Author Topic: How have you made Lee equipment work well for you? (Read 4267 times)

Badnews Bob · « **Reply #60 on:** April 11, 2005, 03:33:02 AM »

Yep one good press. I'm not brand loyal, I'll use what ever works and right now My Lee stuff is working and working well. The classic cast on the other hand works exceptionally well, great peice of equipment for any money.

jd45 · « **Reply #61 on:** April 13, 2005, 03:12:21 PM »

Just wanted to say I sent my Lee turret press in Monday & today, (Wednesday), I got it back with a new base! No charge, of course! And it works great. jd45

Jim B. · « **Reply #62 on:** April 20, 2005, 08:28:38 AM »

Well, since we are all chipping in... It was a Lee Anniversary Kit that made it possible to start handloanding by myself years ago. I have since accumulated a great deal of reloading and casting equipment - I buy other brands when a Lee product is not available.

I suppose that if I shot 100,000 rounds a year or was a benchrest competitor I might want other equipment. But the truth that I think many other companies do not want to admit and Lee understands is that their equipment is adequate for the vast majority of handloaders.

SLAVAGE · « **Reply #63 on:** April 20, 2005, 09:22:34 AM »

any one use the lee 1000 pistol press
i was woundering how many stations are on it an if its auto indexing
i nead at least 4 or 5 on one
thanks
dave

James B · « **Reply #64 on:** April 26, 2005, 11:12:38 AM »

I have a ton of Lee equipment never a problem with any of it. I use the turret press and the Lee 1000 for all of my pistol reloading and use the dipper set and auto prime for everything. I also have quite a bit of RCBS gear as well. I have quite a few Hornady die sets too. I load for 18-22 calibers.

MickinColo · « **Reply #65 on:** April 26, 2005, 03:18:47 PM »

Lee makes a product that works and people still buy that product so theyll stay in business. I havent given Lee products a consideration for 25 years. Ive been burned 2 times by the quality of their products. I dont feel a need to bad mouth Lee any farther than that. After all, it was a long time ago, things change with time.

jcunclejoe · « **Reply #66 on:** April 27, 2005, 12:29:57 PM »

Lee products that I just love.
Auto prime - one for large one for small (saves changeover)
Case length (Trim) gauges, I have over 30 many custom.
Hand press - size cases while watching TV
Bullet molds - once broken in, they make awesome bullets.
Power scoop kit - a must have

Pro Auto Disk Powder measure with double disk kit. I modified this one with new side plates for Triple disk. I also drilled and tapped the thumb screws all the way through so I didn't have to change the screws out. I bought the measure with my Loadmaster in 1993 so they may have thumb screws with through holes by now.
The triple disk kit came about when a friend asked me to work up a load for his rifle and then load 1000 of them for a 270 win. Of course, it liked RL19 and I was not about to scoop and trickle 1000 charges. I modified the thumb screws, made new side plates and threw 55gr of RL19 with +/- .2gr accuracy. I weighed the first 100 and figured it was good enough to run with. The Pro Auto Disk throws extruded powders very well. I use it on my RC with the Lee Rifle charge die and a big rubber band for the positive pull back lever. I feel it is more consistent than my uniflow with the flake shotgun powders.

The Loadmaster has made over 10,000 rounds and works very well. It takes a little tinkering but everything mechanical does eventually.

BAD Lee stuff
Perfect powder measure. I weighed charges for 3 hours over three evenings and almost never got the same weight twice.

Joe

bajabill · « **Reply #67 on:** April 28, 2005, 03:37:17 AM »

I had to "make" my equipment work for the 270wsm.

1) The funnel had to be trimmed down a little - no big deal
2) The autoprime had to be opened up a little - this was a more extensive alteration and I would hope Lee will change the mold of the aluminum part in the future.

For de-burring, I cant use the outside de-burring tool on the short mags either, well at least in the manner the tool is supposed to work. I just hold it against the outside edge. It works fine for the inside chamfer.

For the most part, I am all Lee, all day. I have a RCBS Case master gaging tool, and Lyman trim tool that I only use for outside neck turning (Lee has the best trim tool available to man), and some Stoney point measurement tools. I think sometimes people try to make tools that are too complicated to do some of the simple tasks of reloading, not so with Lee.

mavrick10_2000 · « **Reply #68 on:** July 30, 2005, 03:21:11 PM »

Lee Universal Decapping Die - Nice and Neat without touching the case

Lee Factory Crimp Die - .35 Rem for Marlin 336, I love this little lever gun. Best bang for the buck rifle I own and is a lot of fun to shoot with 200gr corelockts.

t3shooter · « **Reply #69 on:** July 30, 2005, 05:33:07 PM »

I've had a great experience using Lee equipment. I have a Classic Cast press, which is great, and the dies I have all turn out good loads (223rem, 7-08, 45-70) and are a cinch. I'm just starting out, so loading single stage is fine for me and this set up works well. Further, the few times I've done a crappy job lubing and stuck a case the built in case extractor/decapper solved the problem in a few minutes (I had to read to make sure I wasn't going to break it all) and I simply threw that case out and kept going. So yeah, in short, I think Lee products are definitely good.

mg66 · « **Reply #70 on:** July 30, 2005, 05:59:50 PM »

I only load a couple of thousand rounds a year for mainly 38 special and 357 mag. Usually batches of about 2-300 at a time. I use a a Lee 4 stage auto index turret press (with index bar removed) and works great.

I particularly like the auto prime and auto disk measure.

Here is a picture of my setup http://www.bghi.us/index.php?x=bench

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #71 on:** August 05, 2005, 10:24:07 AM »

I broke a lee shell holder awhile back , sent them an e-mail about it . They said to send it back so i did .

6 days later a new set - yes set of lee shell holders showed at my door with a sorry for your problem .

This is just one of the seasons i like LEE products .

Just about every thing on my bench is lee , the turret is over 25 years old , the C is new , got it just to do the primer pockets on mil. spec. 5.56 for my 223 handi .

I like the manuel , it does read like a ad for lee but has a lot of useful info in it .

Love the carbide pistol dies and the RGB dies , the auto prime can;t be beat as well as the shell holder sets .

I never did get the auto index to work on the turret but who cares , i load about 10,000 rounds of pistol and about 2500 rounds of rifle every year and it works just fine

Cuz · « **Reply #72 on:** August 08, 2005, 06:09:05 AM »

my bench is Lee, as well. only load four caliber and have had no problems. I have found that IF I read the instructions that come with these products, it will most often work correctly. I truly like the carbide dies and the factory crimp die and quite honestly, all the other Lee tools I use.

Cuz

skb2706 · « **Reply #73 on:** August 08, 2005, 09:43:05 AM »

stimp - my father would be impressed with your pocket knife collection on the wall there.

Ifishsum · « **Reply #74 on:** August 10, 2005, 09:39:35 AM »

The anniversary kit got me started, too. I've replaced a few items but not many. I learned how to load on mostly RCBS equipment and it seems to me that many of the Lee offerings are simpler to use and cheaper, notably:
* Case length gauge/trimmers - chucked in a drill they make quick work of trimming
* Auto-prime (the hand held one)
* Factory crimp dies
* Primer pocket cleaner - I like it better than the wire brush style
* Alox bullet lube
The Perfect powder measure gives me good results with most powder, my only complaint is that it leaks a little with ball powder, but it doesn't seem to affect the charge weight.
I recently purchased a new Load-All II for shotshells (under $40) and have found it very acceptable for the $ - I made 100 in less than an hour once I got it set up.
My next rifle press will definitely be a Lee Classic Cast.

cattleskinner · « **Reply #75 on:** August 12, 2005, 03:14:31 PM »

Personally, I really like Lee stuff. Since I am pretty much done with college, the past couple years haven't been the richest needless to say. So when I wanted to start reloading a year or so ago, and after researching it a bit, I picked up a Lee Loader for my 44 mag. handgun and a manual. Over the past year or so, I've accumulated another Lee Loader for .223, scale, auto-prime, lee trimmers, etc....all the bits and pieces for case prep. I like the way that it's so simple to use, and takes a bit of time...keeps me from forgetting something and hurting myself. It also is nice to be able to tailor the loads to my firearms, with the bullets I want, and not have to pay outrageous prices. Using the Lee Loaders, I loaded the ammunition that I killed a deer with last year at about 75 yds. with my pistol, and I also was able to shoot a 5 shot group at 100 yds. into just under 1/2" with my handi-rifle. It's nice to know that you have confidence in your loads to shoot where you want them to, and only to spend 13 bucks for your equipment.

~~~Cattleskinner

cal sibley · « **Reply #76 on:** August 12, 2005, 04:51:46 PM »

I have to admit to having mixed feelings about Lee products. I think they are to be commended for keeping their prices in line and allowing some people to reload who might otherwise not be able to afford it. However, one way they keep their prices down is by using a lot of cast metal parts and plastics, neither noted for durability and long life. I simply feel a lot better with products from Redding and RCBS, but that's just me. I know many of you are quite satisfied with your Lee products. More power to you. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Savage · « **Reply #77 on:** August 13, 2005, 11:48:05 AM »

I own Lee/RCBS/Lyman/Mec/ and Bair reloading equipment. I think the Lee equipment is the best buy for the money.
Savage

SLAVAGE · « **Reply #78 on:** August 15, 2005, 07:12:50 AM »

sence i started reloading about 4 years ago i collected lots of lee things
i love ther trimmers an the auto prime i couldent live with out
ther crimp dies is some thing i started using an like them all so
but at last about 2 years ago i stoped buying ther dies...not that i had a bad thing happen...its just that i had a really bad thing happen to my rcbs die i some how bent the decaping rode assembly an it was bent bad an these dies were made back i think in 1974...e mailed rcbs for a replacement part number an told them how i bent it being a dummy
an long an behold they e mail me back the next day saying the new part is on the way no cost an i did the wrong by braken the die...
thats why i would stick with rcbs an redding over lee dies cause you have them for life were lee has a 2 year warrenty an dumb thing happen lol
but it they would extend thers to life time i would start buying lee dies tomarrow

dave

Gordy · « **Reply #79 on:** August 29, 2005, 03:11:32 PM »

I have not loaded rifle shells before, so I am in the dark here. I just got the Lee turret press and it came with the Auto Disk. By the way it reads, I can,t do larger rifle shells, 30.06,38/55, and 45/70 until I get the Disk update kit. It looks like I can put in the nessesary amount of powder with the two of the right disks. One question I have is, can I use this setup with the expander die ? Do I need to get a Lee universal die? Would you guys advise another way to load the powder alltogether? I would appreciate any comments. Oh yes, I have the Pacesetter dies. Thank You - Gordy.

Black Jaque Janaviac · « **Reply #80 on:** August 30, 2005, 04:39:23 AM »

I use a lot of Lee products. They make the initial investment affordable. At $17 per 2-cavity mold I can afford to "try" them out. I've even destroyed a few by experimenting with altering them.

Lee equipment has its quirks and drawbacks, but I'm generally clever enough to work around them. For example: the Turret Press plates can have holes that are out of alignment. This causes a problem for some die stations, I think mainly the depriming station. So I just learned that I could screw the depriming die into one of the other holes until I found one that lined up right. Then the other dies would follow after it. Dies got set, and I've all but forgotten the problem.

I'm a big fan of the Turret Press. I am just pleased with its flexibility. In seconds I can switch calibers. I can take my time, go single-stage and work up loads real carefully, or simply put the index rod in and crank out 200 pistol rounds/hour.