Dillon vs Lee vs others

[ArchAngelCD]

Do you speak from experience?Please post your actual Lee experiences.

I couldn't agree LESS!

My Classic Turret Press just keeps on ticking.Been using it since 2014 when I returned stateside.I has produced many thousand of rounds trouble free.

I loaded a box of 50 32 H&R Magnum last night using a Lee Carbide 4 die set,a Lee Hand Press and a Lee Pro Bench Powder Measure.The scale was an RCBS 10-10

I agree, I have been using a Lee Classic 4 hole Turret Press for handgun ammo since 2006 and its still working very well.

I use an RCBS Rockchucker for my rifle ammo but for the .223 which I load on the Lee Turret Press.

 

[joe44va]

Love my Dillon 550, but you have to understand how it works to keep it running well. Cleanliness is really important.
I also love my RCBS Rock Chucker from about 40 years ago. My Grandkids will still be using that press, indestructible. My recommendation would be to start with one of these.

 

[SMSgt]

How many rounds do you intend to reload at any time and how much $ are you willing to invest in something you may not like? Is your time more valuable than your money?

If you plan on reloading a couple boxes a month, you'll never recoup your initial investment. Plus components are just as hard--or harder--to find than manufactured ammo.

 

[rockquarry]

If you really get into handloading only to save money, you miss out on the most important aspects of the hobby - making ammo tailored to your needs and making ammo that is more accurate than commercial ammo.

I guess many get into handloading thinking they will save money and I suppose that's true to a point. As I look back to 1964, I think saving money had something to do with it for me, but I quickly got over that when I discovered what a fascinating hobby I had come into.

 

[StakeOut]

Q So what have we learned from this thread so far?

A There no one solution that fits everyone's needs,experience level,budget,production rate and the hands on experience with the same or similar products.

If you are satisfied with your Dillon or you are happy with your Lee then stick with it.Satisfied customers are repeat buyers and good advertisement for the brand.

 

[GypsmJim]

I started reloading in 1971. Literally 10s of thousand of rounds loaded, with 1 squib (my problem).

100% have been with Lee equipent. Had one issue, and they replaced the die for free. Customer service is next to perfect.

If you are a snob and like a BMW, then pay for it. If you want quality at a good price, buy a Chevy. (or maybe Lee should be called a Buick).

If you want FAST, buy a Dillon and hope you can amortize the cost. If you are a regular guy and want good ammo, buy a Lee.

I am convinced the Lee haters just have a hidden agenda.

 

[dla]

As others have said, it depends on how much you shoot.
The best press for the $ is the Lee Classic Turret (4 hole). You can knock out 100 rounds in an hour.
The best press (IMHO) for volume pistol cartridge is the Dillon SDB. I can knock out 300 an hour.

I have used a Lyman turret, RCBS Rock Chucker, Lee Classic Turret and Dillon SDB. Only the Dillon and Lee remain. I never shot more than 1k of 45acp a month. Now I shoot about 1k a year. I use the SDB for 40SW, 45acp,9mm,44mag. I use the LCT for rifle rounds and special sizing operations.

 

[Dave Haynes]

I like to be able to look into the case after charging. When using Bullseye or Red Dot you cannot tolerate a double charge of either. It will take the top strap off a S&W. RCBS rockchucker, 10-10 scale big Ohaus/RCBS powder dump. Electronic powder dumps have been known to get all messed up. RCBS will replace anything that wears out or breaks for free. For shotguns you will want a MEC Grabber progressive. You can load a box in about 5 minutes. Using cast bulk bullets and Bullseye. You can get 1700 38 Sp shots per pound. 357 loads can use 38 sp cases. If you get started, remember to be ready to buy in bulk when opportunities arise. Primers and powder are always difficult when there is a situation like today where the Ammunition makers are mysteriously having a rush on product. Control the ammunition you control the gun.

 

[6string]

I've been reloading for 40 years.
Some Lee products are great, perform well and hold up to the test of time. The Lee Loader is an excellent example. Many other products, though, rely heavily on cheap aluminum or zamac parts that quickly wear out or break. You have to do your research.
The aforementioned Lee Loader is a great way to get into reloading. They are very affordable. It is slow and deliberate, and makes you learn the fundamentals. Even if you later buy a press, you'll probably keep the Lee Loader for it's practicality and portability. Pair it with the Lee powder scoop set to expand your loading options.
Dillon equipment is the gold standard in terms of quality and service. Their equipment is an investment. Should you choose to sell it one day, you'll recoup most, if not all, of your initial investment. And, their customer service is friendly and knowledgeable. They stand bhind their products.
You can't say that for Lee.
Also, Lee customer service is terrible. They can be very snarky to their customers. If something breaks the best you can hope for is a partial discount on a replacement, if you pay to ship the broken item back to Lee. Resale value on most Lee items is practically nill.

And, there's one more subjective issue. Lee outsources a lot of production to China. To me, that's a big problem.
Dillon, with a few exceptions, produces everything themselves. They don't make electronic components. And, their carbide die parts are outsourced. At least they are domestic production, as this quote atests:

"Customers with existing carbide die backorders, we have not forgotten about you! Die orders are filled based on the date they were placed, oldest orders first. Because we refuse to shift carbide production to China, we have been slower to get caught up on demand. However, the dates shown for newly placed orders do reflect that our carbide suppliers are steadily increasing output, without compromising the quality everyone expects from Dillon Precision. We appreciate your patience and your loyalty to Dillon Precision. "

 

[Nightowl]

I started loading on a brand new Herters press because it was cheap. It was built like a tank and I should have kept it, but I had the desire for an RCBS Jr. I bought a used one and used it for a good many years, until I wanted more production. Then I bought a Dillon 450. Used it awhile and sold it to a friend and got the 550B. It has been fantastic.
A friend uses a Lee press and he got another friend a Lee progressive of some sort and I watched it being set up and used. I wouldn't own one!! Thank you very much!! BUT, my friend, new to reloading, has used it a couple years and makes some very good ammo. He is a meticulous person, though, and takes good care in what he is doing.

Bottom line: We all like to think we have the answer with what we have and use! In reality, if you do your part, I think all of them will produce a fine product.

 

[hyena]

I started reloading 9mm when I was in college in the 1970's. Used an RCBS Rock Chucker single stage, and a Redding balance beam scale. Then I quit, and packed it away for about 40 years. A few years back, now retired and spending more time at the shooting range, I got all the old stuff out to start reloading 38 Special and 45 ACP. I bought Lee dies. Still using the Redding scale. But it wasn't long before I got tired of handling each cartridge multiple times.

My shooting buddy had a Dillon 550. (Still does, but now he's added a 750.) He demonstrated it, and I used it to load a couple hundred rounds to get the feel for it. Nice piece of work, but I decided to get a Lee Classic Turret. I have not regretted my choice. I don't keep track of how many rounds I've loaded thus far. Many thousands. The only problem thus far was the decapper pin breaking on the 45. I called Lee, they were very nice, one replacement was free and promptly received. My press was made in the USA. The carbide dies don't say where they're from, which is usually an indicator it's not USA.

Likes: price, simplicity, the fact you have a good "feel" for each operation, because you're only doing one operations with each crank of the handle.
Dislikes: Same number of handle cranks as a single stage, but it's quite a bit quicker because you're handling the cartridges a lot less.

I agree with dla above who said 100 rounds per hour is a good expectation. Earlier this week, I did 200 rounds of 45 ACP. Everything was going smooth, so on the second hundred rounds I timed myself, without rushing, just working smoothly. I did 100 rounds in 35 minutes.

I think it's human nature the more somebody spends for something, the more passionate they will be defending their choice, and the more likely they'll be to be critical of other brands. But still, I don't think there's any doubt Dillon makes good stuff. I just chose a different path.

My advice - start with the Lee Classic Turret. You may not even enjoy reloading, in which case you won't be out a ton of money. And it also may be all the press you will ever want.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Arman4461]

Might want to buy a few cases of primers before you worry about Dillon or any of the others. You can't load empties if you don't have primers.

 

[smoothshooter]

Start out with an RCBS Rock Chucker single stage press.
All brands of dies are pretty good. Even Lee brand. Lee's can have some interesting features.
If you feel the need to add a progressive press later, don't mess around-just get a Dillon and don't look back.

 

[smoothshooter]

It may be a couple of years before you can find enough primers to need a progressive press anyway.

 

[Bruce C]

I bought a Lee single stage in the 70's and loaded thousands of rounds of pistol and rifle ammo on it. My son wanted to get into loading a few years back and he is still loading with it. I have a rock chucker setup that works great but I us a Hornady lock and load progressive I use most of the time anymore. The Dillion 550C sits in the closet since I started using the Hornady. Not that one is better than the other I just prefer the Hornady.

 

[Paul in Nevada]

A single stage press is always a smart buy. No matter how much you ramp up production in the future you will always find a use for a single stage press. If your budget is tight or you just don't have the room on your bench, a turret is a great compromise. Several others have mentioned the 4-hole Lee Classic, which is a great press. It's really a great value for the money and it takes up surprisingly little space. The turrets are also dirt cheap so you can keep all your favorite calibers set up and swap them in seconds. Personally, I found the powder measure system and the priming system to be unsatisfactory. There are alternatives, however.



If your heart is set on a progressive, there is no comparison between Lee and Dillon. I say this as a big Lee fan who owns a bunch of their products. There are some things you just can't make cheaply and a progressive press is one of them. I would go with the Dillon.

The 550 is probably fine if all you plan to reload is 357. The XL750 is a more sophisticated press and you get a 5th die station. I use all five stations when I load 357 on a 750 but it isn't strictly necessary. The only thing about the 750 is that once you start pulling that handle, you are knocking out reloaded rounds. It's not a great press if you wanted to just load a few rounds each at different powder charges. It's a little fiddly to get set up but once it's dialed in it will run away from you if you don't keep up. There is no purpose in loading less than 100 rounds at a time.

 

[Tom S.]

My Lee experience:

--I load across more than two dozen calibers
--loading with Lee dies and a Lee press since 1989
--only began tracking production from my bench in 2010
--production, not counting 2022 so far is 152,295

I will put up my ammo against anyone and it's ludicrous to make blanket statements against Lee equipment. Doing so typically shows either a lack of experience or a genuine lack of skill.

Both companies make good products - and both companies make less-than-good products. For cost, Lee can't be beat for dies, single stage presses, or turret presses. For progressive presses, Dillon out shines all comers.

If you haven't used one, try a Dillon. I've owned both Lee Progressive presses (2) and a Dillon. I won't bother saying which is better.

 

[TXBryan]

Lee bashing

Despite some contributors to this thread attempting to defend Lee products the bashing, unfortunately, continues.

Lee claims on their corporate website that all their products are made in the USA. I can't imagine why one would doubt that and question their honesty.

They do not manufacture aluminum dies. Come on now. The funnel on their expansion dies is aluminum and never contacts the case or is subject to friction of any kind. Saying their dies are aluminum is a real stretch.

They have proved, scientifically, that their aluminum frame presses are considerably stronger than they need be for extended, heavy-duty, use. Years ago when I wore out the aluminum lever coupling on my original Lee single stage press they sent me steel replacements free.

If anything manufactured by Lee breaks their policy is to replace it free with no questions asked. That has been my experience.

Your mileage may vary but my experience with Lee customer service has been stellar - same as my experience with RCBS and Dillon.

Their 4-die sets are the most complete, and affordable, dies sold by anyone. They guarantee their products will load ammo as accurate, or more so, than any other brand. If you can demonstrate otherwise they'll buy everything back.

I have used every brand out there and many that are no longer out there. I like them all and am partial to certain setups for certain uses loading over 30 different cartridges and I have been reloading for over 50 years.

If Lee charged 30% more for their stuff most of the criticism of their products would go away. Other than the lever coupling and a primer ejector pin on a sizing die I've never broken a Lee product, nor worn one out, in 50 years. They replaced both for my asking. Can't say that about all the other brands I own and use - and the Lee stuff sees more use.

I drive Ford pickups but do not bash Chevy or Dodge. If you have a favorite reloading rig - great. Tell us about it. The Lee bashing makes me want to stop looking at reloading posts on this forum.

 

[jcelect]

Presses! ? ! ?

This is my reloading bench! Please notice all the blocks w/dies installed and all are handgun caliber! I bought this press when me and the wife began shooting competition. We were shooting approx. 500rds a week, in multi cals, with practice and events every week! The Dillon was the answer. In one evening, I could load everything needed for the next event plus extra! On the right side of the pic you will see and old C&H 3 station and not in the pic are 3 OLD Herters presses and one being a turret type. The Herters are used for all rifle cals and case forming for the wildcats I play with.
OP, the answer to your question is another question! How many rounds do you shoot every week? If the answer +500 then you shound probably consider a progressive press. If the answer is less I would look for a good used single station or even better would be a good turret press(the dies are adjusted and left alone when changing the process)! Consider a hand priming tool to reduce time spent reloading.
IMHO jcelect

 

[Skeet 028]

I for the most part have little regard for Lee products...except for a few. I think the Lee powder scoops are a great product. I also have a Lee Classic Cast Turret. Got it off ebay CHEAP. It is ok to load the less loaded cals for my handgun shooting. In fact I just bought a 4 die set in 44Sp/mag to use for loading my midrange 44 mag. The set was mismarked and I got them for 31 dollars new. I use the Dillon 750 to load 44 Sp. 38 and 357. I use a goober friend who loads my 9mm...on one of my Dillon 550's. My Redding T-7s are used for rifle and max loads in 41 and 44 mag. Not really dissing the Lee stuff..but much of their progressive presses were terrible and I never liked Lee Loaders. I mostly use the more expensive presses because I have found keeping them in good order means you will never lose money on them if you ever sell....and presses like the Dillons work well. I have collected presses etc for quite a while.. Selling the collectibles like the A2s , A3s, Dunbars and others. Time to let other folks enjoy the stuff from yesteryear

 

[epj]

Definitely NOT Lee. This isn't good equipment.

You can buy any other and make your experiences.

At the end of it all you'll have a Dillon machine or 2. May as well get one out of the gate.

My Dillon 550 has turned out thousands of trouble free rounds using Lee carbide dies exclusively.

 

[Sevens]

Both companies make good products - and both companies make less-than-good products. For cost, Lee can't be beat for dies, single stage presses, or turret presses. For progressive presses, Dillon out shines all comers.

If you haven't used one, try a Dillon. I've owned both Lee Progressive presses (2) and a Dillon. I won't bother saying which is better.

I've loaded on Dillon RL-550B and XL-650 and both are fantastic machines and their smoothness and build quality absolutely, unequivocally blows away any Lee progressive press EVER made, hands down, no question.

You cannot show anyone anywhere on any site where I have —EVER— said anything that disagrees with my statement right here in this post.

I take issue with the pathetic idea that Lee equipment is junk and cannot be made to work. Read again what I wrote.

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Now, boys...!

Cheers!

P.S. Can we at least agree that the Hornady LnL quickchange bushings (which thread into both the single stage LEE Classic Cast Iron & the RCBS RockChuckers) is an excellent system, and that their lock rings are probably the best...?

 

[9mmPatriot]

Can we please agree that 9mm is superior to 45ACP in every possible way....

 

[Skeet 028]

While I know Dillon makes good stuff...I have to say...there are other makes and models. I started out loading with a Lyman tong tool. Worked fine. I had a Lee Classic cast single stage press given to me...and like the offerings from the other companies I am sure it was an ok press. Not everyone NEEDS a very expensive press. I have the presses and equipment that I do because I like NICE tools. Ones that have a good reputation...not just the reputation for one that people say is a good product for the money

 

[Skeet 028]

Can we please agree that 9mm is superior to 45ACP in every possible way....

in a word....NO

 

[Racer X]

Someone who has written a book on reloading told me that, in his opinion, Lee has some very innovative products at a very attractive price point. When you get them dialed in, and you keep an eye on things, they work just fine.

And with the plethora of aftermarket doodads available for them, many of them inexpensive 3D printed improvements for refined usability, they are a great bargain. But you need to educate yourself, and get them set up right.

I have 2 Lee Loadmasters that I got used for about 1/3 of new. They will feed the bullets, feed the brass, feed the primers, meter and dispense the powder, and spit out finished rounds. That costs a lot of money to get in other maker's presses.

And everyone seems to rave about the Lee Factory Crimp die.

 

[gmiller0737]

Do you speak from experience?Please post your actual Lee experiences.

I couldn't agree LESS!

My Classic Turret Press just keeps on ticking.Been using it since 2014 when I returned stateside.I has produced many thousand of rounds trouble free.

I loaded a box of 50 32 H&R Magnum last night using a Lee Carbide 4 die set,a Lee Hand Press and a Lee Pro Bench Powder Measure.The scale was an RCBS 10-10

Same Experience Here all My Dies are LEE many I've owned since the 80's Zero Issues & Also have a Older Turret Press that has been converted from a 3 to 4 Hole plus one of the Newer Classic Turret Presses all have served Me well,If I was shooting competition or going through a lot of ammo then I would be looking @ Dillon or if I had plenty of $ to spend,My Scale is a Older RCBS 5-10 I bought in the Mid 80's

 

[StakeOut]

Last night while in couch potato mode I loaded a box of 50 32 H&R Magnum using a Lee Hand Press and hand priming tool.It's good exercise for this senior citizen.
The Lee Classic Turret Press is set up on a bench in the garage with the Lee Safety Prime attachment.I have no trouble with the Lee Pro Auto Disk as long as the powder charge is large enough to drop reliably from the smallest cavity.All works well for me but I'm a tweaker/tinkler and a somewhat perfectionist.

If I was 30 years younger and a large volume shooter I'd certainly have a Dillon but I'm not and I can't turn back the clock.

If you're a good reloader you can make good ammo with whatever is at hand.

 

[9mmPatriot]

I hope the OP posts again with his selection.