What's wrong with Lee reloaders?

[GIJOEL]

i personally have a dillon 650, but i've used the square deal B and it's a great press for pistol loading. if i were you i'd get a Square deal B and load your rifle on the single stage untill you can get a good turret. i reload 223 on my 650 but it auto indexes so working up to a close measurement is a pita. i'm looking for a turret for 30-06 and my more accurate 223 loads.

 

[whitechevywhite]

young guy just starting

i am not going to say anything bad about anybody's stuff just that im young and have kids,wife,house payment ect. i cant afford expensive stuff. and for the $ i've spent on the loadmaster and the cust. service i am pleased and will buy more lee products.

 

[bfox]

I'd Like to Know what everyone thinks of the Lee Bullet Feeder ?
When mine worked they were great !
I only used cast bullets lubed with Lee alox .
Not a good combo in my opinion .

In progressives have 2 Loadmasters ,2 pro 1000's a Hornady LNL and a Dillon SDB .
Use the LM's the most !

 

[lgbloader]

Some of you folks need to chill out and take The High Road. I have three Dillons that are great machines but I also have a Lee Classic Cast single, an old Lee Challenger without the breech locks along with a RCBS Rockchucker and a Redding T7, and personally I would love to have a Lee Classic turret. I love tools and that is all they really are. Tools... Try to remember that someone's junk is also someone's treasure, Red or Red or Blue or Green or Orange or Black!!!

Now you youngsters play along nicely or you will have to go home and take your presses with you.

LGB

 

[rfwobbly]

Some of you folks need to chill out and take The High Road.

+1

To me, presses are like cars: Some have more features, some get better gas mileage, some have more comfort, some are safer in a collision.... but they all get you to work. How you get to work is your business based on your priorities, your family needs, and your financial situation.

Besides, after about 15 years of reloading you'll have collected all the colors anyway!

 

[Roccobro]

Did anyone notice this thread is 2006??!? Bumped yesterday and jumped right back to hurting poor reloaders feelings!

Justin

 

[Glock20]

I have both a Lee pro 1000 and a Hornady LNL AP. Loaded on a single stage for years, then wanted to try a progressive so I picked up the pro 1000 for 9mm. For less than $150.00 w/dies the Lee is a bargain. After growing tired of the "glitches" especially the priming system and having 3 stations, I bought the LNL AP.

For someone on a budget that want's a progressive, Lee just cannot be beat. It is not the same quality as a Hornady, Dillon, RCBS or a few other's, and one needs to be somewhat mechanically to operate it, but it's also less than 1/3 the price.
Any press will load good ammunition. Ammo loaded on my Lee or Hornady all look the same and shoot the same.
Although I much prefer to load on my LNL as it's as smooth as silk, but the little Lee still has a place on my bench.

 

[KHughes]

If anyone has a used loadmaster they want to get rid of I'd be interested. Either for the price of shipping if you hate it so much you just want it gone or for a fair used loader price. I like to fix things that are "unfixable".

I am serious. If anyone has a load master they want to get rid of let me know.

Kent

 

[1SOW]

+1 for get the safety prime AND the PRO-Auto Disc. It has a powder shut-off, is hand removable with brass knurled knobs--no tools needed--, a better powder seal and a more durable round powder hopper. It's not expensive.

Also order about 1/2 dozen of the little plastic index squares--part # TF3567--$2 for 2+/-?. Until you get the press figured out and running smoothly, it's easy to stretch them out of shape so it doesn't index accurately.

I really would like have the Dillon progressive, but can't justify the luxury. Economically, the amount and size of calibers you shoot, and how long you plan on being a shooter would matter . If I was young, the Dillon would be the choice for long term use. The warranty is unbeatable.

I shoot 150-200+ 9mm rds/week, sometimes more. I also have a son that likes my reloads.
The Lee has loaded around 10K rds that chrono great with a small es. I load slower than what I've heard above (about 1/2), but can feed my habit easily.

You can use your single stage to deprime. With no depriming the Lee needs very little cleaning and lubing.

 

[whitechevywhite]

bullet feed

thank you bfox for the link to the bullet feed videos. i plan on loading 45acp soon and i'm going to buy the 45cal. bullet feed kit,and i will let everyone know how it works for me.i already load 243win.,30.06 and i like how things work out. like another guy said, i take it slow also it takes a little time for all the powder to drop, a couple seconds i wait 3.

 

[xephael]

...RCBS Rockchucker and a Redding T7...

What's your opinion on the T7? It's on my too buy list eventually

 

[Duckdog]

I have 4 or 5 presses and quite simply, the Lee Classic Turret rocks! I've loaded probably 5000-6000 rds through it and have had no problems to speak of. Excellent tool. I have lots of red stuff on my bench and will continue to buy Lee products.

 

[WyrTwister]

I recei9ved the Lee LoadMaster in June . After a few bumps in the road and a fairly steep learning curve , mine is running fine . I am using the second generation priming system . After a little breaking in , they are doing fine also .

I am happy with the press .

I transitioned from the Lee cast iron turret press . That is one of the greatest values / presses going .

God bless
Wyr

 

[twohightech]

Lee make's good presses for the money. I used a loadmaster for years when it is "set right" it puts ammo out quick. The Loadmaster has many more parts to get out of adjustment/break then most presses. The primming system was what gave me the most trouble but keep it clean and use I die for primming fixed it. I was able to get an LnL and it broke while setting it up? Easy fix but then went back to the Lee for a while because I could load faster just sold it to buy a case feeder.

 

[GT1]

Did anyone notice this thread is 2006??!? Bumped yesterday and jumped right back to hurting poor reloaders feelings!

It has been bumped up once again, and I enjoyed reading it for some reason.

I have a LCT still in the box(I am building a bench very soon) and a Lee hand press that I have set up for decapping and sizing my .45 acp factory ammo brass that I shoot at the range.

I'd have to say, if it wasn't for the $84 price tag and inexpensive accessories that go with the LCT I'd probably still be reading and saving up pennies for a day quite a ways off instead of building a bench.

 

[Lost Sheep]

Nothing - it's a matter of preference and "fit" to one's style

Lee's Classic Turret fits my style. To start, Lee makes the ONLY TURRETS IN THE WORLD WITH AUTO-INDEXING.

I wonder about the squibs cherryriver mentioned. My Pro-1000 only gave me squibs when I ran my powder measure dry and did not notice. I suspect the squibs were the fault of the powder measure more than the press itself.

On the other hand, the primer feed was always a problem for me. I probably could have cured it by spraying some dry lube in the chute, but that still would not have cured the other two problems, debris from the spent primers getting in the works and the unreliability of feeding the last two primers of each batch.

I hated the fact that the ejected spent primers would fall on the floor a high percentage of the time instead of into the base cavity of the press.

I never had a problem with keeping the press' shell plate in adjustment, but changing calibers was not something I ever looked forward to. I only had the one carrier for each of my two presses and I reload for 7 calibers.

The miser in me objected to buying a new shell plate for calibers for which I already had a shell holder. Irrational, I know, but it irritated me.

SASS#23149 in post #6 is absolutely consistent with my experience. Up to the Dillon. I don't have one. Always wanted a 650, but the money is a barrier.

The MAIN reason I have eschewed progressives, though, is that I am constitutionally incapable of trusting mechanical devises to the extent progressive require in order to achieve the speeds of which they are capable. That is, when using my Lee Pro-1000s, I would stop at every stroke of the press to check each event. Stroke down, check primer movement, powder drop, etc. Stroke up, feel for primer seating, remember to place new bullet on the case adn so forth.

I found that with all the pauses I imposed on myself that I could produce rounds at about the same speed and with more certainty and safety than I could on the Pro-1000s.

I disagree with 1911user's assessment of the speed increase you could experience with the turret over the single stage. He is right if you stick with batch processing on the turret, but where I usually get about 50-60 rounds per minute. I ran 100 rounds in 47 minutes (including filling the primer feed and emptying the powder hopper back into the original powder bottle and boxing the finished ammo when I was done). That was my first time out. But that was in continuous mode, not batch mode.

I ratify benedict1's post (# 16), especially what he says about Sue Kempf. I talked to her (email, mostly) and she was very generous with her time and advice.



I had intended to read the entire thread, but just notice that I have only gotten through one-fifth of it. So, I will cut to the finish.

I switched to a Classic Turret because it fit my reloading needs and is dead reliable. Caliber changes with my dies pre-installed on spare turrets) are swift, simple and cheaper than any progressive. I was able to produce as much ammunition per hour on the turret as I could on my Pro-1000 (mostly because of my caution, but this would probably not be much different with a progressive on any maker).

I also like to put my gear away after loading (I am partial to portability) and my Turret and all gear fits in three medium-small toolboxes, plus a folding workbench and a vibratory tumbler. I can pack my gear up in 5-10 minutes after finishing a loading session. I can also pack up with three trips to my car and have a loading session at a friend's house.

The big thing is that I have never been comfortable with trying to monitor multiple simultaneous operations. I like continuous processing better than batch, so the turret really fits my "style" better than single stage and I feel safer and more certain than with a progressive.

Safety and control over my reloads. That's the bottom line. (Relatively) high production rates, lower equipment cost, less storage space and easier, cheaper caliber swaps are peripheral benefits.

Lost Sheep

 

[WyrTwister]

Lee Presses

The Lee cast iron turret press is probably the greatest value going !

The Lee LoadMaster I received in June , is a good press with a steep learning curve ( at least for me ) . I had my ups and downs with it . A lot of the problems were self inflicted . There is a lot of things going on at the same time an many need to be watched .

There have been some major changes to the priming system , in the last several months . I am using the second generation priming system . After initial break in , it is running pretty good .

I like it much better than gen one . The current one is gen 3 B .

Right now , the only complaint I have about the LM is it sure gobbles components . Of course , it spits out a lot of ammo in doing so .

A progressive is much more suited for straight wall calibers .

Due to the nature of bottle neck rifle calibers , it is less productive for them . This is due to the brass prep that is necessary .

If you are only shooting the same brass , over and over , ( no military and / or range brass added each trip to the range ) in one and only one gun , maybe not so much . If you use the Lee collet die .

I am glad I have my LM .

I am way too cheap to pay the cost of the other progressives . And , then look and compare the cost of the caliber conversion parts !

I am lucky , I already had the dies . And , with my C&R FFL discount , it cost me $ 30 to convert to one of the other calibers I load for .

I currently can load for the following calibers on the LM .

9 x 19mm , .38 Special / .357 Mag , .44 Mag , .45 ACP , .45 LC , .30 Carbine , .30-30 and .223 .

I can not say anything good or bad about the other progressives .

I can say the following ;

If your ego demands you to buy what others perceive is the best , skip the Lee LM .

If you are all thumbs and have little or no mechanical aptitude , skip the Lee LM .

If you have little patience to work with the machine , skip the Lee LM .

If you can not follow instructions or directions ( oral , written or visual ) , skip the Lee LM .

Or if you perceive you do not have the time to do any of the above , skip the Lee LM .



God bless
Wyr

 

[777TRUTH]

An old thread I enjoyed reading. I own some Lee presses and think very highly of them.

All in all I think WyrTwister summed it up very nicely on the LoadMaster and it could also apply to the Pro 1000.

I can say the following ;

If your ego demands you to buy what others perceive is the best , skip the Lee LM .

If you are all thumbs and have little or no mechanical aptitude , skip the Lee LM .

If you have little patience to work with the machine , skip the Lee LM .

If you can not follow instructions or directions ( oral , written or visual ) , skip the Lee LM .

Or if you perceive you do not have the time to do any of the above , skip the Lee LM .

 

[kingmt]

Add:If you often bad mouth quality tools because you don't know how to use them skipping Lee tools is a good idea.

 

[TwoEyedJack]

I load with either a Dillon RL550 (started life as an AT500 then upgraded over time) or a Rockchucker. The Dillon has been great, but most of the dies and powder measuring are Lee. The Lee carbide dies are short, so sometimes I have to put the locking ring underneath the tool head. I have a Lee Autodisk measure that has dropped many thousands of charges on the blue press and it does not seem to care. I actually prefer it to the Dillon powder measure since there is no linkage to adjust. If and when it ever wears out, I will get another.

 

[Lost Sheep]

I have a Lee Autodisk measure that has dropped many thousands of charges on the blue press and it does not seem to care. I actually prefer it to the Dillon powder measure since there is no linkage to adjust. If and when it ever wears out, I will get another.

If your AutoDisk ever wears out, don't get another. Just get the Upgrade kit to the Pro Autodisk. I replaces most everything breakable with the Pro parts and they are even more durable.

Lost Sheep

 

[777TRUTH]

My vote for the best one liner in this 6 year old thread.

Dillon is overpriced piece of junk, but some love them.

I don't necessarily agree with the statement but I did get a good laugh out of it.

 

[RandyP]

The term for this I 'think' is necroposting - lol - reviving old dead threads and giving them new life.