I think LEE DIES ARE GREAT. Sound off on your experiences.
- Thread starter sgt.rock
- Start date
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
I agree that getting a shell holder with a die set is convenient, and a minimal cost to the manufacturer, but how many shell holders does one need if say you load for .22-250, 6mm Remington, .25-06, .260 Remington, .270 Winchester, 7X57 .280 Remington, .308, .30/06, .35 Whelen, and/or 9.3X62 among others. I like to have two for each cartridge head size, one for the press and one for my bench mounted priming tool, but more than two shell holders doesn't appear to have much benefit.
Since they became available I've thought that a set of Lee dippers was an economical convenience when a small number of rounds was being made up. But how accurate are they really? The should be alright with ball powder that flows like water, but what about extruded powder? When I made up a handloading set for a fellow, so I wouldn't have to continue making ammo for him, it included a .308 Winchester Lee Loader, his bullets, brass, primers, a pound of IMR 3031, and a Lee dipper that I thought might be better balanced for him than the one that came with the Lee Loader. But I was concerned with how accurate the dipper could be, and wondered if a fellow got careless if he could get himself into trouble. So using the 2.8 CC dipper, I weighed 10 charges of 3031 in two different ways, struck with a card as per the instructions in the Lee Manual, and heaping.
Heaping the Average Weight was 37.9 grs per charge, the Extreme Spread was .9 gr, and the Standard Deviation was.29 gr.
Struck with the card, the charges were quite a bit lighter, with an Average Weight of 34.7 gr Extreme Spread of .7 grs and Standard Deviation of .19 gr.
Provided one does not alternately strike and heap the powder charge in the dipper, the results can be fairly consistent, and the use heaped or struck provides you with two different powder charges. However, if carelessness allowed a heaped charge to get by when you intended all to be struck, it would potentially be a serious overload.
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I weigh each round I do before I charge the case. I use the lee dipper closest in weight to the one I want to achieve, then trickle the rest into the pan. It is time consuming, but it works for me. I usually find one (or a combination of 2 smaller ones) that will hit close to the charge I want. It does speed up things If you weigh each charge and don't use a powder throw.
Re-read the set up instruction's, you might have missed something.Take the top off the seating plug and look for a burr or a piece of crap in there.
I use then extensively, but not exclusively. I don't consider them the "best", but they are innovative in quite a number of ways, offer a wide selection and still have a "custom" option available, and are inexpensive and widely available.
A real leader and friend to the reloading community.
A real leader and friend to the reloading community.
I have been reloading and casting for over 45 years. This is what I do and I don't make any apologies for it. I don't own a cottage or go on any fancy cruises. I perfer to go to the range My wife of 38 years thinks I have a one track mind. Who is she to talk; I met her through a friend at the club and our first date was at the club.
Having said the above; so you know where I am coming from. I have at one time used everything out there including "custom dies and molds". Time and time again the Lee will come out on top of the performance heap. This includes there moulds over $250.00 custom one's that I have ordered .
People get into trouble because they do not follow instructions and they do not set there equipment up properly;so they get poor results and the equipment gets blamed.
I have a very high opinion of Lee Precision Equipment. A lousy mechanic will always blame his tools.
Having said the above; so you know where I am coming from. I have at one time used everything out there including "custom dies and molds". Time and time again the Lee will come out on top of the performance heap. This includes there moulds over $250.00 custom one's that I have ordered .
People get into trouble because they do not follow instructions and they do not set there equipment up properly;so they get poor results and the equipment gets blamed.
I have a very high opinion of Lee Precision Equipment. A lousy mechanic will always blame his tools.
I recently bought a set of Redding Custom Competition dies which cost over $300 out the door including 2 neck bushings.
I have had some issues with seating depth inconsistencies which I have not had with my $40 Lee dies.
Time will tell if I will buy another set of Redding Competition dies.
I'm not saying that Lee dies are better than my Redding dies but they are certainly a better value.
I own dies by Hornady which I prefer in my LnL AP progressive press because they have longer threads.
I own some RCBS dies which also work well but for the most part I own ales dies and I will continue to purchase them.
I have had some issues with seating depth inconsistencies which I have not had with my $40 Lee dies.
Time will tell if I will buy another set of Redding Competition dies.
I'm not saying that Lee dies are better than my Redding dies but they are certainly a better value.
I own dies by Hornady which I prefer in my LnL AP progressive press because they have longer threads.
I own some RCBS dies which also work well but for the most part I own ales dies and I will continue to purchase them.
I've only been playing the handloaders' game for 3 years at best. One of my coworkers / shooting pals that got me into reloading couldn't say enough about Lee 4 Die pistol sets. After running .45 ACP and .44 Mag dies on my Hornady Lock n Load AP for the past 2-3 years, I'm sold. The factory crimp dies are extremely convenient if you're a fan of separate seating and crimping and the sizer and FCP dies use carbide inserts (pretty awesome when you factor the price point that Lee die sets sell in.)
Lee's universal decapping die should almost be a mandatory purchase for reloading; I can't count how many times mine came in handy.
The only other dies by Lee I've tried are Rifle factory crimp dies in .30-06 and .223. Can't comment on what accuracy benefits they give; I mostly use them as insurance for reducing bullet walk / set back in my Garand and AR15 (bullet pulling certainly took longer.)
One thing I don't use from Lee dies is there O-ring lock rings; I run Lock n Load bushings on my AP and converted rock chucker single stage and find that Hornady lock rings serve me better (doesn't mean they won't work, just my preference.)
Lee's universal decapping die should almost be a mandatory purchase for reloading; I can't count how many times mine came in handy.
The only other dies by Lee I've tried are Rifle factory crimp dies in .30-06 and .223. Can't comment on what accuracy benefits they give; I mostly use them as insurance for reducing bullet walk / set back in my Garand and AR15 (bullet pulling certainly took longer.)
One thing I don't use from Lee dies is there O-ring lock rings; I run Lock n Load bushings on my AP and converted rock chucker single stage and find that Hornady lock rings serve me better (doesn't mean they won't work, just my preference.)
- Location
- Hafford Sk.
Generally my experience with Lee reloading gear is that it is inexpensive (as opposed to cheap) and works well with the following caveat. Their Loadfast Progressive press was and is a total and I mean a total piece of crap. I never could get it to function properly so it has sat on my bench unwanted and unloved for a couple of decades. By contrast, my Lee Loadall has loaded my shotshells for more than 30 years. My only other negative experience with Lee is a defective 7 Remington Mag die I purchased on EE. Other than that all of the products I used performed flawlessly. I would recommend Lee products unreservedly.
- Location
- West Quebec
Just bought my fourth deluxe set no fears...
Well so far, this thread has been living up to my expectations. 2 out of 3 people love Lee dies. You NEVER see them in print in any of the gun magazines. Makes you wonder....... Do RCBS , REDDING, HORNADY etc just grease the palms of the gun writers, while poor ol' Richard Lee just plugs along making money and good products, while enduring the mockery of many in the industry ? I know that gun magazines are VERY biased and unobjective, but since Lee does make a good product, you'd think they would throw them a bone once in a while. It is never among the internet chatter with most forums, and most reloaders I talk to don't say the word "Lee" often.
I just always wondered what a "real world" evaluation of Lee's products would bring. Pretty decent if you ask me.
I just always wondered what a "real world" evaluation of Lee's products would bring. Pretty decent if you ask me.
Armored Metal
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- The People's Republik of Kébekistan
What calibre?
