Why buy Lyman stuff?

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Mark_Mark said:
Just give the Lee a shot! You never know, you might like it!
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I have several Lee tools, not because that are inexpensive, but because they do a good job...Universal Depriming die (after you add the Squirrel Daddy pins), Auto Bench Priming tool, 9mm Undersize Sizing die, Classic Cast single stage press, ACP.

The Lee Perfect Powder Measure is the worst I've ever used. The Lyman #55, RCBS Uniflow, and Hornady LNL are about tied. The Redding 10x and the Mark 7 have been the best
 
9mmepiphany said:
I have several Lee tools, not because that are inexpensive, but because they do a good job...Universal Depriming die (after you add the Squirrel Daddy pins), Auto Bench Priming tool, 9mm Undersize Sizing die, Classic Cast single stage press, ACP.

The Lee Perfect Powder Measure is the worst I've ever used. The Lyman #55, RCBS Uniflow, and Hornady LNL are about tied. The Redding 10x and the Mark 7 have been the best
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You never know if a Lee Perfect Powder is good unless you try… I think every reloader need to try so they can complain about it
 
9mmepiphany said:
I have several Lee tools, not because that are inexpensive, but because they do a good job...Universal Depriming die (after you add the Squirrel Daddy pins), Auto Bench Priming tool, 9mm Undersize Sizing die, Classic Cast single stage press, ACP.

The Lee Perfect Powder Measure is the worst I've ever used. The Lyman #55, RCBS Uniflow, and Hornady LNL are about tied. The Redding 10x and the Mark 7 have been the best
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The Lee Universal Expander die is great - once you pair the die with NOE M-die expanders.
 
Rule3 said:
I love watching factory tours. Gives folks a good idea of what actually happens to [produce a product
Even better is a tour of big shipping companies, Like Midway from the moment the order is received on line, all the steps to get it shipped,
When someone complains about why their order is not at their door step in 2 days, they can get a clue!, Imagine how Amazon does it!
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I was attracted to several Lee products when starting out purely due to cost. After trashing several hundred 9mm cases that my Lee 9mm sizing die ruined (which I initially attributed to the headstamp), and even ruining my Lee Universal Decapping die, I quit going for cheap, and chose quality instead. No regrets. However, I dearly missed the Lee dipper in my 9mm die set, and so I bought the entire Lee dipper set.
My goto brand is Hornady...never an issue. My next choice is Lyman...strictly for their MSR die sets (9mm, 458 SOCOM, 6.8 Rem SPC). I've only recently picked up a couple sets of RCBS dies...not impressed, and my worst experience with ANY die set was with Redding...where I spend far too much money trying to size 40S&W cases...including resorting to buying a Redding G-Rx "bulge buster". Turns out, none of my case were bulged, and my sizing woes were due to a defective carbide sizing ring in the Redding die. Redding changed the ring...but recessed it in the die, resulting in incomplete sizing. No worries...I bought a set of Hornady 40S&W dies.
40 S&W Carbide Ring.jpg
 
I hadn't realized Lyman was more expensive - but then, I rarely buy reloading equipment any more, already having most of what I could foreseeably need.

My opinion of Lyman - and I use a bunch of it, along with a bunch of nearly everything else - is that it is medium quality. I consider it roughly on par with RCBS, not as good as Hornady or Redding, and better than Lee.

Having said that, while I enjoy working with higher quality tools, I generally have not found that they produce better handloads - bearing in mind that I am not playing with things like benchrest rifles. For handguns and hunting rifles, I have no way of telling whether my handloads came out of a Lee die or a Redding one - let alone a Lee press or a Redding one - and so generally don't care about the brand any more. Especially in today's wacky economy, if I need something for the reloading bench I snap up whatever is available, regardless of the name on the lid.
 
Smaug said:
I've had a few reloading books in the past, and found I really like the Lyman one.

However, as I look through other reloading gear, I see that Lyman stuff is consistently quite a lot more expensive than Lee and even Hornady & RCBS. Why do people buy it? Is it obviously better quality, once a fellow has it in hand?

Is it mostly American-made? (if so, I'm on-board)

Brand loyalty from decades back?

Educate me, please.
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A quick search of the same item (2 die FL die set in 223) from one of the companies that I usually buy from shows Lee to be less expensive, across the board. Lyman was about the same as RCBS, Redding was more and Forster was even more. So, I'm not really seeing Lyman as costing more. Lyman makes good solid stuff. I could not find if they say where their stuff is made. Opinions vary about their customer service.
 
Redding & Dillon = Snap-on

Hornady & RCBS = Craftsman

Lee & Lyman = Harbor Freight
 
I have various tools, dies and other stuff from virtually all of the major manufacturers except Dillon. I have found both good and bad characteristics about items from all of them. I have generally found that all of them do their job if used properly. When I need something I generally look at what is available and what sales are going on. I haven't seen that the Lyman dies or tools that I have bought are any better or worse than those of other manufacturers. Use them right and they do their job.
 
Has anyone ever compared dies against each other from different manufacturers?

Would be nice to see which ones have the least and most run out. Which ones are actually squared up, including shell holders and lock rings....
 
Otto said:
Redding & Dillon = Snap-on

Hornady & RCBS = Craftsman

Lee & Lyman = Harbor Freight
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Even though you pay close to Redding prices for Dillon, it's quality is about the same as that of Lee...it just has features that Lee doesn't offer on their own dies
 
gifbohane said:
While I will continue to trash Lyman customer service, I bought one of these and it lasted five years and functioned as advertised.

So, I was certainly satisfied. I actually killed it when I tried to fix it.
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If you don't mind me asking, what happened when you contacted their customer service?
 
Kookla said:
If you don't mind me asking, what happened when you contacted their customer service?
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No problem. On a number of occasions, I wrote emails or made phone calls and left messages and I never heard back from them. Usually, it was for small stuff and I was willing to pay. But no response.

Recently it was for the rubber grommet on the top of the bowl that I lost, and I wanted to buy a replacement.
 
Mark_Mark said:
if you want trouble free, out the box performance with SOLID customer service. Don’t buy Lee Powder Drop, just get out your $100 bill, and buy RCBS, Lyman, Dillon, hornady… It’s really that easy, Lee is not for amateur or people prone to tossing things across the room due to frustration.

and I have a love/hate relationship with Lee. 1/2 my gear is Lee.
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I've been debating buying that Lee powder thrower. My thought process is that i can set it to drop .5 grains less than what I want, then trickle the rest.
 
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