Broke my lee challenger - 500 rds

C77

C77

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I just got into loading this year, and on the advice of another loader, I bought the LEE Challenger breech lock press to get started.

I've loaded about 450-500 rds of .223 in a year.

BrokenLeePress.jpg


The broken part is the steel toggle link.

I sent an email to Lee to see if they will replace it. Other than the broken link it's worked okay. Nothing heard yet.

Anybody else get this?
 
I've had very poor experiences with Lee this year. My collet neck sizing die broke 55 cases in. Getting it fixed under warranty provided 3 problems:

- it cost me $10 to ship it back to Lee.
- it took 5 weeks for the repair to be returned.
- Lee only replaced the cap of the neck sizing die - this didn't fix the problem.

So, needless to say I'm cutting my losses and dumping Lee products. On the advice of some club members, I'm going with a Forster Bump Die instead. Doing some deeper research into Lee, it appears that they only have their head offices in the US, and their (inferior, IMHO) products are all made in China.
 
You get what you pay for in a press. It is worth putting out a bit more for a heavy duty Redding or RCBS. I have one of the flimsy Lee presses which I dedicate solely to depriming fired brass with the Lee Universal decapping die. This is a light duty job and it is a speedy and reliable set up for this.

I've used the Lee Collet dies a lot and have had good luck with them. Their best tool of all is the decapping pin/anvil jobbie which you whack with a hammer. I've deprimed a gazzilion military cases with this before removing the primer crimping.
 
Geeze, I generally got more than that out of the original aluminum links.

My experience with Lee customer service has been good. Not up to RCBS, or Lyman, but good none the less.
They replaced broken aluminum links for me twice. Shipped them the old, they sent me new ones, I bought spares.
i have a steel link now, no issues.
 
I have a Pro 1000 with the aluminum link as my main press, and have loaded about 40,000 with it.
I used my little LEE Reloader 'C' press to size 4000 9mm last month without lube in LEE carbide die's.
Seem's to work for me.
 
I have a 30 year old Lee press that has loaded literally hundreds of thousands of rounds (through silhouette, IPSC, and just practice, plus all my rifle and FA stuff for years). It needs replacement links now, but still works. Either you got a dud, their quality has slipped, or you are one heavy handed reloader. - dan
 
All my lee stuff (including my challenger press) are still churning out hundreds of rounds and are reliable and heavy duty enough for my uses. You must have gotten a dud, or recent Q.C. has taken an uncontrollable exlax dump.
 
Had my challenger press since 1981 - it's my only press and has never given me any grief to date. I'm fairly easy on it but I sometimes reform brass with a form die (7mmMag or 338WinMag to 350RM) and do some light resizing/swaging of jacketed bullets - .366 to .358. But I'm guessing Lee quality hasn't improved over time.
BTW that Classic Cast press looks good to me. A buddy bought one and it's solid.
 
I heard back from Lee this morning:

"We can send you a replacement Toggle (OF2853) at no charge as it is covered under warranty. We will ship it out today to the address provided below.

Thank You
Lee Precision"

So, I didn't have to ship the old one back. That's good customer service. I'm going to see if anyone carries a spare and see how much.

I think I might also keep looking on the EE for a rock chucker or something stronger. I was hoping to load up and shoot this week, but now I have to wait.
 
Don't kid yourself into buying a 'stronger' press. Despite what some reloaders say, there isn't any inherent weakness in the design. Wanna know why they're not mentioned in magazines? Because Lee never has sent their stuff for free to them; ever notice how every American magazine article reads like an ad for RCBS or Redding, etc.? Or that Speer bullets are the only brand that claims they should not be used in Lee presses or dies? Speer and RCBS are part of the same company. Don't get suckered by 'gear snobs'. Maybe you just got a link that didn't cast well; it happens. Lee stuff is still made in the US, their customer service has been excellent. Ordered some dies from Lee Factory Sales (just down the road from their factory); it shipped THAT DAY and was here in under a week.

Maybe you're being too heavy-handed on your gear. Set up right, it should not take much effort to run any standard brass though a die; if it does, something ain't right. Check everything, make sure your brass is lubed and clean. Make sure you're not pulling to one side when you run the lever; I'm a big fella, have a Challenger and Classic, haven't hurt either one yet in the 4 years I've been using them.
 
dan belisle said:
I have a 30 year old Lee press that has loaded literally hundreds of thousands of rounds (through silhouette, IPSC, and just practice, plus all my rifle and FA stuff for years). It needs replacement links now, but still works. Either you got a dud, their quality has slipped, or you are one heavy handed reloader. - dan
Click to expand...

I don't know if their QC standards has slipped but the lee presses I have had to install had the bolt we see on the picture not-so-adjusted, some torqued way way too much (maybe this is the reason of the mishap here) some not torqued at all. I can see this piece breaking if torqued ala fudd (ie torque until your tool breaks, then it is ready to go!)

either that or abusive use? (lowering the handle too fast/ too strong)
 
Do some reading/research and you'll find the the Lee Classic cast is the strongest press for the dollars spent. It can do it all from .17's to the big .50 BMG for around $100. I was just resizing and reloading some 300 wsm this a.m with the Classic Cast.. it sizes the cases with ease.

Cheers!!
 
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Like some of the satisfied Lee users on this board and who replied to this thread, I feel the need to respond to threads like this that somehow portray Lee products in a bad light. This is not a blanket endorsement of all Lee products but just written to show a broader perspective of Lee products from a user who has used other brands of reloading equipment than Lee. For sure there will be problems with Lee products, just like the other brands, but that is what warrantees are for. In my experience, I have never had to place a warranty call to Lee or Dillon.

1. Not all reloaders desire to purchase reloading equipment that are priced higher than Lee. There are probably as many reasons as there are individuals out there. Speaking for myself, I am only prepared to spend the money that Lee is charging for their reloading equipment, simple as that.

2. Because of my limited budget, I have tried and own different Lee equipment but have selected them after careful evaluation of their quality and specifications.

3. I had a Pro1000 back in 1989. Worked well after I figured out its intricacies and idiosyncrasies. I went into IPSC soon after, so I thought I'd treat myself to a Hornady Pro-jector and two Dillon 550Bs. In time, sold the Pro-jector, both 550Bs then got another 550B. Sold the last 550B early this year. Needless to say, I like the 550B very much.

4. Reason I sold the 550B is because I bought a Lee Loadmaster for half the price I sold my 550B for. I found that it could do the same or better than my 550B....for my needs. It works well. It is set-up for 38 special. I had to watch the loadmastervideo.com videos and read threads in other forums but that's ok because I am patient and somewhat mechanically inclined.

5. I bought the Loadmaster because I got a Lee Classic Cast couple years ago and IMO, it is an awesome single stage press, regardless of cost. It was obvious that Lee offered the best priced reloading equipment and the quality of that Classic Cast convinced me to try the Loadmaster.

6. With the leftover funds from my 550B sale, I got a Lee Classic Turret which has proved to be flawless and perfectly suited to my needs (150+ rounds per hour pistol ammo) plus 4-die sets for my four pistol calibers.
I can change calibers/primer size in less than 30 seconds. I use this turret for 9mm/.40SW/45acp. Don't shoot bottom feeders very much as picking up brass is bad for my back.:D

7. Even the Lee Safety Scale which many condemn as a POS actually works well once you figure it out. I have to admit I didn't like this one myself in the beginning. For the record, I prefer my 21 year old RCBS 505.
 
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I load all my match ammo on a Breech lock challenger press. My toggle looks just like that and have been used for several thousand more rds. I got the Lee spare sitting in the cabinet. Not sure when/if I will have to use it.

A press is simply a mechanical leverage device and that ram HAS to travel true. With this Lee breech lock press, I have both AND the added advantage of the quick change inserts. I change dies alot and spinning them in and out used to drive me nuts.

I was about to buy a hrn when the Breech lock was released. Done (by the way, Lee makes HUGE money from these inserts and I don't mind one bit).

The ram was actually a tight fit and I had to do a break in. That was a very positive start. Since then, it has smoothed out but is not sloppy or loose. It will not fall on its own weight which I consider a good thing. The ram runs true and it lines up with the dies perfectly.

The design makes the O more rigid with nearly no flex and I am heavy on the lever. The primer catching bin works 99%.

The only real part I dislike about the press is the priming gizmo. I cut off the actual seating ram as I hand prime. The left over toggle falls out now and then. I wished they would just remove that priming gidget. If I get motivated, I might just fill in the trough with some epoxy and 'fix it' myself.

yes, the toggle cracked but is still functional. Otherwise, I have nothing but praise for this press.

The press price is also dirt cheap but you have to consider all those wonderful inserts you will buy for each of your dies. I consider it money well spent.

Jerry
 
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