Opinion on Lee

[old codger]

Got into a friendly discussion about Lee reloading dies and equipment. His opinion of Lee hardware was very low. I on the other hand like Lee and started my reloading hobby with Lee equipment. I told him I bet more people got their start with Lee than any other brand. Think I was right or wrong?

 

[ebb]

You probably are right. I have had good luck with the dies sets, shell holders and the cutter and lock stud style trimmers. Not so much on some of the other tools, they seem to have plastic parts that break. I have been using some of the bullets dies, with limited success, but with the bullet dies it is my lack of skill that is the issue.

 

[jds holler]

I would say that for the average shooter/reloader probably 75% of the process could be done perfectly well with Lee equipment. Even 100% for many.
That being said there are also guys who simply won’t dirty their bench with Lee stuff.
Most of us have a little bit of everything the same as our toolbox. Most of us don’t have all snap on tools.jd

 

[SSL]

I've used Lee products for years, clear back to the days of the old impact die sets and then later transitioned to their turret press.
I like their cast single stage presses and my current Loadmaster (after a few upgrades) that I use when loading .44 Mag, .45 Auto and .45 Colt. I also have an old Pro1000 that has loaded literally thousands of rounds of .45 Auto and .38 Special and keeps on running. I have no problem with their handgun dies but, justified or not, don't have much faith in their rifle dies.
The "Lee Perfect" measure is quite good and quite accurate for the price.
Love their melting pots for casting bullets and like a selected group of their molds for handguns. Case trimmers aren't bad for occasional use.
Primer seating equipment is very much personal preference. I prefer hand-held units, but the Lee hand primer can be a little delicate. I much prefer the RCBS Universal hand primer for my uses, but it is just a matter of choice.

 

[Tommie]

Their old design primer tool was da bomb.

 

[searcher]

Many years ago, I had one of their manual turret presses. Loaded a heck of a lot of pistol ammo on that thing for years until I got a Dillon. I still use their melting pot when I decide I need more .44/.45 lead. Not everyone has a need for more elaborate or expensive gear and Lee definitely has a place in the reloading arena. I do recall my first press being a Bonanza or RCBS. Can't even remember that far back.

 

[SSL]

Their old design primer tool was da bomb.

I liked it originally, but several wore the cam/ram piece very quickly and would soon fail to properly seat primers.

 

[brokeasajoke]

I've used Lee products for years, clear back to the days of the old impact die sets and then later transitioned to their turret press.
I like their cast single stage presses and my current Loadmaster (after a few upgrades) that I use when loading .44 Mag, .45 Auto and .45 Colt. I also have an old Pro1000 that has loaded literally thousands of rounds of .45 Auto and .38 Special and keeps on running. I have no problem with their handgun dies but, justified or not, don't have much faith in their rifle dies.
The "Lee Perfect" measure is quite good and quite accurate for the price.
Love their melting pots for casting bullets and like a selected group of their molds for handguns. Case trimmers aren't bad for occasional use.
Primer seating equipment is very much personal preference. I prefer hand-held units, but the Lee hand primer can be a little delicate. I much prefer the RCBS Universal hand primer for my uses, but it is just a matter of choice.

I would say that for the average shooter/reloader probably 75% of the process could be done perfectly well with Lee equipment. Even 100% for many.
That being said there are also guys who simply won’t dirty their bench with Lee stuff.
Most of us have a little bit of everything the same as our toolbox. Most of us don’t have all snap on tools.jd

I really like the 358-158-RF mold. Have a lee pot, one lee press, lee mold and a few dies all mixed in with blue, green, orange and red stuff

 

[swd]

I brought ammo loaded on Lee dies to Africa with me. It killled everything I pointed it at. I’d say it was a success.

 

[jlshaw]

Like probably most of us, I owned a lot of Lee gear starting out. It worked perfectly well and produced good reliable ammo. I now use gear from different makers for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's speed - that's why I have a couple of Dillon 550s. Sometimes it's precision - that's why I use a RCBS automated powder meter. Not entirely sure there is a big measurable difference in the resulting ammo.
Don't let people who aren't you talk you out of buying what makes sense for you.
Don't let something enjoyable turn into something you dread.
Good luck!

 

[WillFS]

For moderate volume handgun reloading, I have used Lee dies, powder measures, and turret presses since the early 90's. Lee stuff does the job and it's priced right.

 

[charlie b]

Started with Lee 'whack a mole' set. Then a turret press back when it came in a maple box. Most of my equipment was Lee just because of price. I wasn't loading for precision, just for economy. Cast bullets with their pots and molds. The progressives accounted for tens of thousands of rounds over the decades. Even wore out a couple of Lee molds casting for my .45. Since they were about 1/3 the cost of the other guys I still saved money. Lee's warranty replaced any parts I needed. Back when they discontinued support for the Loadmaster they sent a huge discount for a new press, so I picked up a new progressive press for $100. Better service than I'd hope for at their low initial prices. Most of all of that equipment went away in the past few years as I stopped casting and pistol shooting.

Lee kept me in casting and reloading for over 40 years.

Now days I have a Rockchucker simply because it was cheaper than the comparable size Lee when I bought it. My few dies are now Redding and Forster. I still have a Lee ram prime. May get another Lee powder measure. I also kept my old Lee C press for portable use.

 

[kenhwind]

While I also use some LEE reloading equipment, I am not a fan of their dies. Having to use two open end wrenches to adjust the decapping rod just doesn't pass muster imo. Okay once it is set for most and gun brass, you're fine, but rifle brass not so much.

Mt first set of 25-35 WCF dies were Hornady, same decapping set up as LEE, I kept pulling the expander/decapping rod out no matter how tight I tried to tighten it up.

The LEE Auto Prime II set the stage for all the other handheld priming tools, can't be beat.
The LEE lead pot also a great tool.

My first press was a single stage C-H press, but once I upgraded to a Lyman Spar-T I became a big fan of Lyman reloading equipment.

I prefer Redding Pro-Series Die Sets for my Dillon 550 presses but like most of us here I use dies from Dillon, Lyman, Redding, RCBS too.

 

[Mark611]

I'M NOT A BIG FAN OF ALL THEIR PRODUCTS, but I will say the dies I have use and the LCD dies work as they should, I guess it all depends on what tools you are planning to use and the level of guns you're planning to use them for? pistol, hunting rifle, competition guns level shooting guns What?

 

[slm9s]

Love:
Lee Classic Press
Lee Collet Dies
Lee 50bmg reloading kit

 

[Leo_B]

I am studying and learning about reloading and will start touching hazmat sometime this year once I shoot enough to have once fired cases to load. I am acquiring kit and kaboodle as I go along. Almost all of it is Lee. I like what I read and hear about the company. I like their customer service (excellent) and willingness to help and educate a day one dummy. (commendable) So where they have it I will be using Lee. If they don't have it I'll find alternatives. Especially when cost is factored in you won't beat Lee.

 

[Fast14riot]

I've got one of those little Lee C frame presses mounted at the end of my bench with a Lee Universal decapping die in it. That's its only job. I drilled a hole through my bench and put vinyl tubing in it to direct spent primers right into the trash (most of the time)

I use their collet neck dies a lot, the old design. Factory crimp dies are good too.

Lee is a rather innovative company, but build things to a price point and it shows. I strip, debur and polish mating surfaces on every new LCD I buy.

 

[MGMIAM]

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

 

[Fuj]

I've been using Lee dies for my projects for years. Been using there collet
design since they first came out. I do make quite a few of my own dies but,
when it comes to just some tweaking, Lee's low costs saves me time. I have
them making me 7BR dies to tweak and dead length seater dies to go with
them at this time along with Newlon blanks coming in.

 

[Tacoma]

I've been reloading for 40+ years and have been through a variaty of presses in that time. All colors. All styles. Somewhere along the line I sold my Dillon 550 and steped back to a Lee Classic Turret. IMHO, its excellent quality, safer to operate and a nice mix of single stage focus and progressive speed. I have had two of them now for over 15 years and can't say enough good about the presses and dies. I'm mostly reloading pistol calibers ( 9 of them) but do load 300 black and 223 on the same press. IMHO, anyone looking to get started in reloading for general use, should look no further than the LCT and Lee 4 die sets.



FWIW: I think allot of the bad press lee gets is from some of their earlier, less refined equipment and or from those who have drunk the blue coolaide to impress their buddies.