Lee and Precision are never used in the same sentence.
I believe Lee is some foreign language word for garbage.
Your Press and Accessories Peeves, by Company brand: Lee
- Thread starter diopter
- Start date
Lee and Precision are never used in the same sentence.
I believe Lee is some foreign language word for garbage.
Calling them garbage is a bit harsh. For me the collet die sets were an affordable first step into reloading. The .243 and .270 sets has served me very well. I have loaded more than 500 or so rounds without any problems what so ever with them. The results have been consistently very good IMO.
- Location
- Central AB
I have to respectfully disagree with the "garbage" comment as well. I have 35 sets of dies currently, 25 of which are Lee. The other 10 are from 4 different companies. Have to say I've never had a new die from any manufacture that wasn't usable. None required any extra work "polishing" etc to be used.
I own three of their presses, no issues. Although on their progressives i would say that folks that don't have any mechanical aptitude and/or patience would probably be best to avoid them. Most folks will find them quite useable.
I have three of their powder measures, no issues.
But hey, maybe other folks have ended up with the garbage, and just by shear luck and clean living, i got the good stuff.
Seriously though, it's a budget line of equipment. And their presses cover a range from lightly built ones that shouldn't be used for heavy duty work, up to quite robust models. So not suprising that user experiences vary considerably.
I own three of their presses, no issues. Although on their progressives i would say that folks that don't have any mechanical aptitude and/or patience would probably be best to avoid them. Most folks will find them quite useable.
I have three of their powder measures, no issues.
But hey, maybe other folks have ended up with the garbage, and just by shear luck and clean living, i got the good stuff.
Seriously though, it's a budget line of equipment. And their presses cover a range from lightly built ones that shouldn't be used for heavy duty work, up to quite robust models. So not suprising that user experiences vary considerably.
While I only have 10 sets of Lee dies, 8 of which are permanently in turrets, ready to go, the rest of the above fits my experience as well. Literally tens of thousands of reloads through my Lee Classic Turret press. Some little plastic bits and pieces have worn out over the years (square drive and primer assembly) which required replacing, but overall it is a superb little setup.
I have the Lee Classic cast single stage for heavy duty de-prime and resize jobs which gets used occasionally. I bought it before I bought a Redding T7. I also have an old Lee Breech Lock Reloader which I use exclusively for trimming - with Lee Quick Trim dies of course!
While I have switched over to a a Redding T7 for 4 of my current bottleneck cartridges, with Redding and Forster special purpose dies; each of those turrets has a Lee collet neck die which gets used regularly.
So, as far as Lee complaints go I have none. One note is that a lot of people seem to have problems with using the Lee Collet Neck die properly. The most important thing is to follow the instructions fully. Do NOT close the ram on this die without brass in it!! If you do, take it completely apart and extremely carefully spread the fingers apart so that the slots are exactly parallel to each other. If you do not do this, the case neck can hang up prior to being seated fully and it can cause the die to jam, wear and eventually fail, or crush / bell out the neck or shoulder or body of the case.
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Lee Pro1000 and Loadmaster press primer systems. They are just terrible and after wasting hours and hours over the years tweaking it I just gave up and prime by hand. Other than the priming system the presses work great and I really love the case feeders. Simple and effective design that other manufacturers should emulate.
I don't/won't use their dies. I have had several of their priming units break. The last straw for me was having a 2nd press handle sheer off on their so called 50 BMG press. The first handle broke without much ado and Lee warranted it. I sustained damage to my wrist and fingers from hitting the bench and it took 12 stiches to close the gash in my arm when the 2nd handle broke. Their design is terribly flawed and the materials used to maunfacture the press are not adequate in my experience.
I know of guys who claim to have great results even with their old junk that employed a scoop for powder measuring and a hammer to seat bullets with.
Sorry, call me a snob but I prefer decent kit. RCBS or Hornady at a minimum. There is better still. For the cost difference between buying junk and getting stuff that will last, I will spend the few extra bucks and know I am not going to be injured.
No wonder the handle broke if you're putting that much force into it...
nowarningshot
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Have not loaded or owned a 50 bmg, but I'm pretty sure the press has to be able to take a lot.of torque for sizing that case.
- Location
- Central AB
Yup, and if you use one of the light duty aluminum presses for this, you can break them. On the other hand, i think it would be impossible under human power to "sheer off" the handle on the Classic Cast press. Lee encompasses presses from light duty, to incredibly strong. You need to choose accordingly. The inexpensive light duty presses help people on a tight budget get into reloading. And for the vast majority of reloading will be fine. But 50bmg requires one of their heavier duty presses.
I have many Lee products for reloading.
The only thing that I find is real crap in Lee product is their "powder thru expander die" for handgun cartridges.
Now that piece is total crap, with brass sticking into it while lowering the ram.
That die alone ruin the die set.
If you reload for handguns, buy dies set of other brand. Their rifle dies are ok.
The only thing that I find is real crap in Lee product is their "powder thru expander die" for handgun cartridges.
Now that piece is total crap, with brass sticking into it while lowering the ram.
That die alone ruin the die set.
If you reload for handguns, buy dies set of other brand. Their rifle dies are ok.
I can't find parts for my old Lyman. The primer system works very well, but the aluminum casting that holds the primer tubes is getting worn out, and I can not find replacements, I also need a spring to keep it in the up position; mine broke 20 years ago.
Does anyone know if the new turret heads will fit this press, and if the new primer system where the tube holder fits on the turret would work with my old machine? Hand priming would slow me down too much.
Does anyone know if the new turret heads will fit this press, and if the new primer system where the tube holder fits on the turret would work with my old machine? Hand priming would slow me down too much.
