Author Topic: ok i don't get it (Read 1284 times)

superhornet · « **Reply #30 on:** April 04, 2006, 03:19:15 AM »

Lee dies are no better or no worse than any other die. They do the necessary job at 1/3 the cost of other "Name" dies. One of the best dies to ever come on the market is the Lee Factory Crimp Die. I use it on every rifle round just for drill. IMHO it improves the accuracy of the round. Of course I do not have the experience that many of you do. I am relatively new to reloading and did not start until 1949.

Questor · « **Reply #31 on:** April 04, 2006, 03:30:38 AM »

superhornet:

Sorry to disagree. Some Lee dies may be as good as others, but there is plenty of discussion here and elsewhere from people who have severe problems with them.

superhornet · « **Reply #32 on:** April 04, 2006, 06:18:40 AM »

Questor----of course.....and Fords are better than Chevys, Winchester better than Remington, Hornady better than Nosler, McDonalds better than Burger King........the idea being everyone has their own opinion of what is good and what is bad.......

beemanbeme · « **Reply #33 on:** April 04, 2006, 07:50:51 AM »

First off, let me say I have only used one set of Lee dies. And it worked fine. I have used some of Lee's other stuff and everything I have had worked as advertised. Anyone want to guess how many folks got into reloading with a Lee Loader and a plastic mallet?
Lets face it. If Lee is selling something for 1/3 of what the other providers are, they've got to be shaving points somewhere. But what they sell does the job. No whistles, no bells. Like anything else that is produced for a mass market, some clunkers are gonna slip thru. But I'd say Lee doesn't have the market on that cornered.
I think you'll find a lot of the complaints you hear about Lee dies are from folks that don't know quite as much as they think they do or folks that base all of their "knowledge" on how much something cost.

victorcharlie · « **Reply #34 on:** April 04, 2006, 08:51:51 AM »

While the problem was fixed by full length resizing, I'm still not convinced there is a problem with the die itself.

I've heard nothing but good about the lee factory crimping die for straight walled cases.

Consistancy is the key to accurate rounds. The simplest of lee loaders produce very good ammo. More money might mean equipment that can produce more ammo faster, but not necessarily better.
A lee loader got me started handloading many years ago and will make just as good ammo as something 3 times the price. It just isn't as fast at doing it.

babe915 · « **Reply #35 on:** April 06, 2006, 04:53:40 PM »

the error here is the operator, when the case is seated in the collet die
you have to apply at least 25LB of pressure on the press handle to correctly size the neck. also if you have the bullet seater die too low it
will stop the collet die from doing it's job.[that's If you are using a progressive press. if you are using a progressive press try resizing only
then load each case one at a time and see what happens. as stated
above crimp with the lee crimp die if you want a tighter bullet pull

P.S. -- I shoot about 1000 to 1200 p/dogs each year some out to 300yds
and none of those dead dogs new the difference between the lee dies
and my EXPENSIVE redding dies

mjbgalt · « **Reply #36 on:** April 06, 2006, 05:25:41 PM »

i don't have any idea of how much pressure i am applying to the lever but i do know that it does not vary much and some of my cases are absolutely fine and some are not right at all.

i don't know if the die is bad or not but i do know that using a different one and yet using the same brass, pressure, and everything else....works fine.

so that tells me it had SOMETHING to do with that die.

i am not a big fan of full-length resizing...i feel like i have to stand on the lever to get it to work...i would rather neck size and be done with it...

-Matt

jack19512 · « **Reply #37 on:** April 07, 2006, 02:41:58 AM »

I am loading for 4 rifle cartridges now and use Lee dies. I haven't had a bit of problems with any of them. :grin:

Questor · « **Reply #38 on:** April 07, 2006, 03:38:39 AM »

This is yet another case of "Replace the Lee die and the problem goes away."

victorcharlie · « **Reply #39 on:** April 07, 2006, 05:42:55 AM »

Yes.....but.......replacement of the lee die also required re-adjustment when the new full length die was installed. I personally don't use lee dies but would love to have one of the factory crimp dies for 45.70.

I've read this and other reloading forums for awhile now,and haven't gotten the impression that Lee is any more likely to have something wrong with it than any other brand.

mjbgalt · « **Reply #40 on:** April 07, 2006, 06:08:44 AM »

it was never my intention to make Lee look bad. both my presses are Lee and so are a lot of my tools.

i just wanted an answer to this annoying question and i got it apparently.

the new die did not need adjusted much, i just turned the ring until it was the exact same distance from everything that the Lee was. that seemed to work.

-Matt

LouisV · « **Reply #41 on:** April 07, 2006, 04:55:13 PM »

try takeing the collet die apart and putting alittle grease on top of the collet were it slides against the cone. I do this about every 100 rounds. after doing this try just alittle pressure on the press handle. you should be able to feel the collet forming the neck. i think you be suprised how little pressure it takes. LouisV

Madmark · « **Reply #42 on:** April 07, 2006, 06:08:16 PM »

The collet neck sizers are a good idea, but with 2 out of 4 I have bought, they needed tuning right out of the box. I would polish the mandrel as was suggested and keep it and the crimp die if your set came with one. I own I think 5 of the factory crimp dies. None have given me problems, but as they break in I have had to readjust to maintain a proper crimp. It's lmpossible to get precision when there are tooling marks as bad as I have seen on some of my Lee dies. My brand new Lee 7mm mag FL die caused WAY to much case sticking. Dissasembling it and checking it with a bore light showed why. Shoddy tooling. Lee replaced it with no problems, but I am not going to go the same route with my Lee .223 deluxe 4 die set. I have on my desk a Hornady New dimension 2 die set that will make everything ducky. A quality full length sizer for first time sizing, and a top quality seater. I will keep the Collet neck sizer and Factory Crimp die from the Lee 4 die set, and pitch the Lee FL die and dead length seater. I prefer to own products with lifetime warrantees that I don't have to use repeatedly!