Lee C press thoughts?

I got one cheap, that I use mainly for trimming and pocket decrimping.
They are not a tight tolerance ram press. And not the best in leverage.
Recently I had it set up on the bench. Was going to try and resize almost 800 223/556 brass. Got though about 50 pieces and switched over to the LCT. Too much extra work for that many pieces. If you do much depriming, the spent primer chute ends at the back side of the ram. Bits of crud build up on the ram from depriming. But the press is easy as removing a c-clip and a spring to disassemble for cleaning.

I have broken a C frame lee cheapo. I believe I was resizing .270 win. It was part of a yard sale box buy so I wasnt out any real money for it and I swapped up to a Lee challenger. the O frame challenger was a better press, but it too had some serious weaknesses, and a lot of flex.

I would use an o-frame press before I'd use a c-frame press for the calibers you indicated, ohihunter2014. Lee makes one that's not much larger than that c-frame model.

When a new reloaded tells me he is going to buy a Lee Classic Loader because they are only shooting the .38 Special and won't be loading anything else I recommend they but a Lee C press instead.

If it will be your only press and you will be loading several cartridges including larger rifle cases I would recommend another system. If you want a single stage press there are many and most are not too costly. The Lee Classis single stage press can be had for right around $100 and it will last a lifetime just like an RCBS Rockchucker. It also handles spent primers very well. I don't care for the Breech Locks because of the addition cost.

If you really want to keep prices down and want to stick with a C frame press take a look at the Lyman C frame press. It's more than the Lee but its built much better and still half the price of the Lee O frame press when on sale for $67. The Lee C press is $41 on sale.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1019622315?pid=275088

I used a Lee C press for my portaloader, I've done everything I upto my .375 Ruger brass in it....and the fact I can just pick the whole thing up and carry it around means it gets used more than my full size.
You don't have the leverage, and I wouldn't use it for very high volume reloading, but it's an very functional press and for general use it should be fine.
I got mine for less that 30 bucks of Amazon.

I've probably loaded 1k + rounds of rifle, and at a few hundred .44s on that thing now.
all I had was that awful Frankfort arsenal dry lube for those .270 rounds and I had to hold the die/press to keep from pulling the bolts thru the 1/2" ply board.....I need a better board.

I don't think you'll have a problem. You can always send it back for another. The price is also right. I got a Buchanan Precision Machine Hand Reloading Press for travel. Its a little pricey but strong. I was thinking of getting a c-press myself for pulling bullets and de-capping.

The cheap cast arm broke off on mine when I was F.L. resizing some .25-06 cases. I won't buy another.

I use mine for decapping using the Lee universal decapping die, I think it is perfect for that, if you stay with straight wall cases and use lube you will be good to go, I wouldn't want to use it for bottle neck cases

I have one, if I were to use it to size anything, I would use lube. If your going to be doing it single stage style anyway, why not just size and deprime your brass ahead of time. The little C will handle any chore after that no problem.

I have one and its used for decapping duties only. I did add a case ejector to it to make it a more efficient process.



I think you could run pistol on it with no issues, but I wouldnt use it for constant rifle work.

I bought one to resize/decap brass and was disappointed. It never operated smoothly. It had binding/resistance even without a case in it. Oiled and worked it smooth, but when I tried to size 45 auto cases it would bind again. Leverage is poor.
Also it doesn't cam over like a real press, the ram stops when the linkage arms bang into the frame, doesn't seem very consistent.
I would recommend an aluminum O frame press with real linkage.

A few years ago I bought 1k 223 once fired. Resized, decrimped, and trimmed all using this little cheapy. I did have to take it apart several times to clean and relube ram.

I never ran into the problems listed above, but i used it for reloading only. Never broke anything (but I did break a Pacific "C" press). If you are gonna F/L sized unlubed, 50 Whoopie Belted Magnums, choose something else. For normal reloading the Lee press works fine (I reloaded 44 Magnum, 38/57, and .223 for about 18 months before the divorce)...

"Cam over" was mentioned and as a lifelong machinist/mechanic, cam over (aka; over top dead center) is no better than a solid stop. Been reloading for over 30 years and have never used a cam over method, even if the press was sloppy enough to cam over...

I used to use the cheap Lee C frame press to deprime/resize 9mm and 45acp cases. Sometimes I would do 4 or 5 hundred at a time an it would get a little strenuous. A few months ago, I replaced it with the Lee classic cast breech lock press when Midway had them on sale. Huge improvement.

It is typically beneficial to get more press than you think that you will need. If it were just the 44mag, I would say the C press is enough. With 45-70 being tapered, I would probably lean toward an O press. When I started reloading, I noticed my Lee challenger visibly flexing when sizing 30-06 brass. Didn't take me long to get a classic cast - those don't flex. I guess the question is how much force it takes to size your 45-70 and if the flex of a C press is acceptable for your firearm.

The other thought is to check out your local online classifieds. More often than not, there is somebody with a used RCBS Reloader's Special press. As long as they are not too proud of it or trying to sell their granddad's whole operation for the cost of new, it may be worth it.

I bought this for less than $30 on Amazon and I have loaded a lot of .45 colt with it without any hiccups. I've never used any other press but for my needs I don't see a necessity to purchase anything different. With the .44 mag you should have no problems. I'm not sure how resizing the case would be with a 45-70, although my 45 Colt is also a straight walled case and I have had zero issues.

I would just buy the Lee Challenger press. Not that much heavier or larger, and still cheap.
The C press is probably okay as a stop-gap measure for loading pistol cartridges for a while.

I have a Lee C Press sitting on a shelf, it’s my spare in case one of my two challengers die and needs repairs. I set them up side by side so I don’t have to fiddle with changing dies etc when switching from resizing to seating bullets.

It did crack in the area where the pin meets the frame after loading a lot of stuff over several years. Lee took it back and sent me a new one for 5 bucks I believe.

They are ok, but as the guys have said you’ll get much more mileage over time from a Lee “O” press for not much more $$.

Stay safe.