Why so many complaints about Lee reloading dies?

Good customer service goes a long way. I've heard that Redding and Lee are really good that way.

I had a problem with a Lyman .338 Win. Mag. seater stem mashing the bullet tips. Lyman helped sort out what I needed but charged me a few dollars to send me a new one. A guy I know with a similar problem with a .223 Redding die contacted Redding and they apologized and sent him 4 seating screws for free! Gotta love that kind of customer support.
 
That decapping pin that slips, whether it is a safety measure or not, is probably my biggest beef against Lee dies. It is a vey agravating thing when, just pushing out a primer that is a bit tighter, and it slips.
I too, have never broken the rod on any other die and didn't have the frustration of trying to squeeze the shaft so tight that it won't slip with normal use.
Any handloader should be able to centre the pin. (Just have an empty in the holder, run the pin through the flash hole and tighten, after adjusting for proper depth to clear the shell base.)
The Lee shell holders are also very sloppy.
 
I took this photo nearly a year ago when someone stated that Lee dies are junk.
100y (3) 5 shot groups and (1) 3 shot group (ran out of ammo)
Rifle is a Savage 10BA and I used the complete Lee 50th Anniversary kit except for an electronic scale in place of the Lee Balance to prove my point.
Some people complain about their seating dies but my seating depth with the Lee Seating Die is +- 0.0005 when measuring to the ogive.YMMV
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And sometimes you get more than you pay for
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And sometimes you get less than you pay for.

I use high quality brass, so high quality dies are appropriate.

But if you are using mixed surplus brass, I guess that LEE dies are along the same lines quality wise.
 
This is one of the top topics for locked threads and banned members on many shooting forums. People take there reloading gear very serious.
 
i find that lee dies are very hard to adjust with you fingers. i use lyman and i have no trouble at all adjusting the dies. they do make some things that are very usefull to the reloader so i do have some lee products on my bench.
 
I didn't like the non-tightening lock rings on my Lee dies but don't care for the RCBS ones either, so I bought a bunch of the Hornady Adjustable Sure Lock Rings. The Lee shell holder that came with my Lee 8x57mm die set is quite tight fitting in the press ram and needs tapped off and on if I use it instead of the RCBS one I already have in that size.
 
I've got 8000 9mm rounds trough my lee dies. Only problem I had was a broken de-capping pin from a shell that fell on its side and I didnt notice. The pin cant be expected to survive that and was clearly my fault. Replaced the pin and onward I march. I see no need to spend more money on anything else
 
Sorry to those who do not like Lee Equipment.I would like to blame the operator before I blame the equipment.

.....HUMMMMMM.......do I blame my lee equipment on my poor 303 groupings and case head seperation???
 
I own dies from Redding, Dillon, and Lee. I prefer the Lee resizing/decapping die over the Dillon. It seems to resize a bit closer to the groove, and I've never had the Dillon problem of reseating spent primers or broken c-clips. I prefer the Redding competition seating die over the Lee or Dillon seating dies, mainly for the consistency and convenience of having a micrometer seater, plus I KNOW that it does not touch my case mouths or crimp in any way. I prefer the Dillon crimp die for my use over Lee's FCD because I need a gentle touch with my oversized home cast boolits.

The dies installed in my press are based on my experiences with each particular die function for my specific applications. It has nothing to do with cost or brand loyalty or prestige.
 
Lee dies suck for case conversions. The excess lube hole where it gets squeezed out is positioned so that when forming one case to another the hole actually gouges the shoulder of the brass. I've had this happen converting .30-06 to .308 and converting .30-06 and .270 to 8x57mm. The gouge leaves a burr that doesn't do too much but is a weak point where cracks can more easily start.
I've had a Lee press snap right off it's base after less than 2000rnds reloaded. I guess there was a weak point in the hollow aluminum construction? Replaced with RCBS and no looking back.
Lee bullet seating dies are also very easy to get cast bullets stuck in because of how they work. I usually flip the plug upside down inside the die and use the die body threading to adjust depth of seat. Since I use a factory crimp die after I don't have to worry about the roll crimp. With jacketed projectiles I've never had a problem with Lee seating dies.

Lee collet neck sizing dies, their case trimming system, and their factory crimp dies are great though.
For regular resizing operations their FL sizing dies are fine and I've never had the decapping rod slip even in cartridge conversion (I tighten it down quite a bit.)
A lot of people seem to complain about their hand held auto-prime but I've used it for many thousands of rounds with no complaint. Sure it requires special shell holders and not the same ones that go in the press but it's a one time $20 purchase for practically all calibres in one set.
Their perfect powder measure throws charges within +/- 2% for me with consistent technique. Not as good as others but for $30 I can't complain for plinking ammo.
A lot of people bash their safety powder scale for some reason but I've tested it with known weights and against other scales and it's accurate to less than 0.1 grain.
 
stubblejumper said:
I think much more highly of Lapua brass, than to put them through LEE dies.:)
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I'm also using Lee dies on Lapua brass.
Shouldn't the end result count more than the name on the box?
I don't have an aversion to using quality tools.
I'm using an L.E. Wilson case trimmer with the Sinclair Micrometer along with some other high quality tools.
 
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