How Many Started With Lee And Upgraded

[Jon Se]

I use both Lee and RCBS die sets. The RCBS dies seem to be (and probably is) made out of better steel, and better machined. The Lee die's advantage over the RCBS is that their seater die is finger adjustable without the need to loosen a nut first and their decapping/sizer die pins don't break.

I'm using a Lee single stage press and it works fine.

[Nodda Duma]

You are doing something wrong.
Are you seating and crimping at the same time?

I tried both ways. Seating and crimping at same time, then crimping as final step. Would always end up trashing some brass. Never did with factory crimp die, so that's what I use.

If I was near you, I'd show you how to use crimp die properly and you could show me how to use taper die properly.

-Jason

[eaglemike]

I've used an owned most all brands, including Lee and Dillon. I still have a couple of Star machines, the best ever made for human -powered reloading. I served my apprenticeship at Star. I learned how to single-point threads on .38 special crimping dies.

The Lee dies are sometimes better than any other. Dillon .38 acp/super dies used to have (maybe still do) have a large radius at the mouth, and sometimes left the case oversize in this area. For high-end rifle reloading, there's a lot of really good dies out there.

As noted above, the Lee Loadmaster can cause frustration until one figures out how to get the priming system under control. It has adjustable prmier seating depth, which you can't get on the Dillon until you get the 1050. I remember when the 650 came out, they regularly puked primers until the design was fixed.

For full length sizing rifle brass, nothing the like a strong O-frame. Maybe Lyman Orange Crush?

all the best,
Mike

[Butthead]

Have a Lee Classic for my .50 stuff with stock and custom made dies from Lee. Works fine for me but just received a Dillon 550B yesterday. That will be used for other caliber (.223, 9mm, .308, .44) bulk loading. Cant say I upgraded from Lee, cause I am happy with it and will still continue to use the Lee. Will be also setting up the Lee for .338LM shortly. Just didn't want to crank out a few thousand rounds of other calibers on a single stage press. Lee seems to be a good value but probably not for those who only want the best and have deep pockets.

[Offroader]

I bought 2 Lee presses to learn how to reload, never used them and just sold them on ebay. A friend show me how to reload on his Dillon and I had to get one for myself. After months of trying to convince my wife she gave in and I bought a used Dillon XL650. I will eventually buy a RCBS single stage to complement my reloading capibility but for now pumping out 300 rounds per hour is great.

[huckberry668]

I never upgraded from "Lee products". however, after 17 years of reloading I'm discovering Lee has some really good products that just makes sense. I love their Hand press and Delux Collet Die sets. loads ammo no less accurate than those $100s sets but makes it easy to load anywhere and expends brass life. Great customer support too. I'll be using more Lee products.

[Sunwolf]

Lee Challenger-2ea
Lee Classic turret-1ea.
Lee Cast press-1ea
RCBS jr.-1 ea.
Dillon 650-1ea.
Still use the Cast press and the Turret but mostly the Dillon.Yeah,I like Lee dies over the flimsy RCBS.

[NotSoFast]

While I've moved on to other dies, I have stayed with my Lee Turret. For the amount that I reload, I see no need, nor can I justify the cost to upgrade. Maybe when this press wears out.

Do presses wear out? lol

[Shoot-it]

so far (no and never is wining). I have the single press from lee and dies , hand priming tool.The only up grade I need is a charge master using the scale takes to long.

[rksimple]

FWIW, I broke 2 handles on my Autoprime yesterday...and one 2 weeks before that. The body broke about a week ago. Until my spare parts arrive (and my RCBS priming tool), I'm SOL. Lee is not the best, by far.

[ar15barrels]

Lee is not the best, by far.

Some people assign value by price alone.

[rksimple]

Some people assign value by price alone.

Yeah. I was prepping and priming some 308's and 243's yesterday with some Wolf primers. Being a tad larger, they were a tight fit. Broke one with 210M's in the 308's and one with Wolf in the 243's. The thing is a piece of junk. Only recently have I seen the quality take a huge dive. The metal is so dang soft its a joke.

[xrMike]

Some people assign value by price alone.

Group size comes first. Then price.

[scr83jp]

I started with and still use Lee Dies and a turret press for pistol (4 calibers) I used lee dies for rifle and still use Lee neck sizers and a decapping die. I now use Redding sizers and seater for the stuff I shot to be accurate with, (.223, .308) I would like to get a Rockchucker to load the accurate rifle loads with, but I don'tt think I'll ever go to a Dillon unless I strike it rich.

Go to www.bivwak.com auction for a RCBS Rock Chucker starting bid is $129.95 no bids as yet ends today 1900.01 hours 7:01 pm

[huckberry668]

No single stage press beats a Forster Co-Ax. You're wasting $ with any other single stage press in my opinion. Trust me, I'v used others too... Military armorer only use them to load their match ammo (I saw this on Discovery on long range shooting). I'll share my experience.

I had a Rock Chucker for 17 years. Just sold it last year after getting my Co-Ax. I used the RC to prep 100,000s of rifles/pistol cases over 17 years. I had ammo that won't chamber because the necks weren't bumped down far enough during resizing. I had to pull out 100s of rounds of ammo I loaded... ^%(#&*&... of course, this is my fault but also why Co-Ax is so great.

I remember back then when i was resizing them I had to re-tighten the sizing die a few times because it came loose and backed out slightly. I know that caused the cases to be sized long. Because of this, I started using a wrench to tighten down the dies.

You'll never have that problem with a Forster Co-Ax. And here are the added benefits:
*The press is designed to self center the case & die so your ammo will have the least if not complete lack of run-out. most straight ammo possible promotes most accuracy possible from ammo.
*changing dies takes less than a few seconds, literally.
*you don't need to change the shell holder, it's almost one size fits all. and the jaw type shell holders enclose the case head with the most contact areas and strength of all other types.
*the handle sits in the middle, you can switch hands easily.
*the leverage of the press is tremendous, so you don't have to work hard. I used the short handle for pistol rounds.

the bad:
*won't fit long cartridges like the 50 BMG (not sure about 338 Lapua).
*Although the regular shell holder will hold most cases, it's a pain if you have to change it to load smaller heads.