- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
Very well put Bigredd, and I'll add a Ditto (except I don't have any blue stuff)
Why do people dislike LEE products?
- Thread starter SuperCub
- Start date
I've got Lee, RCBS, and Dillon presses, and I also use dies from all of these manufacturers; I can't say I've ever had a problem with ANY of them, so why spend more for something that will do the exact same job? I love most of Lee's products, but I absolutely detest their powder scale, and switched it out for a 505 as soon as I could.
I think think that the Lee factory crimp dies are the greatest thing since sliced bread. I have them in about 5 different calibers and they definitely cut the size of your groups. As for normal Lee dies, I was never impressed with the fact that fine tuning is best done with a pipe wrench 
I have a LEE pro1000 and the Z bar is driving me nuts. It's always falling off or not pushing the brass far enough in the shell plate (have to push it farther by hand or it does not enter in the die)
Otherwise, it does a fine job. But my rounds/hour rate is low due to the above mentionned problem.
Otherwise, it does a fine job. But my rounds/hour rate is low due to the above mentionned problem.
"crude in execution, brilliant in design". And at the end of the day, Lee stuff works.
Go on a Dillan fansite and listen to all the moaning about primer feeding and powder systems. They paid extra for their troubles :twisted: , we got our troubles at a fair price.
Go on a Dillan fansite and listen to all the moaning about primer feeding and powder systems. They paid extra for their troubles :twisted: , we got our troubles at a fair price.
I started reloading about 40 years ago with the hand-held Lee Loader (you use a hammer to "press" everything together ) in 30-06 . I shot a 4-shot group @ 100 yds. that you could cover with a dime ....you could see two bullet holes, and they were touching each other .....slow to reload, but accurate .
I now use an RCBS press ...but have dies made by RCBS, Lyman, Lee and even some old Herter's .
I now use an RCBS press ...but have dies made by RCBS, Lyman, Lee and even some old Herter's .
I like Lee dies. Lee factory crimp dies is a very unique invention : I use this crimp on my .223 Bushmaster Varmitter and get outstanding result. This crimp work. Just try to dismantle a Lee factory crimped round and you will see what I mean. Lee lead casting pot work great. The pistol and rifle dies have a better finish than RCBS and I like them better. As for the presses, I am a Dillon user. Lee presses are probably OK but not for extensive use such as for those of us who reload 15,000-20,000 rounds a year.
There is items I would stay away from, like the Lee powder scale, Lee powder mesure, Lee string case cutter and the plastic dipper system. There is better out there for the money, reliability and durability.
Choose wisely in the Lee products line, and you will be well served for the money.
There is items I would stay away from, like the Lee powder scale, Lee powder mesure, Lee string case cutter and the plastic dipper system. There is better out there for the money, reliability and durability.
Choose wisely in the Lee products line, and you will be well served for the money.
I just finished depriming approx 350 .303 cases with a Lee hand press.
Kind of fun, and Zen like...lubing the cases with that resizing grease was the part that took the longest.
Next I'll be doing the rest soon as I get primers, powder, and bullets etc. But so far I'm happy with my little $40.00 press, and dies. Next I need a Collet die.
I tell yah If the more expensive loaders where the only game in town I would never be able to afford to reload, and my Rifle hobby would suffer greatly at the ever creeping high cost, and lack of availability of the ammo I use.
Kind of fun, and Zen like...lubing the cases with that resizing grease was the part that took the longest.
Next I'll be doing the rest soon as I get primers, powder, and bullets etc. But so far I'm happy with my little $40.00 press, and dies.
Next I need a Collet die.I tell yah If the more expensive loaders where the only game in town I would never be able to afford to reload, and my Rifle hobby would suffer greatly at the ever creeping high cost, and lack of availability of the ammo I use.
Calum said:I just finished depriming approx 350 .303 cases with a Lee hand press.
Kind of fun, and Zen like...lubing the cases with that resizing grease was the part that took the longest.
Next I'll be doing the rest soon as I get primers, powder, and bullets etc. But so far I'm happy with my little $40.00 press, and dies.
I tell yah If the more expensive loaders where the only game in town I would never be able to afford to reload, and my Rifle hobby would suffer greatly at the ever creeping high cost, and lack of availability of the ammo I use.
For quick lubing of the cases, put down a strip of the lube about the length of the case you are sizing on a piece of paper towel, then just roll the case on it gently, it will coat it in a light coat of lube which is all you need.
Calum said:I just finished depriming approx 350 .303 cases with a Lee hand press.
Kind of fun, and Zen like...lubing the cases with that resizing grease was the part that took the longest.
Next I'll be doing the rest soon as I get primers, powder, and bullets etc. But so far I'm happy with my little $40.00 press, and dies.
I tell yah If the more expensive loaders where the only game in town I would never be able to afford to reload, and my Rifle hobby would suffer greatly at the ever creeping high cost, and lack of availability of the ammo I use.
Once you use a collet die (no lube needed) you'll probably never want to use anything else. I've only had mine a short time NOT lubing is a great experience
I love my LEE tools, The Anniversary Kit with a set of .303br dies and a collet Neck Sizer turned me from a poor rifle man to a marginal one! Have'nt stopped spending since!
If you do ever break a LEE product and you feel it was not your fault no matter where it came from you can call down to the states explain your problem and Viola new part in the mail. I had some trouble twice with the pot metal casting linkage on a LEE press, they replaced it twice then 22to45, built me a replacement linkage out of steel.
If you think you might like to try your hand at reloading get a LEE kit, you probabley wont ever upgrade and the 500 dollars you save buys a lot of powder and lead!
If you do ever break a LEE product and you feel it was not your fault no matter where it came from you can call down to the states explain your problem and Viola new part in the mail. I had some trouble twice with the pot metal casting linkage on a LEE press, they replaced it twice then 22to45, built me a replacement linkage out of steel.
If you think you might like to try your hand at reloading get a LEE kit, you probabley wont ever upgrade and the 500 dollars you save buys a lot of powder and lead!
I have no problem with the Lee stuff and I think that all the major players make good stuff....just most of it is way over priced for what you get. Lee prices are very reasonable IMHO......look at the powder measure--RCBS is $90, Lee is $30, they are both cheap plastic outfits, and I guarantee they will drop powder the same....so which do you buy? Now the lee scale only weighs to 110g which is no good if you want to weigh cases or bullets heavier then 110g....and you have to be pretty gentle with it, but it is accurate and sensitive. I can see wanting better out of a scale....Hornady makes a nice one for $60 that weighs to 510g so it's not going to break the bank. I love all their dies and they are easy to use. I had a challenger press and for no reason upgraded to the classic cast just because it was so strong looking, far more than I need for my rifle loading. I use a turret press for pistol and it has been excellent as well.
pupzit said:Calum said:Once you use a collet die (no lube needed) you'll probably never want to use anything else. I've only had mine a short time NOT lubing is a great experience
Can you deprime without using lube with the collet die. I am not familiar with this.
Steve.
I have just purchased the Lee Pro 1000 press for my handgun loading. It's not bad, although it seems a little on the light side. I prefer the solid feeling from the RCBS Rockchucker. I can't complain about the loads though. I'm getting a couple hundred rounds an hour from my press on all the calibres that I load for. This is more then enough for the amount of shooting I do. So if you fiqure in cost and productivity I'd say it's a fair deal.
I think lee products are decent as well. The turret press I was unimpressed with. It seemed cheap, light, and the ram seemed to have some play. The $800.00 dillon 550b was light years ahead but it cost me 20 times more money. I wanted the extra speed and quality.
I figured I spend so much money on guns that I deserved a high quality press. I also calculated that the savings on ammo would pay for the press in about 2 years.
I do like the factory crimp die, the hand primmer - I have two for small and large, the primmer pocket cleaner which does small and large for about two bucks. I bought a set of .455 webley dies for about $40.00 in carbide, no less and they will last me forever since I only shoot 100-200 rounds per year out of my smith .455.
I don't use the cost logic on my range bag which is an EDS padded cooler bag which I bought for $2.00 at a yard sale. It works great, holds lots of weight, and is inconspicuous. Pretty cheap when you figure it holds thousands of dollars worth of guns.
I absolutely love my old CH press which sits flat, has a massive ram, and has two metal guides on each side. It was given to me and when I took it to a range they said it was obsolete and would take it for free. For $20.00 I got a shell holder adaptor from rcbs and it works great. I can set it flat on a table and it is better than any of the modern single stage presses that I have seen.
Steve
I figured I spend so much money on guns that I deserved a high quality press. I also calculated that the savings on ammo would pay for the press in about 2 years.
I do like the factory crimp die, the hand primmer - I have two for small and large, the primmer pocket cleaner which does small and large for about two bucks. I bought a set of .455 webley dies for about $40.00 in carbide, no less and they will last me forever since I only shoot 100-200 rounds per year out of my smith .455.
I don't use the cost logic on my range bag which is an EDS padded cooler bag which I bought for $2.00 at a yard sale. It works great, holds lots of weight, and is inconspicuous. Pretty cheap when you figure it holds thousands of dollars worth of guns.
I absolutely love my old CH press which sits flat, has a massive ram, and has two metal guides on each side. It was given to me and when I took it to a range they said it was obsolete and would take it for free. For $20.00 I got a shell holder adaptor from rcbs and it works great. I can set it flat on a table and it is better than any of the modern single stage presses that I have seen.
Steve
