Lee Loader for 9mm in a semi auto

[TRSmith]

Has anyone gone against official Lee advice and reloaded 9mm loads with the Lee Loader kit for a semi automatic pistol? If so, any tips for a newbie?

[jmorris]

They sell cheap presses that will be much faster and better for your intended use. If you are worried about space the little Lee C press takes up less space than your jug of powder and box of bullets will.

[mdi]

Personally, I haven't heard any "warnings" against 9mm reloaded with a Lee Loader being used in a semi-auto. Kinda sounds fishy/silly to manufacture a product for a cartridge designed for, and used 1,000 times to 1, semi-autos and warn users not to reload for a semi-auto...

"Here, we made this well designed, inexpensive claw hammer, but don't drive any nails with it"? :confused:

[WebMonkey]

i started 9mm loading for a 1911 with the whack-a-mole lee loader.

didn't have any trouble.

good luck

[Bmi48219]

I used Lee 9 mm loader (also 45 acp, 38 spec & 30 carbine) a LOT when I got back into reloading. Only problem experienced was not being able to crimp bullets snuggly in brass, on tapered cartridges. Had to check each loaded round too make sure bullet was firmly held in case. Never had that trouble Lee loading 38 or 45 acp. The instructions specifically state the loader does not crimp and a crimping die may be necessary. But to my knowledge Lee doesn’t make a crimp die for the Lee Loader kit.
To this day I still check crimp tension & OAL every 7th to 10th load regardless which press I use.

[jmorris]

The
Please note: The Classic Lee Loader neck sizes only. This is not recommended for semi-auto, pump and lever action guns.

Warnings are for their kits that do not full length resize.

https://leeprecision.com/lee-loader-223-rem.html

The instructions with their pistol loaders note what ones full length size.


DO try the empty cases in your gun to be sure they will chamber. The tool sizes only the neck.
Exception This tool does full length size the 45 ACP, 38 ACP and Super, 9mm Luger and the 30 M-1 Carbine.


https://leeprecision.com/files/instruct/RE1423.pdf

The fact that no flaring tool comes with the above or crimp, means the cases will require more work than most of us put into pistol loading.

The only ones that have flare and crimp are “FLARING TOOL INCLUDED WITH 38 SPECIAL · 357 MAGNUM · 44 MAGNUM AND 45 COLT KITS ONLY”.

If that wasn’t enough of a deterrent for me I would look at their claims of being able to load “up to” 50 rounds and hour, would do it.

https://vimeo.com/181244174

[WebMonkey]

^^
that's all i found in the instructions.

it explains about the crimping ability of the loader and relation to certain cartridges that were designed for semi-autos.

my take is that it was a reminder to check 'tension' of the seated projectile.

[Mike Kerr]

Wrong tool for that caliber. It is not practicable even if you figure out how to effectively crimp them by separate action. Please read post No 6 above.
It is just a waste of time and effort.

[Mk42gunner]

I have never used a Lee Loader for brass cartridges, shotgun yes. I have also used the Lyman 310 (tong tool) for a few cartridges.

Having said that, if all I had to shoot was a pile of 9mm brass and a Lee Loader, I'd trade it and the gun for a cap and ball revolver. It would be a lot more productive.

Robert

[mdi]

I have 8 Lee Loaders and love them all. I got my introduction and my first Lee Loader in 1969 and have purchased several since. Lots of confusion about sizing; the LL for handgun and straight sided cartridges full length size. The LL for bottle neck cartridges neck size.

I do not crimp any semi-auto round. I merely remove any flare in the case mouth to insure good chambering (deflaring for a good plunk test). Since there is no flaring tool included no "crimp" is needed, so yer good t' go...

I have made flaring tools and taper crimp tools out of scrap metal I found in my shop. A 3/8 brass rod tapered on one end worked quite well for flaring 38 Special and 9mm cases. A seamless tube of the appropriate ID with an internal taper (a simple task with a tapered reamer) worked for deflaring semi-auto cases. No, not fast as an auto-everything progressive press, or my Co-Ax but I enjoy reloading and many times when I don't need a lot of reloads right now, small tasks like individual flaring is OK with me. Many of the reloaders don't reload for money and many don't have a quota with a minimum number of rounds per hour requirement...

[Bmi48219]

In all fairness someone invented the Classic Lee Loader style kit to be an inexpensive way for shooters to reload. They didn’t claim your production speed would rival the R-P plant across the street or that your finished products would win a national match (although I read somewhere a guy did just that).
If I had a dollar for every round I loaded with a Lee Classic, there’d be several Dillon 1050’s bolted to my loading bench. And if I could remember half the stories my dad told us as we sat on the furnace room floor, pounding out ammo I’d be rich indeed.
Not to get all nostalgic but the Lee Loader taught several generations the principals of reloading. Most of us graduated to faster & more precise methods but arrived where we are because we started there. They have limitations but they will produce useable ammo.

[mdi]

FWIW; Lee Loader reloading speed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeEl9wZyabc&ab_channel=loasfast. And in Modern Reloading, Lee's reloading manual it states the world record for 1,000 yard shooting was held by a shooter using a Lee Loader for his ammo.

The quality of handloads is 90% operator and maybe 10% equipment. If you can't make good accurate ammo on a Lee Loader, you ain't gonna make good ammo with a $$$$ press and $$$ dies...

[Bmi48219]

I used a tapered die grinder to remove the sharp edge from the bottom of the built-in powder funnel on the LL sizing sleeve. After seating the bullet I flipped the sleeve over and set funnel on the loaded round. A mallet tap down on the sleeve squeezes the case neck like a crimper. Not perfect but most times it crimps enough to retain bullet at the desired length.
I believe Lee was cautious because most semi-auto rounds are supposed to headspace on the case mouth and too much crimp would allow case to move forward, resulting in weak firing pin strikes. In my experience the extractor holds the round and keeps it against breech face.

[Lloyd Smale]

you must be real bored! I couldnt imagine loading 9s like that. Hard enough to keep up with a progressive

[jmorris]

The quality of handloads is 90% operator and maybe 10% equipment. If you can't make good accurate ammo on a Lee Loader, you ain't gonna make good ammo with a $$$$ press and $$$ dies...

There are lots of folks that can’t load ammunition that’s more accurate than a number of verities of factory “match” ammunition, that is made by operators than have far less than 90% control of the operation. Some might only have control of the Run and Stop buttons.

If “by hand” was more precise, then microchips would be made that way. Leonardo da Vinci could paint the Mona Lisa much better than I can but with the right equipment I could have a 100 duplicates more identical than he could have painted two by hand, one right after the other.

[onelight]

I can't think of any situation that would make me want to load 9mm on a Lee loader when I could get a Small press kit , and set of dies for less than $100.00 new price.
But others may just enjoy hammering and trying to get neck sized cases to work in a 9 :)

[Bmi48219]

Quote
“but others may just enjoy hammering and trying to get neck sized cases to work in a 9”...

If you look at the Lee Precision website you’ll note their Classic Loaders full length size 9mm & 45acp. Judging from the amount of effort needed to drive a case into the sizing die, I believe their now discontinued 30 carbine kit does also.
And based on the aforementioned effort I can understand why they don’t full length size the longer straight walled and all bottle-neck cases.

They’re not for everyone but then neither is butchering your own deer, washing your own car or cleaning your own home. Some people just like pounding on things🤫

[Lloyd Smale]

Quote
“but others may just enjoy hammering and trying to get neck sized cases to work in a 9”...

If you look at the Lee Precision website you’ll note their Classic Loaders full length size 9mm & 45acp. Judging from the amount of effort needed to drive a case into the sizing die, I believe their now discontinued 30 carbine kit does also.
And based on the aforementioned effort I can understand why they don’t full length size the longer straight walled and all bottle-neck cases.

They’re not for everyone but then neither is butchering your own deer, washing your own car or cleaning your own home. Some people just like pounding on things��

Guess i dont gut my deer with a sharp piece of flint stone or make my own soap to was my car. Dont want a car i have to crank start either or for that matter dont want to go back to a horse. I can see trying it for a novelty but sure wouldnt want to sit down and look at one of them and a 1000 rounds of brass. Me i load to shoot i dont shoot to load. If i have 3 hours id rather spend 2 of it shooting and one loading not 2 hours and 30 minutes loading to shoot two boxes of shells. But to each his own. Make mine a dillion a jug of car wash soap and a good factory made knife to guy my deer. Heck i even use a battery saws awl to cut the bone. But then im not doing one deer ever 3 years.

[Bmi48219]

Lloyd,
I didn’t intend my post to be insulting or direct it at you.
Apology aside, fact is many LL users went that route because it was how we could afford to start reloading. Most of us have upgraded our equipment but the point is we decided to reload, and had to start somewhere.
I use Blue Coral car wash for its intended purpose and when tumbling brass.
I never owned a horse, they require too much work for what you get.
On the other hand, half the cost of a new car is buried in the electrical system, at least with a crank start car a guy could figure out why it won’t run.
I don’t use my LLs much anymore because I shoot a lot. But I don’t shoot fast, you figure that out quick using a LL. Just like I figured out I much prefer fishing to cutting firewood & shoveling snow, that’s why I moved here.
To each his own.

[onelight]

Well I learned something new I did not realize the 9 and 45acp full length resized .
I loaded 45 colt with a Lee loader I bought when I got my first 45 colt. The Lee loader cost 9.95 when I was 16 and used it a couple of years I still have it someplace glad I had it to shoot a bit when what little money I had was spent on girls , keeping my motorcycles running , and paying traffic tickets :( but I sure am glad I have a press now.
I think it is great they still make them , they work . But not my choice these days.

[Bmi48219]

I’ve kept mine but transitioned to presses too, but I use the decapper punches & bases all the time. I deprime all my brass before tumbling and while not quiet, it is quick.

[dbosman]

Some one is spreading tales about Lee Loaders. A variation on this has appeared in Reddit reloading forums too.

[Lloyd Smale]

Lloyd,
I didn’t intend my post to be insulting or direct it at you.
Apology aside, fact is many LL users went that route because it was how we could afford to start reloading. Most of us have upgraded our equipment but the point is we decided to reload, and had to start somewhere.
I use Blue Coral car wash for its intended purpose and when tumbling brass.
I never owned a horse, they require too much work for what you get.
On the other hand, half the cost of a new car is buried in the electrical system, at least with a crank start car a guy could figure out why it won’t run.
I don’t use my LLs much anymore because I shoot a lot. But I don’t shoot fast, you figure that out quick using a LL. Just like I figured out I much prefer fishing to cutting firewood & shoveling snow, that’s why I moved here.
To each his own.

no offense taken. I know that just because i feel that its a waste of time someone else might get a kick out of doing it. But personally i have only about 15 years at best left on this earth and im not wasting my time with a mallet and a lee tool to make 20 rounds of ammo a day.

[AABEN]

When I started to reload I bought a Turret Press because I know I was going to reload a lot of different calibers hand gun and rifle,s one year I reloaded over 3000 round hand guns and rifle that was the best thing I did my buddy want me to start out with single stage press !!!!!

[mdi]

Unlike some previous posters above, I like to reload. Once I operated a Dillon auto-everything press for a friend that shot in competition. I got no satisfaction from yanking on a handle over and over, and over , ad infinitum. Yeah there were a lot of 45 ACP rounds in a bin after I got bored enough to stop, but I would have been feeling more satisfied after filling out a tax return. The only thing "reloading" about my experience was inspecting some brass prior to dumping it in a hopper. But a big difference here is I don't badmouth progressive press "reloaders" like many talk about Lee Loaders. I guess I consider myself a "handloader" as I enjoy the reloading as much as I do shooting.

To much baloney about Lee Loaders floating around and a lot just isn't true (how many times has "Lee Loader only neck sized my .357 Magnums" or 44 Mag., 9mm, etc., been posted?). Perhaps my opinion is skewed because I like tools and am very mechanically inclined, and I am far from the cave man that can't/won't try anything new/modern/high tech. (The last 10 years of my career I worked on, repaired "fly by wire" and computerized safety systems on heavy construction equipment much of which makes a modern auto electronics look like points and plugs ignition systems).

So, I like handloading and occasionally use one of my Lee Loaders...

(Old story; in 1969 I was shooting my 38 up in the hills above LA and as I emptied the cylinder I thought "I wonder if I could reuse these?". I knew no one that reloaded so I researched in "American Rifleman" and looking at ads for components I went to the library and studied up. I bought a Lee Loader, one pound of Bullseye, 100 CCI primers, and 100 generic LRN bullets. I already had a mallet and for 10-12 months I pounded out some safe and accurate ammo that kept me shooting almost every weekend. I did not reload to "save money", didn't learn to reload for improved accuracy in my old Model 10, I was curious. I found an extension to my hobby that taught me a lot more about shooting and the guns I own. Fast forward roughly 40+ years, I took some time off to go sailing, and I still like reloading, not for any reason other than I like reloading)

[44magLeo]

I agree with MDI on what he says.
Nothing wrong with the progressive presses if you feel you need to load fast, go for it. Me, I use a single stage press. I have some Lee Loaders. I have more of the Lyman 310 tools. Cost a bit more, but no hammering.
Leo

[gwpercle]

A Lee Hand Press with a Lee Ram Prime unit and a set of Lee Dies will be much more useful for 9mm Luger loading . Also eliminates all that pounding . The Lee Hand Press Kit which includes the Ram Prime unit , case lube and a powder funnel sells for about $55.00 (Midway) .
I use one to reload all my handgun ammo inside my heated and cooled house even though I have four bench mounted presses in a outbuilding ... the hand press is very handy !
Gary

[BigAlofPa.]

I started out with the Lee loader in 9mm and 45 acp. 9 was not fun to do. It really aggravated my arthritis. The only issue i had besides that was not getting the primers set in enough. I had a lot of no fire rounds. I still have the loaders. Don't know why im hanging onto them. I should sell them. Their just collecting dust lol.

[243winxb]

Avoid the hammer loader

[JoeJames]

Might not be too bad if just reloading straight wall rimmed pistol cases which headspace on the rim, like say a 38 Special, but 9mm is a horse of a different color. I would not do it.

[onelight]

:goodpost:
They sell cheap presses that will be much faster and better for your intended use. If you are worried about space the little Lee C press takes up less space than your jug of powder and box of bullets will.

[David2011]

Having owned single stage presses for 40 years and Dillons for 30, I agree with much of the sentiment expressed above. The Dillon 650 was purchased solely to feed the pistol in my avatar for competition shooting. It’s just about getting a task done. The ammunition is of good quality but it’s not a hobby any more than painting the house. The Dillon 550 is very different to me. With it, I slow down and enjoy loading much more but it still has the job of producing a reasonable volume of rounds.

I have personally imposed limits set at 60 rounds as the most I generally load on a single stage and 100 as the minimum for a progressive. It’s not worth setting up a progressive for less than that and I rarely need more than 60 rounds of weighed powder charge ammunition at one time.

Target ammunition even for .223 is loaded on a single stage but defensive ammunition for the same caliber is loaded on the 550 or 650. Case prep is done on the 650.