anyone here use a Lee Loader kit frequently?

Mr. Friendly

Mr. Friendly

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
EE Expired
Rating - 96.9%
29   1   2
Location
British Canuckistan
I'm curious to know why you use it and your thoughts on how good/effective it is?

it's cheap, it's crude...but is it effective if you just need to build simple but accurate loads for plinking and hunting? :confused:
 
If the breech lock anniversary kit is what you mean, I have one and it works. It may not be anything fancy, but I've loaded ammo that shoots just over .6MOA for my .223 bolt gun, and I've never had an issue with the .30-06 or .308 I've loaded on it. I recently started loading .45 acp, it's my way of keeping production to relativity small lots (50ish) so I can hit the range a couple times a week without blowing through all my ammo and needing components faster. It sounds stupid but it works for me
 
Use to use the Lee Loader in 303 British over 40 years ago. Can't count how many I loaded but it was bucketfuls. Then, just for a laugh I used it a couple of years ago and it still produces excellent ammo. For a guy up at a camp or anywhere you'd like to use minimal equipment I highly recommend them.
 
yeah, use in the field is definitely one of the up sells for them!

I'm thinking of one for .308 and then develop hunting rounds. but since I won't be needing bazillions of rounds, 5 here, 5 there, one of these kits would be great.

at the same time, the form factor is what necessitated my query. I live in a tiny bachelor pad. I don't have anywhere to put up a press of any sort, which is why I sold my Lee 50th Anniversary Kit.
 
I like mine. I can do a large portion of the reloading work while watching TV. It is also handy at the range(farmland)when load developing.

I use it more than the Rockchucker press.
 
supernova said:
Aside from the noise and popping primers off if you're not careful they work great. The Lee hand press does too and doesn't create any real noise.
Click to expand...

I can't say I've had any primer issues or heard too much noise other than the bottom of the stroke which is just a minor thud. I've done many thousands of rounds consisting of 5 or 6 calibres and I have no complaints.
Nevermind. I was meaning the 50th anniversary and the hand press. Never knew about the lee loader
 
I'm glad to read all these positive comments, I just got a couple of sets: Win 25-20 and .303 British. I got them because I want to try reloading
before I spend lots of money on a press. Only thing is, I can't find a set for Win 30-30, are they rare?:confused:
 
You could probably load a box of shells while the next guy is screwing in dies, and setting his powder measure.If you don't beat him, you'll have a pretrty good head start.

A somewhat more versatile system is the Lee Hand press, at least you can FL size and still be portable.
 
I have seen 30-30 sets for sale many times at gun shows so they had to have made many of them. I have several different sets as they used to sell very cheap when I was looking for them. I paid less then $20 brand new for the 30-30 set at a gun store.
 
Rossiter93 said:
If the breech lock anniversary kit is what you mean, I have one and it works. It may not be anything fancy, but I've loaded ammo that shoots just over .6MOA for my .223 bolt gun, and I've never had an issue with the .30-06 or .308 I've loaded on it. I recently started loading .45 acp, it's my way of keeping production to relativity small lots (50ish) so I can hit the range a couple times a week without blowing through all my ammo and needing components faster. It sounds stupid but it works for me
Click to expand...

+1 I have one too and it works. I can load pistol/rifle with no issues. I have had great results.
 
Rossiter93 said:
If the breech lock anniversary kit is what you mean, I have one and it works. It may not be anything fancy, but I've loaded ammo that shoots just over .6MOA for my .223 bolt gun, and I've never had an issue with the .30-06 or .308 I've loaded on it. I recently started loading .45 acp, it's my way of keeping production to relativity small lots (50ish) so I can hit the range a couple times a week without blowing through all my ammo and needing components faster. It sounds stupid but it works for me
Click to expand...

I don't think this is what OP is inquiring about. The Lee Loader kit is a small affair that uses a hammer instead of a press. Great for what they are. Kind of rudimentary, but pretty tough to beat for portability, simplicity, and (to a degree) affordability. Affordability diminishes once you start to reload for multiple calibres, or find yourself wanting to full length size.

Countless rounds reloaded with these rigs for many decades.
 
It's what I started out with as a past Christmas gift and works fine for me - no real high volume or large range of calibers but do load a fair bit of 9mm and .45ACP with it for IDPA use/practice, along with some lower volumes of various others, rifle and handgun (pic below). As mentioned above, don't do all steps in one sitting - I'll take an evening when I just deprime/clean, another one for sizing/priming, etc and a final one for loading. Have never found it a chore, so it's great for my purposes.

4vik46.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom