Lee Challenger Press cracked

$12 later and a new part on the way from the Lee website (part was $5 shipping and 35% export fe was $7). Winter is to dark and boring to not be re-loading. For $12 who cares. I figure the part would have cost about $7 bucks to send away so I wasted $5 to get the part faster. Thanks to you guys for your direction on this one. If I would have known the part was available for five bucks I never would have started this thread. I thought I would have to get a whole new press. So I am happy..... as long as it does not take 90 days to get here :)
 
Still would be nice to know if they are willing to ship you a free replacement part based on the picture and explaination. You mind updating the post when you get a responce just to help us guage the customer service you get?
Some companies won't unless you ship the part in, to avoid you sharing the pic and all your buddies claiming a free part too.
Did you end up ordering off factory direct or off the Lee site itself?
 
20 years or so ago I was given a press with that exact break. It was at least 10 years old and had already loaded several thousand cast rounds before it broke. The owner put it on a shelf and when I was talking about still using my Lee loader, gave me that. It has since loaded thousands of .303 and .30-06 rounds without a hitch.
Two years ago, I was neck-sizing some '06 cases on my turret press and my wife wanted to try. Unfortunately, she ran the case up, then withdrew it part way, then tried again. This closed the mandrel. When I tried to force it, it broke the top of the press out. I called Lee they asked me to send the part, the die, and the case. I decided to send the cam from my old challenger as well. Included that in the note. 10 days later, I had my all my
new parts and an explanation of what had happened to the die and how to avoid it again.
Say what you may, Lee stands behind their stuff, that challenger press has to be 30 years old at least, and they replaced without a question. And it will still load great ammo.
 
Lee needs to address that particular problem with those presses. Seems to be a regular occurrence. I had one break the same way.

Other then that I have used lots of different Lee offerings over the years with ZERO problems. Any blanket statement referring to all Lee product as "junk" are usually the empty musings of an equipment snob.


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Funny how the Lee bashers are so quick to jump in with glee, gloating like little kids, when somebody posts anything about a Lee problem.

Boys, problems are what warranties are for. Lee warranties their products, inexpensive as they may be. I lent my buddies a couple of Lee bullet and slug molds. They broke some parts, emailed Lee and received polite and pleasant replies with explanations of how to avoid future problems. No question regarding ownership of the Lee product to begin with. Parts were sent free and very promptly.

What is surprising is that they didn't even have to threaten Lee with a class action suit to get great service.:D

Name a brand that never breaks.

I had one Lee mold where a $6 part broke. Ordered the part together with a bunch of other molds and stuff. Didn't bother them for any warranty cos I'm a big boy who doesn't cry over the little stuff.
 
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There is no question that some of the Lee stuff isn't quite the quality that other brands are but then look at the prices! There is also no doubt that Lee prices have meant that thousands of people got into reloading who would not have been able to afford to otherwise. The more active shooters out there the better off we all are in the long run. And that said they stand by their product as well as anyone with great warranty service that goes well beyond the stated time limits.

For ordering Lee products or bits and parts I've had great success with Higginsons Powder.
They have always had everything I need in stock and you aren't hit for the 35% export fee. Had a box in the mail yesterday delivered in under a week.
 
My press is an ancient Rockchucker and I cannot begin to count how many rounds it's made for me. That said, I'm using some Lee equipment and have no complaints. As noted above, Lee stuff is generally cheaper and they do have a good warranty.

As to the suggestion to mail the part to them, why? The problem was perfectly clear in the photo. One trip by Canada Post vs one there and one back.
 
kevguy said:
I think that Lee reloading equipment is junk. You can't go wrong with a Rockchucker.
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Not necessarily so with later editions of Republic of China Built Stuff. It breaks too leaving you with nothing to brag about but the warranty. Cracked yokes, apparently, are their specialty ;).
 
HKMark23 said:
Not necessarily so with later editions of Republic of China Built Stuff. It breaks too leaving you with nothing to brag about but the warranty. Cracked yokes, apparently, are their specialty ;).
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And on the newer press's the ram has excessive slop.
I've read that the new little press of their's has "made in china" cast right into it.
There was a big thread on this on Cast Boolit's.
That part is built to fail.It's the first step in dealing with excessive pressure or fatigue. Same with te hollow handle on the press.Ment to bend instead od cracking the press.
 
Kevan said:
. Any blanket statement referring to all Lee product as "junk" are usually the empty musings of an equipment snob.
( quote )


:agree:
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What it comes down to IMO is that no single company has the market cornered on "all that is good about reloading". Who hasn't got a specialty die or two from Lee or RCBS or Lyman, regardless of which popular brand of press they use. The Lee hand priming tool is an institution in itself (I made that up :D).

Take a look at some of the shop pictures posted on CGN by guys who've been at it awhile and you'll often see more than one brand of press for gosh sakes. Correct me if I'm wrong but I do believe Dillon is the only outfit making a non standardized press of any sort. Every other brand is mix and match and we're all better off for it. The "Pee on Lee" club needs to check their inventories. Might find a FCD or two in some of those die drawers ;).
 
I just checked mine out and its broken in the same spot. I've suspected the press is contributing to a concentricity problem and I think I finally figured it out. The stupid quick attach bushing or whatever its called that you thread a die into, then thread that into the press :bangHead: If you check it out you'll notice that the whole thing rocks back and forth. This is the last piece of my kit that I have left and its now going in the trash.
 
A press does not need, nor should it have extra "bushings", or other things that can cause "slop", which will lead to concentricity issues, that's why i don't even like a fixed shellholder feeding a case into a fixed die. The most accurate methods either float the case with the die(Wilson hand dies) or with the press(Forster Co-ax).
If the bushings used in these presses are aluminum and feel snug when first installed, they will not stay that way and you'll get the inevitable "slop".
 
madpat said:
Still would be nice to know if they are willing to ship you a free replacement part based on the picture and explaination. You mind updating the post when you get a responce just to help us guage the customer service you get?
Some companies won't unless you ship the part in, to avoid you sharing the pic and all your buddies claiming a free part too.
Did you end up ordering off factory direct or off the Lee site itself?
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I did order the part off the lee site. Also I will update this thread so others can guage LEE customer service. I recieved 2 e-mails from them today now 24 hours later as follows......

1)Thank you for contacting Lee Precision. This is an automated response confirming the receipt of your inquiry. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 7:30am to 3:45pm CST. Please allow up to 48 hours for a response during our hours of operation. For your records, the details of the ticket are listed below. When replying, please make sure that the ticket ID is kept in the subject line to ensure that your replies are tracked appropriately.

2)Please upload a picture, so we can get you the correct replacement parts.

Thanks,
Andy

Andy

Lee Precision, Inc.
4275 Highway U
Hartford, WI 53027
phone: 262-673-3075

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So I re-sent a picture of the broken part via e-mail. I will keep you all updated.
 
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