Musing about Lee Precision

[RBHarter]

Have a bit of Lee gear . I don't mind it when its close to what it supposed to be . I have 5-6 6C moulds that are great , yes they have a sticky cavity but the more I've used them the better they seem to get and have gone from force #4 out to roll and hinge bump again . Fixed the burrs , happy now . For 1/3 of the cost I can afford to futz with them a little .
Dies ....... I buy them when they are available and others either aren't or are special order . 45 Schofield for example ...... But before I even go to the press with them I disassemble and wash them and poke something through the vent hole and some other messing around that frankly is more than paid for with others like RCBS at $10-15 more . But when it's $30 for limited run or $105 for special order .....I feel like $75 is a little steep for no fussing .
I feel a lot less bad about letting a sizer neck out .009 for a wildcat in a $25 die set than a $40 set too .

On FB I often say "Lee makes a tool to do a job , and they do that job . But there are tools worth the extra money for the final finish and usability out of the box" .

I just ran about 500 223 looking forward to running the new RCBS sizer ......... Mismarked box I guess . I don't need a 223 neck die but here I am . The Lee ran just fine , I will need to make/get a new decapping pin . Robbed it out of the 222 set .

 

[Brad]

If Lee ever hit a home run with an item it was the old round tray hand primer. That thing just plain worked,
If the hung had been made from better metal it would have been a grand slam. Sadly it is no longer made and the follow ones are just not as good.

 

[462]

All my die sets and most individual and special purpose dies have Lee lock rings attached to them. My last Lee die set came with the new splined rings, but they were a very loose fit and turned almost effortlessly on the die. E-mailed Lee and after several pleasant back and forth conversations was shipped a set of the old style rings. Seems they weren't aware of the problem, till I mentioned it, and their in-house quality control/quality assurance people discovered that initial O-ring raceways were not to specifications.

 

[Ian]

Thanks Michael, I'll have to check mine. One thing I noticed Lee has done on a few occasions is rush a "new and imoroved" product to market without actually checking to see if it works or not.

 

[CZ93X62]

Thanks Michael, I'll have to check mine. One thing I noticed Lee has done on a few occasions is rush a "new and imoroved" product to market without actually checking to see if it works or not.

They have us for that.

 

[Rex]

Think I still have one of the old "pound em together step at a time" .45 Colt loaders out in the shed. Also have one of their old round tray hand primers and a set of dippers.

 

[Rockydoc]

If Lee ever hit a home run with an item it was the old round tray hand primer. That thing just plain worked,
If the hung had been made from better metal it would have been a grand slam. Sadly it is no longer made and the follow ones are just not as good.

I like the RCBS one. I especially like the universality of the shell holder. I have one for each primer size. I wore out two of the Lee ones. The RCBS has better quality materials. Nevertheless, most of my reloading stuff is Lee Precision.

 

[Walks]

I like the Lee #429-200-RF, have a 2cav makes good bullets. Just handle them gentle & smooth.
The fcd ruined a goodly number of .44WCF & .38WCF cases before l threw them away.
I also liked the hand priming tool with the round tray. Wore out 2 of them before RCBS came out with theirs.
Also have 3 OLD 2cav molds in .44cal that My Dad bought at a Gun Show almost 32yrs ago. The old Gentleman who sold them told Me to handle them gently.
I'm still casting beautiful bullets from all three.

I have 3 more 2cav .44cal molds that I got for postage from someone at another site. They are thrashed. Might be able to resurrect them. Be a challenge.

Just goes to show you, how you treat your molds is just as important as the way you take care of your Guns.

 

[CZ93X62]

Not the first time I have brought this up--the Lee moulds in 9mm, 40/10, and 45 ACP autopistol truncated-cone design are a SUPERB bottom-feeder cast bullet. I prefer the standard lube groove versions, and have no experience with the tumble-lube versions.

 

[Cherokee]

What CZ said. My old 356120 6c has cast more than 50k bullets and still going. Really like the old round tray hand primers better than anything else I have tried; I keep it working with replacement parts I bought in the past. Their new primer feeder "tray" sucks.

 

[StrawHat]

I have a bunch of Lee molds, some stock many custom (group buys from another sight). All work well if run well. Abuse them and they break. Pop watched me casting early on and disliked me banging away at the sprue plate with a hickory stick. He showed me how to swing the plate with a gloved hand and not abuse the mold. Granddad was a pattern maker/foundryman so Pop learned from youth.

Got several of the hollow point molds. I like the design even through I don’t use HPs much anymore.

Only have one Lee press. Got it from the wife’s father. One of the bolt holes is busted and I haven’t figured out how to fix it.

They no longer make the round tray priming tool? I still have a couple but it sounds like RCBS makes a suitable alternative.

Got a few of their die sets. I like that they came with a shell holder. They did not always make what cartridge I needed but when they did, it came home.

I might need one of the progressive presses. I need to load a bunch of 45 ACP, need to cast them first, but need to put up a bunch. Probably could switch out my RL450 but a new press sounds fun. Maybe not?

Little or nothing will happen until we get back to work unfortunately. No $$$ in means no $$$ out.

Kevin

 

[HM8485]

I use a lot of Lee stuff as well.
Almost all my brass is sized with Lee collet dies, using the Lee hand press. They are a perfect match, effortless sizing, and I can size my brass anywhere I like. I use the Lee C-press for bullet sizing, priming and a few other tasks. I have two Lee bottom pour pots. And flare dies for all my cartridges, using NOE expander plugs. Push-through sizers, of course. And lots of Lee moulds.

I do not, however, care for their «lock rings». They either get replaced with a proper lock ring, or a lock ring eliminator for the breech lock system.

I have been using Lee dies in pistol and rifle loading for over 20 years. I have never had any problem with the lock rings once set. The O-ring on my first set did dry out a couple of years ago after hundreds of rounds, but was easily replaced from an assortment I had on hand. Easy to set and a beeze to replace. I did break a decapping pin on one 20 year old rifle sizing die when I did not notice was a Berdan-primed 7.62X63 NATO surplus case. I also use their moulds and have had one alignment problem on one after a very long session when I first started. I disassembled the mould handles, and cleaned it, substituting Permetex I had on hand for small engine work. Sure beats candle wax as recommended many places. Never had a problem since and now use on all my molds for the sprue plate, alignment pins, and handle bolts. I don't understand your "improve quality" comment.

 

[Gary]

I used to be a HM8483 some 50+ years ago. Good to know there's more that one of us on this board.

 

[JWFilips]

Lee Stuff is affordable! May need some TLC but you can make it all work with patience and ingenuity.
I have a bunch of lee moulds & yes I did have to fuss with them adjust them and improve them! But I have a bunch of good moulds! for a little bit of money. I also have a Few NOE moulds and A few Steel, Lyman/ ideal moulds Which I did not have to do anything with except cast!
All in All Are my moulds cast well and I am satisfied with all of them!

The only mould I ever got rid of was a Custom .358 Mehec Brass HP mould I waited 14 months to get it and sold it within a month after getting it!
I guess brass moulds and I do not get along well! Plus never got the bullets to shoot well in any of my S&W's....go figure

 

[Rally]

I'm like everybody else in that I have and use Lee equipment, but I have yet purchased a piece of their equipment I didn't have to alter before use. One six cavity put two scratches on the top of the mould the first time I opened the sprue plate, and one mould had NO vent lines in the face of the mould! Like Jim said, it is affordable, but expect to work on it before using it. I don't believe Lee has a quality control department.
My Giraud trimmer came with standard nut type lock rings also, and first thing I did was throw them in the garbage, and replaced them with Hornady split type lock rings. Kinda like Jim's Mihec mould, if it doesn't work for you, why have it around.

 

[StrawHat]

...I don't believe Lee has a quality control department...

Their quality control department is the end user. That’s what keep the costs down.

Kevin

 

[dannyd]

First Lee mold 30 years ago not to impressive, but the mold I just purchased is just as good as NOE or the other Aluminum molds. I was quite surprised. Just picked up a Lee press for making gas checks. Better quality there too.

 

[Bruce Drake]

Most interesting, Spindrift. The Lee O-rings are my favorite piece of modern Lee tooling. I use them on every seating die that goes into a press to take care of the misalignment of ram and press/die surface. I even use them with the Harrell's presses because shell holders are not always square either.

I've replaced every lock ring on every set of my dies for LEE Rings because I prefer them every day over the other older styles.

Bruce

 

[Walks]

First Lee mold 30 years ago not to impressive, but the mold I just purchased is just as good as NOE or the other Aluminum molds. I was quite surprised. Just picked up a Lee press for making gas checks. Better quality there too.

Interesting.
Every Lee mold that I've every bought, either new or used.
Has had to have the bottom of the sprue plate polished. And every Lee mold has had It's wood handles refastened.
Never had to do that to RCBS, Saeco or H&G.
Never had to do that to any of the N.O.E. or. Accurate aluminum molds I bought.

And no way in H, E, double Hockey sticks is any Lee press anywhere nearer the Quality of RCBS, Redding, or even the new Lyman stuff.

 

[dannyd]

Interesting.
Every Lee mold that I've every bought, either new or used.
Has had to have the bottom of the sprue plate polished. And every Lee mold has had It's wood handles refastened.
Never had to do that to RCBS, Saeco or H&G.
Never had to do that to any of the N.O.E. or. Accurate aluminum molds I bought.

And no way in H, E, double Hockey sticks is any Lee press anywhere nearer the Quality of RCBS, Redding, or even the new Lyman stuff.

That's your opinion. I have molds from all one above and the new Lee is just as good to me "opinion". Have only been casting 30 years and about 200,000 bullets still learning. Love Redding molds but the new Aluminum molds are just as good at half the price. The new Lee press is as good as any RCBS or Redding owned all three again to me. You mileage may very.