Why do people dislike LEE products?

For the average reloader lee products will work fine. I have both lee and rcbs. dies in several calibers. Like i mentioned before ilike lees seating die the best. I use a rock chucker press because i got it on a good deal for 90 dollars. Otherwise i might be useing a lee press.
 
zedex said:
For myself. I like a better quality product so that i can blame my poor grouping on my lack of skill rather than blame my equipment.
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What has been you experiences with "poor grouping" using Lee equipment?

I use four different brands of dies (none of which are benchrest dies) and can't see any differnce at all. There are too amny other factors involved to narrow it down to the dies alone.

SC..................
 
I've got a BRNO sporter in .223 that has pit's inside the bore about 10 inche's from the muzzle(bought it that way).

I do my part I can hit dime's at 100yds,3 for 3, and I use LEE dies.

The same dies I've used to reload 8-9000 rds. for my A.R.'s
 
I have a few Lee products, Pro-1000 press W/.32acp,9MM,.38spl & .357 dies & some others like 7MM Mag collet die set. I really like the collet die but I use a Hornady seating die. I have nothing bad to say about any Lee product. I think as with anything "brand name" is a matter of personal preference.
I just bought a .223 Sav. :D & the new dies will be Lee collet set. :D
 
There is a perception that Lee is low quality because of low price. That is not true at all. I do shoot for accuracy and have the resources to buy anything to make that happen. I have found over the years, the Lee products do the same job for up to 1/3 the cost. Are there certain products made by other companies that I prefer, of course.

For a trimmer, neck turner, I like the Forster set up.

For a beam scale, believe it or not, the Lee scale works the best and I have compared several others.

For a press, the challenger has the well documented problem and I have broken my fair share. For the low volume user, it will last several lifetimes. I am hard on my gear cause I use it a lot. The new Lee cast press will be on my loading bench soon. Is the Challenger press capable of loading match grade ammo? Only is you are.

For a hand primer, the Lee product IS the standard.

For neck sizing dies, the best thing to happen to shooting at all levels is the Lee Collet die. This little device has unlocked the accuracy potential of every rifle that is being reloaded for. Measure the runout of a fired case, size and remeasure. Compare that runout, or lack of, to ANY DIE on the market custom or otherwise at any price.

When after sizing runout is basically zero, you can't get better then that. Also, now that many are learning that heavy neck tension is a great aid for lowering ES, the use of bushings really is irrelevant. You need 3 to 4 thou of neck tension. That comes standard with every collet die.

For a FL die, there really isn't any bad ones nor great ones. The 'chamber' sizing of the die really doesn't matter. Each companies decides where in the range of SAAMI tolerance they want to be and builds dies accordingly. Also, as the tooling wears, die dimensions change anyways. I use this as an advantage.

I have picked up sizing dies from a variety of companies to see which sized the brass for the best fit. Did that with my 9mm and got great results. One gun needed more, another less. By playing with the dies, I got custom ammo that shot very well. You just kept the ammo separated.

Downside is the expander ball. If that rod is not aligned, the necks can be pulled out of true. That is really what cause all that runout, and why I avoid using these type of dies as much as possible. If they can solve this issue, FL sizing will be something I will return doing for certain applications.

For a seating die, most work just fine. This is rarely the place that runout is created. That happens most often in the sizing stage. I have had success with the Forster seaters too. However, the lee worked just as well.

Why do people complain about Lee? About anything? Maybe its their use of plastics. Maybe it's because the industry has received some critisms from Mr. Lee himself. Who knows? Who cares?

I have never heard someone complain because the gear didn't work which I feel is the whole point. I have heard complaints about polish levels (exterior levels not interior which is equal to any on the market), on labeling, on bling. Lee has none of the bling and marketing that others companies use to justify their elevated pricing.

I want performance and my results speak for themselves. If someone can do it for less money, that is a bonus. Could be another reason I shoot Hornady bullets and use Bushnell and Nikon optics.

I simply don't feel the need to spend extra money to get equal or less performance.

Jerry

PS for those having trouble with the Lee molds getting stiff, not closing, etc. the molds need to be lubed. use the solid Alox Beeswax stick and just touch it to the hinge points. The molds must be well lubed to work properly. I had all the same problems until I read the instructions (I really did) and found that the lube was needed. All problems now solved.

Just use a very small amount. If too much, a bit of a pain as it will affect the bullets. Bizarre that the stuff works but it does.
 
I have used Lee stuff quite a bit,the only problem I ever had was the link on my hand primer wore out.Called lee they sent one no charge.Can't complain about that.
 
I have been experiencing some issues with the Lee Ram Prime, which I use with the Handloader. The primer guide seems to be easily bent, as is also the case with the primer punch. Lee is sending me replacements, but this is something of a pain.

Am strongly considering the Auto Prime, but as I have several thousand Federal small and large pistol primers on hand, I'm concerned about the product warning against using anything except Winchester and CCI primers. Is that just a Lee "lawyer" warning or is there a genuine chance of a big bang?
 
Point the primer tray away from you, then worst case you mess up the drywall. Federal primers are more sensitive than others, hence the warning. I've never touched one off, but we all know someone who has.
 
Actually, Richard had a run in or, let's call it a difference of opinion, years ago after some of the companies bad mouthed a couple of his products. Typical gun mag stuff. The accusers wouldn't or couldn't substantiate the complaints after being asked for an explanation and so Richard said, fine, two can play at that game. After that, he put the warnings on his primer and warned against the use of Speer bullets. The primers might unintentionally go off. The bullets might cause overpressures.

He kept the prices down on most of the reloading product lines by providing his own style of functional gear. RCBS was beginning to get pricy for no reason. The labour and steel markets were stable. Inflation wasn't an issue, but they put their prices up. They were doing what Remington did, Cadillac etc. Demand pushed up price. Richard reigned it in.

He still has the most patents of any company or individual in the reloading business.

I'm not a fan of all his stuff, but he was an innovator. The things I do use have helped me win shoots and brought me many years of pleasure.
 
I have never had any any troubles with my Lee dies, but I hate my Hornady dies. They are pretty, well machines, but I just don't like them. They have caused me a lot more trouble.
 
All the companies that make presses have obslete ones. Go look at the Blount web site too look at which are obslete.
 
I like LEE products. Having said that, there are a few weaknesses in the Lee presses. On the Pro 1000 the priming systems is very susceptible to dirt. If it's dirty...it won't feed. I have no experience with the priming system on the Loadmaster. Also the roll pins on the challenger and Pro 1000 presses tend to back out over time. This can cause your OAL to creep up...

Dillon Presses are well made and very expensive. High volume reloaders (especially pistol guys) rave about them for good reason. Did I mention they are expensive??? I don't care what you say but $60.00 for a freaking bullet tray is WAY too much money!!! Lee makes a totally acceptible PRESS for less than that
 
My Lee dies don't have a set screw type lockring. They use rubber O-rings instead. Other than this they seem ok to me. (And you can rob a lockring from a RCBS or other die to use on the Lee die.)l
 
I have a lee and a dillon. The only reason I went with a 550b is that I can do rifle and pistol with it. In comparison the primer feeding is better with fewer oopps. Dont get any sideway primers. It is much more expensive and you have to have a conversion kit per caliber. The lee dies would punch out even military primbers without breaking or it would just push up the de-primer. Nice when you have a mixed lot of brass in a big bucket. The new dimension dies you can remove the inserts from the seating and crimp dies making setup a little quicker. The 550 is not fully progressive like my lee which is both good and bad. The lee has a little plastic gear that wears out easily that gets annoying until you figure it out. I think both products have their merits. Lee is a good value, if you want one press to do both rifle and pistol, I prefer dillon. My single stage Lee is cheaper than anyone elses and does just fine.
 
I'd say you get what you pay for.... My brother used lee stuff, and the powder loader getup never worked right. And when he got out of hand loading, I borrowed this press for a while, until I got my own, and I was reloading some 45ACP once, and broke the handle on the press (not impressed)...... Myself, I like RCBS press's and Honaday dies. Infact I'm thinking of selling all my RCBS die sets and replacing them with Hornaday....

Dean
 
I have RCBS, Lee, Lyman, Dillon they all do as good a job as the operator... the name doesn't make me a better reloader... or make cool in anyones eyes... except my own :wink:
 
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