Broke my Lee Press!

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Dave R

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I have always been of the opinion that Lee equipment was "good enough," until now. I was resizing surplus .308 brass. Which is pretty thick stuff. Broke the back off the part of the press that holds the handle.

Anybody deal with Lee customer service before? How are they?
 

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I would think they would either fix it or replace it. They have always delt square with me.
 
I break Lee stuff occasionally, and they are just as fast to ship a new part to replace a broken one, when i ship them the busted pieces.
The VHS video mailer boxes and flat rate at the post office are the best way i have found. I have broken the linkage and one cast aluminum press handle and about 43 of the hand prime paddles.
I always get a fun letter along with the new parts too, stating, these things should not break, you must be exerting too much pressure, etc.
I have 6 of the hand primer devices all with different types of primers in them. Keeps things simpler for me.
 
I think I would just use this as an opportunity to upgrade to their Lee Classic Cast single stage. Once the upgrade was done, I'd get Lee to repair/replace the broken one and use it for lighter weight or oddball tasks.

just my .02,

Dave
 
The classic cast is a lot beefier, and I think it's designed to use the Hornaday LNL bushings, if I remember right. Regardless, Lee's warranty covers it unconditionally for two years, and then it's half the current retail price of the part.
 
That's exactly how mine broke, granted, after about 10 years of abuse. I think it took them almost a week to get the new parts to me and all it cost me was 5 minutes of my time to make the call.
 
I would get Lee to keep replacing it until they won't any more, or upgrade their design to where they don't need to. I've had them replace stuff before, no problem.
 
Dave R.
Did you have the handle pushed through both of the aluminum pieces? in the assembly instructions ( who reads those&*^$ things) it states make sure it does or it could damage the press.
I'm pretty sure Lee Precision will help they have nothing to lose on giving you a new peice and a lot to gain. Give 'em a call!
 
I had the same press as you with the same issue. My advice is to not waste your time fixing this crappy press (mine resides in an old van outback) and upgrade to a much more substantial unit. You'll be amazed at how much easer your sizing operation will be. Then you won't have that nagging thought in the back of your mind. "will this case break my press again? I really want to go shooting tomorrow.
 
I don't think you will have any trouble at all getting replacement parts from Lee. They replaced a die part for me; no questions asked. Dillon did the same. I think this is one of those industries that respects its customers.
 
I had my Lee Challenger press (one of the original anniversary kits) for about two years when my son broke the toggle linkage, sizing some .300wby brass. Flipped them and kept right on going for about a year, when I broke the good one, again sizing rifle brass (this time, a .300wm). Called Lee and they cross shipped the two pieces. My only cost was the postage to ship them the broken parts.

Got to thinking, and ordered another set from Midway. Haven't broken the replacement set, but I have another set ready, just in case.

Since then, I've read (here and elsewhere) that the toggle linkage is the weakest part of this press. I agree.

In the meantime, I've gotten the Classic Cast and save the Challenger press for decapping and seating.

All in all, I've been happy with the results from my Lee presses, their customer service and response time.
 
Did you have the handle pushed through both of the aluminum pieces? in the assembly instructions ( who reads those&*^$ things) it states make sure it does or it could damage the press.
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Yup. The part of the linkage that broke was the part where the far side of the handle meets the linkage, not the near side. So, obviously, both parts were contacting.
 
Well, there's a surprise. Lee makes good stuff, for the price. I think that maybe you should consider fixing that up for the light stuff, and upgrading to something better, Lee or otherwise for the hard stuff.
 
I broke one of the Lee (c) presses while resizing 30/06 brass. Sent the broken part to Lee with my return address and in less than 1 week had a replacement part no charge. Great customer service. BTY I've seen broken Lyman and Dillen presses also.
 
I would buy the replacement part from Lee, fix it, and keep going.

Put lube on the cases.

Don't set up a Lee Collet die to toggle at top dead center, that's what broke my rockchucker press.
 
As stated above, send them the broken linkage part and enjoy the new one they send. Their customer service is excellent.

Take a second look at your case lube procedure, just to make sure you're lubricating properly. Clean the sizing die once in a while. Continue having fun reloading.
 
Midway has the Classic on sale for $69.99
Or maybe you could call Lee and ask if they would offer you some kind of exchange upgrade considering that yours broke.

CLASSIC.jpg
 
Take a second look at your case lube procedure, just to make sure you're lubricating properly. Clean the sizing die once in a while. Continue having fun reloading.
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I was lubing properly. And I clean my dies. But I was using a lot of force. For some reason, the shoulders on these cases had gone pretty far forward.

I have 2 .308 rifles. A Rem700 with "like new" headspace, and an Ishapore Enfield that was in spec when I bought about 500 rounds ago. Bolt would not close on a "no go" gauge, (or was it field? I disremember. Anyway, to did what it was supposed to do.) However I noticed that, if I neck sized brass fired from the Enfield, it was a little hard to close the bolt in the Rem700. Somewhere, I would up with just two cases that were hard for the Enfield's bolt to close on. I was full-length resizing those 2, with plenty of lube, when I broke it.
 
Were I you, I wouldn't fire brass from the Enfield in the Remington. You're better off to keep the brass for the two rifles separate. There is simply too much space in the Enfield's chamber.

Dave
 
Were I you, I wouldn't fire brass from the Enfield in the Remington. You're better off to keep the brass for the two rifles separate. There is simply too much space in the Enfield's chamber.
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Good advice. I'll do that.
 
Just call Lee and they will fix it up for you no problem. I use a Reloader press for decapping when I can't do it outside by hand with a decapper & base. Also load my 223 and 308 on it with no problems. All the pistol gets loaded on the loadmaster. It's hard to beat a 20.00 press.
 
DaveR,
IMO, Otto has a good idea in post #19.

I bought a Lee 4 Hole Turret Press and within 4 weeks sold it off to buy a Classic 4 Hole Turret Press. The Cast Iron presses are built better, obviously have a heavier base and both the ram and linkage are heavier.
 
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