LEE Anniversary Kit or BREECH CHALLENGER Kit

Status
Not open for further replies.
Since when are Lee presses not well made? I'm very happy with mine.

They are also under a warrantee for 2 years after purchase, and if it breaks after that they will sell you a new one half price.
 
One includes the handprimer and shell holders to prime off the press, the other the equipment to prime on the press. Both setups are good, the new Challenger press with the breech lock feature is getting good reviews, Joe at Real Guns used the same kit in a recent project and his write up is worth reading. He also did a straight review of the press when it was released that gives you some good info.

Personally, I like to hand prime so that would make my choice for me, go with what fits the way you want to work best and I think you'll be happy. I've been done good by the Lee equipment I've used.
 
Breech Lock Challenger press is the update to Challenger press. Compared to the previous model, it is taller, stronger and has the breech lock system for quick release of dies.

The kit is nice because it has all the basics to get some loads done. You can prep the brass witht the little prep tools. You can prime on the press or with the hand prime. I use the drum powder drop in conjunction with the scale.

I had a cheap caliper already.

I have the Breech Lock kit from MidwayUSA for about 100$.

There are some flimsy parts, but works great for me. Much cheaper than an RCBS setup. Lots of plastic that should be aluminum.

If I were a hard-core handloader, I would get a better scale. But I am newbie reloader. If I stay with it I will get the RCBS brass prep center, a heavy-duty scale and maybe an electronic scale with powder drop. Also whatever I can fit in the budget from Sinclair. But I imagine keeping the press for the long term.

Lee Hand Prime is great. But I don't like to have to keep track of a lot of little things. Been better to have it work with a standard shellholder. But hey, a girl's gotta eat.

I have Lee and RCBS dies. RCBS stuff is way expensive, but quality throughout.
 
My Lee Anniversary Kit still enjoys a lot of use, and works side by side with my Dillon Progressive press. I highly recommend the Lee Kit. If it wasn't for Lee many of us never would have started loading The comments above regarding this Lee press not being made well is untrue. I bet you will not find one picture on the internet of a broken one. Also, the beam scale that comes with it is what I use to this day. It is accurate to .001 grain and goes up to 100 grains...that's more than plenty scale.

IMO, the Lee turret press is a better deal and less than $20 more
 
The Lee presses are not very well made. If you can get the extra money buy a different brand.
Click to expand...

Based on my experience, I beg to differ.

I've loaded a lot of different cartridges on my aluminum framed Challenger press, including some big rifle rounds. No problems whatsoever.
 
Cornman,

The Lee turret press kit is advertised to be able to load monster belted magnum rifle cases
 
Cornman,

I'll second or third the suggestion to dole out a bit more for the Lee 4-hole Turret Press.

Being able to set all your dies in a dedicated turret insert and not have to swap out and adjust constantly as you do with a single stage is a big plus for me. It turns oout a goodly number of rounds per hour too.
 
How can ya go wrong for $100.00 !!?? Every time we mention Lee the messages start to fly -lol I personally use a rock chucker, RCBS/Ohaus Scale and some mixed Lee stuff like the priming tool and perfect powder measure, but you know I wouldnt hesitate to buy the Lee kit. I think it is awesome that someone can get into this cool hobby for short money! If you really get serious down the road you can always change upgrade. In today world the Lee's are enabling lots of people to come on board.
 
The Breech Lock press is a dandy little press, but I wouldn't recommend either kit. You'll get the Perfect Powder measure and the LEE scale either way. These last two items should not even be sold in all good conscience, imo.;)
 
I have resized 30-06 cases into 338-06 and the classic turret does just fine. I would go that route as it is a great little press. I have about 3000 rounds through mine.
 
The Lee PPM and scale work fine for me, although the scale is admittedly not the best in the world- it's very repeatable and durable, but more difficult to read/adjust.

The Autodisk Pro, however, is something every reloader should have.
 
The Lee presses are not very well made. If you can get the extra money buy a different brand.
Click to expand...

I mean no disrespect in this post but I've seen this kind of blanket remark about various products numerous times over the years (I'm not talking strictly reloading related). My experience is that often times people haven't given the product in question ample opportunity to prove itself, sometimes it's just quoted hear say. I've got presses both single stage and multi-stage from literally every popular manufacturer (and a couple of high end presses that are not quite so common). I have things I like and dislike about every one of them. When it comes to Lee's product my feeling is that in some instances they use plastic where metal would be a better choice. That said, once I understand the nuances of the different products I have found them to work quite well. I have no reservation in saying that I'm sure competition quality ammunition can be loaded using their presses. Though I have a couple that fit the bill of reloading .50 BMG cartridges I've found that I use my Lee Cast Classic exclusively for this caliber, I also pump out a lot of .45 ammo on the Lee LoadMaster and have relatively few problems. I say relatively simply because having loaded hundreds of thousands of rounds I've had problems at one time or another with every press I've owned. In short Lee's products are probably one of the best bang for the buck products in the reloading market. I would really like to try their newly designed breech press.
 
I loade with a Lee for a while before upgading to a Redding BBII. I didn't realize that the Lee product only have a 2 year on them. Knowing this I would pay the extra and get the higher dollar press. But I still have my Lee and probly always will.
 
I see all the Lee fanboys are here. I have the turret press. You CANNOT load accurate ammo on it. There is way too much play in the turret. A friend had the anniversary kit. The handle linkage on the press broke the second or third time he used it. Then there's the "perfect" powder measure that comes with it. All it does is leak powder out onto your bench. Of course it does come with the nearly impossible to zero scale. Of course there is a warranty on all of it. However when something breaks you'll be expected to pay to ship the broken whatever it is back to them and they WILL NOT ship the replacement till they get it so you'll be without whatever broke for a 2 or 3 weeks.
I'd rather save myself the frustration of dealing with them and get RCBS or Redding maybe even Forster.
 
I too know (not think) that Lee equipment is juuuuuust fine. How do I know? The ammo I load with Lee's collet neck sizing die on a Challenger press (now a year and half and several thousand rounds old) out of my Savage .223 delivers nickel-size groups at 100 yds., consistently. Yeah, the Savage is an excellent rifle, and yeah, I'm a decent shot, but the ammo has to be good to do that. And, I'll put the handgun ammo I make up against anyone's, anytime. Oh, and when I broke a part on my Lee scale, I got a free replacement when I sent it back. You talk about fanboys? Look no further than the kool-aid drinking 'green' and 'blue' crowd.
 
I disagree about the turret presses being inaccurate. I see no difference in accuracy from my Lee Turret or my RCBS Rockchucker.

I haven't had any of the problems you relate, save that the handle came off once, which I promptly glued back on.

Lee is the best value for the money, and while I might not use it for a benchrest competition, I wouldn't use an RCBS or Dillon either for that sort of thing.
 
I see all the Lee fanboys are here. I have the turret press. You CANNOT load accurate ammo on it.
Click to expand...
I hope I didn't come across as one of those fanboys that seem to be getting the bad press here. Actually the point I was trying to make was that Lee's presses haven't been any better or worse than the other presses I own. They are hands down the best value. My favorite press if I really had to pick one would probably be one of my Dillon 550's. Then again as I said earlier when it comes to strictly the .50 BMG I prefer the Lee. I don't own the turret press so my comments are limited here. When it comes to competition quality ammo I would think a single stage press, hand primer and a digital scale would be a good place to start. Reading some of the follow up posts to the quoted text it appears the "You CANNOT..." should have actually read "I CANNOT...".:D
 
Last edited:
I see all the Lee fanboys are here. I have the turret press. You CANNOT load accurate ammo on it.
Click to expand...

Maybe YOU cannot, but it sounds like many others can. I don't have the turret press, but I've loaded plenty of ammo on my Challenger single stage in many different calibers and cartridges. I've gotten smaller than dime sized groups out of .223.

If you don't like your Lee turret press, send it to me. I bet I could make accurate ammo with it.

I am serious here. PM me if you want to send it to me. I'll pay the shipping.
 
The turrets and shell holder are both LOOSE on my turret press. Have been since it was new. The wooden ball fell off the handle too. Maybe I'm just unlucky and get EVERY turd Lee ships out the door. After all I did get shell holders for their hand prime unit that won't fit. And I got the .500 S&W dies that the carbide fell out of on the third case they sized. Every time I buy something that says Lee on it it's nothing but a headache and their "customer service" doesn't help.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

3
  • Locked
New to reloading, please help me decide what kit
Replies
7
Views
487
.308 garand
3
D
  • Locked
Lee Breech Lock Press
Replies
2
Views
557
Linear Thinker
L
O
  • Locked
"Free" press from Lee with book purchase
Replies
14
Views
677
Schleprok62
S
valor1
  • Locked
Inputs on Lee Breechlock Challenge Press
Replies
6
Views
404
halfded
H
R
  • Locked
Lee Classic Cast 50 Caliber BMG Press Kit
Replies
2
Views
581
Austin Charles
A
Back
Top