Lee breech lock
- Thread starter kmkmk
- Start date
The Lee works OK. I bought the same kit on sale a while back and use it as a second press. It's not nearly as nice as my RCBS #5 but it has some good features for being cheap like borsch. The kit is IMO not a bad start for reloading, you will probably want to upgrade the scale and powder measure fairly soon if you get serious about reloading. The Lee Really Great Buy dies sare an economical start too. Again, they work, if you spent a pile more money you'd get something a little bit nicer and they would work too.
Happy reloading!
Happy reloading!
I -just- got the breech lock classic cast. I looked at the rock chucker and the regular classic cast, and said and done $125 for the breech lock was hard to pass up.
It's a good press, it really is. The quick change bushings are fine, but on dies where I have minute tolerances I spent a bit extra and got a few of the challenger locks that secure with a nut.
The Lee auto prime is -okay- once you get the hang of it, I find that it mounts on the same side as I have the pull handle so it's a bit awkward.
I went with redding carbide dies instead of the lee ones, they were more expensive, but rated better, they work great in the press. I did get the lee universal decapping die, and it works fine, just make sure the brass you pick up from the range doesn't have those funky primer holes lol.
A vid of some dude unboxing : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OrNXfOsNXM
A vid of me doing a little decapping and brass polishing: http://youtu.be/52ztM_5fGJU
The link to my question when I was looking: http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/978952-Rock-chucker
Everyone has their own opinion on them, and really, they almost all work really well. My only -real- complaint about the lee is the casting mess around the primer discard hole is insanely bumpy (at least it was on mine). I ground it out smooth and put a bevel to the hole, the primers go down the tube a lot easier now. Have fun, reloading is a blast! (sorry bad pun).
It's a good press, it really is. The quick change bushings are fine, but on dies where I have minute tolerances I spent a bit extra and got a few of the challenger locks that secure with a nut.
The Lee auto prime is -okay- once you get the hang of it, I find that it mounts on the same side as I have the pull handle so it's a bit awkward.
I went with redding carbide dies instead of the lee ones, they were more expensive, but rated better, they work great in the press. I did get the lee universal decapping die, and it works fine, just make sure the brass you pick up from the range doesn't have those funky primer holes lol.
A vid of some dude unboxing : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OrNXfOsNXM
A vid of me doing a little decapping and brass polishing: http://youtu.be/52ztM_5fGJU
The link to my question when I was looking: http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/978952-Rock-chucker
Everyone has their own opinion on them, and really, they almost all work really well. My only -real- complaint about the lee is the casting mess around the primer discard hole is insanely bumpy (at least it was on mine). I ground it out smooth and put a bevel to the hole, the primers go down the tube a lot easier now. Have fun, reloading is a blast! (sorry bad pun).
I have the BL Challenger and like it, but the lock for the BL bushing quickly galled and seized in it's hole. I didn't see a way to really get it out and didn't care for all the slop it had so I put some vibratite on the bushing threads and tightened it in with a die so theres zero play. BTW this was after just a couple weeks of use, and I simply snug dies up rather than crank them down. The priming system works pretty good and once I greased the linkage and epoxied the knob onto the handle its been smooth sailing. I'm happy with it for what I paid. As for the Lee scale... it hasn't been out of its box since I bought an RCBS 5-0-5. I was starting to hate reloading until I found out what a decent scale was like. Learning to use the Lee scale was a challenge and it is finicky as all hell. Its accurate once you get used to using it like youre defusing a bomb, but pretty much any other scale is faster, easier and much more forgiving to use.
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
Lee breech lock challenger press makes my match ammo. Love this press.
Eventually, the toggle casting will crack but it will keep working. Been using it cracked for years but I did get a replacement from Lee whenever it does die.
Wood knob eventually comes off - glue and all is good.
Get rid of the stupid press primer and use the Lee hand primer instead
Beyond that, just lube the ram. Keep things clean and buy lots of breech lock inserts.
Enjoy...
Jerry
Eventually, the toggle casting will crack but it will keep working. Been using it cracked for years but I did get a replacement from Lee whenever it does die.
Wood knob eventually comes off - glue and all is good.
Get rid of the stupid press primer and use the Lee hand primer instead
Beyond that, just lube the ram. Keep things clean and buy lots of breech lock inserts.
Enjoy...
Jerry
Rory McCanuck
CGN Regular
- Location
- Middle of Manitoba
The kit is a great way to get started, and everything in it is useful.
Most will replace the scale for something more convenient, but probably not any more accurate.
The powder measure is pretty good, and with a bit of fine tuning is really good.
The only thing I didn't like about the press was the way it dealt with spent primers, but that is being pretty nit-picky.
I passed mine on to a new reloader to get him started, but I miss the press.
Nice big opening for longer cartridges, and the priming system is pretty slick, once you learn that the last two primers will not! come out of the chute, no matter what you try.
Get the kit, it has everything to get you started for less than the price of just about every other press out there.
Most will replace the scale for something more convenient, but probably not any more accurate.
The powder measure is pretty good, and with a bit of fine tuning is really good.
The only thing I didn't like about the press was the way it dealt with spent primers, but that is being pretty nit-picky.
I passed mine on to a new reloader to get him started, but I miss the press.
Nice big opening for longer cartridges, and the priming system is pretty slick, once you learn that the last two primers will not! come out of the chute, no matter what you try.
Get the kit, it has everything to get you started for less than the price of just about every other press out there.
