Two reloaders...Which one?

[gau17]

175 SMK seated 2.80, 1x fired Lapua Brass, sized w/ Foster full size die honed out to .336, primed with Fed 210m, charged with 43.7 Varget.

Using a cheap $70.00 Lee press bought 4-5 years ago.

[Fishslayer]

Lee is cheap junk.

Yeah... I'm gonna go ahead & throw the BS flag there... M'kay?

As in "More full of it than the Missouri stockyard..."

[Antihero47]

Yeah... I'm gonna go ahead & throw the BS flag there... M'kay?

As in "More full of it than the Missouri stockyard..."

I personally would be comfortable getting a Lee single stage O frame press. The old style turret press I had the top of it was canted or something. I don't know if all their other presses are finicky but its hard to mess up a o frame single stage. They do seem to get that right.

I do feel comfortable saying however that the accessories are pretty much junk from what I've had and used. The only thing I would keep is the Hand Primer. Everything else I would try to avoid.

The auto powder measure lacks the control needed for small changes unless you get the Pro Powder measure upgrade. The stand alone powder measure wasn't very good either. They also leaked a lot with ball powders. The trimmer was OK except the shell holder needs to be chucked in a drill and the guide will be ground down after so many cases making your trim to length shorter and shorter over time. The powder scale is awful, it works but its just awful.

Let me also state that it seems Lee wants you to pay for every part and the shipping is SLOW from the factory. You have to buy specific press parts from a 3rd party place down the road that stocks their parts if you want to get it quicker. While some parts are only $0.50 or a dollar that make you spend atleast 3-4 dollars on shipping...

I've never been happy with their service and since progressing to Dillon, Hornady and even RCBS's customer service I can't believe i waited even 6 months to trade.

+1. I own a single stage Lee Classic press and I can produce HIGH quality ammo with it. I bought it when I first started reloading and kept it. The press is very solid. Please don't let the price deter you from buying it. My precision ammo gets assembled on the Lee Classic. 9mm, 45, & 5.56 gets assembled on my Dillon 650.

5 rounds @ 100 yds using Lee Classic. Shot with 308 rifle built by Short Action Customs.

Yeah I agree on the press itself. But how much other Lee stuff did you use for that ammo? Dies, primer cleaner, chamfer/debur tool, trimmer, powder measure, scale? Just curious.

[Dark Mod]

I personally would be comfortable getting a Lee single stage O frame press. The old style turret press I had the top of it was canted or something. I don't know if all their other presses are finicky but its hard to mess up a o frame single stage. They do seem to get that right.

I do feel comfortable saying however that the accessories are pretty much junk from what I've had and used. The only thing I would keep is the Hand Primer. Everything else I would try to avoid.

The auto powder measure lacks the control needed for small changes unless you get the Pro Powder measure upgrade. The stand alone powder measure wasn't very good either. They also leaked a lot with ball powders. The trimmer was OK except the shell holder needs to be chucked in a drill and the guide will be ground down after so many cases making your trim to length shorter and shorter over time. The powder scale is awful, it works but its just awful.

Let me also state that it seems Lee wants you to pay for every part and the shipping is SLOW from the factory. You have to buy specific press parts from a 3rd party place down the road that stocks their parts if you want to get it quicker. While some parts are only $0.50 or a dollar that make you spend atleast 3-4 dollars on shipping...

I've never been happy with their service and since progressing to Dillon, Hornady and even RCBS's customer service I can't believe i waited even 6 months to trade.




Yeah I agree on the press itself. But how much other Lee stuff did you use for that ammo? Dies, primer cleaner, chamfer/debur tool, trimmer, powder measure, scale? Just curious.

All the Lee equiment ive used has done the job, some stuff better than others. The dies and presses i have never had a single comlaint about, same with the primer cleaner, chamfur tool, trimmers, and the hand primer.

The powder measure is ACURATE, but its cheaply made plastic, and it definatley does leak. the scale sucks bad. But keep in mind you get all this stuff for a grand total of about $85, its not fancy, but i wouldnt call it junk. It works, and most of the stuff even works WELL

The Lee dies have been perfect for me, absolutley zero problems. In fact all the dies i have bought new have been lee, the only other brands i have are because i bought them used from the marketplace.

You can spend spend a good 4x the amount on a fancier kit, but you wont get 4x the quality of ammo.

[gau17]

I use their Collet dies for 223/308. I'm currently looking into getting a custom one made for 6.5 Creedmoor. I also use their factory crimp die on 223 and pistol rounds.

[Cowboy T]

Ah, ye olde "Reloading Press Brand Wars"....

Personally, I would recommend a Lee Classic Turret Press for the OP. There are two versions of Lee turret press, the "normal" one with the aluminum body, and the Classic version with the cast-iron parts. The Classic Turret is built like a tank, is easy to use, easy (and quick) to change cartridges, and is priced very well. When I've loaded .223 and 7.62x54R on it, it just did the job beautifully, no fuss, no muss. Same for .38 Special and .45 Colt. In all cases, the resulting ammo has been terrific.

My press setup uses the Pro Auto-Disk Powder Measure with the Double-Disk Kit. This allows me to make my ".45 Colt Magnum" load, which uses a very healthy charge of 2400 powder. The powder measure is precise to within 0.1 grain of powder. There's a very slight bit of leakage with 2400, true (it's a somewhat fine powder). But it's minuscule and is barely noticeable even after 1,000 rounds. With Bullseye or Titegroup, which use larger particles, I can't even see any leakage.

I'm not going to speak against any other brand of press, because that's not productive. All the press makers make good stuff. Ford/Chevy/Dodge, ya know.

Here's a video series showing the Classic Turret in action, as well as how to set it up. For actually making ammo, Parts 5 and 6 are what you want to see. For cartridge changes, I believe it's Part 3.

http://www.sanfranciscoliberalwithagun.com/classicturret.html

- T

[kdsd731]

Alright guys, I did the purchase. I went with the Hornady Lock-n-Load classic kit. I figured they all have to be somewhat comparative and since Hornady was giving 500 bullets with the purchase of the kit and 100 bullets for each die kit that was the deal maker. I appreciate all the input.

[MaHoTex]

Good luck KDSD731. You will grow to love reloading almost as much fun as shooting IMO.

[sonnyt650]

You will grow to love reloading almost as much fun as shooting IMO.

And then there are those days where you just want the ammo for an upcoming trip. If you never develop that appreciation or it comes and goes (I'm in this boat myself) it would be very difficult to justify the added cost of the best machinery that money can buy, better to be sure you really want to keep it up. Personally I don't think I'll ever enjoy reloading pistol ammo: cranking the handle and adding the bullet gets old really fast. Sure you might be able to resell a Dillon 650 for little loss, but not to people like me.

[Antihero47]

And then there are those days where you just want the ammo for an upcoming trip. If you never develop that appreciation or it comes and goes (I'm in this boat myself) it would be very difficult to justify the added cost of the best machinery that money can buy, better to be sure you really want to keep it up. Personally I don't think I'll ever enjoy reloading pistol ammo: cranking the handle and adding the bullet gets old really fast. Sure you might be able to resell a Dillon 650 for little loss, but not to people like me.

Pistol and Rifle reloading can be boring if your just turning out the same plinking load all the time. What makes it fun is chasing 'the load' for accuracy. Benching a rifle and playing with powder charge and seating depths is so much fun for me.

[kdsd731]

Well I hope I enjoy it. I tend to like tedious things like this. As for now, the purpose for me is to cut down ammo costs so I can shoot more. Then, move into perfecting my ammo for the best results.

[kdsd731]

How many rounds can I expect to get say out of a 1lb RL-15? I know it depends on the round, but lets say 55gr .223. Or how mains grains come in a 1lb if you know?

[Antihero47]

About 250 rounds.

7,000gr in a pound.

[gau17]

Pistol and Rifle reloading can be boring if your just turning out the same plinking load all the time. What makes it fun is chasing 'the load' for accuracy. Benching a rifle and playing with powder charge and seating depths is so much fun for me.

Agree