Use Lee dies?

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judgedelta

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I'm having trouble finding crimping/seating dies for .44 and .40. Lee dies are easy to find (and cheap), maybe for a reason? I've always used RCBS because that is what I started with, I guess. I have a Lee decapping die which seems well made and works fine. Are the Lee loading dies good or junque? Thanks for informed opinions...
 
I started with Lyman. I've used those and RCBS, Redding, Dillon, and Lee. Lee are as good as any I've used, and significantly cheaper. I now buy nothing else.
 
I have many different makes of dies that i have collected over the years. I like Lee the best and ALWAYS have a set of Lee's no matter what other set i pick up. They are well made and very accurate.
 
I use mostly Lee dies, I do have RCBS .38/.357, but I bought a set of the same from Lee, just because I'm more familiar with it and the gun doesn't know the difference. Lees are not as finely machined as some others, but they get the job done. I'm well pleased with all my Lee die sets.

Use the search function and you will find supporters and detractors. You will find RCBS and other press owners using Lee dies. You will find Lee press owners using other dies. There is only one way to find out if you like 'em, and that's to try it out.
 
I think I have two sets of dies that AREN'T Lees. The rest are all Lee, and all work just great in my 550.
 
Nothing wrong with Lee Dies. I have two sets of Lee dies (.223, & .308). My Pistol dies are all Dillon, and my 7mm, .300wm, and .300RUM are all RCBS. I would not have a problem using Lee dies in any other caliber.
 
If I had known this, I would have bought Lee dies to begin with. The Lee dies come with a separate crimping die which is all I needed to begin with. I ordered two sets from a dealer on ebay. The four dies in each set were just twice as much as the crimping/seating die by itself.
 
Ive had to send my a couple dies back to get "fixed". Sizing body replaced is what the gent said he did...Other than that Ive turned out lots of ammo with them.
 
I agree that Lee dies are worth the money. I use quite a bit of Lee equipment. Especially the Lee casting equipment.....

The Dove
 
Lee! Now that I've tried a few others, I'll always buy the Lee 4-sets if available for that caliber. That separate crimper is worth it.
 
The Lee dies themselves are fine. The o-ring lock rings are stink-o unless you are using a turret or a bushing style press.

By the time I replaced the lock rings and purchased a storage box that I prefered I could buy an RCBS die set.
 
I use mostly Lee dies for handgun loading and I see no reason to change. They don't cost a lot and they produce good accurate ammo, what's not to like?
 
Lee dies work great for me but like cfullgraf mentioned, I dont really like the o-rings either. They do work and it is a very clever and inexpensive idea. Eventually, I replaced mine with Hornady lock rings.
 
All major manufacturers make good dies and I own dies from most of them. I mostly buy Lee now because of some features I like and price. If you don't like the rings, a drill, bit, tap, and set screw will fix that in short order.
 
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A lot of guys that I know, and that use Dillon equipment, use at least one Lee die, which is the Factory Crimp die. As for the rest, my own reloading mentor, who is a Dillon guy, says that the best things in the Lee inventory, in his opinion, are their dies. Second (his opinion) would be the LCT.

Whenever I switch to a progressive it will be, most likely, a Dillon 550. I plan on keeping the LCT for rifle reloading and keeping my Lee Deluxe dies to be used on the 550, that's for sure.
 
I've got a mix of different manufacturers dies, Lee, RCBS, Bair, Hollywood, Hornady, Pacific and even some old Herters.
Years ago, Lee might have let a higher percentage of defective dies slip past QC, but even then they'd always make things right, quickly and painlessly. I think Lee has improved their QC a lot in the last few years and I haven't gotten a bad product from them in more than a decade.

I did have a problem once when trying to load some ammo for an old CZ52 with a set of Lee 7.62x25 Tok dies. The problem stemmed from the gun, not the dies. This particular pistol had a .312 bore and the expander furnished with the die set wouldn't open up the case mouths enough to start a bullet.

I called Lee's CS line and after listening to me for a moment the woman who'd answered asked if I could hold for a moment. The next thing I heard was "Hi, this is Dick Lee, now what's your problem?" I told him and after thinking for a few seconds he said "An expander for a .303 British should fix you right up."
I asked if I could pay for it over the phone and he declined to accept any payment. Three days later I had the new expander.

Yeah, I like Lee.
 
Love Lee dies. They work great in my 650 also. I have other dies, RCBS and Lyman, I can't see that they are made any better.


Lee has been keeping other die makers honest for years. :)
 
Lee dies

I also use Lee dies I started with RCBS for two calibers but switched them out to Lee also I now use Lee dies for all 9 pistol calibers I reload. I like that they are easy to adjust and have not had any issues with them ever they are the only dies I will buy great product , great value and get the 4 die set for pistol.
 
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