Lee Loader

[lead-1]

I loaded up some .30 carbine and 9mm rounds with the lee loader and just picked up a .25-06. My son asked how they work so I showed him and he laughed at me, he said all that for one little round.
I just told him that someday I hoped he would understand, lol.

[luna butte]

i recently bought a LL in 3030 and reloaded half a box. after loading them i tried to crimp them, but uh... it seems a bit iffy to me. what is the correct method of crimping a 3030 bullet as far as the LL is concerned?
thanks a bunch.

[Ziptar]

I'vee trying to find old catalogs to look this up but, did lee ever make 45 Colt versions of the Improved or target loaders that did full length resizing?

[Swampthing762]

Gentlemen, I am a first time poster here. I recently bought a Lee/MRC Unitized Loader in 30-06 Springfield that included only a photocopy of the instructions, and a faded copy at that. Is there anyone here that could make me a legible photocopy of the instructions and mail them to me, please? If so, please respond and I will send mailing address via PM. thanks!

ST762

[45nut]

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi-data...uct/RE1422.pdf

have a look at those,, might help!

[Swampthing762]

45nut,

Those are the instructions for the current model of loader, of which I have a copy for my 30-06 for boltie. I recently got my father's rem 742 which is semi auto. I was hoping to be able to get a copy of the Unitized Loader Directions. I do not think that Lee still has them on file. Thank you, I do appreciate the thoughtfulness.

St762

ST

[BudRow]

I don't think they recommend using the Lee Loaders for auto, semi-auto or any rifle that does not have robust camming power to chamber. That leaves pretty much bolt actions. These loaders only resize the neck portion of the cartridge leaving the body to expand a little more with each reload. If you load on the light side you may get a few loads before you need to full length resize. Best Wishes, Bud

[Swampthing762]

Budrow,

I found a unitized loader on ebay and have a bid in on it. It is an excuse to buy a varmint rifle. If I win I will scan the directions and have them posted here.

St762

[Dave Bulla]

I've been a big fan of them for years too. I've given several away to young shooters to get started with. NOTHING else comes close to it for understanding the reloading process in it's simplest terms.

By the way, I'm in dire need of one of these in 32-20 if anyone has an extra. If you do, feel free to pm me. I've got the rifle on layaway and hope to have it in about two weeks. I'd like to have the loader for my youngest boy to be able to load some of his own ammo.

[ChefJeff1]

I just joined the Lee Loader Club. I was using one for my 30-30. I need to call and get an expander. I like it because I can fit the tool, case trimmer, and chamferer all in the box. I used IMR 3031 and a 170 grain cast booolit with the 2.2 dipper that came with it. Should be good. I do have a few questions though---

Has anyone customized one of the dippers to measure exactly what you want? I think you could easily sand one down to fine tune it

Has anyone had a problem loading the 30-30 with this tool as far as only neck sizing???

Well, I like it but I'm sure my neighbor won't like it so I'll be courteous and not bang on it at night. wakie, wakie...

I want one for each caliber now.

Jeff

[BudRow]

Rather than sanding your dipper, try adding some "filler" like a cardboard disc that is a friction fit in the bottom or maybe some tape to decrease the diameter. That way you don't ruin the originality of the loader. Best Wishes, Bud

[ChefJeff1]

Great idea, Bud. I like it.

[luna butte]

you can try different types of material to load on, say a cynderblock or a piece o f fire wood. i shoe horses for a living and i deal with lots of banging noise allday long. there are several methods to reduce the noise level, one of the more popular methods of quieting up an anvil is to place a wound up rope between the anvil and the anvil stand. if you think about it, i am sure that you could set up something that will deaden the sound enough to load at all hours of the day.

[ChefJeff1]

yea, I'm thinkin' a rope or thick rubber kitchen mat under a large round of firewood, got lots of those.

So, I'm asking for a friend who wants a 1911 real bad...how does the lee loader work for that caliber? it being an autoloaer and all...

[hk33ka1]

I believe several of the Pistol cal Loaders full length size and should work fine for auto pistol, other than they are slower than most press set ups.

[koyote]

I looked at these when I started reloading. In retrospect, I'm sorta glad I didn't go that route first because I found a few good deals on things and learned a lot.

But I'm thinkin I missed a thing or two starting with the hand press and breech lock presses.

Given the "individuality" of a lot of surplus rifles, I think I might buy a loader first instead of dies for my gewehr 88 and 91/30.

[Ziptar]

I'vee trying to find old catalogs to look this up but, did lee ever make 45 Colt versions of the Improved or target loaders that did full length resizing?

Answered my own question.

A 45 Colt Improved Loader came up on eBay last week. I managed to win it, I thought it would go for more than it did. I've yet to run across one, its even Mequon branded. The auction ended at $41.00, almost spot on UnderDawgAl's inflation adjusted price.



It is a big improvement over the regular Loader. The hand priming tool is nice, it looks like it'll full length size but, the best thing about it is the dipper.

A single dipper full is all thats needed to get a good load with Unique. With the yellow .7 dipper in the regular loader the load is too low.

I've also started using the regular Loader on my big ugly arbor press. It works pretty well. I deprimed 200 cases last weekend in about 15 minutes.

I think the regular loader full length sizes the 45 Colt. I started sizing cases with a Lyman full length sizer and ran a bunch through the Lee loader and vice versa. Seems like either one is doing it, the sized cases go in real easy when I run the case through the other again.

[NATE40]

I started handloading with a lee loader given to me by a older than Moses benchrest shooter I was about 16 years old and would go to the range almost every day in the summer he taught me to load and to shoot right on the range with a lee loader and mallet. that was over 30 years ago and quite a few presses (single,turret and progressives) and tons of reloading gadgets I still go to the ranges with my trusty lee loader Because its still the best way to find a proper seating depth with trial and error group shooting for each gun as they change as you shoot them

[Swampthing762]

Now trying to find 30-06 target loader. also started thread in swappin an dsellin.

[Junior1942]

I......Has anyone customized one of the dippers to measure exactly what you want? I think you could easily sand one down to fine tune it.......Jeff

I made a set in .1cc increments from 1.6cc through 2.6cc, IIRC. Simply heat the bottom of a dipper and push it out to increase the capacity or push it in to decrease the capacity.

RE-LABEL THE NEW DIPPER SIZE!!! I filed off the old numbers and added new numbers with heated number punches. Force a black Sharpie into the new number for easier readability.

Sanding down didn't work due to making the sharp dipper rim flat, meaning it caught powder grains.