I have a Lee single stage, a Classic Lee Turret press, a Lee Breack Lock Pro (progressive) and this Lee 6000 YES, AS OF MARCH 28TH I AM NEW TO THIS FORUM.
I have had the 6000 for 2 months. all I have loaded on it is .308. IT HAS PROBLEMS! Breaks my heart to write this,
Problem #1, Station #1: The brass inserter needs extra "help" to seat the brass in the shellplate. EVERY TIME. (minor annoyance)
Problem #2 station #1 On the upstroke the inserter tends to snag on the brass's right side and partially pull it out. (major annoyance)
Problem #3 station #1: When I size and deprime .308 brass it regularly (3 of 03 and I stoppped) it tears off 2 bits of the brass base and leaves it there. I ASSUME the brass is not completely seating in the plate and the majority of the surface area is not engages the extraction lip. (Major annoyance. Forces you to use primed, sized brass only)
Problem #4 Station 1.5: The Primer inserting pin is only one size. Therefor it tends to dent/distort a VERY high percentage of primers. I do not know if/how much it will effect their performance next time I go out shooting. (Big problem)
Problem #5 station 1.5: When the shell plate is locked in place, the primer insertion pin is .5 to .85 mm OFF CENTER and as such only partially engages the primer leading to all kinds of problems, up to and including breaking the "finger" off the steel end of the plastic primer feeding slider! (deal breaker! unless you plan on feeding it pre primed brass)
Problem #6 stations #4 & #5 the plastic retaining/tensioning ring that goes around 80% of the shell plate and the shell plate holder extend a little too far and prevent removal of a case unless you rias the plate enough to allow you to force the plate backwards enough to clear. About 4mm. I cut off the offending bits to allow for much easier case removal.
Problem #7 station #4. The Lee "straight through" bullet feeder's tubes are for 9mm pistol although it says for .30 cal. rifle. Actually it's just the bullet tube. You see they give out a tube, slighly thicker than the very thin one for the 9mm. Inside diameter is nearly an exact match to the tube for 9mm. So, the LONG POINTY BOATTAIL rifle bullets that are .309 going through a tube that is meant for short, fat, rounded bullets that are .356 and they get their pointy nose on the side of the bullet above them, wedging the entire mess sideways and jamming it up! OK, technically NOT part of this press. (fixed[ish] see footnote #1)
Problem #8 All stations. The rotator arm is a bit too springy. So as the plate descends and begins to rotate, the arm winds up just a bit and then "POPS" loose! Throwing the set but not seated bullet across the room and shaking the case that is being inserted but not yet in the plate to fall over. (major annoyance) Possible fix yet to be tried, see footnote #2
OTHER THAN ALL THAT, the press works fine and I have loaded roughly 300 .308 rounds with it. Mostly feeding it pre primed and sized cases with about 50 using DEprimed, but still sized cases. Again, unknown how well those cartridges with distorted primers will function.
Footnote #1: I took the thin clear 9mm bullet tube and (CAREFULLY) sliced it lengthwise. Then did it again, cutting out a piece about .2" wide allowing me to compress this and slide it INTO the thicker, yellow Lee .30 cal rifle bullet tube. PROBLEM SOLVED!!
Footnote #2: Possible solution is to make a slotted piece of steel that can be slid up, around the bottom the flat rotator rod, thus anchoring it and preventing the rod from relying on it's own insufficient rigidity for smooth operations. Frankly, Lee needed to use the square rod from the turret press with only a 1/6th turn.
There you have it. some anonymous guy's experiences with the 6000. Take it for what it is worth. Leave me a message if you would like details or pictures/proof. Yes, I plan on contacting Lee. I have had good customer service from them in the past.
