Successful using Lee Equipment

[markr]

Well, after much toil of deciding wether to get an RCBS kit, a Lyman Kit, a Hornady kit, or a Lee Kit, and reading threads debating the value/functionality of Lee Equipment, I bought a Lee Breech lock challenger kit. I shot some starting loads for '06, and am now working up loads in sets of 6, in 1 grain increments.

I have to say that I relished the challenge of making the equipment work, despite what I've heard folks claim. I have to admit, I liked the feel of the RCBS Rock Chucker press a lot. But it's about the bullet, right.

Each and every instance where I thought the equipment was stupid, or didn't work properly, with persistance I realized in each instance, I was the one that was being stupid. Every aspect of that kit works. It might be made out of plastic, but it works!!

The powder measure measures within 1/10 of a grain, the scale is almost too sensitive for it's own good, the trimming tools work, but kill my hands (I know about the drill attachment), I can't compain about the press, although I wish the bolt down holes where spread out more for better anchoring, the prime on the press stuff seems flimsy, but it never fails to throw a primer. I would like it though if the primer feeder could be operated with the left hand since I like to use my right hand to pull the press lever.

I could have bought more expensive stuff, but I wanted to try the "Pepsi Challenge" with Lee. Now I just want to load more, and faster!

[DIXIEDOG]

If they weren't any good they wouldn't still be in business after all these years. I personally had a problem with there customer service and because of that I will never purchase another Lee product but if it works for you that's what counts. Now you just need to load, shoot , and repeat process

[Sevens]

I loaded for fifteen years on a Lee Challenger press (before it became the breech-lock and before they started using nylon parts in the linkage) and it still works. I upgraded to a Lee Classic Cast. If I were buying now, I would probably buy the Lee Classic Turret.

I've used a Rock Chucker and I really, really liked it, great feel with the toggle-over lever. But I don't think it's worth the money over the Classic Cast.

[wncchester]

Mark, I admire anyone who challanges "conventional wisdom" and succeeds!

Lee stuff is good enough. Good enough is good enough. I mean, what is the value of a press that can exert 3,000 lbs of force when 1.000 is all you need?

I have and use all brands of equipment and like them all about the same, on average. For instance, I have individual dies that are better than others but that's by no means consistant with a given brand. One of my "sets" of RCBS dies is actually mixed, I had a really good sizer in one .243 set and a very good seater in another set. I put the good ones together and sold the less good ones.

My second RCBS 22-250 FL die was ok so I bored out the neck of the first FL to make a body die of it. I use a Forster BR seater with it and use a Lee Collet neck sizer with my "custom" body die.

I see some sneer at Lee presses too, and raves about how rigid a Rock Chucker is. Well, I measured it; my RC II flexes about .004" when FL sizing 30-06! Now, that's still not bad but it's worth saying even the green thing does flex a bit. Most of us SHOULD be buying according to our specific wishes and not based on any blind brand loyalty.

I would swap my RC II for a new Lee Classic Cast in a minute because Lee's primer catcher works much better and the operating lever is adjustable for length and angle - and it's made in the USA, not China. But, I don't care for the breech lock so I wouldn't get that. Not a slam, just a difference. Vive la difference!

Enjoy your new hobby! I have a feeling you will learn quickly and do good work.

[Stagger Lee]

I love Lee's powder measures. They're actually very accurate and cvonsistent (even if they do spill a bit of really fine powders) and at about $20, I can afford to buy a few of them and mount them side-by-side, each one set up for a particular pet load.

[DaveInPA]

I've loaded around 10,000 rounds of .45 ACP on my classic turret press with the auto disk powder measure and the cheap Lee scale with NO issues at all. I will be loading .223 on the same setup soon, although I may buy an RCBS digital scale.

Happy loading!

[Sevens]

If you try really hard, you can probably come up with 10 (or more?) different manufacturer's (past and present) that make reloading presses and dies. Of all those, nobody in the game has a bigger stigma attached to them than Lee.

Here are reasons for that, all IMO.

• Lee products are typically THE cheapest of any brand in a comparable item, price-wise, and I'm not talking about a few pennies but a pretty good percentage cheaper.
• Because they are typically the lowest price, a lot of retailers don't carry them because there is less mark up and profit on the sale of their items. So it's not seen as much in stores and many dealers will push RCBS and others over Lee and claim it's much better stuff. (some of it is)
• Lee uses a lot more aluminum and plastic in most of their tools than anyone else in the game. That makes a lot of it cheaper to manufacture, lighter, and less sturdy, either in practice or simply in feel or look.
• Lee has involved themselves in mud-slinging ad campaigns over the years, mostly between Lee and RCBS. It hasn't help their reputation among folks who buy other brands, especially RCBS items.
• Lee tries a lot of innovative ideas that try to give the same end result using a different path. Most often it would be tough to argue that it's the best way, but it almost always ends up being much more affordable. A perfect example is case trimming. If you buy an RCBS or Lyman case trimming system you'll have tools that can trim cases to any specific length you set up for them and is easy to use. You'll also spend a hundo or more to get there and it costs more with each different caliber. If you go with the Lee system, you will only be able to trim to one set length as the factory makes it, but you will be sawing away at brass for less than ten bucks and it costs only a couple for each new caliber you add.
• As someone who has witnessed many metric tons of Lee bashing, it would be hard for me to ignore the idea that someone who has spent 2x or 3x on equipment would bash Lee products with no actual experience simply because of the cost compared to his cash outlay.

Lee makes many very good products that can build incredibly good ammo when used properly. Lee also makes some hard to use products that can frustrate some people. Lee often uses inferior materials in their tools than comparable tools from other makers.

One thing you can count on is that Lee is likely to be cheaper than almost any other manufacturer on a similar tool that gives you a similar result.

The bottom line for me is that in most tools, I would be just as happy and maybe even happier with the RCBS, Hornady, Redding, Lyman, Dillon or tool than I would with the Lee version of the tool. But in most cases, I will be perfectly happy with the Lee tool and I will almost absolutely save a decent amount of money on the purchase of the tool.

I've got a lot of Lee stuff and I have some key items from other makers, too, that I prefer over the Lee item. But Lee is where I look to first, and then go from there. I like most of the equipment I've used from the other guys, but I appreciate the products and the prices I get from Lee.

If I were buying a progressive press tomorrow or next week, I would likely not go with a Lee setup because I believe the extra money is worth it for the other guy's stuff. But I would be more than happy to try my hand with a Lee progressive setup and would be confident that I could make decent ammo with it. I just don't think it's the best buy.

[CrustyFN]

Now I just want to load more, and faster!

Sounds like you need one of these then.

Rusty

[crazylegs]

Well. I've got several thousand rounds thru my Load Master and all I can say is I love it. The primer feed and case feed are flawless. Also, no leaking fine powders here (Bullseye). I'm glad I didn't listen to the nay sayers. I just did a little extra work by watching some excellent videos. One of my brothers came over to watch me load on it (he has a Lee turret) and his eyes popped out of his head. For $215, not bad at all!
Glad you like your kit.
Crazylegs

[under_dawg]

Lee is good enough for me as well. I have pretty much the same set up as CRUSTY above (without the nice knob and light). I have loaded about 3000 rounds of .357 mag and maybe 100 30-30. I researched what to buy for a long time and decided in the Lee Classic Turret. I use it as a single stage when loading 30-30. It is very versitile. I have not tried any of the other brands, so I can not compare them to the LCT. I am afraid to try them as I might really like them and not be able to afford them. One day I may be able to afford one of the more expensive set-ups, but I really don't see the need. Lee does what it says it does. I also bought a set of Lee dippers as well as the pocket cleaner, chamfer tool, micro disk, and double disk kit (haven't tried the disk kits yet). My dies are also Lee. I bought a tumbler and a caliper from Harbor Freight. I think I have around $400 invested.

I think I calculated a cost of $15 / 100 using remington sjhp bullets. The last time i bought any was from Wal-Mart and they cost $40 / 100 (Remington UMC .357 Mag) that was over a year ago. I'm sure factory ammo has gone up sice then. $42-$15 = $27 savings per box. $400/27= 14.81 boxes to break even. Therfore I have paid for my equipment in less than a year thanks to the low cost of the initial set-up.

[Smaug]

pepsi - I've been happy with Lee too.

I started with the expensive Rockchucker kit. The damned thing threw the spent primers all over, no matter what I did.

Bought a Lee Turret and Lee Classic Cast.

The Lee Classic Cast is what the Rockchucker should have been.

I like thei business mentality. Functional stuff at reasonable prices. Rather than cutting corners on an existing design until it becomes unusably cheap, they go with a less expensive design, and do it right.

The Lee hand priming tool was another good investment. You have better feel for seating the primer and it takes less effort, but the press-mounted priming tools are faster since there is one less case-handling step. I don't even have a primer feeder on mine.

If you're curious, you can see my set-up in action at the video thread linked in my signature.

Edit: Sevens really nailed it. I was thinking of going progressive a few years ago, but Lee Progressives get mixed reviews where Dillon gets pretty much all positive reviews. Lee is better at making the simple stuff for good prices, it seems.

[44Magnum]

pepsi - I've been happy with Lee too.

I like thei [sic] business mentality. Functional stuff at reasonable prices. Rather than cutting corners on an existing design until it becomes unusably cheap, they go with a less expensive design, and do it right.

The Lee hand priming tool was another good investment. You have better feel for seating the primer and it takes less effort...

My thoughts exactly. American owned and cast here at a fair price; it is possible after all.

[wncchester]

"Lee has involved themselves in mud-slinging ad campaigns over the years, mostly between Lee and RCBS. It hasn't help their reputation among folks who buy other brands, especially RCBS items."

Being old enough to remember that period of "mud-slinging", I really don't think Lee had much choice. RCBS/Speer, under the control of the Blount holding company at the time, attacked Lee in a long series of false and misleading magazine adds.

All I ever saw Lee do was to announce that perhaps people who used RCBS equipment or Speer bullets (also part of Blount at the time) might be better off not using Lee tools in conjunction with those items. I actually believe Lee handled it very well and Blount sure shot themselves in the foot for credibility of their adds. RCBS finally STOPPED and Lee dropped it too.

Blount is long gone, thankfully, and more mature adults run their old companies now.

[aerod1]

I love reading the posts bashing Lee products and then going to my bench and loading quality rounds on my Lee Classic Cast Turret.
I do have to admit that jealousy gets me a little torked when I see the billiard ball on Crusty's LCT. Gotta get me one of those but sometimes it is more fun to pi$$ and moan about not being able to keep up with Crusty.
Lee has great, reasonably priced equipment, that actually works. I will be buying a Lee Classic Cast single stage soon.

[Nwgunner]

I have a lee loadmaster and challenger press. They work just fine. The blue kool aid drinkers think theirs is the best. I paid one third what they paid and make ammo as good as theirs. The case feeder by lee isa marvel of simplicity and ease of use. Want a case feeder for your blue?? shell out 2 hundred and make sure there is a plug near by.

I like lee and will stick with it.

[CrustyFN]

I am afraid to try them as I might really like them and not be able to afford them. One day I may be able to afford one of the more expensive set-ups,

under_dawg you might be surprised. I was able to load on a friends Dillon 550 and will admit it was a very nice press but not that much better than the classic turret for me to justify the extra money. Lets see if I feel the same after loading on his 650.
Rusty

[markr]

Lots of great replies !!

I'm not "Rich", but I could have bought just about any re-loading set-up I wanted. But being a reasonable person, I don't have time to shoot enough to justifiy a big expensive progressive press.

An observation, I think it would be neat to see a Classic Cast press with the Breech Lock feature.

Question: How successful are you using the Turret press or the Loadmaster when fully sizing rifle cartridges with the press in Semi prog. or progressive mode. It doesn't seem right having sizing lube and primer and powder handling in the same process. Plus the force needed to resize. Seem like neck sizing on one of those would be ok though. No..Yes??

One thing I tought was intruiging about Dillon is their "No BS" warranty.

Anyway, I read all the negative stuff from people about Lee and when I got to one of those moments where something didn't seem to work, I just took a step back and re-evaluated. For example I read where one guy claimed that the scale would not zero. Well, my first time out, the darn scale would never stop moving or settle down. After awhile I realized that if you lock in that little button, it works fine! Altough I do have to admit that I prefer using my "Back-up" Hornady scale.

I'm currently loading '06, but now that I am up and running, I'm gonna do .454Casull and 30-30.

Mark

PS-How come Gander Mountain is so freaking expensive in the reloading department, or guns for that matter?? Phooey on them!

[jaguarxk120]

If you think Gander Mtn. is expensive, go out to Great Lakes crossing and into Pro Bass, WOW strickly carriage trade.

Tom F.

[44Magnum]

Neck sizing can be done if you use the ammunition with the same weapon you shot the brass from. Frankly, I don't use lubrication on my brass because I use carbide dies and have never had one even come close to sticking. With the mechanical advantage of the press you really don't need to use much force.

[under_dawg]

CRUSTY, please "just say no to the" to the 650, it may be a Gateway Press that will only allow your addiction to worsen Ha Ha

[BigJakeJ1s]

An observation, I think it would be neat to see a Classic Cast press with the Breech Lock feature.

Try the Hornady LNL Press conversion kit:


Andy

[Hawg]

I use a mish mash of stuff from different makers I've picked up over the years but my press is still the same old Lee single stage I bought over 30 years ago. I still prefer Lee dies and Lee bullet molds are the best. Get a hand held priming tool and forget about priming with the press.

[wncchester]

"How come Gander Mountain is so freaking expensive in the reloading department"

Don't know about BPS but a couple of weeks back primers at Gander were exactly 50% higher than at Sportsman's Warehouse ($4.50 vs $3.00 a hundred). That's quite a difference! The other prices I checked seemed to have about the same spread. I don't "blame" them, any seller will charge what the market will bear.

Do wish SW would open a store close to me, but don't care if I never set foot in another GM!

[Sevens]

Sometimes I honestly wonder if the folks at Gander Mountain are on crack. Their prices make me do a double take. I go in there about once every 3 or 4 months-- I suppose my thought process is this: the prices on reloading items are SO BAD that I can't imagine anyone buys any of it, so I keep thinking they will realize none of it sells, so one day they will slash all the prices just to get out of it. I wanna stroll in there when they do the closeout on all of their stock.

Or, maybe it's a tactic to sell ammo. Guy comes in knowing how bad ammo prices have gotten, but when he sees how much they want for reloading equipment or components, he says, "To hell with that!" and goes and drops a hundo on factory ammo.

Either way, Gander Mountain is incredibly frustrating. On one hand, there's an actual brick and mortar store that has reloading supplies. (I'd say 75% of gun stores I visit can't claim the same thing) On the other hand, they have themselves convinced that all of it is made of platinum.

Check Gander Mountain prices on component bullets. I can't find the expletives to describe some of these prices.

[H&R088]

I use Lee dies for reloading pistol ammo on a single stage press. They do okay, but they don't seem to do a great job lining up the bullet and brass. Sometimes the bullet ends up crooked. I have to carefully line up the bullet before trying to seat it.