Opinion on Lee

[brokeasajoke]

I guess there are a lot of us who will always have a warm spot in our hearts for Lee equipment. A lot of us started our teenage years pounding shells together with the Lee loader kit. jd

Still got some and still use 'em. But then again, I also have Lyman/ideal 310 setups for various pistol calibers. Had a 310 for a 22 hornet and sold it like a dummy.

 

[Fuj]

I guess there are a lot of us who will always have a warm spot in our hearts for Lee equipment. A lot of us started our teenage years pounding shells together with the Lee loader kit. jd

A little different for me. My Uncle was the shooter in the family and brought
me up with anything Herters had in the catalog, and his personal dies were all
C&H. I started picking up coffee cans full of Lee and Lyman dies at gun shows
in the early 70's. These were used as a basis for most of my wild cat tooling.

 

[jds holler]

Still got some and still use 'em. But then again, I also have Lyman/ideal 310 setups for various pistol calibers. Had a 310 for a 22 hornet and sold it like a dummy.

Every now and then I sit down and crank out some 38 specials with my old 310 tong tool. jd

 

[LHSmith]

My first few SR BR matches using a 6 PPC were loaded with a Lyman 310.

 

[jk80]

I guess there are a lot of us who will always have a warm spot in our hearts for Lee equipment. A lot of us started our teenage years pounding shells together with the Lee loader kit. jd

I started loading shotgun shells with a wack a mole lee 20 gauge kit when I was 12. I always took care of a neighbor's pointers while he was on vacation and he gave me the kit, some wads and primers and a coffee can of shot. I thought Id died and went to heaven to be able to assemble my own shells. Took forever to load a box but I loved it!!

 

[BHP9]

Don't know how that's possible. I neck up 22cal neck to 6mm with a Lee collet neck die and no lube.

Here's the proof.

https://imgur.com/a/UzE2dRx

 

[jds holler]

I started loading shotgun shells with a wacky s mole lee 20 gauge kit when I was 12. I always took care of a neighbor's pointers while he was on vacation and he gave me the kit, some wads and primers and a coffee can of shot. I thought Id died and went to heaven to be able to assemble my own shells. Took forever to load a box but I loved it!!

That is my story almost exactly.
As far as taking so much time, I just cut back on my schoolwork. jd

 

[kelbro]

There's definitely a place for Lee in this industry.

 

[J_Hensley]

There are probably people that have thousands of dollars worth of high end reloading equipment, and for what they do, Lee equipment would be overkill.

 

[Fast14riot]

Here's the proof.

https://imgur.com/a/UzE2dRx

Thats wild! I will state that I only have old style Lee CND, I dont know if the mandrel has changed design along with the collet. Also, I do not neck-up clean brass. Carbon, lube, anything between the case and mandrel is better than nothing.

 

[Dgd6mm]

I have a lot of love for Lee Classic Cast press and some of his dies. A few other things also.

 

[JoeInTucson]

The Lee Load Alls were horrible, but I did use them while in high school and college.
The Lee decap die is awful.
The Lee crimping dies are great and I have them in several calibers!!!!!

 

[450BM]

Lee’s factory crimp dies are the best thing they make, maybe the best crimping die I’ve used. I also really like their push through bullet sizers and I’ve cast 10’s of thousands of bullets with their molds. Not a fan of their case sizing dies with the collet de-capping pin rod or their bench primer.

I picked up their 2nd edition reloading manual about 6 months ago for 20 bucks and it’s a great manual. Wish they’d come out with a 3rd edition.

 

[brokeasajoke]

I have a Lee Load All Jr here some where. I honestly can't remember if it's 20 or 12ga. Don't see them much. Are they rare?

 

[nakneker]

Lee is hit and miss in my book but I definitely am a fan of the company. Some of their designs are unique and well thought, some not so much. Quality can bit that way too. My bench has a variety of dies and specialty dies and there’s a few Red die boxes in there too, Lee and Forster.

I still have a few their Lee Loader kits, primitive maybe but fun in my book to break out once in awhile. Someday a guy might be glad to have a set or two of those.

 

[danny]

Here's the proof.

https://imgur.com/a/UzE2dRx

I have not been able to find the 7.5x55 Swiss case I did the same to. Mine was pretty identical, just probably more exactly broke where the shoulder started. Were you getting brass sticking to the mandrel OD?

Danny

 

[BHP9]

I have not been able to find the 7.5x55 Swiss case I did the same to. Mine was pretty identical, just probably more exactly broke where the shoulder started. Were you getting brass sticking to the mandrel OD?

Danny

That was the 7th case to be run through the die.

When I measured the ID of the sized neck, I found it to be too large then I measured the mandrel again too large.

The 7 cases were once fired Lapua. I was not happy!

 

[Dgd6mm]

I had a Custom Competition die come from Redding that was milled wrong. I have a Custom LCD that Charles Bullard had made for his 6br. It does an excellent job with my Lapua brass. He wanted to try it to see how good of a job it did against his his custom dies. He was completely satisfied but decided to continue loading with his neck bushing dies.

 

[Bronsin]

I would bet that it's 10-1 people getting started with RCBS over LEE.

 

[LHSmith]

I would bet that it's 10-1 people getting started with RCBS over LEE.

My first reloading dies (~ early '60's) were the Lee's that neck-sized only using a mallet. It quickly got old and had a lot of shortcomings. When I decided to get serious about "rolling my own", Lee was not even considered when I compared their workmanship and materials to the competition. I went with RCBS and later Redding became my choice. Lee did hit a homerun with the original accu-prime, but struck-out when they redesigned it.