Lee Anniversary Kit?

rkm456

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
107   0   0
Hey folks (I did search, didn't find anything)

Anyways, I'm thinking about starting the path to reloading. It'll just be .45 acp to start out, maybe .223/5.56 down the road. Is there any reason the Lee Anniversary Kit won't fit the bill? It seems like a good option for someone trying to get their foot in the door without breaking the bank.
 
It will do you just fine, only thing that I hear reloading pistol on a single stage press just takes more time compared to other presses due to the amount you shoot out of a pistol. I have the Lee kit and use it to reload rifle. It does it just fine but takes time which does not bother me as I only do 20-30 rounds at a time for bolt action guns.
 
That sounds fine for me, for now anyways. I don't shoot really high volume, but enough that reloading is probably justified.
 
I started off with the same Lee kit and still use the press. No issues. Eventually you will upgrade the powder hopper and scale. The hopper doesn't like fine powders like Tightgroup.
 
The Anniversary Kit would definitely get you started, and if your shooting volume is quite low, would be fine.
But another option is to consider the Classic Turret Press Kit. It costs about $120 more, but has a host of advantages. It can be used as a single stage, or as a turret press, which will increase your loading speed 3 -4 times. And the powder measure is press mounted instead of a stand alone. It would serve you well if your shooting volume increases in the future. So is another good option to consider.
 
The Anniversary Kit would definitely get you started, and if your shooting volume is quite low, would be fine.
But another option is to consider the Classic Turret Press Kit. It costs about $120 more, but has a host of advantages. It can be used as a single stage, or as a turret press, which will increase your loading speed 3 -4 times. And the powder measure is press mounted instead of a stand alone. It would serve you well if your shooting volume increases in the future. So is another good option to consider.

If I were to start it all over again it would be with the LEE Classic Turret. Set your dies once and switch out the turret's. And it catch's it's spent primers
 
I use the LEE Turret to reload pistol and the classic breach lock kit for rifle. They work just fine. There are nuances with any press and LEE is not immune to this but the price is definitely right.
 
Started out the same way...Anniversary Kit for .45ACP. Love it. Use it mainly for .308, .270 and .257 Robertson (for a friend) since I still have a lot of Norc 45ACP. I have a boat load of .223/5.56 brass so I will start with that soon too. Big fan of the Lee Ultimate 4 Die sets too.
 
Started out the same way...Anniversary Kit for .45ACP. Love it. Use it mainly for .308, .270 and .257 Robertson (for a friend) since I still have a lot of Norc 45ACP. I have a boat load of .223/5.56 brass so I will start with that soon too. Big fan of the Lee Ultimate 4 Die sets too.

Out of curiosity, how much do you figure a reloaded round of .45ACP costs?
 
New to reloading and started out with the Lee Anniversary Kit, very happy with it. So far I've reloaded 38 special and setting up for 223 and 9mm
 
Lee Presses are great but the primer loading system on most of them is there achillies heel, other than that there good and right on price point for a beginner, I now have a hornady progressive but was a lee advocate for years
 
A few years ago my father gave me his anniversary kit he had for, what, about 30 years? The equipment still works. The only one with an issue is the Lee primer feeder which dent the primers every 20 round or so. I just bought a Hornady feeder to replace it and that single piece cost 1/3 of the anniversary kit... So the Lee kit is definitely where you want to start, it's well worth the money. Anything else will be costly.
 
Lee Presses are great but the primer loading system on most of them is there achillies heel, other than that there good and right on price point for a beginner, I now have a hornady progressive but was a lee advocate for years

The Lee Breech Lock Challenger kit is the same kit but with the hand priming system instead of the press mounted one.
 
My current costs are roughly:
5.5 cents per primer
12 cents per bullet
3.5 cents for powder

Total is 21 cents per loaded round.

So less than half what a new round would cost. Wow, it really won't take long to make back the couple hundred bucks worth of equipment.
 
Lee Presses are great but the primer loading system on most of them is there achillies heel, other than that there good and right on price point for a beginner, I now have a hornady progressive but was a lee advocate for years

I believe the kit comes with a hand Primer. Use it, it makes reloading much faster.
 
Out of curiosity, how much do you figure a reloaded round of .45ACP costs?

To be honest....I never really calculated it fully, but I do recall it was considerably less than commercial. Now, when there are sales on, say for 9mm, if you factor in your time, it can be roughly the same or somewhat less to buy commercial.
 
To be honest....I never really calculated it fully, but I do recall it was considerably less than commercial. Now, when there are sales on, say for 9mm, if you factor in your time, it can be roughly the same or somewhat less to buy commercial.

That makes sense. I don't see equity in reloading 9mm or shotgun for the reasons you mention. As it applies to me anyways.
 
Back
Top Bottom