Is Lee The Chevy

ShootingNut · March 12, 2008, 04:01 PM

And the others, RCBS and Dillon etc., the Cadillac's of reloading?
I do fine with my Less Classic Turret, but it's not perfect. The alignment is off somewhat, and kind of crunchy sometimes.
My question is are the others more "state of the art"? And is the old adage, "you get what you pay for" apply here?
SN

mniesen89 · March 12, 2008, 04:23 PM

"you get what you pay for" applies for pretty much anything these days, other then ebay.All I use is Lee equipment for the most part and have never really had any problems,I assume its just all presonal preference.

WSM MAGNUM · March 12, 2008, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Is Lee The Chevy

That pretty much sums it up in my opinion. RCBS believes they make the best reloading equipment. All I can say is I had most of RCBS`s equipment going on 30 years now with no problems or wear from them. Dillon`s equipment is good qaulity too.
Most manufacture`s equipment are good, but like you said you get what you pay for.

CPTMurdoc30 · March 12, 2008, 04:33 PM

Lee stuff is like Yugo cars. They will get you there and they will drive. But showing up for a date with a hottie you would rather be in a caddie than a yugo.

ShootingNut · March 12, 2008, 06:24 PM

At my age, I wouln't know what to do with a "Hottie".

shepherddogs · March 12, 2008, 06:49 PM

Lee equipment is pretty decent. I have an autoindex turret press that has always given problems but does the job. Recently I got the Classic Turret and it works great. The Lee is nowhere near the press that my Hornady Lock n Load is, but its nowhere near the price either. For the money spent, you get serviceable equipment that does the job with occasional malfunctions that you wouldn't expect from higher priced equipment. All in all a good value.

TexasSeaRay · March 12, 2008, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Lee stuff is like Yugo cars. They will get you there and they will drive. But showing up for a date with a hottie you would rather be in a caddie than a yugo.

Well, I guess me and my Yugo-reloading setup just baffled the hell out of a lot of Cadillacs during all the competitive matches and contests I used to shoot. . .

As I've said before, I never then--and don't now--give a damn what another shooter thinks of my reloading bench. All I care about is what they think of my groups.

Still trying to figure out a way to look at everyone's reloads and pick out which ones were done on a Dillon or a RCBS or a Hornady or a Lee, or with Redding dies, Lee dies, RCBS dies . . .

In over forty years of shooting and more than half of that reloading, I guess that one particular talent has continued to elude me.

Jeff

P.S. My wife has a Cadillac. That damn thing gives me more trouble and costs more to fix than my Chevy truck ever has.

DWARREN123 · March 12, 2008, 09:15 PM

I do fine with my Lee kit. Not the greatest but does what I need it to, especially for the price. I have had no problems except had to clean the powder dispenser after 16 months. Mine is a single stage.

73-Captain · March 12, 2008, 09:35 PM

After almost 30 years reloading and starting out with... dare I say it and make the children cry because I don't like their favorite toys... a RCBS RockCLUNKER...

That experience made me a big fan of Dillon and Lyman (and Redding and Forster) reloading equipment.

That said, EVERY piece of Lee equipment I have has been very good. Their equipment is capable of making excellent and accurate reloads. Rather than being the "cheapest", Lee equipment gives you the BEST VALUE for the DOLLAR!

Can't afford a Dillon 550 or XL650 but can afford Lee? So what. Why not buy a Lee Pro 1000 or turret, etc. now and start saving NOW? It may turn out to be all the press you ever need.

I bought a Lee 1000 right after they first came out and saved a fortune in the years I used it. Although my son has it now I still use it for a few cartridges I'm not set up to load on the XL650. I'm sure 10 years from now either him or one of his brothers will STILL be using my Lee 1000!

Doesn't sound like a Yugo to me.

Oops... Almost forgot... Better mention Hornady or else the LnL children will cry and attack and insult me!!! Already have them and the "RockCLUNKER" fans upset!

C.

oldscot3 · March 12, 2008, 09:51 PM

Most of my stuff is RCBS, I've been using their products for some 25 odd years with great satisfaction. Its good quality for the price and the few times I've called customer service they were great. The rest of my things are Redding, perhaps slightly better but almost always more expensive.

FM12 · March 13, 2008, 07:24 AM

I've used various brands of equipment , all with great sucess. The pride of my reloading bench is my Forster/Bonanza Co-Ax press. No finer single stage press, in my opinion.

Musketeer · March 13, 2008, 08:01 AM

Sure, Lee is a Chevy. At the same time Chevy fills a position. Not everybody can buy a Cadillac and often a Chevy will fill the need fine.

My first car was a Chevy (75 Impala in 1990 when I was 20). It wasn't a fancy new car with power windows, seats and all the extras. It had its faults but it got the job done (and I could work on it without a friggin computer!).

My first press was an RCBS rock crusher my dad had used 10 years earlier. My first progressive was and is a Lee Pro 1000 that I have had for 15 years now. I haven't upgraded because it does the job I need it to and I have other things to spend money on. I am not knocking the higher end presses out there which I know do things mine cannot and have nicer features. I am saying my Lee, like a good Chevy, meets the needs I have.

ShootingNut · March 13, 2008, 04:01 PM

I ain't telling when I was 20, and I also had my Impala's right from the start.
A really beautiful 58' tourquise rag top, and on to others that we built and drag raced (legal and unlegal).
No, I'm not saying everyone can buy the expensive reloading equipment, I know that. Just more or less asking if there is really a significant difference between the Lee equipment and the others.
regards,
SN

shepherddogs · March 13, 2008, 04:14 PM

Lee presses are not as heavily constructed as some others but they are strong enough. They are not as precise as some but are precise enough for most uses. The auto index may fail to fully snap into place and you will have to manually rotate it into position. It may require more frequent adjustments to keep it in time and small inexpensive parts are prone to breakage. You don't have these problems with higher end equipment. Hope that helps.

ShootingNut · March 13, 2008, 04:29 PM

Thanks for your insight and opinion.
I've been loading for the last couple years, with the Lee Classic Turret. Load
5 handgun calibers that I own. And, after some frustration being new to reloading, I have arrived at a point where believe I'm turning out some pretty good ammo. Sure, as everyone I have my issue's from time to time.
Myself, I don't use the index rod, for me I prefer running batches turning the turret as I go. No question in my mind, this way I am getting much better consistent quality reloads not having to worry about a "squib" sneaking through.
Best regards!
SN

ssn vet · March 14, 2008, 01:04 PM

Quote:

"you get what you pay for"

imho, with Lee equipment, you get much more than you pay for.

grymster2007 · March 14, 2008, 01:40 PM

Quote:

P.S. My wife has a Cadillac. That damn thing gives me more trouble and costs more to fix than my Chevy truck ever has.

Yeah... my wife's '06 Benz gets waaaaaaay more service and repair dollars than my '03 Toyota pickup.

Don't know how that relates to presses, but I'll say that in my very limited experience, the Lee Turret has proven smooth and reliable.

jaguarxk120 · March 14, 2008, 01:55 PM

In as much as most of my equipment is RCBS. The Lee stuff works well, it's the guy using it. Weather good or bad the press won't sort brass by weight or deburr flash holes. Check for case length or all the other little things we do as a mater of course in making our reloads. It's what we put into our craft that make's excellant ammo. not the equipment. Tom F.

grizz007 · March 14, 2008, 01:57 PM

no, the Lee is the VW bug-just works and is cheap to run.

wncchester · March 14, 2008, 03:10 PM

"The Lee stuff works well, it's the guy using it"

Right. I sometimes think the "you get what you pay for" crowd would like Lee stuff a lot better if they would only double or tripple their prices.

cheezhed · March 16, 2008, 01:57 AM

I use some lee stuff and it has always been okay. I just bought a die set that the shell holder wasn't quite up to snuff I called and a day and a half later a replacement showed up in my mailbox.

CrustyFN · March 16, 2008, 04:55 PM

I don't care what anybody wants to compare Lee equipment to, if you have a Lee product you don't like sent it to me. I have a Lee classic turret that I am very happy with and would take another one in a heart beat. I use Lee dies for all of the calibers I reload and have turned out some very good ammo.
Rusty

wncchester · March 16, 2008, 07:04 PM

The proponents of various brands of conventional dies have little but personal prejudices to back up their claims of superiority. I've tested the concentricity of carefully loaded ammo loaded into selected brass with fourteen different .243 die sets. I used (borrowed) multipule sets of some brands and soon learned that the variation between individual die sets of any brand actually exceeds any average variation between brands. So - Chevy vs. Caddy? Not at all, they all, from Lee to RCBS, do a pretty good job but none have a quality advantage.

On the other hand, the nonfunctioning (exterior) surfaces of dies do change significantly between brands. Basically, if we buy expensive dies we are paying for smooth, shiny external metal and no more.

The ONLY quality exceptions to my experiments were the competition dies by Forster and Redding. They are generally more accurate dies than any of the conventional sets but few rifles will ever notice the small differences.

March 12, 2008, 04:01 PM	#1
ShootingNut Senior Member Join Date: December 27, 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,475	Is Lee The Chevy And the others, RCBS and Dillon etc., the Cadillac's of reloading? I do fine with my Less Classic Turret, but it's not perfect. The alignment is off somewhat, and kind of crunchy sometimes. My question is are the others more "state of the art"? And is the old adage, "you get what you pay for" apply here? SN

March 12, 2008, 06:24 PM	#5
ShootingNut Senior Member Join Date: December 27, 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,475	CPT At my age, I wouln't know what to do with a "Hottie".

March 12, 2008, 09:15 PM	#8
DWARREN123 Senior Member Join Date: January 22, 2006 Location: BETWEEN TN & KY Posts: 1,758	I do fine with my Lee kit. Not the greatest but does what I need it to, especially for the price. I have had no problems except had to clean the powder dispenser after 16 months. Mine is a single stage. __________________ Have a nice day!

March 12, 2008, 09:35 PM	#9
73-Captain Junior member Join Date: December 14, 2007 Posts: 199	Lee Precision After almost 30 years reloading and starting out with... dare I say it and make the children cry because I don't like their favorite toys... a RCBS RockCLUNKER... That experience made me a big fan of Dillon and Lyman (and Redding and Forster) reloading equipment. That said, EVERY piece of Lee equipment I have has been very good. Their equipment is capable of making excellent and accurate reloads. Rather than being the "cheapest", Lee equipment gives you the BEST VALUE for the DOLLAR! Can't afford a Dillon 550 or XL650 but can afford Lee? So what. Why not buy a Lee Pro 1000 or turret, etc. now and start saving NOW? It may turn out to be all the press you ever need. I bought a Lee 1000 right after they first came out and saved a fortune in the years I used it. Although my son has it now I still use it for a few cartridges I'm not set up to load on the XL650. I'm sure 10 years from now either him or one of his brothers will STILL be using my Lee 1000! Doesn't sound like a Yugo to me. Oops... Almost forgot... Better mention Hornady or else the LnL children will cry and attack and insult me!!! Already have them and the "RockCLUNKER" fans upset! C. Last edited by 73-Captain; March 12, 2008 at 11:53 PM. Reason: correct spelling

March 13, 2008, 08:01 AM	#12
Musketeer Senior Member Join Date: September 12, 2005 Posts: 3,733	Sure, Lee is a Chevy. At the same time Chevy fills a position. Not everybody can buy a Cadillac and often a Chevy will fill the need fine. My first car was a Chevy (75 Impala in 1990 when I was 20). It wasn't a fancy new car with power windows, seats and all the extras. It had its faults but it got the job done (and I could work on it without a friggin computer!). My first press was an RCBS rock crusher my dad had used 10 years earlier. My first progressive was and is a Lee Pro 1000 that I have had for 15 years now. I haven't upgraded because it does the job I need it to and I have other things to spend money on. I am not knocking the higher end presses out there which I know do things mine cannot and have nicer features. I am saying my Lee, like a good Chevy, meets the needs I have. __________________ "Religions are all alike - founded upon fables and mythologies." Thomas Jefferson "The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." Benjamin Franklin

March 12, 2008, 04:23 PM	#2
mniesen89 Senior Member Join Date: October 21, 2007 Location: deland,fl Posts: 238	"you get what you pay for" applies for pretty much anything these days, other then ebay.All I use is Lee equipment for the most part and have never really had any problems,I assume its just all presonal preference.

March 12, 2008, 04:33 PM	#4
CPTMurdoc30 Senior Member Join Date: February 27, 2008 Location: Stafford VA Posts: 969	Lee stuff is like Yugo cars. They will get you there and they will drive. But showing up for a date with a hottie you would rather be in a caddie than a yugo.

March 12, 2008, 06:49 PM	#6
shepherddogs Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2007 Posts: 1,007	Lee equipment is pretty decent. I have an autoindex turret press that has always given problems but does the job. Recently I got the Classic Turret and it works great. The Lee is nowhere near the press that my Hornady Lock n Load is, but its nowhere near the price either. For the money spent, you get serviceable equipment that does the job with occasional malfunctions that you wouldn't expect from higher priced equipment. All in all a good value.

March 12, 2008, 09:51 PM	#10
oldscot3 Senior Member Join Date: July 1, 2007 Location: texas Posts: 997	Most of my stuff is RCBS, I've been using their products for some 25 odd years with great satisfaction. Its good quality for the price and the few times I've called customer service they were great. The rest of my things are Redding, perhaps slightly better but almost always more expensive.

March 13, 2008, 07:24 AM	#11
FM12 Senior Member Join Date: February 5, 2007 Location: Monroeville, Alabama Posts: 1,683	I've used various brands of equipment , all with great sucess. The pride of my reloading bench is my Forster/Bonanza Co-Ax press. No finer single stage press, in my opinion.

March 13, 2008, 04:01 PM	#13
ShootingNut Senior Member Join Date: December 27, 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,475	Musket I ain't telling when I was 20, and I also had my Impala's right from the start. A really beautiful 58' tourquise rag top, and on to others that we built and drag raced (legal and unlegal). No, I'm not saying everyone can buy the expensive reloading equipment, I know that. Just more or less asking if there is really a significant difference between the Lee equipment and the others. regards, SN

March 13, 2008, 04:14 PM	#14
shepherddogs Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2007 Posts: 1,007	Lee presses are not as heavily constructed as some others but they are strong enough. They are not as precise as some but are precise enough for most uses. The auto index may fail to fully snap into place and you will have to manually rotate it into position. It may require more frequent adjustments to keep it in time and small inexpensive parts are prone to breakage. You don't have these problems with higher end equipment. Hope that helps.

March 13, 2008, 04:29 PM	#15
ShootingNut Senior Member Join Date: December 27, 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,475	shepard Thanks for your insight and opinion. I've been loading for the last couple years, with the Lee Classic Turret. Load 5 handgun calibers that I own. And, after some frustration being new to reloading, I have arrived at a point where believe I'm turning out some pretty good ammo. Sure, as everyone I have my issue's from time to time. Myself, I don't use the index rod, for me I prefer running batches turning the turret as I go. No question in my mind, this way I am getting much better consistent quality reloads not having to worry about a "squib" sneaking through. Best regards! SN

March 14, 2008, 01:55 PM	#18
jaguarxk120 Senior Member Join Date: February 28, 2008 Location: Michigan Posts: 2,620	In as much as most of my equipment is RCBS. The Lee stuff works well, it's the guy using it. Weather good or bad the press won't sort brass by weight or deburr flash holes. Check for case length or all the other little things we do as a mater of course in making our reloads. It's what we put into our craft that make's excellant ammo. not the equipment. Tom F.

March 14, 2008, 01:57 PM	#19
grizz007 Member Join Date: April 22, 2005 Posts: 53	no, the Lee is the VW bug-just works and is cheap to run.

March 14, 2008, 03:10 PM	#20
wncchester Senior Member Join Date: December 1, 2002 Posts: 2,832	"The Lee stuff works well, it's the guy using it" Right. I sometimes think the "you get what you pay for" crowd would like Lee stuff a lot better if they would only double or tripple their prices.

March 16, 2008, 01:57 AM	#21
cheezhed Senior Member Join Date: November 28, 2007 Posts: 302	I use some lee stuff and it has always been okay. I just bought a die set that the shell holder wasn't quite up to snuff I called and a day and a half later a replacement showed up in my mailbox.

March 16, 2008, 04:55 PM	#22
CrustyFN Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Location: West Virginia Posts: 2,258	I don't care what anybody wants to compare Lee equipment to, if you have a Lee product you don't like sent it to me. I have a Lee classic turret that I am very happy with and would take another one in a heart beat. I use Lee dies for all of the calibers I reload and have turned out some very good ammo. Rusty __________________ I don't ever remember being absent minded.

March 16, 2008, 07:04 PM	#23
wncchester Senior Member Join Date: December 1, 2002 Posts: 2,832	The proponents of various brands of conventional dies have little but personal prejudices to back up their claims of superiority. I've tested the concentricity of carefully loaded ammo loaded into selected brass with fourteen different .243 die sets. I used (borrowed) multipule sets of some brands and soon learned that the variation between individual die sets of any brand actually exceeds any average variation between brands. So - Chevy vs. Caddy? Not at all, they all, from Lee to RCBS, do a pretty good job but none have a quality advantage. On the other hand, the nonfunctioning (exterior) surfaces of dies do change significantly between brands. Basically, if we buy expensive dies we are paying for smooth, shiny external metal and no more. The ONLY quality exceptions to my experiments were the competition dies by Forster and Redding. They are generally more accurate dies than any of the conventional sets but few rifles will ever notice the small differences.