Classic Lee Loader

[3DGearGuy]

Dude, a single stage would be 100 times better for like $20 more

What press is $50? I'm not trying to be a smart ***, I really would like to know cause I just ordered a Lee classic kit and if I can get a press for $20 more, I'll return the classic loader.

[MaHoTex]

http://www.midwayusa.com/find?sortby=1&itemsperpage=20&newcategorydimensionid=11522

There is a press on this list for $27.

Here is the kit I started with a few years back:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/423081/lee-challenger-breech-lock-single-stage-press-anniversary-kit

It is more than $50, but it has nearly everything you will need to get started.

[ninjastar310]

My only big worry about using the kit is that will it produce good quality ammo.

[skibuff]

Looks like it would work.
I think you would be much better off buying 30 year old JR or RS RCBS singe stage press before using something like that. EBAY has them all the time for $50 or less and they still have the RCBS lifetime warranty. I have dies that have 1972 date stamps on them and they take care of me every time I call.

[Bill Steele]

My only big worry about using the kit is that will it produce good quality ammo.

I remember reading an article about a long range rifle champion that loaded his rifle rounds at the range using a Lee Loader. You may be surprised how well it works, or maybe not. Not a big financial committment to find out.

[Nick Justice]

I have two. One in .270 Win. and the other in 7.62x54R. I find them very relaxing to use (probably the slower pace), and they produce ammo equal to the care you put into the job.

[BajaJames83]

They work great if you have the time. I have 223 and 38/357 done use them much any more. But if time permits they make ammo that's for sure

[Bill Steele]

I decided I would take the plunge and buy a Lee Loader for my 308. I went to Midway and they were sold out, Natchez had them, ended up ordering $100 more stuff, typical...

I am going to haul the stuff out to the range and load some using the Lee Loader and dippers. I will measure out ahead of time to figure what combination of exact level dippers I need to get close to my best load. Then I will chrony and see how close I get and what my SD's look like.

At least I won't be bored waiting for my barrel to cool down...

[skibuff]

That kinda sounds like a good use for one. Fortunately My cabin is 8 minutes from great shooting areas on the NF land so It's easy for me to run back to the house if test is a total fail. Hasn't happened yet. But I have 4 wheeled out in 8" of snow at dusk because I was impatient and wanted to test my new concoction and didn't want to wait till the next day.

[Bill Steele]

It will have to wait till I come back as the Lee Loader won't be here for a week anyway. I have it all mapped out though. I went down and weighed some 4064. 3.0cc is 38 grains exactly. I have a nice wide node at 38grs of 4064 with my 700 with some 178gr HPBT Hornaday Match, should yield about 2285fps. It is a pretty light load, so my margin for error should be good enough so I don't blow my nose off if I get the weight wrong.

I will use the 2.5 and the .5 Lee dippers (I finally found a use for these things, after all these years). I will have to pick a calm day to make sure my drops all get in the case.

Some fun.

[the led farmer]

I decided I would take the plunge and buy a Lee Loader for my 308. I went to Midway and they were sold out, Natchez had them, ended up ordering $100 more stuff, typical...

I am going to haul the stuff out to the range and load some using the Lee Loader and dippers. I will measure out ahead of time to figure what combination of exact level dippers I need to get close to my best load. Then I will chrony and see how close I get and what my SD's look like.

At least I won't be bored waiting for my barrel to cool down...

That's exactly the intent Richard Lee had behind the Lee Loader. What better place to truly dial in a round but at the range? Who wants to go back and forth from home to test loads

People bag on lee gear all the time and I am a HUGE fan of the lee design. It's genius in its simplicity. The 10 dollar lee scale is a bit of a pain to use but it's as dead nuts accurate as ANY scale on the market. Lee loader, the scale, the dippers and supplies in a small box and there ya go.

[burndup]

Usually, there is no need to trim straight walled handgun cases and there is no need to clean the primer pockets either.

Noob question time... When to clean, or not clean the primer pockets?

I've been kinda anal about cleaning them, heck , I even decap before walnut tumbling!

What are the pros and cons?

I have a good press and dies, but I'm still "collecting" Lee classic loaders for the calibers I think I'll be shooting a lot of, in case the reloading hobby has to go DEEP underground.


Thanks.

[rsrocket1]

The pro would be that it might make you more confident in your shooting knowing that your primer pockets are clean.

There are no cons so long as you are careful dealing with the primer dust. The primer compound is lead styphnate and it is probably the one of the biggest contributors to lead poisoning for reloaders, even more so than casting lead which actually poses very little danger of lead poisoning. The dust is easily inhaled or ingested if you don't clean up after handling the stuff.

[rsrocket1]

The pro would be that it might make you more confident in your shooting knowing that your primer pockets are clean.

There are no cons so long as you are careful dealing with the primer dust. The primer compound is lead styphnate and it is probably the one of the biggest contributors to lead poisoning for reloaders, even more so than casting lead which actually poses very little danger of lead poisoning. The dust is easily inhaled or ingested if you don't clean up after handling the stuff.

[burndup]

The pro would be that it might make you more confident in your shooting knowing that your primer pockets are clean.

There are no cons so long as you are careful dealing with the primer dust. The primer compound is lead styphnate and it is probably the one of the biggest contributors to lead poisoning for reloaders, even more so than casting lead which actually poses very little danger of lead poisoning. The dust is easily inhaled or ingested if you don't clean up after handling the stuff.

Interesting none of the books I've read mentioned this. I've been using a pocket cleaning brush and blowing the dust out, it probably ended up on my lap. I am fairly OCD about washing my hands though, so I'm not too concerned that I'm eating any.