What's your opinion on this Lee press?

Status
Not open for further replies.
TruthTellers said:
I said this before, but since I'm going to buy one in the future for charging cases on a turret press, I may as well buy one now and work the kinks out of it so I know how to use it when the time comes to get the turret press.

t.
Click to expand...

With the Pro Autodisk and Autodrum measures, there really isn't much in the way of "kinks to work out". Pretty easy to set up and use.

Other aspects of the "Lee progressive experience" are going to give you fits, but the powder measure isn't (IMHO) going to be a problem.
 
what's my opinion of ...???

Thumbs down, for me. I wouldn't buy it.

the main reason it has no appeal for me is that compared to what I have, and have been using for the last 40 years +, that Lee press seems to be cheap cast aluminum crap.

I'm not a "Lee hater", I do really like, and would recommend some of their product line, particularly their hand tools. BUT, I dislike many of the features of their presses, and dies, & etc.

might be fine for light duty such as you mention I don't know. What I do know is that its not something I want, or need, and for me, would be nothing but a waste of money.
 
I have one of those presses, I have had it for years and years but I believe I have the expensive one. My Lee does not have the cheap looking wood knob, my Lee (that looks like that) has the large white plastic knob.

I have never used my Little Lee, I looked at all that aluminum and then figured if something broke they would blame me. And then there are all of those Lee dies I got down in Louisiana. I asked all of those Cajun reloaders why they were giving them away; it has something to do with rust, they claimed the dies rusting at night keep them awake, and I wondered about all those Chevrolet trucks.

F. Guffey
 
I have never used my Little Lee, I looked at all that aluminum and then figured if something broke they would blame me. And then there are all of those Lee dies I got down in Louisiana. I asked all of those Cajun reloaders why they were giving them away; it has something to do with rust, they claimed the dies rusting at night keep them awake, and I wondered about all those Chevrolet trucks
Click to expand...

Mississippi obviously has a similar climate to Louisiana. Anyway, stuff down here seems to rust more often/easily than Nebraska where I am originally from. Bolt knobs on rifles, dies, metal handles, shovels, tools etc. Part of it is the fact that with higher humidity, and temps, there is more sweat and oils on your hands and body where the salts cause rapid rusting. Then, the humid environment speeds up the rusting as well.

It is all preventable though, but it makes wiping down your dies, equipment, firearms etc all the more important. Especially if the surface is bare metal. I shot a .22 rimfire match a few weeks back, it was hot and sticky. I didn't get around to wiping the gun down until the following day. By then, a little bit of surface rust had begun to accumulate on the bolt knob. It wiped right off but that is just how fast it begins.
As far as the cars go, the humidity doesn't help matters if you have scratches on the finish, but at least they don't have to salt the roads.

I have some lee dies, lee factory crimp, neck sizer and others. There isn't any rust on mine (that I know of)
 
I also have to think about just buying the Lee stand and the turret press I really want.
Click to expand...

The Lee Classic Turret is a more versatile press, if you can make room for it. You may be surprised at how small its footprint is. If you go in that direction, you might want to check out Kempfgunshop.com. They put together their own kit that includes a set of dies, but leaves out the Lee scale. That is a good way to get started in reloading.
 
Am I the only one who sees a problem with using a lee progressive press and can be the same issues on even expensive presses?

I wonder how many of you spot the issue...
 
Couple of points...portability...on a press. For many years, when I was younger - moving a lot and lived in apartments, I mounted my presses ( for metallic and shotshells ) ..to a 2" X 18" plank / and then either bolted it down or clamped it down to a portable "workmate bench" sold by black and decker.

I weighted the portable bench down with some cinder blocks for extra stability.

The workmate bench folds up ...gets put in a closet / the press permanently mounted to the 2 X 18" plank gets covered with an old pillow case and put on a shelf.

I've reloaded for well over 50 yrs...and the Lee equipment just does not hold up. Its too light / flexes too much etc.. If you really want to go to a single stage press...there are all kinds of used RCBS Rockchucker presses around...gun shows, etc...and they are cheap. The last one I had - I couldn't even give it away ..( gun show in my area last weekend...and I saw at least a dozen of them ).

There is a reason presses from RCBS, Hornaday and Dillon hold their value long term / invest in one, take care of it - clean it up if you find a used one --
sell it for what you paid for it, or more, and move on to something better down the road.

I've long since given up single stage presses ...for progressive machines...but today I also have a dedicated workspace in my shop for reloading, gun smithing, etc.../ but I would never recommend anyone spend their hard earned money on anything made by Lee...in my experience, you will just not be happy with it - and it will just aggravate the daylights out of you.
 
Am I the only one who sees a problem with using a lee progressive press and can be the same issues on even expensive presses?

I wonder how many of you spot the issue...
Click to expand...

Not that that is the topic of this thread but you have my attention. What is the problem you are speculating?
 
After reading a bunch of the posts and trying to really figger out what the OP wants, I'd say get a Lee turret and remove the auto index feature. (I got a lee turret 17 years ago and disabled the auto index 16.99 years ago. Hand indexing works quite well). Use it as a single stage and hand index. If the OP is looking to mount a powder measure on the press "in the future" why not just mount one on a turret and use it as such? K.I.S.S.!!!
 
The only reason I'm hesitant to buy the stand and the turret press is it'll cost me $200 more than the C press will and it will take up a lot more space, but it is a press I want and will get eventually, so maybe just getting it now and stop pussyfooting isn't a bad idea.
 
If funds are not an issue then I'd say buy what you truly want the 1st time. Don't settle for something less because down the road you will only question yourself as to why you did it.

If it is truly a matter of space then I suggest you visit some of the other forums, most have a thread somewhere on the topic of benches. You truly will be surprised by how little some are getting away with using. Or just do a web search for reloading benches.
 
I had that press for years and did hundreds of loads with it. Worked fine as a single stage press . . . until the day that I literally broke the back off the mounting flange. Still worked fine, but I moved up to a better Lee press and just recently up to a Lee turret press which I am liking very much.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
It is no secret that Lee is the "low bidder" in the reloading game. For a new press you are unlikely to find a cheaper price than Lee offers. Some of their presses are better than others they offer but they are made of less expensive materials and materials that are not as strong as the more expensive presses offered by others. I prefer to buy one press that lasts a lifetime. I prefer to remember the quality i bought and feeling satisfied with what I paid. I am not a Lee "hater" because their products serve a portion of the market and allow people to start reloading on a budget. They are typically cheap presses that flex and break under what I consider to be "normal" use. My Rock Chucker and Lyman turret presses have lasted for more than 40 years and show no signs of wear. They are made of steel and cast iron and will last several lifetimes. You should always use the best quality that you can afford. If that is a product made by Lee and it does the job you ask of it then that is what you should use.
 
OK, K.I.S.S. Get the "C" press and load with it. If you have any problems (which I never had) you can get an "O" press later. And you are not locked into one press for the rest of your life (I've had mebbe 8 or 10 presses, still have 4, from gigantic cast iron "O" to lightweight aluminum "C" presses. All made good, safe accurate ammo, from start to finish, when I did my part.). Don't overthink this. You can load safely and accurately with the Lee "C" press. I have never experienced press "flexing" and prolly wouldn't recognize it if it did occur.
 
Last edited:
TruthTellers wrote:
What's your opinion on this Lee press?
Click to expand...

Worth every penny you pay for it.

But then you're not paying a lot for it.

In a C style press, the die is cantilevered over the ram and will move more than it would in a similar press with an O configuration. The fact the press is aluminum and not iron will increase that movement.

I was looking at one to keep at the farm to deprime cases and hold seating dies to allow me to adjust the seating depth of cartridges I had brought with me. If that's the kind of thing you are looking to do, the Lee C style press will work fine.

In my case, I found a used RCBS Reloader Special cast iron O press on E-bay for about the same money, so I bought that instead since I already have one and am familiar with it.
 
TruthTellers wrote:
Would this "O" frame press be more robust and hold up better over time with more intense loading operations like full length re-sizing?
Click to expand...

It will be more robust than a C style press, but a press can (and in my opinion should) be a once-in-a-lifetime investment and you will be happiest if you spend the few extra dollars now that it will cost to get a press with a cast iron frame.

We could go into all sorts of technical reasons why cast iron might be preferred over aluminum (i.e. lower modulus of elasticity, lower thermal expansion, shock resistance, etc.) but at the end of the day you are more likely to have a better reloading experience with a cast iron press than an aluminum one - particularly if you are going to get into high stress applications like case forming.
 
For me aluminum isn't a deal breaker. I have spent lots of hours flying around, floating in and driving things that have engines, transmissions and structures made from the stuff.

That said I am not against cast iron either, although if it breaks, it's a bit more difficult to repair.
 
Both cast aluminum and cast iron can and do break and both are a pain to repair.

Also just like a forged steel crankshaft it can break and when it does it's because it was stretched beyond it's designed working point. So I too do not follow your correlation.

Or how about the massive B52 Bomber. It's wings would flex 22' from the at rest position to in flight position and these things have been in service for 50+ years. So again I do not follow your line if you want to discuss "High Stress".
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top