Oh Lee has GOT to be kidding me! THREE hours!!!!

[Vitamin G]

Thats right. I picked up my lee anniversary kit from my local cabela's at about noon today. Set it all up and started loading up some 10mm slowly around 3pm.
6:30pm - after I had finished up my 10mm, i was de-priming some .45, and the arm had worked it way out a little so that it was secured by only one hole, and it SNAPPED a piece of the press that secures the handle in place!!!

I REALLY wanted to load up some .45!!!!

Cabela's was great though. They said they'd exchange it as "defective" but i'd have to bring the whole thing back, press, handprime, powder measure, scale and all!
Oh well. I guess its good news since the powder measure was a little leaky anyways.


I wish i could afford RCBS right now... $67 vs. $250 difference...

 

[R.W.Dale]

It never ceses to amaze me that in this modern age of information dissimination that people will still pay money for the LEE anniversary kit. I bought one at a Pawnshop new in the box so I could move my operation from a buddys house. Within 20 rounds the handle broke offin the press,the infernal measure alawys leaked and the scale was impossible to zero. At this point I've replaced everything except the hand primer,funnel and chuck for the trimmer.

 

[45Frank]

I've had mine for about 13 years and haved moved up to Lyman terret but still use it occasionally, been good for me, it is a starter kid so you sort of get what you pay for. But I guess I would be a little mad myself.
I've had a few powder powder measures over time and still use the lee plastic one. It's one of the more accurate ones I've ever used.
Good Luck it'll work for you.

Thats right. I picked up my lee anniversary kit from my local cabela's at about noon today. Set it all up and started loading up some 10mm slowly around 3pm.
6:30pm - after I had finished up my 10mm, i was de-priming some .45, and the arm had worked it way out a little so that it was secured by only one hole, and it SNAPPED a piece of the press that secures the handle in place!!!

I REALLY wanted to load up some .45!!!!

Cabela's was great though. They said they'd exchange it as "defective" but i'd have to bring the whole thing back, press, handprime, powder measure, scale and all!
Oh well. I guess its good news since the powder measure was a little leaky anyways.


I wish i could afford RCBS right now... $67 vs. $250 difference...

 

[redneck2]

Why is it that, when people buy the cheapest thing on the market, they're suprised and upset that they get something cheap???

If I see...."well, the Lee is cheapest and the _____ (Dillon, Hornady, RCBS, Lyman) is more money", one more time, I might puke

I have a friend that got 4 used Lee presses used....cheap (go figure). We were talking about reloading. He said he'd like to reload, but he gets tired of fiddling with his presses every 20 rounds or so

In 6 hours, I could very EASILY load over 2,000 rounds of 10 mm, and never adjust my press once.

wish i could afford RCBS right now... $67 vs. $250 difference...

With all due respect, do something to get or save more money. I save by paying for everything with folding money and throwing my loose change in a basket when I get home. Yeah big deal...maybe $2 a day. Adds up to $60 a month. 4-5 months and you can buy a Dillon or Hornady instead of the Lee.

Or, rake leaves or mow lawns. Don't laugh. I had a college degree and was married with 2 kids. I did every odd job I could to make extra money. Mow 10 lawns at $30 each and you've got your press.

you buy crap, you get crap

 

[m0ntels]

Shooting and reloading would not be what it is today if not for Mr Lee.

*Justifications deleted because I think the first sentence says enough*

Randy

 

[Vitamin G]

I agree with just about everyone, if thats possible. Its far below the quality of other brands. With that said, it gave me a really valuable lesson that I would not have paid $250 to ask. I LIKE RELOADING.
I'm going to end up trading it back in for another one, give it a go, and save up for the rock chucker in addition to the classic press. That way if it really comes down to it, I can have 2

 

[1911user]

Before spending $250 on an RCBS press kit, look into the advantages of a good progressive press especially for reloading enormous quantities of pistol ammo in a short time period.

 

[Powderman]

For me, I buy three different Lee products: their molds, the Factory Crimp dies, and their regular dies.

The loading dies load great ammunition. I hae a set in .30-06 and .223, both load ammo fit for semiautomatic rifles.

The Factory Crimp dies--in .308/.30-06/.223 I have come to regard as essential.

And, I have a set of Lee molds that I use for 200 grain LSWC bullets, in .452. These molds are approaching their 20th anniversary--and they still drop match quality bullets.

Their presses do leave a bit to be desired--but Lee does make a good product.

 

[JDGray]

My Lee kit was a gift, so if it breaks im out nothing! But after 10 yrs. and 3000 plus loads, its as good as day one. JDGray

 

[The Drew]

I bought a lee 1000 pro progressive reloader in 45acp , and while it isn't perfect, It works well and gives me very little trouble, I've loaded about 1000 rounds on it since I started a few months ago...

Cabela's price $119

 

[Lennyjoe]

I use a Lee progressive and a single stage and haven't had any issues yet. I must be one of the lucky ones.

 

[antarti]

i was de-priming some .45, and the arm had worked it way out a little so that it was secured by only one hole, and it SNAPPED a piece of the press that secures the handle in place!!!

Make sure the handle goes through both holes (I think that's in the instructions) and you shouldn't have a repeat issue.

Personally, I heard all the same stuff about LEE. Then I:

1) Bought their Classic Cast Press and though "hey, this is a darn nice press for the price".
2) Bought their carbide dies with FCD in various pistol calibers. Apparently those are darn nice too.
3) Bought the Auto Prime II to speed up priming. Haven't had anything but success with that (if its kept clean, as per directions).
3) Bought their universal decapper and went through a few thousand rds of crimped-in primers (and more without crimps) without incident. Guess that works fine too...
4) Then I got the Pacesetter .223 dies which resized mil brass just fine, suitable for use in my AR. Darned if that wasn't nice too.
5) Despite the internet kvetching about the LEE chamfer tool, I got one, chucked it into a Dremel, and removed mil-crimps faster than anything else, a couple seconds-per case at most.
6) Then I got the "plastic leaky POS" Pro Autodisk to speed up powder charging. It actually throws very, very consistently. Happy again...

See a trend here? I'm not saying my equipment is the be-all-end-all single-stage setup (it isn't), but it does WORK when I'm doing my part. Everybody hates LEE stuff (well, except for the dies, or this, or that, or this other thingie, which are great).

I can only say this because I know I am a bigger "reloading dufus" than you are. I've made just about every reloading mistake that can be made short of blowing up a firearm. Even so, and with all the "head scratching" and "trial and error" (had nobody to show me the ropes) at times, I can reload ammo that works, and in batches, crank it out when I need to. If I can make the LEE stuff work for me properly, anybody can (that "I am a real dufus" thing again).

I guess that also puts me in a position to more readily appreciate a "quality" (Hornady/RCBS/Dillon) progressive later on... so be it. I bought LEE based on price, which was my #1 priority at the time, no shame in that, it was just a matter of priorities. I found LEE works, and wasn't a waste of money. I seriously doubt whatever I get in the future will make me pack up and toss everything I have now into the ocean, regardless of price or color.

Read the directions... call LEE if you must (I have, and they have been nothing but helpful). Chances are you'll be happy too. If not, give it to somebody else who wants to learn reloading, and get whatever your heart desires.

 

[donkee]

That's the thing these days. Get the stuff, don't follow the directions, it's the manufacturer's fault. My LEE stuff has been great. And see no reason to retire anything I have, it just works too good. There are things I don't like, for example the O ring lock rings, but have replaced all of them with Hornady lock rings. No complaints anymore. I am getting a set of RCBS dies in 8mm Mauser to do a side by side comparison of the finished ammo. If the RCBS dies make any difference, I'll be sure to come out here and tell the world that RCBS dies make better ammo than LEE, but till then, I'll keep the LEE stuff.....

 

[yorec]

Lee products are designed to be able to function reliably and well for thousands of rounds under proper working conditions. No more - they don't have large overbuilt tolerances like many other brands - that's how they keep thier prices down. If you need the overbuilt tolerances cause you do something different than what the product was designed for then you need another brand. Simple as that.

I've loaded tens of thousands of rounds on my Lee presses over the years, but I've also broken a couple of them. I recognize that I can get a little "gorrilla wristed" at times too. But that's my fault and I'm still money ahead having bought a few replacement parts. It gave me a chance to test the Lee customer service deptartment too. Not disappointed in the least there either.

If it breaks and you were doing everything right, then it was probably defective - good for Cabelas for standing behind the product. Next time you'll do better, but if not - ask yerself if you weren't a little "gorrilla wristed too?"

My other press is a Dillon. I'm just as big a fan of thiers... Go figure.

 

[Vitamin G]

Nope, I actually considered myself quite gentle on it. I wouldn't be upset about breaking it because I didn't follow the directions, if i had intentionally not followed the directions. It seems to me that when a product comes with an arm that slides around so much that someone can accidentally not follow directions if they dont readjust all the time, well, THAT was what angered me.

Oh well though. Its a good excuse to get a single stage AND progressive anyways.

On that note, has anyone ever soldered or welded the arm in place so that it doesn't keep sliding around? I think that would probably fix it perfect for me.

 

[donkee]

The classic cast is a much beefier press. I busted a couple of the links on my old challenger, but LEE replaced them quickly for me. Still, I sold the challenger and bought the cast. It's been good to me and will last for eons.....

 

[halvey]

I agree with just about everyone, if thats possible. Its far below the quality of other brands. With that said, it gave me a really valuable lesson that I would not have paid $250 to ask. I LIKE RELOADING.
I'm going to end up trading it back in for another one, give it a go, and save up for the rock chucker in addition to the classic press. That way if it really comes down to it, I can have 2

You bought a bum press, and you found out you LIKE to reload. So why get another bum press if you already know you like it? Save the $$, mortage the house, sell some food, but get a decent press!

 

[dracphelan]

On that note, has anyone ever soldered or welded the arm in place so that it doesn't keep sliding around? I think that would probably fix it perfect for me.

After assembling my Lee Anniversary kit, I found I had a spare nut & bolt. It turns out that they hold it in quite nicely. Tonight, when I get home, I'll see about taking a picture of it so you can see what I'm talking about.

 

[RON in PA]

The Lee Classic cast iron press is as good as anything out there. Their dies work well for me as does their priming tool (expect parts breakage on the priming tool). The red plastic powder measure should only be used with stick powder in my experience.

 

[W Turner]

Count me as another satisfied LEE user. I use their turret press, hand primer, and dies. Been VERY satisfied with all of their stuf regardless of the fact that all but the hand primer was bought second hand.

Take care of yousr stuff and it will take care of you.


W

 

[redneck2]

Probably should have qualified my statement better

I use Lee dies. For what I do with rifle, they're fine. And I do use FCD's. Collet dies look like a great idea.

Can't warm up to the powder measures. You can say what you want. I just can't trust them

Now as for progressive presses, they're "questionable" IMO. Maybe their single stage and turrets are fine. Never used those. There's just gotta be a reason that others cost more and Lee costs less.

Also, I've got Lee's book. While the info may or may not be correct, his assumptions that "I've got the answers and if you don't use my stuff you're an idiot" get old quick

 

[The Bushmaster]

And The Bushmaster has two Lee presses. A single stage (the cheapest one they make) and a turret three hole. I use the single stage to resize and decap all my fired cases from .30-06 to 9mm X 19. The turret is set up to reload these cases after cleaning and many inspections. I have been using these presses for almost 20 years with no problems. So you got one press that escaped the QA inspectors. And the rest of the manufacturers have never had one that escaped the QA inspectors. RIGHT??!!?? Give me a break......

 

[dracphelan]

After assembling my Lee Anniversary kit, I found I had a spare nut & bolt. It turns out that they hold it in quite nicely. Tonight, when I get home, I'll see about taking a picture of it so you can see what I'm talking about.

Here's the picture:

 

[The Bushmaster]

And the problem??? Nice photo...

 

[MNgoldenbear]

My Lee kit was a gift, so if it breaks im out nothing! But after 10 yrs. and 3000 plus loads, its as good as day one. JDGray

10 years and 3000 loads? You need to get out to the range more often!! What are you doing with all your time that's so important? Working? Feeding, housing, and clothing the family? Come on, prioritize! (sarcasm, in case anyone took those last comments seriously)