Reloading With the Old Whack-a-mole Lee Classic Loader

[jeffreyulatan]

My first reloading kit was the .223 Lee classic loader. Yes I still have it today!

What do I like about it is the feeling of making quality ammo by hand, instead of a heartless progressive press. I also use it on the range when I want to experiment on 223 loads

[Old 454]

Great stuff, thanks for the tips Mr.Sheep.

I just got mine in the mail yesterday, now I have to find some large rifle primers.

I am sure I will have to change my shorts when one of those primers goes off.

Its good to hear that reloading is being passed on to the younger members of the family, my son reloads with me also and he is very enthusiastic.

I was impressed with the quality of this little device, there is nothing cheap in its construction at all.

I remember the first cartridges that I reloaded, my wife came out into the garage just before my son and myself were headed to the range. She flew into a tissy and stated"you will shoot all them bullets that you made, I don't want my son to come back with out any fingers or hands, do you hear me ?"

My son and I just rolled our eyes and went to the range and had a great time.

And yes he came back with all appendiges still attached.

[jcwit]

Hot tip here, at least I think so, is for the "mallet".

For 60 years I've used an old hickory hammer handle, ya I've had to replace it once or twice, but it works well. I use it back wards. Not the same one, but the same item is what I use for a mallet to open the sprue plate when I cast bullets.

[RC20]

I had one back in 73 or I should say we had two, my brother for 357 and mine for 44 magnum.

After the third round the shells were cracking on both (and the loads were mid level as I recall but that was long ago in a state far away).

Never did find out what the base issue was, just throw it away and eventually got a real press.

What did not impress me was all the hammering and pounding required. Not something I would go back to

[Old 454]

Well I loaded my first 303 britsh rounds this week end, and I must say I was pretty satisfied with the end results and after I worked out how to get the lock ring tight so it didn't loosen up and change the seating depth on my rounds.

I popped a primer and man I was touchin cloth it scared me so bad lol. then was a little hesitant after that about hitting the seating rod when seating the primer. But I kinda got that worked out.

All in all its a pretty neat little loader, my buddy who was watchin me load with the Lee Classic Loader, stated he was going to get one for 308 as he loads about as much rifle ammo as I do.

[JASmith]

I had spotty experience with the three or four calibers I tried. The 270 and Hornet worked fine. I was not able to prime the 7.6x54 without popping three of every five primers.

[docsleepy]

On 7.6 2X 54R use Norma brass. Many others have a shallow primer pocket.

[SVTCobra306]

My Dad has an old 22-250 whack-a-mole (first time I've seen that term used.. gonna use it from now on). I'll have to give it a try. He did tell me he used to use Remingon ammo exclusively.. because Winchester was too hard to resize with it. He didn't have case lube I guess LOL.

[AssaultTortoise]

I started out reloading with a classic for 45acp and now I have 5 classic loaders. I was lucky and ordered a 303 kit from midway before they ran out but haven't got to use it yet. I kept having troubles with my lock ring coming loose as well so I unscrewed the bullet seater put a stout spring underneath it. Now the bullet seater is under tension and it does not move out of adjustment when the ring comes loose. Eventually my plan is to have a classic for every caliber I use.

[pathdoc]

That deluxe target version is making my mouth water. Did they ever make one in .303 British? Because if they are, I'll be looking for one. Somewhere.

[JASmith]

quote by docsleepy:

On 7.6 2X 54R use Norma brass. Many others have a shallow primer pocket.

Aha! Thanks, we could have used that advice a few years back, but I'm sure there are several readers here who can easily use it and prosper!

Cheers!

[Cesure]

I would have bought the Lee Classic Loader if it was offered in .32 S&W, but no such luck. So I got the Lee Hand Loader instead. I can sit in front of the TV and decap, size and prime in relative silence and safety. But I plan on reloading many different handgun rounds, so maybe it's better this way.

[A pause for the COZ]

I have 3 of them, 38/357 mag, 30-30 and 308 Winchester.
Mainly I use them to do de-capping when I am in the mood to have my brass de-capped in advance.

Also use the 308 to prep some brass for neck size only loads.
I dont have a collet die so this works well for that.

I also like to take some pre- prepped cases and the loader to the range while doing some load work ups.
That way I dont have to take a whole bunch of loads that dont work.
I just shoot my 5, Reload another 5 and repeat until I find my load.

And some times I just reload with it, because I can.



They make good ammo.

[deerslayer303]

Old454,
I have used my Lee Classic Loader exclusively for my .303 rounds. I turn out very nice and accurate ammo with it. I use a scale to measure charges too though. A 150gr hornady SP .311 bullet with 41 grains of IMR 3031, with CCI primer makes an awesome all around load that doesn't stress the case and is very accurate with plenty of OOOOOMPH to put ol Mr. Whitetails wee wee in the dirt.

[lamarw]

I still have one of these loaders somewhere in a box under my reloading bench. I was using it back in the early 70's, and it was for the .243 Winchester.

It certainly served me well. It was also a good teaching tool for reloading.

[jcwit]

There is a thread on Cast Boolits about making an adapter to use when doing the crimping operation so as its always the same. Its nothing more than a nylon or aluminum or steel section with a hole drilled thru it and shortened to the correct length so the crimp comes out the same every time.

[mwells72774]

I started out with a 7.62x54r lee loader and soon acquired a 30-30. Walmart sells a plastic mallet. Anyways, ive started collecting them. Have a 2 3/4" 20ga basic, basic and deluxe 2 3/4 12ga, and a 3" 10ga.

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Omg! I just found one of these today online and i didn't know they made them anymore!

I haven't used one since i was a kid and my brother would have me load his ammo for his .357 Mag so he could smoke a cigarette

They are simple to use and compact. Work great...think I'll get one when i can find it. Back ordered only and eBay is scalping still.

Take it on vacation and keep it in my car.

[JohnMoses]

My first was a 7x57 for a mauser I bought for $28. Good thing too in retrospect. The mismatched bolt on my 93 Mauser action caused massive headspace issues that would have been disastrous had I used regular dies. Later, I loaded 38's for my 3 digit python using bullets cast with my single cavity lee mold and pounded thru a .358 sizer die. Linotype was available at the local printer for $5 a pig- about 25 pounds.

[Beagle333]

I been whacking out .357 rounds with mine since 1985 and have yet to pop a cap while doing it. I finally got a press last summer, but I still like my Whack-a-mole. (it paid for itself in the first weekend I owned it.) 'No telling how much I've saved over buying wadcutters off the shelf.

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Just can't wait to see if it's as easy as I remember (been 30 years).

My friend has a turret and i find myself double checking when i use it, slows me down. Plus hes like 40 minutes away!

Thanks for the memories guys and let you know when I get mine.

[Slamfire]

When I first got into reloading I bought a Lee Loader in 44 Mag and 30-06. I loaded in the bottom floor of two story Apartment Complex. Of course I kept wierd hours on the weekends.

I would reload very late into the night, using a rawhide mallet to beat the cases in and out of the Lee Loader die.

Later I found that my friend upstairs could hear the tapping of the mallet, he would get up a number of times and roam the apartment trying to figure what was making the noise. It would always stop before he located the source.

Kept him up very late.

I had no idea.

[Old 454]

wow amazing stories, I have found a key thing to keep from poping primers is to make sure your pockets on the cases are good and clean.

I decap them then run through a sonic cleaner , dry them real good with the ol'ladies hair dryer.(please don't tell her!)

When seating the primer with the primer rod the primer will make a very distint sound when it seats, and no more primer pops!

My son has got one for his 7.62x54R and he just love spending the day out in the garage banging away.He bought himself some franklin arsonal loading blocks and quit honestly he does a pretty good job loading fairly quickly.he has Herters brass for his reloads.

[jcwit]

My son has got one for his 7.62x54R and he just love spending the day out in the garage banging away.He bought himself some franklin arsonal loading blocks and quit honestly he does a pretty good job loading fairly quickly.he has Herters brass for his reloads.

Absolutely. When using the batch method of reloading and with a Lee Loader one can load almost as fast as when using a single stage press, maybe even faster after prepping all the brass.

[Wat_Tyler]

Been using one for .303 for a couple years.

No problems so far.