All the good things about Lee Presition

[Harter66]

I've several moulds w/no real complaints. I don't care for the"unbreakable" decapping pin in the 308 set as it broke ,but I needed a custom expander ball anyway. The 6.8 Dies are a little to tight in the seating die but all else is great. The pistol dies work as well as any.
I had a press ,3 hole turret,I just ddidn't care for it the next guy has used it a lot in the last 6 years.

[Sasquatch-1]

Yeah, we broke a decapping pin in an RCBS .308 die and emailed them. They sent a 5 pack for free.
When I buy a new single stage press, it will most likely be a Rockchucker. I got this Lee for $35 at a gun show, so no complaints. I actually prefer to deprime on it because the spent primer collection is superior IMO. They're certainly not built like RCBS though.

For $35.00 you can't go wrong.

[garym1a2]

I like the lee 6 cavity molds, I have 9mm, 40 and two 45;s All of them are very fast and make good boolits. Love the melter casting pot.
The hand press is great to have one, classic cast and classic cast turrents are good presses. I like their dies and push thru sizers also, the autodisc powder measure works well and the perfect powder measure is better than ones costing much more.

I can not compete a Lee thread without saying "LOADMASTER STINKS!"

[geargnasher]

Thank you, Lee Precision for making affordable things that I can buy duplicates of cheaply and save time. Thank you for making so many of your die and press products like Legos where I can mix and match and swap parts around as needed for special applications. (Anybody else cuss the three different thread sizes RCBS has used on their sizing dies?) I love the fact that all I have to do to load four pistol calibers is top off the press I want to use with powder and primers, dump in brass and start pulling the handle. Couldn't afford four Dillons. When I want to load rifle, I just grab a loaded, set-up turret head and plunk it into the Classic Turret press, either the 4-hole or the custom 3-hole Classic I made from extra parts. Anything that gives me more time to do what I want, when I want it, is A+ in my book.

Sometimes you need the very best, and Lee is it.

Sometimes you need something that ONLY Lee has thought of and produced.

Sometimes they aren't the best choice, or even an acceptable choice for a particular tool. Nobody's perfect.

Sometimes you just need the correct thing, and Lee makes it cheap so you can buy two extras and still save money.

I have all colors on my benches, but by far the best VALUE, all things considered, has come from LEE products.

Gear

[Arkansas Paul]

Just got an email from them about my press. They want me to take a photo of the broken toggle linkage and email it to them.
Doing that tonight. We'll see how it goes.
They responded very fast. Pleased so far. This is the first time I've had to use customer service with anyone for equipment related things.

[nekshot]

for 30 years all reloading stuff I brought home was in green containers, then I found Lee and now its mostly Lee. For molds I love them. I really clean them and use a scribe on all corners and cast real hot at first and all of them settle down to throwing nice boolits plus if I feel creative and want to try change profile or eliminate gas check, I can do one cavity and if I mess up I still have a good one left. I like the metal molds also but Lee's always work for me. Thank you Mr. Lee for thinking of the small guy!

[Arkansas Paul]

Well, I heard back from Lee. It is going to cost me some money. Not a lot, but it will cost me.
Here was their reply when I sent in a picture.

Paul:

The press you have is not the Breech Lock Challenger Press, it is the original Challenger Press. Unfortunately the press was discontinued in 2006 and the Toggles (the part that goes from the Ram to the Lever) are no longer available. You are able to update the Toggle system with the newer style currently found on the Breech Lock Challenger Press. The parts needed to do this are as follows:

(1) OF3221 - Ram Pin - http://leeprecision.com/ram-pin-step.html [1]
(1) OF3613 - Lever Clamp - http://leeprecision.com/Press-Lever-Clamp.html [2]
(1) OF3609 - Washer - http://leeprecision.com/1-3-16-steel-washer.html [3]
(1) FO2113 - Bolt - http://leeprecision.com/1-1-4-5-16-18-bolt.html [4]
(2) OF2853 - Toggles - http://leeprecision.com/bl-challenger-toggle.html [5]

Total $15.50 + shipping

Not exactly RCBS or Dillon quality customer service, but I still did well for $35. That plus the parts to convert to the Breechlock equipment, I'm still in it for $50, so I still got a fair deal I think.
You do get a better warranty with the other companies such as RCBS, no doubt about it.

[sparky45]

Kinda off the OP's topic, but has anybody else had trouble accessing www.loadmastervideos dot com ? I haven't been able for a couple of days now. Darwin's a good guy and runs a good (valuable) site, I hope all is well.

[Sasquatch-1]

Well, I heard back from Lee. It is going to cost me some money. Not a lot, but it will cost me.
Here was their reply when I sent in a picture.



Not exactly RCBS or Dillon quality customer service, but I still did well for $35. That plus the parts to convert to the Breechlock equipment, I'm still in it for $50, so I still got a fair deal I think.
You do get a better warranty with the other companies such as RCBS, no doubt about it.

I recently order a new heat coil and liner for my 10lb drip-o-matic that I have had for 35 years. Even though I paid for the parts I will give Lee "Cuddos"(sp) for not being like some other companies who will gouge you on shipping. It was under $4.00 and the parts I order were about $20.00. cheap pot cheap repair back working in less then a week.

[sparky45]

I've had like experiences with their De-capping Rods. Break them and they replace them.

[plainsman456]

I own some of their older molds and they work.

As for their dies i own several and i have no complaints,everything works....


SO FAR.

[Cowboy T]

Lee made casting affordable for me. Their 6-cavity moulds and handles, the Pro 4-20 pot, at affordable prices? I was all over that. One of 'em's even a custom Keith 357 mould. The only moulds I have that aren't from Lee Precision are from MiHec.

And my reloading instruction videos will speak my personal opinion of Lee's presses (check the sig).

So, why do people bash Lee? I've found that the bashers usually own Dillon progressive presses, which are very good, but they do cost a lot of money. It's sort of like how Apple Mac users like to turn up their noses at non-Apple users. You know, Ford/Chevy/Dodge. I use Lee's gear and will continue to use it because it does the job.

Now, if only they would make a "CLASSIC PRO 1000" progressive press...!

[tomf52]

Sasquatch-1 said "Not to knock Lee, But RCBS would probably asked for your address and had the part out by the end of buisiness the next day. "

Rcbs can afford to do that because when you buy their products you are paying for three or four of the item up front. Lee is judicious in their warranty awards to keep their original cost to the consumer low.

[sparky45]

Rcbs can afford to do that because when you buy their products you are paying for three or four of the item up front. Lee is judicious in their warranty awards to keep their original cost to the consumer low.[/QUOTE]


Well, if you are right, then that isn't much of a warranty. I've noticed that when stuff breaks and it's Lee's stuff, users say "you must of used it wrong or with excessive force" whereas with Dillon, RCBS ect. it's we'll get it right out to you, no questions asked. That's what I like.

[Sasquatch-1]

Sasquatch-1 said "Not to knock Lee, But RCBS would probably asked for your address and had the part out by the end of buisiness the next day. "

Rcbs can afford to do that because when you buy their products you are paying for three or four of the item up front. Lee is judicious in their warranty awards to keep their original cost to the consumer low.

If you noticed in that same post, I stated that the price to repair my Lee 10 pounder was very reasonable and that the pot lasted for 35 years before needing any repair. It is not that I am bashing Lee, I just prefere RCBS presses and the way they respond to any claims.

[Raven_Darkcloud]

Call it a drip-o-matic all you want, my lee pot works great. I just wish I had gotten the 6 cav mold. I like my lee reloading dies and breachlock challanger press. The lee boolet sizing die, well only about 80% happy with it. For what it is worth lee equipment is worth the price and some times more.

[rbuck351]

I have all sorts of stuff on my bench from dillon to lee. Some of Lee stuff is very good. I like their dies and their 6 cav mold are good. The 2 cavs can be made good with a little effort. I really like the Lee case trimmer set up. I set the case holder in my lathe and can trim a bunch of cases the sane length in a hurry. I finally had a problem with a set of dies in 30/30. The decapper slid and didn't push out the primer so I checked the case to see if something had gotten in the case but nothing there. I tightened the decapper and tried again. It slid again but started the primer out. I really tightened the decapper rod and it still slid without removing the primer. I tried to loosen the decapper rod to remove it for inspection and the tightening collet twisted off. I then removed the primer with a set of RCBS 30 rem dies without effort. This is the only problem I have had with Lee stuff and I'm still not sure why this happened. I guess I'll get a new collet and see what happens. Still like a lot of the Lee stuff and still don't like some.

[DougGuy]

Not only is their equipment a good value, they also have made some innovations in the industry as well.
I mean, the powder through expanding die for handgun stuff. Why doesn't everybody do that? That's awesome. Maybe their patent hasn't expired. I can't imagine no one else copying that.

I heard that Dillon paid Lee for the rights to use their auto powder measure design for their powder drop die and powder measure.

The Load Master press itself is pretty convincing, as long as you don't try and run everything at once on it. Maybe small pistol calibers you could, but .45 Colt is a big case, and it takes a LOT of effort to resize it, seat primers, boolits, and crimp. You need the arms of Mike Tyson to use it in a full progressive mode on large pistol ammo.

For .45 Colt, I have always liked their crimp dies, I think the resizing die squashes the sh!t out of the case and it's tighter than necessary but I learned a trick with that. Use the universal decapper instead of the recommended sizing/decapping die, then take a Factory Crimp die apart and use the die body for a sizing die in the priming station. What that does is take half the effort to resize the case, and it doesn't wasp-waist it, and it will serve as a guide to hold the case in perfect alignment for the primer seating part of it. Works great!

I use their roll crimp/bullet seating die to seat the bullet and remove the flare at the neck from the expander, then I crimp with the uncataloged collet type factory crimp die. 3 crimp dies in one operation? Yep, works very nicely. Oh yeah I did modify the collet crimp die, I shortened the crimp ring to narrow the crimp band on the case mouth, and I shortened the bottom of the collet to bring the crimp band down just slightly below the case mouth, it now looks like Buffalo Bore crimped it

Also I cannot recommend priming on the press while using a crimp die that the shell holder activates such as the collet die, you can easily have a situation where that crimp die prevents the primer from seating fully. The Load Master's priming function is GREAT when you use a die as mentioned to hold the case for priming, and set the press up to *just* prime cases, and kick them out the side, then take the primer feed completely off and run it in progressive stages using the primed brass.

Their newer powder measures have issues. Bad issues. Mine throws powder all over the place, is staticy as all hell, very hard to get consistent charges, and the rubber insert is all torn up, with less than 100rds on it. I have since backed up and punted, ordering a Dillon powder measure with their die and powder funnel. I had an old auto-disk setup with an adjustable charge bar that was really good, this new one is a ***.

Other than learning to prime as a dedicated single function, and getting a better powder measure, it works good enough for what it cost me.

[Mark Daiute]

The old Lee hand priming tool is great, the new one is not good. Broke both clear tray tops, at least 1/4th the primers flip sideways or upside down. Had the last straw and threw it in the garbage. My old one still works great.

The rest of my Lee stuff is very good and cast and loaded many thousands of rounds.

me too. the new hand priming tool was literally unusable. it popped primers all over the place but in the case. their dies have been great and my 405 hb mould owes me nothing. I'm sorry to see virtually every item "out of stock" on their web site

[Texantothecore]

I heard that Dillon paid Lee for the rights to use their auto powder measure design for their powder drop die and powder measure.

The Load Master press itself is pretty convincing, as long as you don't try and run everything at once on it. Maybe small pistol calibers you could, but .45 Colt is a big case, and it takes a LOT of effort to resize it, seat primers, boolits, and crimp. You need the arms of Mike Tyson to use it in a full progressive mode on large pistol ammo.

For .45 Colt, I have always liked their crimp dies, I think the resizing die squashes the sh!t out of the case and it's tighter than necessary but I learned a trick with that. Use the universal decapper instead of the recommended sizing/decapping die, then take a Factory Crimp die apart and use the die body for a sizing die in the priming station. What that does is take half the effort to resize the case, and it doesn't wasp-waist it, and it will serve as a guide to hold the case in perfect alignment for the primer seating part of it. Works great!

I use their roll crimp/bullet seating die to seat the bullet and remove the flare at the neck from the expander, then I crimp with the uncataloged collet type factory crimp die. 3 crimp dies in one operation? Yep, works very nicely. Oh yeah I did modify the collet crimp die, I shortened the crimp ring to narrow the crimp band on the case mouth, and I shortened the bottom of the collet to bring the crimp band down just slightly below the case mouth, it now looks like Buffalo Bore crimped it

Also I cannot recommend priming on the press while using a crimp die that the shell holder activates such as the collet die, you can easily have a situation where that crimp die prevents the primer from seating fully. The Load Master's priming function is GREAT when you use a die as mentioned to hold the case for priming, and set the press up to *just* prime cases, and kick them out the side, then take the primer feed completely off and run it in progressive stages using the primed brass.

Their newer powder measures have issues. Bad issues. Mine throws powder all over the place, is staticy as all hell, very hard to get consistent charges, and the rubber insert is all torn up, with less than 100rds on it. I have since backed up and punted, ordering a Dillon powder measure with their die and powder funnel. I had an old auto-disk setup with an adjustable charge bar that was really good, this new one is a ***.

Other than learning to prime as a dedicated single function, and getting a better powder measure, it works good enough for what it cost me.

A lot of what you think is Dillon or Rcbs or Lyman technologly is actually licensed from Lee. There have been some lawsuits over the years and Lee has one them every time.

John and Richard Lee are far more important to the industry than most people know. Both of them are darned good engineers to boot.