about a year ago i started a thread on inheriting a press from my dad. mom and i have not had a lot of time to look for it in the basement, or the many other places that dad may have tucked it. we have both caught each other saying that we didn't realize how much of a hoarder he was...lol...anyway...

I want to start reloading...I don't want to go buying a press until i know for sure that he sold his press. with that being said, on the advice of a guy i work with, i looked up lee loaders. this guy has one, has used it very little, but says it's a good buy.

i am talking about one of these... Lee Loader Pistol - Lee Precision

i was wondering if anyone of our very experienced loaders here could give me some direction...i am thinking about purchasing one of these until i either find dad's press or have confirmation that he sold it and buy a new press. should i go ahead and buy it. Amazon has them for $28 dollars...i'd pay that, but if it's not going to be a waste of money, i will shop around a little...
by the way, i will be getting the 9mm luger version...with a real press in the future...

i'll be using it to reload for my shield 9 which has about 350 rounds through it...is shoot outside on my mothers property so i may have 100-150 empty casings to use, so no heavy duty loading yet.

what's everyone's thoughts on this as a temporary loader? go ahead and get one or just wait? if i do buy on, what else should i get with it? i know they say complete except for the primer pocket cleaner, so i would also get one of those, but is there anything else that is a must?

thanks in advance!!!

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SDMF

I loaded a lot of 20ga shot shells with one: first loader I ever had.

I got it when I was 12 when I got my first shotgun, a Stevens 311.

They are slow but you will learn the basics of reloading.

All you need beside the Lee is primers, powder, cases and projectiles.

You don't need a primer pocket cleaner.

Get it!

I started out loading with a Lee Loader. I'd not recommend it to start for semiauto cartridges, just because you'll want to make enough of them right away (because you go through them like jellybeans) that you will want something that moves a little quicker. Great for revolver cartridges, though. And great for emergencies.

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Now go make God proud...

I do not have a Lee loader, although looked at them when I was trying to get started reloading on a budget.

If you can invest about twice that much money, I'd suggest getting a Lee hand press kit($45-50) along with a set of Lee 9mm dies($30-35).

The dies you buy for for the hand press will work in any other press, so you will not necessarily have to re-buy those when you find or buy another press.

Even once you find/buy another press, you can still find a use for the Lee hand press, whether it's as a dedicated decapping or resizing station, or as a priming station, or whatever other step in the reloading press you may want to use it for.

like i said, it is only a temporary kinda thing until i either find dad's press or buy one...i don't have a lit of brass to load, nor do i have a lot of unfired to empty as of yet. the shield is my first 9mm and i have only had it a month...i do however have lots of 40s&w to reload when i get a press...

it seems as though this may be a good interim purchase though...

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SDMF

And a hammer - you forgot the hammer - for seating primers - I'm chicken.

most of what dad hoarded was tools...i have rubber mallets and hammers out the ying yang...lol...there's some small enough for a mose to use and some big enough for an elephant...

maybe the hand loader is a better fit...get both the 9 and 40 dies since i will need both eventually...

i may try to make it to my mothers this week to do some looking for dad's press before i buy...

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SDMF

I started out on a Lee Loader; loaded a lot of 38 Specials on that one!
I now have a Lee Loader for each caliber I shoot-38 Spec, 9mm, 45acp and 223 Rifle.
In addition to the Lee Loader you will need the plastic mallet. The 9mm kit does not have a flaring tool, so you will want a chamfer/deburing tool as this will make starting/seating bullets easier. (lightly chamfering the inside of the case mouth)

The Lee Loader only neck sizes, so you will need to use brass that was fired in your gun; otherwise they may not work-that's one of the down sides to the Lee Loader. Eventually you will want a hand priming unit to make priming easier. If you're careful you won't set off a primer; but I think almost everyone sets one off at some point. Loud and burns your fingers!

A good way to get started, but if you shoot more than 50 rounds a session/week, you'll be spending a LOT of time at reloading! A single stage press would get you farther quicker. Good luck & enjoy :-)

It's so much easier to pass on that and get a single-stage press.

As MD38 says, "Good luck, and enjoy"

I did. The Lee Loader works. I started reloading .38 Sp last December/January or so, and I faithfully pecked away at it with my Lee loader for 400 rounds or so. It's fascinating... the pace and the steps involved will help you learn.

I'm loading revolver ammo. I visit the range many times with my son, a Glock 19 owner. He goes through 9mm ammo like popcorn... I would not want to try to keep him in ordinance using a Lee Loader.

I'll mention this- during a loading session, as I was seating a primer, it went off! Some that have experience with a Lee loader might be smiling... it happens. When it does, the construction of the loader tooling absorbs all the energy. But I did experience some warm fingers... and my ears rang for a couple of hours.



Good folks on this forum warned me that the rewards to re-loading were great... and said the hobby is a slippery slope. They were right! I now use a Lee Auto-prime XR hand-held tool to insert my primers, I now reload with a MCRS Partner single stage press, I have a powder thrower, have upgraded my electronic grain scale, and (as of two days ago!) I now use a vibratory brass cleaner.

Good luck!

9mm is finicky enough to reload for without trying to do it with a Lee Loader that neck sizes only. (Brass varies a lot among makers and guns can be fussy about the ammo you try to feed them.) Not really a beginner's cartridge. I'm not saying that it can't be done, but it borders on masochism. Experience is the key and consistency matters a lot. If you can find factory FMJ ammo at a reasonable price, I'd shoot that--sparingly--until you get squared away. My source is going to be selling it at $11 a box over the Memorial Day weekend.

That said, Lee's stuff is basic, economical, and will get the job done. The Hand Press will take good 7/8 x 14 standard dies (get tungsten carbide!) and do FL sizing ok. Those dies will work in any decent press. Lee also has small bench presses that get the job done. You will also need a decent powder scale and measure. I don't recommend Lee for that...

There's no free lunch, and cutting corners can be a bad idea.

RCBS is the gold standard, at least for me. Good luck.

IMHO, the Lee hand press is a lot better choice for your stopgap system, because it uses the regular 7/8-14 dies that your dad's (or other) press will use. The Lee Loader is a one-caliber rig, and is a pretty minimal system. It will produce usable ammo, but as stated above, it's slow and
your pistol may not like them if they're not full-length resized.

Larry

Back in the late 1960s or early 1970s, I learned reloading on one of those. I bet many others have also. You can make good ammo with one.

I seriously question Lee's claim that you can reload a round "in 30 seconds."

I remember occasionally causing a primer to go "pop" when seating it with the plastic mallet. You have to really get a feel for seating it deep enough to work, but not overdoing it. So, I would invest in a hand-held priming tool, if it were me.

The little device is very slow to use. A bench mounted press of any kind, even single stage is so far advanced that you will never want to use the little Lee Loader again. I would save up for some sort of bench mounted arrangement. I realize you might find the other one, but having two never hurt anyone.

A guy on Youtube demonstrated doing one in about 45 seconds. The key is simply have everything organized in front of you. I used Lee Loaders for years for .38 and 30-06.

They work fine, but they are not quite the same as using a press. They don't address need for trimming, It's hard to get real consistent crimp, they only mouth size the case and the worst part is tapping the primer into place. But again, knowing these limitations, they work just fine. I fired well over 1000 rounds made on Lee Loaders.

i'm kinda leaning more towards the lee hand press now...as i would be able to do both 40 and 9. money is not the issue...except i am prertty frugal...i don't want to spend money on a press if i have a perfectly good one already...it's kinda like getting a second wife when there is nothing wrong with the first wife...lol...

i'll check the two gun stores that i pass on my way to work tomorrow...see what they have in stock...

thanks again

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SDMF

I haven't tried the hand press, but because of the limitations I mentioned before, I think you could transition better from the hand press to a bench press better than from the hand loaders.

Not too terribly long ago, I did just this. I loaded about 3000 rounds on my Lee hand press, but finally broke down and bought a lower end RCBS bench mounted press when I found a kit on sale.

The Lee hand press fundamentally is the same thing as a bench mounted press...it just doesn't get mounted on the bench. When I moved to a bench mounted press, I already had a good fundamental understanding of how to adjust the dies since they work on the hand press the same as they do on a hand press.

In fact, moving to a bench press, at least initially, didn't make any change at all to my reloading workflow-it just made everything a lot faster since the bench press gave more leverage and also-when necessary-only tied up one hand(as well as the fact that my bench press has a better system for collecting primers than just letting them pile up in the ram).

NO is the simple answer. To load semi-auto ammo you need a carbide die set and a real reloading press. Anything else is wasting money and will be very frustrating to use.

Wear ear protection when using a Lee Loader. The question is not IF you detonate a primer but WHEN because you will do it. The ear ringing maybe a permanent condition, but you will have a slight hearing loss for the rest of your life. I found that out the hard way back in the late 1970's with a 3 to 4 dB loss.

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S&WHF 366

I began reloading back in the mid '60's with the Lee loader.
I think they were $9.95 at the time.
I started with one in .30-06 for my semi sporterized '03-A3.
I later added one in .30-30 for a pre '64 Win. 94.
I also had the assorted powder scoops to make things more interesting with more options.
I learned a lot for a new, starting out reloaded using the Lee setup.

I never had this happen in hundreds of rounds.

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JimC

Hide and seek! Hum... lots of fun! After my father passed away, we had to find where he'd put various items, etc. It was interesting. Keep looking. Sooner or later it will turn up.

Back when the world was young, I bought and used a Lee Loader to load for my M-70 in .243 Winchester. The Loader cost $9.99. The trip to the gun smith was $25. The small parts replaced were about $8. My brother swapped me a Ruger M-77 in .30-06 for the M-70. I bought a RCBS Reloader Special and started loading for the Ruger as well as my S&W 19-2. Never had any more problems.

For very limited temporary use, the Lee Loader might be an option. But given it's current cost, it does not offer good economy. For that money you can buy very good quality dies. A Lee Challenger press or even a kit can be bought for not that much more money. With such equipment you would be able to do just about any loading you desired short of supplying ammunition for heavy match shooting.

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<><

Lee makes a single stage press that can be had for about $25. You need something like that and some dies and a powder scale at minimum. Look on eBay. Lots of used loading equipment there for cheap.

epj (see #21) beat me to it. A simple "C" or "O" type press (they're called that because that's what the frame's shape looks like) can be had for around $25.00 from a variety of manufacturers. I found a brand new Lee single stage press like the one below a few years ago for around $20.00 on sale:

Lee Reloader Single Stage Press

Additionally, I bought a brand new RCBS "Partner" press from a fellow Forum member for $25.00:

RCBS Partner Single Stage Press

I briefly owned and used a Lee hand loader in .380 ACP caliber. I would not recommend this "thing" except to either a very experienced, or very desparate reloader.

You will be much better served by using a single stage press. By the way, even as you grow as a reloader, you will always find a need and use for your single stage press.

Best of luck,

Dave

I started out with a Lee Loader for 45 Colt back in the 80's. I reloaded several hundred rounds with it before I detonated a primer. That was the end of that. I went out and bought a Rock Chucker and a Lee hand priming tool and a powder scale.

I would say to you to save that $40 and put it towards some other type of reloading equipment.

The Lee Loader works, as others have noted, but it's slow, and once you find/buy a bench mounted press, it will not get used. I'm sure you're anxious to get started, so my advice would be to buy a used press or a cheap Lee, and a set of dies for what you will be loading. You can then use the dies in other presses, and if you find your dad's press, you can set them up for different calibers or different operation on the same caliber, and load better ammo.

Make no mistake, you can load good ammo with the Lee Loader, even 9mm, since the cases came from your pistol to start with.

Might as well buy what you're going to end up with, anyway.

For the record, I have never had a primer go off during the loading procedure, with my Lee Loader or anything else, and I have mangled some beyond recognition. Just lucky, I guess.

Good luck, and welcome to another addictive hobby.

WalMart $28.34 and free ship-to-store pickup -
Lee Precision Reloader Press: Outdoor Sports : Walmart.com

And most anyone would pay $20 used if it were later put in the classifieds.

A press can be had pretty inexpensively. You can always put it in a yard sale later. If you do much reloading, and have room, 2 presses would not be a liability by any stretch.

I don't like the idea of beating a primer in a case with a hammer, but I don't enjoy setting mouse traps either.

I started in 1980 with a Lee Loader. It was $9.95.
The primers were 1000 for $8.00
A pound of Dupont powder was $6.00
A box of 100 bullets were $5.00

A cheap way to reload the brass "you" shoot. It only resizes the neck.
I was blasting jack rabbits in Bakersfield, Cailforina. That was fun.

The primers "detonating", a couple of times. You get the hang of it.
Someday when you have the money you can buy a good press and all the bells and whistles to go along with it. I still have my Lee Loader with all my other stuff. Never a waste of money.

Good Luck,
Targetslayer

Instead of the "whack-a-mole" set up, Yes I have used it...still got a few around the bench...they sold for 10 bucks so most of us cut our reloading teeth on them. Slow, painfully slow and the primers sometimes go BANG.... Take a look at Lee's hand press, it's a step up , uses regular dies and shell holder, does not need a mallet, handy little tool to have around...I've got two of them along with bench mounted presses , so it wont be a wasted investment.
I just got through loading two-hundred rounds of 9 mm luger ammo while sitting at my kitchen table...it's a portable press and can use carbide dies or regular dies. It has a primer seater and you can get a push-through cast bullet sizer for it. In my opinion it is much better than "whack-a-mole" loaders.
Midway shows the press for $33.00, thats not much more than the $28.00 for the basic Lee loader kit, and you don't need a mallet!
Gary

I have 2 Lee 1000 presses one for 9,40's and 357 Sig ammo , and one for my .223 after you use them for some time you get used to all of the idiosyncrasy's and how to overcome them, mainly in the priming operation

Been using Lee loaders for 20+ years. Hand, single , turret.

Never had a problem. But...when I load, I pay attention. (cept for 38's cuz I can do them in my sleep)

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Pace

It works well. The loads are mild but they do work. I still have my 38 special lee loader on the shelf and occasionally use it to knock out a primer. Mine is about 35 years old.

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SWCA 1646

I started loading with a Lee Loader in high school when I didn't have any money. And yes, I loaded 9MM. Now that I'm rich and can afford anything I want I don't use them any more. But that should not stop you. Go ahead and use it. I never made a bad round with mine...

I started out reloading 12 ga shotgun shells with a lee loader, it will work, but it will be slow going.

I second the post above about buying the hand press kit instead of a specialty product for a specific cartridge. The hand press is $33 alone or $46 for the kit. Add the cost of 9mm dies you are at roughly $77 (going with the kit), an extra $49 dollars but, you will wind up spending at least the $31 for dies if you get any other press in the future (unless your dad had 9mm dies and you can find them). If you start loading any other caliber, you already have a press, you just have to get dies and the more speciality kits you buy the larger the opporitunity cost you pay when you make the switch to a press.

Also, I haven't used the product you linked but from watching videos on its use, it seems like alot more work with some really big limitations namely that the reloads it makes are gun-specific. May not be an issue for you but something to consider. Additionally as mentioned above, once you start reloading it is often the case that you shoot more per shooting trip and very quickly you go from having a 100 cases to reload to having several hundred or thousand, at that point even the hand press saves your hand and will be quicker.

"Has anyone used a lee loader?"

Yes.

I've reloaded many a 30-30 round this way, they work fine. I'd suggest you splurge on at least a lee handpress however, as the hammering limits the times you can load without being a complete chuckle**** to your neighbors.

Oh so true ....I had forgotten about the banging noise that goes with the whack-a-mole process...you don't forget about that surprise primer going off though!

I use the Lee Loader for 38's and 357 mags. It works well. Go ahead and buy it.

It isn't nearly as slow as some make it sound. You'll get into a rhythm. Your reloading will go quickly.

You will set off a few primers. I set off about 2 primers every thousand rounds. They are loud and scary, but not painful. Wear eye protection. Lube the case. You won't need to pound as hard and the primers are less likely to detonate.

In addition to the kit, you'll also need a good hammer, a solid bench to pound on, and case lube. I use Lee's Resizing Lubricant. It works fine and lasts a long time.

Check YouTube for how to videos and good luck.

Get a press. Anything else is a waste of money.

NO for me. Get a RCBS press. It will outlive you.

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Steve
The Lounge Rant Master

If you have the dies, scale, measure, and everything else except the press then consider either the Lee "Reloader Press" or "Breech Lock Hand Press" until you find your dad's press, or are sure it is gone! These will always be useful, even if you buy a full-size bench press form any manufacturer. See here: Single Stage - Lee Precision

For the record, I am not a particular Lee fan, I generally prefer RCBS, but they do make several products which are exceptional values. These are two of those items!

I agree with the comments about the original "Lee Loader". It is an immense pain in the posterior!!!

i had totally forgot about this..lol... i started searching for a vehicle to buy...i have known the front brakes will be needing replaced...no big deal, but i have also now noticed that the front tires needing replaced and are wearing odd, meaning an alignment. it's an all wheel drive so that means 4 tires. i have also developed a thinking in my right rear after the brake releases so i think i have a rear brake shoe sticking. i'm anal so that means new rear brakes also and once i get in there, i may need new drums. i was thinking about a trade anyway, so all these problems all of sudden have me looking...

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SDMF

There is too much good, used loading equipment for sale on eBay and similar to fool the Lee loader. For one, it bears the head of the brass up. You can get everything essential to load fully sized cases for probably les than $100. If you use cast bullets, you can load most revolver cartridges for half what factory rounds cost. I cast my own bullets, and my reloads cost about 3.75-4.00 per box. They were a lot less before primers became so expensive.

If you wind up with a Lee Loader, please use a wooden or plastic MALLET, not a hammer! I guarantee your equipment will last longer.

Larry

I only blew up one primer, but you will remember it forever.


Though I used them, and they do work, I agree with a majority of posters and say an inexpensive starter press would be better than a Lee Hand Loader. If you are on a shoestring budget, ok, but if you can afford a little more, get a REAL reloading press.

i have yet to see a lee precision loader kit for 40s&w. I have read that bullet seating is very important due to pressure changes if too much or little space is left in the cartridge. I like the portability of the smaller kits but may have to use the hand press and carbide dies if 40 is not offered in the small kits. I currently have no place to set up a bench press plus the cost of the kits is dollars less when you spend $80 for the hand press plus cost of other parts. I will not be cranking out thousands of rounds.

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CA ban no sharp pencils ovr 3"

Unfortunately, Lee doesn't offer the Lee Loader Kit in 40 S&W. And unless something changes (more people requesting this kit) I doubt they will offer it in the future.

Lee used to offer these kits in more calibers than you could shake a stick at! LOL Now, the calibers available are listed online or in the current catalog. I have a Lee Loader for each caliber I shoot; don't use them often, but I DO use them on occasion, because that's how I got started-and I think it's fun!

If you do get a Lee Loader, the one used with a mallet, make sure the base that the primer sits on is dead flat and smooth. One of mine had a small teat on it, barely noticeable, it was just big enough to fire off a primer once in a while. After I filed that bad boy flat and polished it smooth it worked much better. Just be sure to check it.
Gary

The lee o-frame single stage works pretty good. Bought mine new a couple years ago for about $58. I started using it for rifle and handgun. I now only use it for rifle only. Bought a hornady progressive for handgun.

I didn't read all the replies but my experience with a Lee Loader almost convinced me that reloading was nuts... But I was persistent and needed to reload to feed my hobby. I threw that thing away (think I paid $9.95 new) and bought a Lyman book and read it about cover to cover. After feeling well armed with new knowledge, I bought my first press and have continuously upgraded my reloading tools the past 45 years... The object here is to learn by other's mistakes.