All the Complaining That Goes On About Lee Precision

Interesting thread. Amazing how many people have had faulty/damaged bits replaced simply by contacting Lee, who then send it out. I have several Lee molds, plus a 4-20 pot (which works well, now that I've heavily modded it), but as they say you don't know how good a company is until you have a problem. My recent experience has shown that their customer relations could do with some work, and their "free" support of replacing faulty parts appears to be somewhat selective.

Don't get me wrong, their products are good value for money - as long as they do what they're supposed to and aren't faulty.

Well, let me say that I am a lee guy... My primary press is a lee classic turret.... I have a ton of lee molds, and a couple of lee single stage presses.... Only problems i have ever had was quickly replaced by lee when I followed their procedures for seeking replacement... I like lee stuff, but I am not an exclusive Lee guy... I have lyman, noe, rcbs, and about every other brand of reloading thingy that was made... But the majority of my gear is Lee... And when i wanna talk lee stuff to other lee folks, I joined Ranch Dogs Lee-loader.com ..... I have found lots of folks there that also speak "Lee-jonise" language.... Granted some of lee's stuff is like the scale and the measure have issues, but for somebody just starting out on a budget, they can be delt with....

I like lee, there, I said it... [smilie=s:

AG

I like Lee. All of my pots and presses are Lee, as well as my scale and several sets of dies and whack-a-mole kits. Oh, and the shotshell loader. And several molds. and.... alright, I got some of it, okay?
I'd rather it be blue or green...... but due to budgetary constraints all of my own doing.... most of my stuff is red. :lovebooli

I am new to reloading and have mostly lee gear. My buddy bought all rcbs. While there are a few things lee makes, the chamfer tool for one, that arent so great the rest of the gear in my opinion is just as good as rcbs. In fact my lee powder measure throws more accurate loads than his rcbs. The only problem I have run into so far with any lee dies is with the .308 fld. I was resizing 7.62x51. No matter how much I adjusted die itnwould not push the shoulder back enough to chamber properly in a .308. I ended up buying a set of rcbs dies and they did the trick. Bottom line is lee products are just fine by me!

* Using close to 100 Lee molds, only 2 were bummers and one was a Big Lube custom one
* Haven't counted but maybe close to 30 Lee Die set
* All my rifle calibers are primed with the Auto Primer
* All my rifle calibers are loaded with the Perfect Powder Measure and a 3 Hole Turret press
* All BPCR brass is mouth expanded & compressed with the Lee Expansion Die & TOTW plugs
* All my bullets for multiple calibers are resized with the Lube/Sizer with many custom sizing dies
* Probably over 20,000 cases have been decapped with the Universal Die
* For 45 ACP & 45 Colt reloads on the Dillon 550B, the Lee Factory Carbide Crimping Die is what I use
* I borrowed a RCBS die set to seat & crimp H&G-68 bullets for the 45 ACP - the crimping sucked. Bought the Lee Die set and the rounds crimped to 0.01 and haven't had a failure to chamber round in my 1911 yet
Need I say more? Spent a lot of money on Lee equipment and am a satisfied user

So, to some it up, "all the complaining about Lee "precision""......is warranted.

I used to b*tch about some of their stuff sometimes but I found out that with a lot of it, you just have to be mechanically inclined and tweak things here and there to get them running smoothly. I didn't like the priming setup on a new Load Master press, so I just hand prime where I can feel each primer better and check each one. The one thing I cannot get along with is the pro auto disk measure. Junk. My son made billet aluminum adjustable bars and I fitted them to the original auto disk measures and they work better than any other measure I have used. Again, just have to know how to tweak it..

If I don’t own it or haven’t at least used it, I try not to offer an opinion- especially a negative opinion. Many “colors” are present in my reloading room.

I use Lee dippers all the time- when the RCBS Chargemaster drops .1-.2 too much, to dip out the excess.

The only real unsatisfactory-to-me item I’ve bought from Lee was the case chamfer tool. The dies, priming tool and other items work as expected. How much more can I ask?

I have their case trimmers in all of my rifle calibers and they work well. They’re much less aggravating than the Forster. Something happened to my first .223 trimmer and it started trimming too short by a few thousandths so I replaced it with another one. I think the shoulder of the case length gauge wore (cut away by the cutter) where the stem screws into the cutter. There isn’t much meat for the shoulder in the .22 caliber gauges and the shoulder stops against the cutting blades.

One of my favorite Lee tools is the Universal Decapping Die. I’m satisfied with all of the Lee dies I’ve purchased as well.

Their 6 cavity .401 TC mold is not one of my favorites. I haven’t been able to get a couple of the cavities to drop boolits easily and can cast about the same per hour with a steel 4 cavity Lyman that drops more easily. I usually remember it needs attention after it’s already hot.

A buddy shoots USPSA with an open class gun, several matches per month and loads every round on a Lee single stage press. I admire his patience. The nice Classic Cast Press has some appeal, especially with its primer handling and might be my next press purchase.

David

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Originally Posted by David2011

If I don’t own it or haven’t at least used it, I try not to offer an opinion- especially a negative opinion. Many “colors” are present in my reloading room.

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That's some great advice. Like David, my reloading room looks like a rainbow.

I have a number of Lee products, some that I kept and others that went away.

I REALLY LIKE their moulds, 4-20 pot, case collator (that I use to count cases), hardness tester, push through sizers, universal decapper, hand primer and Classic Loaders. I'm even in the minority of those who really like the Factory Carbide Crimp dies.

I like their dies (but they are not my favorite dies); the threaded body is sometimes a bit short for the 550b. The dies are a good values, but the free shell holder has less values for those of us that use progressives. I find the finish on the die bodies to be less than that on Hornady, Lyman, RCBS and Dillon (I've only found surface rust on the outside of Lee dies, never on the others). I like that they are one of the few who make a carbide 30 carbine die. The rifle collet dies are a great idea, nicely done. The classic cast press is nice; but I prefer my RCBS RockChucker (it just feels smoother).

I had (and got rid of) a Lee Classic Turret (a favorite of many here; but it just didn't work for me). The Perfect Powder Measure (was perfectly terrible with the powders I used). The Lee Chamfer tool and Lee Trimmers don't work as well as my Wilson tools. The Lee Safety Scale (sensitive enough; but a pain to get the setting). Works best if you set a target weight and trickle till you get the beam to zero; not so good for finding the weight of something in the pan.

I've kept more Lee stuff than I've given away; so I'll continue to consider them.

In summary, some real innovative ideas at Lee; some really spotty quality control and customer service issues.

"I'm even in the minority of those who really like the Factory Carbide Crimp dies."

The Poll thread of members here has it 2/3 pro-FCD and 1/3 anti-FCD. So you are in the majority. Out in the world, it is popular and is highly rated by user/owners. On Midway USA it is one of the highest products you can find in any category, especially dies. It is the vocal minority here that get their panties in a twist if you mention the handgun FCD as it has the potential to swage down over SAAMI spec cast boolits. Obviously, if it is swaging-down your boolit, don't use it for that application. Simple and for reasons unknown to me, controversial.

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Originally Posted by jmortimer

"I'm even in the minority of those who really like the Factory Carbide Crimp dies."

The Poll thread of members here has it 2/3 pro-FCD and 1/3 anti-FCD. So you are in the majority. Out in the world, it is popular and is highly rated by user/owners. On Midway USA it is one of the highest products you can find in any category, especially dies. It is the vocal minority here that get their panties in a twist if you mention the handgun FCD as it has the potential to swage down over SAAMI spec cast boolits. Obviously, if it is swaging-down your boolit, don't use it for that application. Simple and for reasons unknown to me, controversial.

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You are correct Sir. I should have said I support and use the controversial and often incorrectly maligned FCD.

Jmortimer and dudel,

I really profess no opinion one way or the other on the value/utility of post sizing pistol rounds using the Lee Factory Crimp Die. Some like it because it makes adjusting the seating depth easier or they feel aids in feeding a finicky autoloader etc. Having said that I have used it for .40 S&W without incident, with my .45 ACP I choose to use a TC only Die after seating. I think it's another tool to have in the cabinet/tool box if needed.

The one question that sticks out in the back of my mind was postulated by my Grandfather and goes something like this (I am paraphrasing) "Good God Man how on earth die we ever survive and manage to reload for the 50 years before Lee introduced the factory crimp die?" To date it's interesting to note I have never really heard a decent answer.

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Originally Posted by 44Vaquero

The one question that sticks out in the back of my mind was postulated by my Grandfather and goes something like this (I am paraphrasing) "Good God Man how on earth die we ever survive and manage to reload for the 50 years before Lee introduced the factory crimp die?" To date it's interesting to note I have never really heard a decent answer.

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There is a reason that some refer to it as an answer to a question that was never asked. When it comes to anything there are always innovations that come along and people wonder how they got along w/out it. I'm not saying the FCD is that innovation. But there is a general precedent that's been established over the years.

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Originally Posted by 44Vaquero

Jmortimer and dudel,

The one question that sticks out in the back of my mind was postulated by my Grandfather and goes something like this (I am paraphrasing) "Good God Man how on earth die we ever survive and manage to reload for the 50 years before Lee introduced the factory crimp die?" To date it's interesting to note I have never really heard a decent answer.

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Well, commercial machines do provide a post sizing operation. See Camdex and AmmoMaster. I like them. I don't used oversized boolits, so I've never seen a problem from them. I do use it as a separate step in seat and crimp operations. If all is well, then nothing touches the sizing ring. If an unsized boolit got into my batch of sized ones, then I suspect there would be some contact (but I also know the round would chamber).

Back on topic - twice now I have had what I consider poor responses from their "customer relations" people. Their products are fine - as long as you don't have problems.

Just sayin'......

I too am of the mind that Lee makes a good product, most of the time. This year I bought a four die set that had two of one of the dies. I bought 2 three die sets that were missing the powder scoop. I bought a mold that was cut wrong. There is a noticeable gap on one corner, so one of the cavities is not useable as the sprue is not flush with the mold. I bought the reloader press and it was out of alignment making a scraping sound during part of the stroke.

I'll still buy Lee cause they're cheap, and I don't mind tinkering with them.

I like the FCD because if I can put a little more crimp on a bullet, then I "think" I can up the starting pressure and get better powder burn, and maybe a little more velocity with a little less powder. That is my hope anyway. I have not tested/proved my conjecture.

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Originally Posted by Four-Sixty

I'll still buy Lee cause they're cheap, and I don't mind tinkering with them.

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I agree, if the price is right I'm quite happy to work on things to improve them (but it's pretty hard to do much with an undersize, out-of-round mold as I do not have the equipment required for that little job).

Just to add my latest "experience", I wrote to Mr. Lee about my problem, and after five weeks no response. It would seem, from what I've read, that in the "early" days he was very customer-oriented regarding ensuring they were satisfied with his products, but that no longer appears to be the case. I just wish I could have said otherwise.

If you wrote to Richard Lee and not John Lee it would make sense that you got no response.

No doubt Lee makes some nice stuff!