jagugator
Member
I have been loading many different handgun bullets on a (then dads, now mine) Dillon 550 since around age 15, I am now 41. Loading for rifle is pretty new to me.
I have a Saiga 223 that I rarely shoot so I have been using a Lee classic loader kit for a year or so figuring 30 rounds pounded out an hour wasn't that bad. However I am going to be adding a S&W M&P 15 to the collection so I want to start shooting more 223.
I decided that instead of getting Dillon dies and a caliber conversion kit I would buy a single stage breech lock challenger press and an auto prime II. Pretty much just to see how the red gear works and I have to say so far I am not very happy with spending the money.
I believe most of my problems are from the Lee 223 die set I bought. It has a shell holder that only 1 in 5 pieces of brass fit into and the sp lever primer tool in the press shaft keeps getting hung up in the middle of the same and falls out onto the floor. It takes a tremendous amount of force to resize the once fired brass and even after ensuring every piece was pretty well lubed I had to knock out two pieces of brass from the neck sizing die. That was a first for me.
With the auto prime kit I have crushed more primers than ever. I am thinking that most of my problems with this are also from the shell holder, it just seems pretty loose when I finally find a piece of brass that fits. It was very frustrating only getting 19 bullets loaded in the 3 hours I was messing with the press.
Has anyone else had a problem with a Lee Shell holder? I think I am going to get another shell holder and see if maybe that is most of the problem.
Thanks for listening.
I have a Saiga 223 that I rarely shoot so I have been using a Lee classic loader kit for a year or so figuring 30 rounds pounded out an hour wasn't that bad. However I am going to be adding a S&W M&P 15 to the collection so I want to start shooting more 223.
I decided that instead of getting Dillon dies and a caliber conversion kit I would buy a single stage breech lock challenger press and an auto prime II. Pretty much just to see how the red gear works and I have to say so far I am not very happy with spending the money.
I believe most of my problems are from the Lee 223 die set I bought. It has a shell holder that only 1 in 5 pieces of brass fit into and the sp lever primer tool in the press shaft keeps getting hung up in the middle of the same and falls out onto the floor. It takes a tremendous amount of force to resize the once fired brass and even after ensuring every piece was pretty well lubed I had to knock out two pieces of brass from the neck sizing die. That was a first for me.
With the auto prime kit I have crushed more primers than ever. I am thinking that most of my problems with this are also from the shell holder, it just seems pretty loose when I finally find a piece of brass that fits. It was very frustrating only getting 19 bullets loaded in the 3 hours I was messing with the press.
Has anyone else had a problem with a Lee Shell holder? I think I am going to get another shell holder and see if maybe that is most of the problem.
Thanks for listening.