shell plates in between runs? Or just running the 380 on the 9mm shell plate? If it's the latter, than I reckon I'll be fine - 9mm, 223, and 380 are the only 3 things I need to run on the progressive at the moment. I was concerned that the 9mm shell plate wasn't going to have enough grip on the 223 and 380 and I was going to get stuck cases in the sizing die when the plate slipped off the rim.

Setting up the dies and stuff in between runs doesn't really bother me (or if I decide it does, I can buy another head plate so I can leave the dies setup).

On the Load-Master, I swap turrets by cartridge. Every cartridge had a specific turret & dies. Of course, the shell plate is driven by the cartridge.

As an example, one press ran.
25 Auto
218 Bee
25-20 Win
30 Carbine
32 Auto
32-20 Win

So all of these cartridges had complete turrets with nothing left to set up, plus both case and bullet feeders. Bullet feeders were not available 25 Auto, 218 Bee, and 25-20 Win. Changing the press to any of these cartridges would take less than 10 minutes. My loads were well recorded and set, and nothing varied from the first stroke to the last. Nothing out of tolerance or needing adjustment. Straight into production between cartridges.

I most definitely would run the specific shell plate for the cartridge. Any play or out of alignment will bring things to a miserable stop. For instance, on the Load-Master, there are (were) three shell plates for the 32 Auto (#7, #7A, and #7S). I have them all. You figured out which was the best fit, stuck with the same manufacturer of brass, and didn't swap to one of the other shell plates. The 25 and 32 Auto cases have been the most sensitive I've worked with. It's all about stopping the wiggle.

[Ranch Dog]

The 380 Auto & 223 share the shell plate (4A), but the 9mm Luger requires its own (19).

[LinuxJack]

Yes, I know it called for a different shell plate (which I have), I just wasn't sure if I could get away with loading 223/380 on the 9mm plate. I load 223 and 9mm on the shame shell holder for my single stage, so was hoping I could avoid the pain of having to switch holders on the Pro 1k.

Thanks for the input all.

[LinuxJack]

So that turned out to be way easier than I thought - in my watching videos/reading up, I was confusing 'changing the shell plate carrier' with 'changing the shell plate', so I was thinking I'd have to basically disassemble the whole thing. Turns out it's just pull the ejector, unscrew the center pin, pull old plate, put in new plate, tinker with timing screw a little - done. I feel a bit dumb now, LOL.

Swapped the 223/380 plate for the 9mm plate fine, and have been spitting out +/- 1000 pieces an hour of ready-to-load 9mm brass ever since. I could go about twice that fast if I didn't have to stop and load the primer trays and feed hopper all the time. I should have upgraded my case-prep stage for bulk loading to this thing years ago.

[Ranch Dog]

Great to read!

[Fyodor]

Swapping shellplates actually is a very quick and straightforward task. But the pro1000 used to be so cheap, I just bought one for every case head, and then turrets for every load. I ended up with 3 pro1000 presses and 7 complete turrets.