I have had the same press for 20yrs. It was used for who knows how many years when I bought it. There is nothing wrong with any of the Lee Presses, no matter what anyone on here tries to say. Everyone on here touts the Rock Chucker as better than any Lee press. It isn't!!
I can absolutely guarantee that the Lee Classic Cast Presses are built heavier than the Rock Chucker. I have both of them and the Lee Classic Cast Press was still less expensive than a new Rock Chucker.
Most people buy the Lee presses because of their value. And they certainly give you that. But they buy the low end cast aluminum presses that Lee offers. Again, there is nothing wrong with these presses, I have owned 2 Challengers and a turret press for almost 30 years. I traded something for my first Challenger press (up until then I was using a Lee Loader). It was used and had that toggle cracked enough that the handle would not tighten, I taped the handle up so it would not slip and used it for 15 years on everything from 7.62x39mm to .300WM before I broke down and bought the Anniversary Kit and put that press away while I used the new Challenger. It never failed to produce ammo for me. Because it was cracked, my first wife thought I needed a new press, so she found a used (barely) Rock Chucker still in the box at a local gun shop and arranged to buy it. With efforts from her family members, I received that press for Christmas that year. I still have it but use it strictly for pulling bullets from milsurp ammo (I also use it to break the seal on the same ammo first) I find the press just too much for what I am doing and the stroke is longer than the Challenger or the turret.
A few years ago, I was neck sizing some .30-06 cases and was partially through the stroke when my current wife came to the door of the "man-cave" and asked if she could come in. I stopped what I was doing, dealt with whatever she needed, but forgot where I had been in my process. I tried to raise the case again, but something blocked it, I couldn't get the case to go up. I put an increasing amount of force on the handle until the top of the press popped off with a very loud crack (I am 225lbs). I had broken the top of the turret clean off of the press. The mouth and neck of the case had been crushed down into the shoulder. I called Lee Precision, emailed pics, and I was told to send the turret, turret holder, die, the crushed case, and a serviceable case to them. They would check out the die to see why it did what it did, and replace the turret holder free of charge. While I was boxing this up, I decided to add the toggle from my old Challenger and added a note along with it indicating that this was a second hand press and simply bill me for the piece. I received a new, steel toggle for the Challenger, new turret holder, new turret head, instructions on how to use the collet die, a perfectly neck re-sized case...all for free.
A year ago last spring, I finally got to see a Classic Cast single stage press. I must have drooled over it a bit since my wife commented on it and asked if I wanted one. I said, "Nope, but from the way this was built, I would love to see a Classic Cast Turret press." Got to see one in Calgary on a trip down. Definitely beefier than the one I had. She decided to order me a press from Wholesale Sports for Christmas. When I opened it up, I guess my excitement was not what she had expected. She had ordered me a Classic Cast single stage press. I gotta tell you, this is built way beefier than my Rock Chucker any day. I explained that I had wanted a Turret press. She felt bad and told me to order the one I wanted. No one had it locally, so I ordered from Higginson's (I added a powder order since I was ordering). When she checked into returning the single stage, it wasn't worth it just for the postage and hassle so she told me to keep it as well. Merry Christmas!! Now I have presses that I will NEVER wear out in my children's lifetimes and the cast aluminium ones to hand to my youngest son to get him started when he finally gets a place that will allow him an area to do so.
Now a case in point here. A new Rock Chucker costs $210 at Cabela's, while a new Classic Cast single stage press costs $125 (one that Lee uses for .50 BMG reloading kit). It is a BETTER press and (anyone wanting to dispute that can come to my place and see them and use them side by side) lets you spend money ($85) on dies and other gear you need. THAT press has the Rock Chucker beat ALL to he!! and gone. It is built for 1 1/4"x 12 dies as well as has an adaptor for 7/8"x14 dies, It has a 1 1/8" ram that is drilled out to allow primers to fall through it. Note that only after 30 years of reloading have I moved into this end of Lee products. Everything I ever needed as a hunter (NOT a competitive shooter, but as a hunter requiring the smallest groups possible for my hunting) has been built on a Lee press. Not all of my stuff is Lee, like most I have a fair blend of colours on my bench, but more often than not, Lee gear serves my purposes, especially the expense outlay.
As one person stated here, "Buy once, cry once", I have never cried about the Lee stuff I had, I have used almost all of their products (I do NOT like their powder measure or their scale, but others love them) and they can be used to turn out very accurate ammo at half the cost of the "big boys" and that is the difference to me. No one can turn out hunting ammo on a $600 Dillon or Redding press that is any better to me in any significant way than what I can turn out on a $60 Lee to justify the cost. But, then, I drive 20 and 30 yr-old cars and trucks that are not chromed to the nines, or jacked up so high as to be unsafe and yet never leave the ashphalt, and heaven forbid the paint got scratched but can do the job I ask of them every day with just a little bit of love from me - work on the acreage- get me into and out of the woods when I need to - haul loads of wood, dirt, lumber, etc - get me to work and back for a year for peanuts - pull the expensive trucks out of the ditch each winter ... Bought for a few thousand and driven and worked for 10-15 years and kept in good repair. They owe me nothing...neither does my Lee gear.
