Why I Like Lee Equipment

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scout26

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Last week the final crimp station on my 12 ga Lee Load-Fast cracked and broke. I've had the machine since the fall of 1991. The part is made of plastic. I've reloaded uncounted thousands of shells on this machine. So, I wasn't surprised or upset when this happened. Things get old, wear out and break.

I sent an e-mail to Lee asking if they still had parts and what the current cost and shipping charges to my address would be. I got a very polite e-mail back from them stating that they would send me the re-placement part for free.

Now that's customer service !!!! They did not have to do it. There was no fault on their part. I wasn't mad or upset with them (if anything, probably my fault for not having properly adjusted most the time. :eek: ) The piece got old and worn out. The warranty is at least 14 years out of date. I've also got a couple of MEC's and a Pacific shotshell reloader. I've got a couple of Load-All's 12 and 20 ga, and Lee Loaders in .32 Win Spec and .30-06. If I ever decide that I need more then just the Lee Loaders for my metallic cartridge needs, Lee Presses and Dies will be my equipment choice. I'll stand by a company that stands behind its products.
 
It must depend on who answers the phone or responds to your email. My first and only experience so far with Lee customer service was less than stellar.:(
 
Almost all of my reloading equipment is Lee. I can count on them to provide good stuff at great value. Sometimes, they offer the BEST product at the LOWEST price, and you can't beat that.

I bought a used and abused Load-Fast and ordered some replacement parts and spare parts for it. Even when they don't extend the warranty by 14 years, they stock parts for out-of-production equipment and the cost of the parts is a buck or two - very reasonable.

I recently bought a Load-All II, and was pleasantly surprised how fast it will load shot shells. It's not as fast as a progressive, but it costs $38 new, and it's so simple that it's great for learning and it's very reliable. Not much to break. The base is still injection molded plastic, but I think they upgraded it a bit to make it stronger. That may be why they replaced yours, even if it was 15+ years old!

Here's a little instructional video I made showing how to load slugs on the Load-All II.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2997336516648660322

The instructions are in the comments to the right of the video.
 
Why I Like Lee Equipment
Click to expand...
I have never had to deal with Customer Service but I like them because I think they make a great product for a lot less money than anybody else. I have a classic turret and am sure it will last my lifetime.
Rusty
 
I had a buddy with an FFL (A Dillon fan) who swore the Lee stuff was absolute junk and wouldn't even order me a Lee Auto Prime. For years, I listened to him and never tried it.

Then one day I met a guy who had mostly Lee equipment and was able to try out the stuff he had. About the same time, I saw several posters talking about the Lee Classic Cast Single Stage and Classic Turret press with solid enthusiasm.

I had a need that both would fill, so my new buddy had a C&R and was willing to order me the Lee stuff when he was ordering some for his own. I got the stuff and what a revelation, much better than I'd been lead to believe. Much better than my buddy's older Lee Turret and Loadmaster. Excellent dies I liked better than my RCBS dies I had.

I've since bought a great deal of Lee stuff for a great deal of savings. I wish they'd had the Lee Classic Turret out when I bought my progressive. I would have never needed the progressive and could have saved that money.

I'd like to see them bring out a progressive based on the Lee Classic Cast single stage like they did the turret press.

Regards,

Dave
 
Liberty4ever,

What wad did you use with that shotgun slug? I have a bunch of those a buddy of mine gave me and I have some high brass slug shells I'd like to load them into.

Regards,

Dave
 
thats all im dealing with. I have been very very happy with thier products. I dont need a million dollar single stage press with gold trim on it or anything. I need a press that will do the job without breaking and will do the job correct. Same time all of their products seem to last a long time and do the job saving us money.


Two Thumbs Up for Lee Products.
 
I been using Lee loaders since the old Handloaders. I now have the Classic Turrent Press and love it. I think for the money, they make very good products.
 
What wad did you use with that shotgun slug?
Click to expand...

The Lee shotgun slugs are designed to load into a standard trap wad. Some work a bit better than others, and occasionally you'll get a wad that wants to hang onto the slug, but as long as you use a wad designed for 7/8 ounces of shot when loading the 7/8 ounce slug, and a wad designed for 1 ounce of shot when using a 1 ounce slug, you'll probably be OK. Lee provides load data with the mold as part of the directions, and it's on their website. Most people report better results when using a wad from the same manufacturer as the hull. I've been using Win AA hulls and Win WAA 12L wads.

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/SM3529.pdf
 
I have a pair of pro1000 progressives for pistol rounds and had a challenger single stage. The pro 1000s can load about 500 rds per hour, have so far lasted about 25000+ rounds costs $130 for a press set, and $40+a set of dies to change caliber with an entire shell carrier. This is the best deal in reloading. The challenger broke one afternoon loading 30-06, and not looking to wait a couple weeks for a new one, I bought an RCBS rock chucker from my local gun shop. The RCBS was pricey, but a monster of a press and full length sizing takes little effort, I sent an e-mail to lee, not only did they send me a new link to fix the challenger but also included a 30-06 factory crimp die and a note to try it out and keep it free of charge, because they wanted to keep me as a customer:what: !!!
I will reccomend lee products to anyone and always look at their stuff first when I am in the market for something new.
 
Wow, alucard0822.
That's the best Lee story, ever.
Maybe, I should complain about something.
I can't think of anything. I guess, I got what I need from Lee.:D
 
Liberty4ever,

My buddy forgot to mention that small bit of information. Thank you very much. I can get those slugs loaded now as soon as I get my hands on the single stage Ive got coming in.

Regards,

Dave
 
My buddy forgot to mention that small bit of information. Thank you
Click to expand...

That's why we have THR, right? :)

There is a lot of good info on the Lee website, including the instructions for most of their products, some videos explaining setup and use of their presses and dies, parts lists and ordering information, and some detailed pre-purchase info that'll help you decide which product would work best for you. I guess that's another reason to like Lee.

http://www.leeprecision.com
 
Free Markets In Action!!

If it wasn't for Lee offering an affordable line of re-loading equipment, I wouldn't be re-loading.

Some of us just can't dedicate the $ to this hobby that others can.

Thanks to Lee, I'm enjoying re-loading, shooting more and saving money.

In 2007, I'll shoot more than any other year of my life....and do it at ~1/3 the cost.

All totalled....I've got ~$350 into my re-loading tools. And IMO, I have a very nice set up, which will likely last my lifetime and then some.

AND IT IS ALL MADE IN USA!!!!
 
almost all my loading stuff is lee. a very small percentage of their stuff is junk. you send it back to lee (with reciept)and they refund your money. these days the reloading companies can barely crank-out the stuff quickly enough because of the price jumps for loaded ammo
 
My most accurate loads were all formed with a cheap little $17.99 Lee Loader! Can you believe it? Well, believe it or not, it is true. If you use a bolt action or single shot firearm, these are awesome. They held the world record for "...over 7 years...". (Lee Precision website). They would not be good for autoloaders. Lee is a good company.

Thanks for sharing.
 
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I've used Lee products off and on since around 1986. Almost all of them have been really good. The only product I haven't been at all happy with is their powder scale.

I feel that the Lee scale could use a good redesign to make it easier to read and use. The Lee is really only good for presetting a weight and checking that a charge matches the setting. For most weighing I now use an RCBS 505. It is easier to use when you need to figure the weight of something.
 
Not too long ago I pretty much destroyed a Lee die with a stuck case. The customer service was unbelievable. Got a new die and decapper--and that was after the postal service delivered the first replacement with the package ripped open and part missing. Lee got a customer for life.

I haven't been loading long, but Lee seems to have a decent product at a price I can afford. Their stuff works and the dipper system is so easy an illiterate person can reload as long as he has the right powder. Their balances are very inexpensive beam balances, and the polymer style beam system may not be as prone to temperature fluctuations (metal expansion) as a metal Hornady. As a chemist I'm used to weighing on a digital set-up in labs, but I won't complain about Lee's balance either. It's not an Ohaus, but then again I didn't pay $500 for the thing. Only bad thing is you have to check the single/tenth grain setting between weighs to make sure it's still good.
 
Hello to a fellow chemist! I also have a high opinion of the Lee Scale.

I have used about every kind of balance and scale there is in laboratories over 45 years. I never saw a $20 scale as good as this one. Sure the Vernier readings take a little getting-used-to. But when I check this scale against test weights, and it is properly leveled, it is right on, period. Also stands to reason that a beam calibrated for 100 gr, max, is going to be more accurate than the other beam scales that are usually calibrated for 4-500 grains.

To help reading the Vernier I bought a $3 flashlight--lighting the scale makes it much more readable.

If you like a digital scale or another brand, fine. The Lee Safety Scale brings accuracy into the realm of the budget loader. Every loader needs a scale and for those just starting out the price is right on this one.
 
I have a Lee Safety Scale. I bought it when I first got into reloading 13 years ago. It is inexpensive and very accurate. The design is quite clever.

Technology advances. I almost never use the Lee balance beam scale anymore. I bought a digital scale on eBay that is appropriate for reloading. It has a .1 gr resolution (some say they are, but are really .2 gr resolution, which still isn't too bad). It has calibration check weights and I've compared it to the Lee Safety scale at other weights and they always agree. The digital scale was $23 including shipping.

If I was starting out from scratch, I wouldn't buy the Lee Safety Scale. The digital scale is just as accurate, measures much more quickly, can quickly tare the weight of a measuring cup to instantly re-zero, can measure in grains, ounces, grams and troy ounces if I choose, and does not require me to squint to read a vernier scale.

We're past the point of balance beam scales. Digital is much faster and more convenient.
 
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