lee dies

[Para82]

I also have the Lee perfect powder measure and find it really consistent.Also have auto disk measure. Also have 380acp,9MM,38,357,10MM,45acp,22hornet,7X57,8x57 dies and have had no problems so far out of them.They are mostly older Lee dies though.YMMV
Para82

[Lloyd Smale]

only lee dies i ever had a problem with were my first set of 50beowulf and it was common knowlege that they let a bad batch of those out. Im not one to worry about cost when it comes to loading gear and buy what i like and after saying that ill tell you in handgun dies at least i have more lee sets then all the others combined.

[ukrifleman]

I load 14 calibres, 3 pistol and 11 rifle all with Lee dies and have never had a problem.
I also use their Perfect Powder Measure and find it throws very consistant charges, but ONLY if you follow Lee's instructions and run a hopper of powder through when new. This is to coat the surface areas with graphite to minimise static. Failure to do this will cause it to throw erratic charges.
ukrifleman.

[engineer401]

I have not had the best of luck with Lee FCD dies. I got rid of them. The sizing dies seem to work fine for me. I'm not a big fan of the O rings used for the lock rings or die adjustments but that may just be prejudice.

Someone earlier stated in this thread he had problems with RCBS dies. No one produces perfect product every time. I had a 357 magnum set that sized the brass so small it was difficult to seat bullets.

I now use Dillon crimping and the rest are CH4D dies as the finish is better. I cannot say for sure whether use of the more costly dies produces better ammunition. I am not a competitive shooter. Ammunition seems to be more consistent and the customer service is very good at CH4D.

[jonp]

I have several Lee Pistol Dies and they are all pretty decent. When I put the gauge on them after resizing they are all the same or near enough.

[zuke]

Never had a problem with LEE dies.
But rcBS? never again.

[khmer6]

I hear that all the time. Lots of users that move from rcbs to Lee. And from Lee to Hornady or Dillons. Whatever floats your boat and gets it done. Maybe some of us progress from Lee at a young age and move in to more expensive things like Dillons and as we get een older go back to simplistic of lee

[ACrowe25]

Lee was my first, and after many sets I've never had a problem...

[garym1a2]

I thought my perfect powder measure was bad, so I startefd measuring every 5th throw. I goto to the sencond trow from empty till it went off.
I was impressed, I use my Redding powder measue nowdays only cause my bench is setup much better for it and it carries a big hopper.

[johnnybar]

No issues here.
GregG', details of you're problems would be helpful.

[1hole]

"Gentlemen; anyone else having trouble with lee dies that do not resize corectly."

Not me. I've been reloading everything that goes BANG since '65, have some 50+ die sets in a dozen brands for more than 30 calibers and have owned others. I've never had a real die problem with any of them, nor do I know of anyone else who's had a legitmate die problem ... but I've known of several problem die users!

[tom357mag]

I use Lee dies exclusivley and have never had a problem with them in 30 + years. I would give them a call , they have great Customer Service in my opinion

[ACrowe25]

I use Lee dies exclusivley and have never had a problem with them in 30 + years. I would give them a call , they have great Customer Service in my opinion

I agree with the CS, always fixed my issues quick and easy. The way it ought to be in terms of CS.

[1hole]

" . . I've never tried to use the Lee PPM mounted on a powder through die or in any auto/progressive set-ups."

To each his own but I dispise press mounted powder measures; on single stage presses it's clumsy and the constant shaking of moving turrets makes inconsistant drops a certainty. For modest pressure handgun loads I'm sure that's fine but I'm a low volume shooter so carefully dropped charges of handgun ammo from an iron stand mounted measure and trickled up charges for rifles is the only way I've reloaded since 1965.

[trixter]

I load 45acp and .223, and every time I drop one of them into the gauge, they fit perfectly. I like them a lot. Never had one give me any trouble.

[jcwit]

I reload for 40+ calibers, mostly handgun. I have dies from everyone except Dillon,"however I have other Dillion equipment", most of my dies are Lee. Problems? I have none with any of them.

[TheDoctor]

I have Lee dies in every caliber I load, EXCEPT 7MM RSAUM, and that's because they don't offer it, except custom, and I don't shoot enough of it to shell out the bucks. Collet and FCD for all my rifles, ranchdogs FCD for 357, 44, and 45 Colt j-words. I do use other manufacturers dies for certain specific purposes, but the majority that I use are Lee. Didn't get to use my PPM much, sucker broke on me right off the bat, so I use my RCBS and Lyman measures.

[dkf]

Most of my stuff is Lee and all my dies thus far are Lee. I had issues with a .380 carbide sizer die. Had horrible neck tension with jacketed bullets. Tried several brands of jacketed bullets, many brands of brass and even went as far as not flaring the case mouth. Even with no flare I could push the bullet into the case with my fingers. Sent it to someone on a another site for him to test and he found the same thing. Called Lee sent the die back to them. Got the "nothing wrong with it" speech and he tried to sell me a U die both times I called. Guy did not see to care one bit that the die did not work. I asked him why they sell a U die if the original dies are "within spec". His answer "some guys like to shoot smaller diameter bullets in .380". Sounded like BS to me, usually you go bigger than .355" with bullet diameter, not smaller. Put a sour taste in my mouth for the company. I do not know if they are not loaders, they just do not care and/or they think their customers are stupid.

[josper]

I have a new set of Lee 45colt dies ,the 4 die deluxe set . I was hesitant in buying Lee as I have always used RCBS. I was surprised how well the Lee dies worked .I am very pleased with them. No problems wit the FCD either.

[EDG]

Lee full lenght sizer dies in 7.65 Mauser are too long from the head to the headspace datum line by .010. This is well known and I have a copy of the old chamber drawing that caused it.
For the most part Lee sizer dies internal dimensions match other companies internal dimensions. I have measured a number. I have 7 or 8 Lee dies sets but rarely use them. I began loading long before Lee started making dies so I have a lot of experience (more than 50 sets) with other brands and I find the Lee dies last by far due to the very poor expander design for straight case rounds and the seater dies in general.