Opinion on Lee

[HTSmith]

Lots of people turn their noses up at Lee. I started with their hand kit and a wooden mallet 45 years ago. It was all I could afford and it did the job. (I do still cringe at the thought of hammering primers in). I still use one of their hand primers for all Large rifle primers. A little regular grease on the pivot and they last a long time. I think their factory crimp die is best in class and yes it is useful for long throated hunting rifles. I now use mostly Wilson, Redding, and Harrell's dies for my target rifles, but Lee got me in the game.

 

[neckturner]

Think I was right or wrong

Right.

Excellent value.

 

[wkdickinson]

Almost 50 years ago I started my reloading odessey with all Lee equipment. Over the years as my needs changed so did the brand of tools. Although I still use some Lee tools, like their Auto Bench Prime. I've found Lee stuff to be a good choice and a value, depending on your requirements.

 

[danny]

I started out with all RCBS, now I buy all LEE dies

Smart move....

Danny

 

[BHP9]

I started out with Lee products in the '70's and had good luck.

In September 2025 I purchased a Lee collet die in 6.5 Creedmore, I neck sized 6 Lapua brass and the it tore the neck off completely, it got returned. I tested the neck size and it was oversize. The mandrel was oversize,

 

[LHSmith]

I've got over 25 die sets, mostly Redding. The Lee's I have, were bought because other brands were not available in that chambering. Only die I ever had to return for repair ( in 2024) was a Lee .38 Spl sizing die which they repaired n/c and returned quickly. However, I really dislike their method of adjusting the decap pin, and I replace their RGB round storage containers with normal die boxes -Lymans are inexpensive. Their original Auto-Prime, however, is the best hand-held tool I have used for priming.

 

[CaptainMal]

Bought that little red box of a Lee die set and the powder scoops back in the 1950's. Loaded 30-30 and then 30-06 for my first hunting rifles. Scooped powder from a dish with those little yellow plastic scoops.

You cannot say they were junk as a number of deer met an end from ammo made using those scoops and that hand seater. You just pressed down with your hand to neck size and seat.

 

[AWS]

Like others I started with a Lee handloader. I've gone through all manner of loaders, Pacific, Herter's, Lyman, RCBS, C&H, and another I don't remember the name it was black. My bench has two Lee four hole turret presses used as single stage presses and 9 turret heads loaded with dies, I do use machines clamps to clamp down the heads for more precise seating, a Lyman Crusher for serious case forming and precision loading(222 target loads, 222 hunting loads get done on the Lee's). And an old Herter's for misc. stuff and nostalgia. For precision loading usually Redding tyType S FL Bushing dies. For all my low volume loading usually Lee FL.sizing dies and Hornady seaters.

I'm always on the lookout for original lee.hand priming tools, I do not change them out I keep one loaded with each of the different primers I use so I have four on the bench at all times and need to find one more so I can have Rem 7 1/2s at both loading stations.

I keep two Lee turret heads loaded with Lee Quick trim dies so I can trim eight different cases without any adjustments. She me.like the 223 I can trim 20P,.223,.223AI and 6x45 withe the same setting.

I like lee stuff

 

[joshb]

Smart move....

Danny

And I HATE Lee dies and like RCBS. Whoever came up with that sliding decapping rod ought to be shot! I recently bought a set for an oddball French cartridge because nobody else had one. The dies are unusable. I spent an hour trying to get them to work. I finally threw them out! Junk!
I buy Redding and Wilson for my best guns. I have some Forster dies and a lot of RCBS from my early days.
There’s your horse race.

 

[SeabeeKen]

I have many lee items. The safety scale is one of the most accurate and sensitive beam scales out there. Canbe set down to 1/20 grain. I used it for ubr last year. No complaints.
Their deluxe powder measure throws very accurate charges, riveling my harrells.
Most of the plastic stuff i avoid

 

[jk80]

I have lee, hornady,Dillon and use the lee collet dies a lot. Their hand primer is great. Still using a 2001 press to deprime. Had a progressive 1000 and it was the biggest pos I've ever had the displeasure of loading on. I couldn't get it of the bench fast enough. It went through 2 other owners and dont know or care who has it now!

 

[K22]

I started over 50 years ago with RCBS equipment. The only piece of equipment of theirs that I had problems with was their old hand priming tool. The handle kept breaking due to fatigue failures. While they replaced them each time at no charge, the process became tiresome.

So, I took the plunge about 25 years ago and purchased a Sinclair Hand Priming tool. This is one of the best pieces of equipment I ever purchased.

I never owned or used Lee equipment, but I know a lot of reloaders who do and have for years. They seem satisfied. I don't think Lee would have lasted this long if their equipment was junk. It also seems like an effective way to start in the reloading game when one has limited finances.

I've learned over the years that trying to persuade someone to the contrary who has strong opinions on a subject is a futile exercise. At the range, I offer advice when asked if I have experience with the issue. Folks seeking advice are more receptive to listening than those who have taken a stand on an issue.

Seek validation of your position by your own experiences, not from other's opinions.

 

[Steel Mover]

There is nothng wrong with Lee as a starter outfit, as long as the buyer does understand that cheap does not equate to quality and quality reloads do equate to accuracy. I quit using Lee products a long time ago. The basic reason was the accuracy level I came to require, in competition, was not actually consistent enough, plus the Lee items did not hold up to my level of use, had too many breakages. I do not care if a part gets replaced, if it breaks when I need it.

 

[Leo_B]

Inexpensive is not automatically cheap.

 

[OKie4ster]

I have used a bunch of Lee dies and have been pleased with all of them. I once loaded some .223 cases with lee dies and another name brand set of dies then measured the runout. To my surprise the Lee loaded cartridges had less runout than the name brand reloads

 

[D-4297]

I am in the crowd of those who started with Lee Dies , simply due to costs , limited budget , and it was what was available .
As I progressed , and learned about improving my loads for F-Class , I also "learned" that I needed different , higher quality Dies for better quality loads . It's a simple equation .
I still have ; and use some of my Lee Dies , especially the ones for pistol cartridges , and use them often .
My Comp rifle Dies are Whidden and Redding type "S" custom .

 

[Jon Leary]

Lee collet dies are great for reduced cast bullet loads.

 

[vonb]

I've used several brands of dies and presses (Redding, Forster, RCBS, Lyman, Lee). Lee dies are better than most give them credit for. Their neck collet die can produce less runout than bushing dies from Redding. Their carbide pistol dies are excellent and their carbide crimp dies are excellent for cup and core bullets. The Classic Cast press is as durable as any other single-stage American press. Their economical price offer the value beyond others. I don't rule them out just because they are the least expensive. I've had other dies (RCBS, Redding and Lyman) that either weren't concentric or were as rough as a corn cob. YMMV.

 

[Steve Donlon]

I really like the Lee lock rings with the o-ring. It turned my body die into a adjustable body die and my TC crimp die into an adjustable crimping die for my 45 acp. The 45 brass is not the same length, it gets shorter not longer, so I just twist the die up or down for a perfect light crimp or do the same for shoulder set back with the body die.

 

[FTR_Mojo]

Lee has some absolutely brilliant innovation.

If they had a separate 'deluxe' high end division of their products, with higher quality materials, tighter tolerances, QC, etc, a lot of us would be using more of their products in my opinion.

Their now discontinued ACP is a perfect example. That cheap priming tool is so amazing. But isn't built terribly well, and with a bit of tweaking would have been the only primer seating machine anyone would look to buy. Far superior in design to the primal rights for example, and look how successful that became. Lee could have done a high end version, tripled the price and it would still be cheaper and give better results.