Custom Shell Plate for Lee Progressive Presses

[kanzan]

I received the following e-mail from Lee today in response to my inquiry about ordering a custom shell plate for a Lee press in 5.7x28mm, and placed an order. I have not received the plate yet, so cannot say how well it works, but at least this option is available. I know Lee presses are much maligned, but I have had excellent result from with my Lee Pro 1000.

---- Original Message -----
From: Lee Precision
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 10:14 AM
Subject: Re: 5.7 x 28mm Shellplate for Loadmaster or Pro 1000


Custom Shell Plates would have a $100.00 setup charge and $20.00 for a Pro 1000 shell plate or $29.98 for a Load Master shell plate.

[sharky47]

I like my Lee classic press better than my Rockchucker, and Lee dies make RCBS dies look like garbage. You wouldn't think it would work that way, but I have replaced all my RCBS dies with Lee due to poor quality with RCBS.

Let us know how the plate works out!

[rickys2]

Buy a dillon and get the plate from EA. I have pair of 550B, over 20,000 rounds each and still going strong.

[cvande]

+1 on the Lee 1000. I do all my 9mm and 45 on a 1000 and it has yet to let me down. It took a little time to learn how to adjust and feed it but it's a great deal for 150 bucks. I'm anxious to hear your thoughts on the shell plate. It would be nice to do my 5.7 on the progressive also.

[kanzan]

Buy a dillon and get the plate from EA. I have pair of 550B, over 20,000 rounds each and still going strong.

Everyone likes Dillon presses and so do I, they are high quality, high $$ equipment. But I have to ask: have you ever used a Lee progressive? I use a RCBS Rockchucker, Dillon 550b and Lee Pro 100, and they all do the job well. But when I needed a new set up to load 5.7x28mm, I choose the Lee. I prime by hand, but still love the speed of the cartridge feeder when decapping, and have never had a problem with the powder fill, seating and crimping. I check the powder on an RCBS electronic scale and never have more than .1 gr variation with W231, True Blue, Unique, etc. It does the job well and costs 80% less than a Dillon or RCBS with an automatic cartridge feeder.

[LK45s]

What powder measure are you using?


My experience with the Load Master.
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[kanzan]

The "Pro Auto Disk" that comes standard with the Pro 1000 press, though I have added the optional "Micrometer Adjustable Charge Bar" to avoid switching Microdisks when I change loads. I have found it to be just as accurate throwing loads as my RCBS or Dillon as long as it is at least half full.

What powder measure are you using?


My experience with the Load Master.
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[Hobknob]

Hey there Kanzan,
Unfortunately (as you have learned) Lee doesn't make a shellplate for the 5.7 for the Pro1000. I tried to see if anyone was interested in having Lee make a couple at once to drop the cost per plate to between $50-70 (rather than the $100 setup + $20 for the plate) but there wasn't a very warm reception to the idea. I know everybody loves to hate Lee, but I've loaded many thousands of rounds on Lee progressives including several thousand 5.7 on the Pro1000. As long as you work within the limits of the equipment they are great.
Anyway, I hired a student at a university to machine the Pro100 plate out for me...and though it does work, it isn't exactly what I would call very professional and definitely didn't stay within the specs for the drawing I gave him. A little bit of JBweld and some time with a fine file has made it workable.
If you know a local machinist I can send you the full drawing and CAD model so you don't have to get that re-done.

As LK45 noted Lee does make a dedicated 5.7 shellplate for the LoadMaster. They originally said that they modified the #15 shellplate to fit both the .25acp and the 5.7x28 but that turned out to be false after I ordered the #15 and it didn't fit. They then swapped it out for the correct shellplate which is actually labeled "5.7" rather than their typical numbered plates.

Hope that helps, and welcome!

[memphetic]

So, can you use a Lee Pro 1000 to reload 5.7?

[Hobknob]

So, can you use a Lee Pro 1000 to reload 5.7?

With the appropriate shellplate (in this case a custom one) you can load any cartridge up to about the size of a .223 with the pro1000.