All the Complaining That Goes On About Lee Precision

[John Boy]

... Ordered a 310 custom Lube/Sizer to seat GC's on a RCBS 80-180-FN 311 to shoot them in a 7.5x55 and 308 Winchester ...
12-01 ... Order Date
12-13 ... Packaged for Shipping
12-13 to 12-17 USPS Priority Mail (only $5.00 shipping & insurance)
Total time - 16 days for a custom Lee lube/sizer with 4 days, Saturday & Sunday
I got no complaints!

[ItZaLLgooD]

My reloading bench is red. I have no issues with anything I have purchased from Lee. The safety scale leaves a little to be desired but works just fine. Without Lee Precision I would not be able to reload for the 5 or 6 cartridges that I do.

[Ben]

Seems it has turned into the " Cool Thing to Do " to bash Lee products.
We need to all realize that if Lee were not in business, we would all be paying $100 + for a set of reloading dies from the other guys.
We all know that competition keeps prices in check. Lee has certainly offered competition !
Yes, I also have a lot of RED on my bench also.

Merry Christmas,

Ben

[geargnasher]

I've said it lots of times, Lee precision makes some things that are just pure junk (like their chamfer tool, for example), but those items are few, and they make many products that, IMO, are the best to be had on the market at any price, often being the only items of their kind. If it weren't for the Pro1000, Classic Turret, Collet neck-sizing dies, case trimming tools, and push-through sizers I'd still be loading for maybe two calibers, and not shooting much. The quality and affordability has enabled me to enjoy this hobby about a thousand percent more, and also has allowed me to be able to afford a few really fine custom items like boolit moulds and precision seating dies.

The Turret and progressives also save a lot of wear and tear on my hands, and being able to afford multiple units saves time changing calibers. Years of twisting wrenches makes my hands hurt all the time, and not having to handle every case four or five times during loading is a godsend.

Gear

[Linstrum]

I'm a "Red Re-Loader", too!

If it weren't for Lee, I would guess that we'd probably have about 25% of the casters and re-loaders we presently have. Before Lee, only a few people could afford to buy the tooling to re-load and cast. Of those who could afford it, they probably could only afford to reload for just a few calibers instead of the approximately 20-plus pistol and rifle calibers I reload for, including .50 BMG!


I have been using Lee stuff since 1984 when I got my Springfield M1A and could no longer bother my buddy to use his loading bench to keep up with my ammo needs.

No complaints here about Lee stuff beyond a few moulds that needed the vent lines cut deeper.

rl1061

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Growing up, I was always told to "avoid that cheap ****"
Then one day I bought something Lee, hmmm ,this is pretty nice.
So I bought more. Not disappointed with any of it so far. I even bought one of the
little "pretend" single stage presses 2 weeks ago for taking to the range.
Yeah, you cant do a 50bmg on it, but for neck sizing and seating bullets on the range, you cant hardly beat it!
And the neck sizing stem in their dies are superior IMO to RCBS

[geargnasher]

Lee's breech-lock hand press with a few extra interrupted-thread bushings makes a pretty handy range press too, and a portable hardness tester if you get the Lee kit.

Gear

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I ordered a custom Collet neck-sizing die set and FCD for my Jap 38 custom 257x6.5 rob.
I think their webpage said 3 months lead time (or maybe 3 to 6 months?).
anyway, I got both FCD and the Collect set in 2 months...Not as quick as the OP,
but quicker then advertised, none the less.

When I sent in the required boolits and brass, I included a "well stated" letter
that I wanted to size the necks Oversize for my Oversize bore (.0045" oversize to be exact)
I was worried I'd end up with dies made for .264 bullets
I was estatic to receive dies made exactly to my request.
Sized case necks come out to an ID of .267 for my .269 boolits.
The FCD works as expected.
All for $85 To my door.
I think that is just incredible.
Jon

[Rafe Covington]

People generally forget what they started reloading with, guess bashing Lee justifies buying the real expensive equipment. Also it has been my experience alot [not all] just enjoy complaining.

Rafe

[Thecyberguy]

I have a bunch of Lee stuff. I have no problem with any of it. Like others, if not for Lee, I would not be loading the number of calibers that I do.
TCG

[nicholst55]

I agree that some Lee products are very well designed and built; others not so much. Some products were doubtless a good idea and well engineered, but the execution of the plan just didn't work out. I own and use several Lee products; their collet sizing dies are wonderful, their universal decapper is indispensable, their RIFLE FCDs are very useful. Their push-through sizers and case trimmers represent a wonderful value, and their 6-cavity molds are the one of the best production molds available IMHO. I've never used a Lee press, so I won't comment on them.

I also agree that a lot fewer people would be reloading and especially casting bullets if Lee had never come along. I started reloading with a hammer-style Lee Loader, 2-cavity mold, pan lube kit, lead pot, and ladle. I was a young soldier, husband and father, and that was all I could afford. I used to go around the tire stores after they closed and police up any wheel weights laying around outside! That and berm-mining were the only two sources of lead I had for a long time.

[drklynoon]

I started reloading with an inexpensive Lee kit. I pushed alot of ammo through that set and was able to "upgrade" items as money became available. Lee's equipment is invaluable. Their safety scale is well yeah the first thing I replaced lol. The rest of their equipment is extremely usable and I recommend them to most beginers.

[Heavy lead]

I started out reloading with a Lee Challenger in the mid 80's, young and broke, it worked, and well, it's retired to smaller jobs now, but over the 20 year span of it being the main press on my bench I reloaded probably 20 different cartridges, from .204 through the Ultra Mags, created wonderful accurate ammunition and NEVER broke it once, in reality I could still be using it today. As well moved up to the 3 and 4 hole turret presses for pistol, likewise loaded excellent rounds with the awesome auto disk powder measure.
I have since moved to 3 Hornady LNL's, they are faster, but create no better ammunition.
I can afford such niceties now, but if I couldn't I'd have the Lee's back on the bench. I have green, light green, different red's, and orange, all work well.
My big single stage is a Lee Classic Cast, simply no better single stage exists, and I've used Rock Chuckers and others.
Don't think much of their scales, don't like the two cavity molds much, but they do both work, and well.
Thanks Lee, without you it wouldn't have been as easy to get into reloading, yes I will buy more from you and do, there are others now as well. But thanks to them for providing good products, because they do.

[1hole]

There is a vast difference between what someone 'likes' and how mechanically skilled he is to use anything that has little to do with the "quality" of the item. I don't like Lee's Safety Scale but that doesn't mean it can't do excellant work for all but the most clumsy.

If a tool has the function and strength to do its designed task it has all the quality it needs. Anyone attempting to size large rifle cases on a small Lee alum alloy press and breaks it doesn't need more quality, he needs more common sense for choosing and using his tools. Those who equate any tool's slick external finish and purty knurling for 'quality' rather than how well the tool functions needs a better grasp of reality. IF I had to replace my old Rock Chucker 2 this week it would be with a Lee Classic Cast; it's the better press of it's type, at any cost.

I've been reloading for several decades, own a lot of brands and have used even more. I choose my tools by their design, not by the brand - and a good bit of what I have is red. I quite having a 'favorite' brand of anything a few years after I started, I quickly learned that all our makers produce excellant tools that work well IF they are used correctly. NOTHING is any good if it's used incorrectly.

[koyote]

I have been reloading for only a couple years. I own 3 Lee presses and some assorted tools. I have used single stage and manual turret presses my friends have that are made by other companies- from current production to old stuff like an 8 hole pacific turret.

In terms of presses themselves, aside from the monster turret my friend has, I don't really feel a lot of difference. My Challenger handles everything, and is smooth enough. Maybe not perfect, but it doesn't break and it does the job. My only complaint was that I had to modify one of the primer seaters so old primers would flow properly without having to worry about taking the part out (or having it fall out) - It's possible I will eventually end up with 2 classics and 2 turrets on the bench, but whatever happens, I'm not seeing a color change in my future.

Since I use autoprimes for priming most of the time, it's no big deal.

I, unfortunately, didn't start with a lee loader, but I have my first two on the way (found a well priced 20ga 2 3/4 and got a new 45-70) and I am looking forward to it!

My hand press is amazingly useful, though I want to get the new style one that takes the bushings. It's also very strong.

I'm a bit ambivalent about my loadmaster, but I haven't really used it in full progressive mode. I think, in reality, that I'd prefer a turret. I can load 500-600 rounds a week, but I seem to end up doing too many of the steps manually for me to make full use of the loadmaster.

I have 2 autoprimes, ended up being cheap enough that it's worth having one set up for small and one for large. And cheap enough I may get a third and fourth so I can be lazy and leave two set up for .38 and .44 cases!

I have a 10-10 scale which, I admit, is a LOT nicer than my safety scale. But the safety scale works and I haven't blown anything up using it.

The autodisk measures need a wee bit of attention to use, but my experience with them is that they will throw consistently and they work great. The only problem I had was having to tweak things because lee is so ultra-conservative I ended up with loads a too light at first.

Actually, my main and only real complaint with Lee is that between the ultra conservative loading recipes and the "rounding down" conservative nature of the auto-disk recipes, Lee ends up being *inaccurate* enough on load data to make performance differences. I ran into this with .32 auto, especially.

The dies? Oh, man. I was spoiled. I bought a set of 7.62x54R, 8mm, and 45-70 dies from another company- used. Excellent condition, but I QUICKLY ended up selling them and got Lee dies for all 3. Can't beat the Lee dies, even if they make a few odd choices (7.62x39 collet dies are available, but for 7.62x54R you have to custom order?!?!?!)

I have zero desire to switch colors in my preses and dies.

[Char-Gar]

The Lee press mounted, push through size, is one of the really good things in the bullet casting world.

[Bwana]

I have a bunch of Lee equipment and a bunch of the others as well. Let me diverge from the main topic and relate an encounter with Lee's management that happened about 17 years ago. I was messing around after developing my "disc checks" and had made an item in a machine shop class that I was taking so I could learn something about lathes and milling machines and have access to the equipment. I thought that this item would fit in with Lee's product line and be a good seller for them. I called them up and was put in touch with one of their management. When I explained what I was calling for he said that they did not take unsolicited ideas and he did not even want to hear anything about it, not one word. I tried to make my case and he was very firm. I said ok, and he apologised but said that it was to prevent someone from saying that they had stolen their idea even if they already had a similar product in the works. Seemed like a screwed up way of doing things; but, I could see his point. So that item went back on the idea shelf and a few years later I figured a better way to do the same thing and didn't bother anybody with the new idea.

[trapper9260]

I have some lee items like the BHN tester I know I needed one and could not afford the hight price on so I did some reading hear what was said about lees so I got it and it works for me just right. I also have some of there orther things and molds ,all I can say is each company has it place for each person it is up to that person of what they want and need and afford. It is up to the one that is buying what they want and use and afford . I do trapping and it is the same way with foothold traps ,you have the not so high price ones and you have the high price ones , it is up to the buyer.

[exile]

All my stuff is Lee. I agree that in addition to making fine products in America, Lee forces the competition to keep their prices down. As far as I'm concerned, my Lee Classic Cast press ($ 59.00 new) is the best on the market, especially for a left-handed hand-loader.

exile

[1hole]

"... he apologised but said that it was to prevent someone from saying that they had stolen their idea even if they already had a similar product in the works. "

That is a very real item of concern for a lot of manufactors because a bunch of them have had to defend themselves in court over it. And, considering the average IQ of many juries, you may understand that sometimes they still lose!