Lee challenger press just s*** the bed

With cyber monday deals i have seen on Lee Cast breechlock presses,
Even if quality of tooling is inferior, the price jump is huge.

I get that quality lasts and cheap breaks, but wonder about the quality of ammo,
Will a cheaper press (i.e. Lee Cast Classic vs forster co-ax) generate more runout or sizing/seating lenght inconsistencies?
 
MartyK2500 said:
With cyber monday deals i have seen on Lee Cast breechlock presses,
Even if quality of tooling is inferior, the price jump is huge.

I get that quality lasts and cheap breaks, but wonder about the quality of ammo,
Will a cheaper press (i.e. Lee Cast Classic vs forster co-ax) generate more runout or sizing/seating lenght inconsistencies?
Click to expand...

Practically any press will produce ammo with "acceptable" runout, if the operator pays attention.
However, the CO-AX is renowned for producing ammo with minimal runout, due to the design of the shellholder and the
die retaining method. Eagleye.
 
I like Lee equipment (have two Loadmasters and a Classic Cast Turret, all of which I use for large volume handgun reloading) but to be honest I really don't think the Challenger is sturdy enough to stand up to a steady diet of sizing/loading larger rifle calibres. The minimum I would go for is a Classic Cast (I personally use a Rockchucker for my rifle reloading). The Co-ax is a fine press but be prepared to pay 2 1/2-3x the price that you would for a Classic Cast.
 
Orders are done and paid.
Down the road, i might upgrade equipment, but for now i am well within budget.
Especially before christmas and in the middle of changing my main IPSC 1911, now was not the right time to shell out 500$.

Ordered challenger parts from Higginsons, they had everything in stock.
Challenger will now be relocated next to my FX120 scale/auto trickler, so i will seat bullets as i powder casings, cutting in the downtime.
Seating a bullet is really the step that requires the less effort, and since that table space is getting already limited, the challenger seems perfectly fine there.

Ordered classic cast breechlock from Xreload, was a few bucks off too to top it up.
This one will be where my challenger was, and will take care of deprime, body size, neck size.
 
The quick change bushing in mine was cracked right out of the box. I called them and they said right away no problem they would send one out immediately with shipping covered and apologized up and down. I had it show up 2 days later sent by courier and when I opened the box their was 3 in the box with an apology note saying this was not up to their normally high standards coming new like that from factory. So far that's been the only issue I've had, but have only loaded maybe 2000 rds.
 
Eagleye said:
That is why I own 2 Co-Ax presses. No broken parts in 25,000+ rounds, and still going strong. Eagleye.
Click to expand...

I have two as well, one is an older Bonanza Co-Ax I received from a family friend, the other is a Forster Co-Ax with the taller yoke handle, my 6.5x55 micrometer die wouldn’t clear the handle. I prefer the feel of the Bonanza Co-Ax over my newer Forster for some reason? Just got an Ultra Mount and an upgraded shell holder from Manzgear. Awesome press! :)
 
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