1st set of Lee dies

The dies themselves are good.

I dislike the lock rings as they do not have a locking feature to maintain your setting. Regardless of the propaganda from Lee, the o-ring is just not positive enough to hold the setting when installing or removing the die from the press.

Some folks like that feature or not a problem if you mount the die a a bushing (Lee's breech lock or Hornady L-N-L) or some kind of tool head.

Enjoy your new dies.

Definitely do yourself a favor and get some Hornady lock rings to with the dies. RCBS lock rings work but they can damage the threads if you over tighten them.

I agree with the Hornady lock rings. I have one for each of my 8 Lee dies.

Yep. +1 on Hornady lock rings. They are the best. If only I could develop a tool like a long socket to extend down over the dies and engage the Hornady lock rings to snug them down into the press.

Yep. +1 on Hornady lock rings. They are the best. If only I could develop a tool like a long socket to extend down over the dies and engage the Hornady lock rings to snug them down into the press.

Click to expand...

Once the lock ring is locked in place there's no reason to tighten the die/lock ring down that much. Finger tight is more than good enough.

A number of people seem to have trouble with Lee's O-ring locking system.
I've got several sets of Lee dies and never had a problem with settings changing.
Takes a little different method of screwing them into the press than those locked up with steel rings, no big deal.

jcwit said:

Once the lock ring is locked in place there's no reason to tighten the die/lock ring down that much. Finger tight is more than good enough.

Click to expand...

I basically agree and for sure, a deep socket, and the associated lever arm (aka wrench handle), is not necessary. Sometimes, when my hands hurt a bit from arthritis a little help tightening the die is gratefully accepted.

Hornady and Sinclair International make wrenches that fit the Hornady lock rings. Both are aluminum so you do not want to "hog" down on them but they provided the little extra torque to keep the die from loosening in use.

The Hornady wrench is also useful with items on the L-N-L progressive.

Give them a thorough inspection when they arrive. My most recent purchase was saturated with machine oil and had not been properly cleaned after milling. I had to remove metal filings from inside the dies. I cleaned them up and they work fine. Oh - I also had to polish the flare die insert to stop it from being so "grabby" on the down-stroke but that's my personal preference - some say it's supposed to work that way.

The o-ring lock nuts work just fine once you flip the nut over so the o-ring points up.

I agree as I have 4 dies for 4 different setups of Lee dies and use the Hornady lock rings and they work great.

The o-ring lock nuts work just fine once you flip the nut over so the o-ring points up.

Click to expand...

Doing that totally defeats the reason for the O-ring.
Oh well, whatever.

stubbicatt said:

Yep. +1 on Hornady lock rings. They are the best. If only I could develop a tool like a long socket to extend down over the dies and engage the Hornady lock rings to snug them down into the press.

Click to expand...

You mean like this one?
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/191984/hornady-lock-n-load-deluxe-die-locking-ring-wrench

JohnM said:

Lee dies and never had a problem with settings changing.

Click to expand...

I have a pile of Lee lock rings removed from Lee dies. I do find uses for them.

The best use I have is on powder measures, I have 6 powder measures. I use the Lee ring and o-ring to hold the measure in place on the powder measure stand. With the Lee lock ring, i can get the ring tight enough by hand to hold the powder measure tight when I swap out measures. Also, I use them on my powder measure storage stand where the powder measures live when not in active use.

I have one one my powder cop die on the Hornady Progressive. I adjust the die frequently at cartridge changes and the Lee rings let me do that quickly. But, I recently removed the o-ring because it slowed the adjustment process down. Without the o-ring, I can get the die locked enough to stay put.

i have been know to use two Lee lock rings on a die, jammed together locked in the position that I adjusted the die for. Not as sexy as a clamping lock ring and more difficult to set, but it worked when I could not get clamping lock rings.

chhodge69 said:

Give them a thorough inspection when they arrive. My most recent purchase was saturated with machine oil and had not been properly cleaned after milling. I had to remove metal filings from inside the dies. I cleaned them up and they work fine. Oh - I also had to polish the flare die insert to stop it from being so "grabby" on the down-stroke but that's my personal preference - some say it's supposed to work that way.

The o-ring lock nuts work just fine once you flip the nut over so the o-ring points up.

Click to expand...

Agreed about the inspection and clean. Disagree with removing the powder drop "jiggle" functionality that Lee designed. That "grab" shakes free any clinging powder for more consistent drops.

The o-rings work fine for me.

"Anything I should know about these Lee dies? I wouldn't think so, but I know some folks say they are not as good as the others."

Yeah, and then they stop; no meaningful data to support the statement. Lee has been selling dies for a very long time, if they weren't as good as any of their type that wouldn't be true. Fact is, our guns will never know what brand of dies our ammo was made with! Most dies have small user trivial differences that some people like or dislike but, functionally, a die is a die so a competent reloader can use any of them quite easily.

Those who don't understand why Lee's handgun expanders are made the way they are often 'fix' 'em to defeat the function they are made to preform but, if you're not using them on a progressive press, that won't matter. Ditto Lee's soft seat lock rings. Those who mistakenly think dies should be locked in with wrenches or pliers tend to hate 'em but there's no reason to install dies more than hand tight and for that the O ring design, properly used, works great. I have a lot of dies from a lot of makers and haven't felt a need to change a lock ring on any of them.

I can't imagine using new dies of any brand without cleaning them first. (Ditto before shooting a 'new' firearm, etc.)

stubbicatt said:

Yep. +1 on Hornady lock rings. They are the best. If only I could develop a tool like a long socket to extend down over the dies and engage the Hornady lock rings to snug them down into the press.

Click to expand...

Something like this?

http://www.homedepot.com/Plumbing-P...splay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051

Good luck.

Lost Sheep

I have almost exclusively all Lee dies except for a single RCBS and a single Redding. I prefer the Lee over both of those. That being said, I think the Lee shell holders suck. Too sloppy. I find myself having to align cases to go into dies and then when going fast I have pinched a finger a few times.

I like Ruger, Savage, and Lee---there those that would say I have poor taste.:banghead:

ranger335v said:

...but there's no reason to install dies more than hand tight and for that the O ring design, properly used, works great.

Click to expand...

Right, the O-ring design does a good job of holding the die in the press with only hand tight torque. I would not mind if the feature was included with the other manufacturer's dies.

The trouble with Lee's lock ring is it is not locked to the die. You may not lose your setting today when you remove the die, but you will at some point lose your setting.

Or, you will spend time checking and adjusting your die setting each time you reinstall it in the press.

Sorry, the Lee lock nut is just not a positive enough stop for me. An eighth of turn of the nut is almost 0.009" change in position of the die.

I have Lee dies in 10mm, 45 acp, .357 mag, .41 mag, .44 mag, 7mm mag, .243, and a few others...I use them just the way they come out of the box. I've loaded thousands of rounds of ammo and I've not yet had a hiccup out of any of them. They work well.

FROGO207 said:

I like Ruger, Savage, and Lee---there those that would say I have poor taste.:banghead:

Click to expand...

Hahaha well said!

i havent had any problems, i also dont like the lock rings and switched them out for ones with a set screw

Sorry, the Lee lock nut is just not a positive enough stop for me. An eighth of turn of the nut is almost 0.009" change in position of the die.

Click to expand...

I tend to tighten down my non-critical dies to the nearest point where a point of the hexagon points straight forward. There's a little knob on my press at this location. That way I get repeated settings, albeit having to choose the nearest 1/6th of a turn.

For the seating dies, good call on the Hornady lock rings, or whatnot.