Lee presses and kits, any good ?

I have the Lee Loadmaster, use it for pistol rounds (9mm and 40 S&W), and the big red Lee Classic cast press that is used for all my rifle rounds (.223 and .308 so far). The Loadmaster can be a bit of a pain with primers but for the most part it works well. I don't use the case feeder on the Loadmaster, I put in the cases one at a time after I inspect them.
 
I looked into upgrading my loadmaster to the new Dillon 750 but it would cost a small fortune to buy the turrets for the dies plus replace all the shell plates, not to mention the cost of the press itself
I have all my dies preset on turrets on my loadmaster so it’s easy to switch calibers
 
dan belisle said:
I've used Lee, Dillon, Lyman and RCBS. I've got a near 40 year old lee turret press still churning out good quality reloads. Only reason to go to one of the other progressives is output speed in my eyes. - dan
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I'm with Dan although my Lee Turret is only 25 years old or so. It still loads ALL of my straightwalled cartridges like .357, .44, 45-70, etc, as well as for my 30-30. I also have turrets set up for .223, .308, and .300WM although I have switched over to a Redding T7 Turret for reloading of most of my bottleneck rifle cartridges. More stations for more dies that are set up and ready to go. I also have a Lee Classic Cast to take the beating when resizing larger cases or pulling bullets. Lee stuff gets the job done.
 
Primer feed on the Lee Loadmaster was a big disappointment, It is a 9mm unit. I am getting rid of it and using the Dillon 650 for everything now. Other Lee equipment is fine, ie dies and primer tools that I use.
 
I have three Lee presses set up currently. A Classic Turret for most rifle cartridges, a Pro1000 for 45acp, 9mm, 38special, and a Loadmaster for high volume rifle, ei 308, 30-06, 8mm, and 303brit. All of them work. But there is a learning curve to the progressives.

I currently load for about 30 different chamberings. All said, I think the Classic Turret is a great starting point. You can use it as a single stage, and then as a turret.
 
I can attest, Lee Classic Cast is a beast.

Edit:

I should have been specific, I own the Lee Classic Cast single stage press.
For large volume work, I use the Hornady LNL AP.
For the dirty work, decapping, I use the RCBS Partner press.
For 12ga shells, I use the Russian stuff.
 
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I have not read all 6 pages of replies. So my apologies if this is a repeat or you already made up your mind.

If you get a good Lee unit then it will stay good. If, like I did, you get one of their single stage presses where the ram axis of travel does not line up with the center of the die holding bore than it's a poor example of scrap metal.

In my case the press came in a box of free stuff so I didn't have an excuse to return it. And I'm openly willing to admit that perhaps it was abused by a previous owner in some manner. And from the size of the castings likely BADLY abused even if it didn't leave any bite marks. But either way after fighting with it for a little while I set up some machinist's dial gauges and straight edges and quickly found that it was slightly bent by enough to make a big difference.

So if you buy Lee there is a bit of a gamble. Not much, I think they honestly do a great job for the price point. But just check everything and assume nothing until checked.
 
Brewster20 said:
I am looking into reloading, but on a small scale. I shoot .380 ACP, & .226 Rem. I am mainly interested in loading for accuracy, not quantity.
I have been down the "expensive" press route when I was in handgun competitions, (Dillon, Hornady LnL, etc). Got rid of all my reloading stuff years ago. Now, I might take it up again, but on a smaller scale. Looking at the Lee presses and kits (I think a kit is the best bang for the buck!) their prices seem very reasonable, but is the quality there ? I would probably change out the scale, I prefer electronic, but otherwise go with a kit.
Thanks
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The kit is a good deal for your intended usage. I would probably change out the scale at some point.
 
I use both - a BONANZA that I got years ago down in the states ( that's pacific/Hornady for those that don't know) and a cheapie electronis that I got off of e-bay for 20 bucks- electronic- I was really p*ssed when my Ohas 1010 BEAM BROKE and try as I might I couldn't repair it- turned out the beam is made of POT METAL and was expensive as hell- you're REALLY paying for the name - then I wised up and got the cheapest scale I could find- at the white elephant in Spokane- 10 bucks - now what SHOULD have happened was the ohas should have been able to crazy glue the pointer back on and re-zero but it wouldn't take anyway, I so ticked off that I bought the bonanza- oh and I don't use the wheels that come from lee either- I have adjustable powder bars that drop right in I got from somewhere
 
I have had quite a few lee presses and products, and have never had any real issues. I had a case feed tube broken on my lee 1000 when it arrived and they sent me a replacement ASAP, no hassle.
It’s extremely good quality for the money and I feel they are responsible for getting a lot of people into hand loading that would otherwise be SOL. I know I couldn’t justify buying rcbs when I started...

If your a small volume loader, there is absolutely nothing wrong with lee products. I probably use my lee hand press more than any other since I can load anywhere...
 
jethunter said:
The kit is a good deal for your intended usage. I would probably change out the scale at some point.
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The lee scales work, but are not the best...

I bought one of the hornady digital pocket scales and have been very happy with it. I think I got it on evil bay for 20$
 
I started reloading with the Lee anniversary kit. I still have the single stage press and hand primer, but upgraded the scale right away.
Most of my reloading is done on blue presses now but I still use the Lee dies and hand press for small batches or test loads.
The lee hand press is also good tool for de-capping brass while watching TV.
 
I like a lot of Lee products, but the kits are a mix of ok and not ok stuff. Classic cast and cast turret are good presses. I like their dies as well, but opinions vary on those. My bench is a mix of red, green and blue and they all have their place.
 
I have the Lee Classic Cast press & also an RCBS Rockchucker. Both are good presses but I find I use the Lee more. I also had a a Lee Classic turret that I used for handgun loading. I no longer reload for handgun & sold it to a friend in our club & he appears to be very pleased with his purchase.

As far as dies, I have different brands, Lee, RCBS, Lyman, Redding, Hornady & Forster. They all work fine & do the job I expect of them.

I do agree that some of the Lee lower priced products do leave something to be desired eg: the Lee Safety scale & their hand primer tool. That said I am sure that many reloader's got their start with Lee equipment as it was affordable & once they gained experience they were able to upgrade as required.
 
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