What can you do with the little Lee press?

[awaveritt]

Planning to buy the Lee manual but noticed for just a few more dollars, I can also get the small Lee press in kit price. I plan to use it with my Lee sizer kit but, is it robust enough for full length case sizing and other tasks?

If it's stout enough, I may find some place indoors to mount it so I don't have to venture into the cold (or hot) garage where my other stuff is.

Those of you who have this little guy, what else do you do with it?

[bigdog454]

It is a good starter press. You can load as good of ammo with it as with any other press. It does have it's limits. If you are going to do belted magnums etc. maybe you would want to look at somthing bigger and more robust. My son has one and gets along fine loading 30-06 and .357, He3 dosent shoot competition and only goes blasting occasionally, it does him fine.

[Halfbreed]

I load the 300 rum, and 458 win mag on mine, I have no complaints against it.

[awaveritt]

I load the 300 rum, and 458 win mag on mine

Halfbreed: Wow. Are you serious? Or is this a "tongue in cheek" reply?:kidding: ???

[Rocky Raab]

It's hard to believe how useful the little booger is until you have one.

I primarily size cast bullets with mine (keeping on topic!)

I use it for bulk bullet pulling chores.

I use it to bulk deprime before cleaning.

I use it for that occasional need to go back and repeat an operation with a previous die - without doing the helical dance with the die in my main press.

I could use it for priming if I didn't use hand units for that.

BTW, I keep mine bolted to a short piece of 2x6 that I can C-clamp almost anywhere. VERY handy.

[462]

awaveritt,

I was going to buy the press/manual combo as an additional press for depriming, repeat operations as Rocky mentioned, and other odd jobs. Instead, I was made an offer on an RCBS JR3 that was too good to pass up. If I ever feel a need for another press, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it.

[lawhetzel]

That is the way I bought my first reloading press -- the inexpensive Reloader press with a Lee manual. I still have and use both. Since then, I have gotten another Reloader press and a turret press. The Reloader press was easily up to the task of full length resizing 30-06 size cases (270 WCF and 35 Whelen for me) with no problem. Though I now use the turret for most reloading, I still regularly use the Reloader presses for bullet sizing, decapping, priming cases with ram-prime, etc. This is an expensive way to start. Look at it this way, if you break it (as some say they have) Lee will replace it.

[autofix4u]

I have 2 and dont know what i would do with out them. Have loaded a couple thousand rds of 06 & 270 (fl sizeing) and several hundrend rds of 06 mil brass to 25-06. i have even formed 7.7 jap from 06 on it with no problems. An it will do belted mag cals (but its a lot of work). I use 2 and a Rcbs RS in line for all my pistol loads.

[markinalpine]

I keep one bolted to my utility bench (as opposed to my main reloading bench) mainly for decapping. The second on is screwed to a 2X4 to clamp next to my turret press for that extra step for which it doesn't have an open die station, or down by my serious single stage press for odd jobs. By all mean buy one.
Mark [smilie=s:
Oh, one more idea. Some people take these presses to the rang to work up loads, with pre-prepped and primed brass, powder, boolits, etc.

[duhbob]

I have 2 also, mounted one foot apart. The right one primes and de-primes and flares and fills cases. The left one seats and crimps.
My handgun reloading round-count Just using them is in the 5,000 range. Someday I might move up to a pro, ...maybe not!

[Halfbreed]

awaveritt, Nope not tongue in cheek. also use it for ram priming, it is very sensitive for my ham hands.
as well as sizing with the Lee sizer.
John

[sqlbullet]

Very useful press to have around as others have said. I keep mine bolted to a 1X4 so I can just clamp it down wherever I need it.

[Nora]

I bought one with the reloading manual a few years ago to use as a range press for load work ups. Fits both in and on my range box well. I've got it attached with blind nuts pounded in from the back side of the lid so I have one less thing to loose. Can't say as I'd want to use it to reform brass to a new chambering, but excluding that it does just fine for all other normal duty work.

Nora

[jonk]

It will do anything a regular press will do. Just takes more elbow grease.

I've even FL sized on their lemon squeezer hand press.

[BLTsandwedge]

+1 for the lemon squeezer. I can enoy my manhattan, catch up on the news and reload a box of 10mm in the living room after work. However, I've never used the lemon squeezer for FL rifle work..................

[bruce drake]

It was my second press after my LEE Hand Press. I gave it to another shooter when he wanted to start reloading. Before I did that I proably reloaded everything from 30-06 down to 32 ACP on it.

I'd recommend it as a starting press for anyone.

Its affordable for anyone to tell if they want to pick up the hobby without chucking out a bank load for a Dillon progressive.

Bruce

[rbuck351]

I have used the lemon squeezer on 300 WM for FL sizing and with good lube it does work. The difference in lube can make a world of difference in pressure required to FL resize larger cases. I would think with good case lube and keeping the press clean and lubed that is should work for a very long time.

[Marlin Hunter]

I use one of those little Lee press's for the Lee Ram Prime, and another one for the Lee Universal case expander.

[Whistler]

I second (or is it third?) attaching it to a bit of wood so you can clamp it.

I sized 1500 boolits in my kitchen yesterday:
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/4427/img0810hf.jpg

[jcwit]

Great little press, I use one all the time, however I use an "O" press for full length resizing. I did break my casting once doing some resizing of 30/06 and missed lubing a couple of cases. Sent the casting in to Lee and explained to them what happened offering fo pay for the new casting, they just sent a new part no charge. Turn around time was less than 2 weeks encluding shipping time.

With all of the above said I believe


+1 for the lemon squeezer. I can enoy my manhattan, catch up on the news and reload a box of 10mm in the living room after work. However, I've never used the lemon squeezer for FL rifle work

drinking and catching up on the news is to much distraction while reloading. It only takes one slip-up and one may have at the least a damaged firearm, at the worst well lets just say its very permanent.

I liken it to texing and/or using the cell while driving in traffic. Not worth what one may have to live with forever.

Just my 2 cents.

[desteve811]

i use mine for sizing my tumble lube bullets.

[Harry O]

I use mine for handgun and small rifle cases. For 30-06 and larger, I use an "O" press. You can size 30-06 with the small one, but you have to lube it up extra heavy and go slow. The small "C"press does spring a bit with the larger cases.

[dakotashooter2]

They are handy but I think I pushed mine to far. After a few years use the ram began to drag and wear on the casting. I tried everthing but there was always that drag. I suspect something "flexed" out of spec so I finally ditched it.

[markinalpine]

They are handy but I think I pushed mine to far. After a few years use the ram began to drag and wear on the casting. I tried everthing but there was always that drag. I suspect something "flexed" out of spec so I finally ditched it.

Lot of good parts there! [smilie=1:
Or you could have returned it to Lee for repair.
Mark :coffeecom

[mdi]

I've only seen pictures of one Lee Reloader press broken. I don't know what the owner was doing with it but it broke the top, threaded section off. Out of all the time I've spent on line in reloading forums, reading reloading magazines and/or books, talked with other reloaders, this is the only time I have heard of a failure. But then some guys can screw up a rock. You won't go wrong getting one.

[markinalpine]

I've only seen pictures of one Lee Reloader press broken. I don't know what the owner was doing with it but it broke the top, threaded section off. Out of all the time I've spent on line in reloading forums, reading reloading magazines and/or books, talked with other reloaders, this is the only time I have heard of a failure. But then some guys can screw up a rock. You won't go wrong getting one.

Another forum where I no longer participate had a posting by one user who complained about his Lee Reloader Press breaking because it was, as he called it, a cheap, flimsy "P.... O. S..."
Anyway, it turned out he was trying to resize a rifle casing, had difficulties, so he installed a 2 foot long cheater bar to give he more leverage.
What a Maroon.

MARK :coffeecom

[DollarBill]

Use mine for 9mm 45 ACP and 22 Hornet loads of all kinds. Works perfect for me. I would like to have something with a little more umpf in it, but it works fine and the loads I get have all gone bang.

Use it to deprime/size, expand and seat/crimp on the handgun loads. Have about 3000 so far. That's a buncha pulls on the handle, and it seems just fine. For the $ they're hard to beat.

Best to all
$Bill

[45-70 Chevroner]

A good little press. It will handle all the little chores and take care of the big ones also. If you full length size large cases be sure to use a good quality case lube. nuf said.

[Echo]

I plan on using mine to load at the range for load development, just seating boolits. I will resize, decap, re-prime, and M-die the cases before carrying it all to the range, and use Little Sweetness just to seat boolits (after charging).

[mpmarty]

I have one that I use frequently to decap as well as being my LEE tumble lube sizing station. I've got an original RCBS rock chucker press that is serving time as an anchor in a box under my bench where my Dillon 550B is mounted. If I ever need to turn a case inside out I'll bring out the rock chucker.

[EMC45]

I use mine for seating checks and Lee sizing. I also have universal de-capping die screwed in it. I loaded a good bit of 230gr. Lee TC 45ACP once just to see if it would do it. It went fine. It is a good press!

[rhead]

What can you do with the little lee press?

Anything you can do with the little Lyman or RCBS it id just eaiser to move around and takes up less space. You will have the problem of deciding what to buy with the money you save.

[JIMinPHX]

It's an easy press to use. It has good access because it's so open in the front. It has no problem with calibers like .38spl, .45acp & .223. It cries a little when full length sizing 7.62 x 54 cases that were fired in a loose old military chamber. It holds up OK to punching .30 cal aluminum gas checks, but I would expect it to break if I used it for punching copper gas checks on a regular basis.

[pistolman44]

This is one of 3 lee presses I have on my bench. I mainly use this for deprimeing cases before they go into the tumbler. Also use it to lube my cast pan lubed boolits. I use this with my challenger press to load my 45 Auto rim caliber because Lee doesn't make a shell plate for my Lee Loadmaster in this caliber. I have been using Lee Products for a very long time.