Lee hand loader?

[slickest]

what are your thoughts on this product? Right now I live with 3 room mates and I don't have the area to set up a permanent reloading station. Right now the hand loader seems about the best bet. I will mainly be loading 40SW and 9MM along with some .308. I mean will these things hold up and worth the money?

[quickdtoo]

If you mean the Lee Loader, they work fine, there's also a Handpress that takes regular dies that works well, doesn't appear they make the Lee Loader in 40S&W tho if that's whatcha meant.

Tim


http://leeprecision.com/reloading-kits/lee-loader-pistol/

http://leeprecision.com/breech-lock-hand-press.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6IoNCtFHwU

http://beartoothbullets.com/tech_notes/archive_tech_notes.htm/51

[kynardsj]

The Lee hand press is great. Uses regular dies and can be packed up easily. It's all I use for my reloading.

[lrrice]

The hand loaders work great but they're slow and don't full length resize so you would have to use the same ammo in the same rifle.  My dad used them exclusively for probably 50 years and only broke the bullet seater rod on his .243 set (1000's of rounds).  He continued using it in two pieces and never had any trouble.  The only other problem I can think of is while your reloading, there is a lot of tapping with a rawhide mallet that may drive your roommates if not your neighbors crazy.  I haven't used the hand press but I've never heard anything negative about them other than they give you a pretty good workout.

[slickest]

sorry i meant to say hand press. I was also checking out the press stand they have for their turret and progressive presses. I dont know if its worth the price and if it would be that stable. Then again I am back to the same issue of having the space to keep it.

[LunaticFringeInc]

I have two of the Lee hand presses in addition to several bench mounted presses and I use the Lee hand presses quiet a bit.  Given your situation this sounds like about as perfect of an arrangement as your likely to find.  The kitchen table or even a computer desk in your room should prove adequate for a place from which to work from.  Im a full time RVer and I often use mine at the dinette table and use one of the electronic powder measures to dispense powder for my loads and a few other tools and items to do my reloading.  It works fine for me.  Dont see why it wouldnt work for you.  The hand press is simple, fairly robust from a durability stand point.  Being compact it will store in a small tote in the closet or under the bed when not in use.  It is a bit slow to use so its not something a competitive shooter would want but for the average joe loading a couple hundred rounds for a range session should be easy to pull off.  I think they are well worth the bit of pocket change they cost.

[tacklebury]

Hand press is a great option for those with limited budgets or space.  I used one for the first few years of reloading.  I still have it hanging on my loading center to set up my FCD for calibers I use it on.  It's nice to have the flexibility when you have a single stage main. 

[goodconcretecolor]

The Lee Hand Press was my only press for 15 years and I reloaded 308 and 30-06.  I have a turret press and a bench mounted single stage and still use the hand press when I want to size/deprime while watching tv with the family. Probably the best money I ever spent on reloading equipment.

[streak]

Buy it!!

[murphdog]

I use both the Lee Classic (hammer tapper) Loader, and the Lee Hand Press.  Both work well, but hand press is faster.  I load 44mag, 357max, and 223rem, 50 cases at a time, occasionally a 100.  For that work load, the hand press is fine.  Get one along with standard dies, its perfect for an apartment dweller. 
Duane

[ratgunner]

I like mine. It is a great way to get started.

[lrrice]

If your still not sold on the hand loader, google portable reloading bench images and you will find lots of ideas.  One that I saw once, but I couldn't find again, was basically a box that hinged in the middle and was set on its side with an standard press set in the v when in use and all the toys went inside the box when not in use.  Add Lee's quick change thingy and you'd have a pretty cool, small set up and could use what ever press struck your fancy.  That said, I think the hand press would be a great addition and I have considered buying one myself, just can't really justify it when I have 3 presses sitting on my reloading bench already.

[jeepmann1948]

I say go for the hand press,a set of lee powder dippers, and Richard Lee's reloading manual. With this set up you can load some very accurate loads just about anywhere. I have used my hand press for over 20 years both in the reloading room and at the range .

[geezerbiker]

I started with a Lee Loader when the only rifle I had a was a 7.7mm Arisaka and ammo was 20 bucks a box.  Years later I bought a Lee hand press because I was living in a place that had no room to bolt down my RCBS press.

I always found the hand press uncomfortable to work so I epoxied on some handles.  I like it ever more now than I did before.  I still use it once in a while even though I have my RCBS and Dillon presses set up.

Tony

[streak]

As I said in my earlier post on this subject, buy it!
 I have one and have used it to reload .223 Rem up to my .458 Win Mag!!

[slickest]

I ended up purchasing it guys! I think this is the first time I have ever read a post with out one negative comment about the subject!

[ButlerFord45]

I ended up purchasing it guys! I think this is the first time I have ever read a post with out one negative comment about the subject!

Can't be having this!  The POS causes my hands and chest to hurt after a 2-300 round session!