Lee Die Set Oddity

[ryanmattes]

So I've been using a Lee deluxe 4 die set for years now for 40S&W, with only factory j-words up until recently. Since I started loading cast, I've replaced the Lee case expander with a Lyman M die because I had some lead shaving off when using the Lee expander. To expand it enough to not shave lead I was having to open the case mouth way too much, and the M die gives me better control.

So I was looking at my dies the other day, because I has having occasional lead shaving even though the case mouth was plenty wide enough to seat without shaving. That's when I noticed: the seater dies says .45ACP on it! I guess I never read the engraving, I just assumed they were the right dies since they came in s sealed box from Lee.

All the other dies say 10/40 on them, but the seater clearly says 45ACP. I've never owned any Lee 45ACP dies to mix them up. It's been years, like 6 or 7, and I just never noticed because it never gave me any trouble with j-words.

How would I get in touch with Lee about this? I've looked on the website and all the contact links lead to an FAQ. I'd even be happy to buy a 45acp set from them if they'd swap out the seater for a 10/40 seater, so I'd have both complete sets.

Anyone have anything like this.happen before?

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[CraigOK]

Well thats not going to do. I got a crimp die for 308 that wasn't bored out large enough for a 30 cal bullet let alone the case mouth the enter. They made it right for me, hopefully they'll fix your die mix-up since they sent the wrong one

[recumbent]

The contact info for Lee is at the very bottom of their home page.
Lee Precision | 4275 County Road U | Hartford, WI 53027 | phone (262) 673-3075 | fax (262) 673-9273

[Mk42gunner]

Sure its not just mismarked? If you have been using it for years, how have you been removing the flare? A .45 ACP die shouldn't even touch a .40 S&W case.

Robert

[ryanmattes]

It came with the separate crimp die, so I always used that, and only used the seater for seating. Worked just fine for jacketed.

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[gitzitfish]

Yes that’s odd for sure. Here is their contact number (262) 673-3075. A lot of people don’t like Lee products. I have quite a few from dies ro presses. I mostly use RCBS but have never had any problems with anything I’ve had from Lee. Give them a call. I’m sure they will fix you up

[ryanmattes]

I like their deluxe/ultimate die sets, because they're complete. Sizer/decapper, expander (or neck sizer for rifle), seater, crimper, and shell holder, all in one box. I might find I prefer a specific die from Lyman or RCBS for a particular operation on a particular caliber, like the M die in this case, but they make a great base set to start from.

I also like their molds. They're cheap, but they work, and they're great to try out a weight or a profile you haven't tried before. They help me decide if I want to drop the cash on a good mold or not, and only cost $22 for a 2 cavity. I've gotten a few in trades that were pretty beat up and are a lot of work to get good results from, but all of them I've bought new have been just fine. Even the beat up ones work pretty well if you baby them, and use a good lube on them.

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[mdi]

Email or call Lee and say the same thing you posted here. My experiences with Lee's customer service has been excellent (I broke a part of a Lee Bench prime, my fault, not a design or material problem. The customer service rep would not tell me how much the part cost as I tried to pay for it, and he insisted on sending it free). I have at least 12 Lee die sets and all work quite well. I believe that with the huge numbers of items produced by Lee, an actual "bad" tool is rare, and no more than any other mass production manufacturer...

[Soundguy]

Keep in mind.. Sometimes lee uses 1 die for 2 applications. Not the first time I've seen a die that looked out of place in a set.. As long as no crimp in a die.. A seater from a similar larger caliber should/could work.

[ryanmattes]

The seater die will also taper crimp, but I never used it for crimping since the set came with a separate factory crimp die.

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[lesterktm]

Email or call Lee and say the same thing you posted here. My experiences with Lee's customer service has been excellent (I broke a part of a Lee Bench prime, my fault, not a design or material problem. The customer service rep would not tell me how much the part cost as I tried to pay for it, and he insisted on sending it free). I have at least 12 Lee die sets and all work quite well. I believe that with the huge numbers of items produced by Lee, an actual "bad" tool is rare, and no more than any other mass production manufacturer...

This is also my experience with Lee support. They laughed at my mistake and sent me new parts. Gotta love that.

[AndyC]

I think, in the decades I've used Lee dies, I've only had one issue - twice - and that was with a set of .308 Win dies where the sizing die was rough as a badger's bum inside. Sent it back and the replacement was the same - so I ditched them and bought RCBS instead.

Very odd to have the same issue - perhaps I got Friday's dies both times because every other Lee die-set I've used has been just fine.

[ryanmattes]

I called, they said email support

I emailed support, with an explanation and pictures, and they said it's been too long for a free replacement, but they'd do it for a $15 replacement fee if I sent them the .45 die.

Not much of a deal for a $21 die. If rather just buy the seater die and have a spare .45 seater.

Ryan



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[Walks]

I believe it.
I bought Lee dies for .44-40 and got .44Mag crimp die in the box.
Same with .32Auto, got .32S&W Long dies,
.38Super for .38S&W
I could go on.
I'll never buy lee dies again.

[Valley-Shooter]

Have you measured the inside of the die?

Maybe they just mismarked the die.