Lee "Cast Iron" Hand Press

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kfelder

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Is the Lee Hand Press made from cast iron? There is someone on ebay selling a Lee hand press kit and is advertising it as made from cast iron. I don't believe him and when I questioned him about it he quit answering my emails. His buy it now price is $70.88 which is outrageous.
 
I have the Lee Hand press and am very impressed with it. I think I paid 45.99 that comes with the Ram Prime option. I wouldn't touch it at 70.
 
a lot of the stuff being sold on E-bay is being sold by someone that has no clue as to what they have, this one has 5 of them and whoever is buying them also has no clue as too what they are buying however this can be a good thing if you know what you are looking at and they don't know what they have,I bought a Bonanza concentricy gauge last year for $64.00 and it had a STARRETT gauge in it , and yes I sleep just fine :neener::)
 
I paid 28.98 at FS Reloading a while back. It is the one with the quick release and is made of aluminum. Excellent press too for what I use it for.
 
Thanks for the replays.

I thought it was made from aluminum but I've never handle one so wasn't sure. After seeing the ridiculous price I started thinking maybe Lee is making a cast iron version. Checked Lee's website and couldn't find it so I emailed the seller asking questions. He replied and said he thought is was cast iron cause it's heavy. He stopped replying when I asked him to guarantee it was made from cast iron. I knew then he either didn't know what he was selling or trying to get suckers to pay the outrageous price, you can get a bench mounted press for that price.

Yes, Lost Sheep that's the one.
 
I've never handled one of the hand presses but have verified that my breechlock challenger press is cast iron or some other ferrous metal. My turret press is all steel except the turrets and base which are aluminum.
 
Kyle M. said:
Ahh sorry I apparently have the breechlock classic cast even though my midway order history shows that I ordered the challenger.
Click to expand...
The Classic drops the primers down the center of a ram that is substantially larger diameter than the Challenger. The Challenger drops the spent primers to the side.

The linkage is different between the two presses, too.

If Midway charged you for a Challenger, you may (or may not) want to tell them.

Lost Sheep
 
They are VERY stable. I have not had any issues with mine. When you first get yours, you are supposed to clean it and tighten the nuts and bolts that come "loose". After that you have a good to go press that will never fail! I have had no issues with mine and wouldn't be afraid to buy another one for a friend!
 
Yep they are cast aluminum and are a great press for loading at the range and working up a load BTW.:D I have loaded a butt load of ammo with mine and it is worth many times what I paid for it IMHO.
 
IMO the breech lock update for the hand press is useless. I have five die sets and not about to buy one for every die. Besides I'm always fine tuning them depending what my cast boolits are doing that day.

Lee should have made the torture instrument a little more ergonomic instead of wasting it on those locks.
 
I hadn't heard about the locks. I think the design is fine the way it is. For leverage you just use your chest. I like the hand press because it allows you to "feel" the process more directly and control the pressure better. I have fewer warped bullets or damaged shell lips esp. with delicate operations.
 
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