Lee loader

[Dvajax]

Anyone here a fan of the Lee loaders. I am a big fan. I have them for 30-30, 357, 12 ga and 45acp.

Andy

 

[RBHarter]

We aren't perfect either .
Just kidding . I had a couple of them , they have new homes now .
I keep a few moulds , sizers , and die sets . I am considering a new press so that I can set it up short stroke for pistols .

 

[Rick H]

I started with Lee "Whack a Mole" Loaders, still own a few, but use only presses now.

 

[Maven]

I have several* and am impressed with how accurate those rounds are. I had a .38Spl/.357mag. LL at one time, but found ejecting the resized cases from the die, even when lubed, more effort than it was worth.

*.243Win., 8mm Mau., .45-70.

 

[CZ93X62]

Mine are long gone--223, 30-06, 38 Special. I did scavenge a few parts from them that I still use, though. I also bought a set of the powder charging "spoons" some years back. I have always been impressed by the consistent charge weights those little spoons/scoops throw. Just level them off with a straight-edge, and scale the results.

My 223 and 30-06 loads assembled with the Lee Loader were every bit as good as any I have put together on the Rock Chucker or the P-W P-200.

 

[Spindrift]

I have 4 in .223, .308, .44 mag and .30-06. Would like one in 6,5x55. I use them on rare occations, for meditative reloading
I really admire this simple tool. So much functionality, in a little lunch box.

 

[Walks]

Never used one, sold off the two I got along with a two gun buy.
Have a .44-40 I got in a trade deal of reloading stuff. Just haven't got rid of it yet.
I do remember how much My Dad hated them.

Now that I think about it, maybe I'll try loading a few rounds.

 

[Dvajax]

Oddly using the Lee loader is kind of cathartic for me.

Andy

 

[Cadillac Jeff]

I still have one in 6mm rem.---& a cardboard 1 lb box of H-414 to go with it...I'm thinkin maybe 1983 ???
It was my intro to reloading !!

 

[Rally]

Well I know a 15 year old that had one in .264 Mag. and didn't understand or read the direction about lube. I hear 3 in 1 oil is not a very good sizing lubricant! I hear he ruined the better part of a box of brass before he figured it out and .264 brass was a rare commodity back in the day! Oh, and 120 gr. Hp's running 3600 Fps make poor deer bullets.

 

[Ian]

Got one in .30-30, a couple in 12-gauge (one I bought because it had the extra crimp starter that was an option), 16-gauge (that one actually gets used once in a while), and .410. Not sure why I bought most of them other than the novelty.

 

[CZ93X62]

The Lee Loaders didn't last long with me. I had an RCBS Reloader Special press up and running at my new place in Palm Desert by late 1978, and after the Lee Loader I thought I was running ammo out at LIGHT-SPEED. Not quite, I suppose. The monthly ammo allotment I got in 38 wadcutters (loaded by jail trusties) might have been fine for the Department's revolver, but in my new Colt Trooper I wanted some quality on board. So I got a bunch of 110 grain JHPs and some WW-231 powder--200 W-W unfired 38 Special cases--and 1K CCI 500 primers--and went to work with a current-at-the-time Speer Reloading Manual. I made pretty good duplicates of our issued carry ammo, and practiced with the stuff 2-4 times a month. I have no idea how many times that brass got reloaded over the next 2-4 years. All single-stage, too.

That was 42 years ago, and things kind of expanded in the meantime. I would like to think that the practicing I did with that ammunition helped save my life during a shooting in Aug. 1981.

 

[Missionary]

I started with a 32 Win Special Lee set for my Marlin 336 back in the mid 60's. Still have maybe 5 sets of various calibers in storage.
We still load 12 gauge on a Lee set.

 

[Dvajax]

I made my own 12 gauge loader from a old fire piston.

Andy

 

[CZ93X62]

I had a MEC shotshell loader at age 15, one of the precursor models to the 600 Jr. The only centerfire rifle shooting I did was deer hunting back then, all done with factory Winchester ammo in 30/30 and 30-06. I DID retain the fired brass, though--we shot up last year's rifle rounds doing sight-in prior to deer season. I didn't really shoot enough CF rifle to justify the outlay for reloading gear, but did stumble across a cardboard-boxed Lee Loader in 30-06. "One of these days, maybe". There was a nice pile of 30-06 and 30/30 brass under way. I was all about shotguns until about age 21.

A S&W Model 28 in 1976 prompted purchase of the 38 Special Lee Loader, which prompted me toward loading the 30-06 with the existing Lee Loader. For a while, anyway--the RCBS Jr. press and a bunch of other metallic reloading tools from Yellow Mart in Indio really got me started down the rabbit hole. Still exploring its drifts and shafts!

 

[Walks]

I grew up reloading in a Big Family of Casters/Reloaders & Hunters.
By the time I got out of the Navy at 21yrs old, I had to start my own set up.
My Dad had sent me Lyman 310 Tong Tools to load my 03A3 and S&W M&P, while I was stationed on the East Coast.

I made a trip up to Lyman's Company store just before I was transferred back home.
So I was able to start reloading and casting as soon as I was out and had my own place.

It'll be 45yrs come July, haven't been without a reloading set up since then.

Still wanna try that .44-40 Lee Loader some day. Have a New set of Lee powder scoops too.