Catfish: "Their die bodies are to short to work right in my press and I could go on for a week telling you what I don`t like about Lee. BUT there are people that love that junk."
Catfish, I'm puzzled on a couple of of your points. I would like to better understand how you have based your judgements on what's junk.
First, I wonder what press is too long to work with "short" Lee dies? So, okay, you can't use Lee in your press but how does that make Lee dies, or anything else that's incompatible, "junk"? The excellant Forster Co-Ax presses once had too little lever clearance (they changed it) to use the excellant but tall Redding Comp. Seater dies. Which was junk, the dies or the press? Understand, Levi jeans don't fit me so I don't buy Levi jeans but I don't say Levi makes "junk". I mean, I can't see that a simple incompatibility between brands is a valid standard of the quality of anything.
Neither can I say that what I like personally is the standard of the quality of anything. I don't like Starbucks coffee. I don't like Chevorlet. I don't like black rifles. But I don't say any of them are, by that fact, "junk". A LOT of people like and get good service from each. They aren't fools either. So what's the standard of what I like or don't like mean to the value or anything to anyone???
Real die problems would be that the threads are cut wrong, the dies aren't round, the chambers are out of SAAMI tolerance, etc., not what I like. I've seen/heard of a lot a of slams against Lee dies but never heard any valid specifics of what is supposed to be wrong with them! Lee's dies seem to be as good any any, at least to me and I've actually measured a lot of them. On average, Lee's external appearance is less refined as others but it's the insides that do the work and I find they are as good as any inside. And, again on average, the ammo they load will shoot as well as any and they last as long as any. Do you have conficting data?
I've never heard of any brand of dies, or anything else, having zero defects getting out the door but every one of those defects that did get by has, to the best of my knowledge, been corrected by the maker, of any brand. Given that Lee has the largest share of the market it would seem that Lee would have the most returns and need the most replacement parts. From what I read on the net, that's NOT the case!
Lee is not my favorite brand for a variety of reasons. No brand is, on an item by item basis. But some of Lee's tools are the best on the market, at any price, for some tasks. So I buy and use those products as I do all others - for their ultility value in the task, as I will use them! For instance, I have two of the little Lee "Reloader" presses, not to size .300 Mag cases (although they will certainly do so) but as dedicated decapper and recapper presses and I love 'em. I load on a Rock Chucker, but I hate the way it spills spent caps all over the floor! I don't call it junk though. I do believe the current Lee Classic Cast is a slightly superior press to my RC and its primer catcher actually works! (Wish I had one but not bad enough to change!) None of my presses would be very helpful to the large volume shooter who has and needs a Dillion progresive, but surely he wouldn't say my RC is "junk".
I've reloaded since '65. I've used a LOT of dies and presses, etc, in that span and neither slam or praise any brand across the board. I don't like all tools from any maker, but I surely don't say those tools I don't care for are junk. Not when so many others are quite happy with them. It seems a good loader can make good ammo with most anything, within reason, but a poor loader can't make good ammo with any quality of tools at all. Does that make sense?
