Has anyone used a lee loader?

[Alk8944]

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!!!

 

[speedyquad]

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...

 

[epj]

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.

 

[lebomm]

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

 

[rwsmith]

I only banged one......

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.

 

[s&wbest]

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.

 

[MyDads38]

Sorry, but...

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.

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!

 

[gwpercle]

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

 

[686_500fan]

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.

 

[ken158]

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.

 

[jmace57]

I have been toying with reloading for my .38, .45 and maybe .32 longs. Can anyone recommend a "for Dummies" type of book that someone inexperienced could read and make some decisions about equipment, and learn how it all works? Thanks

 

[fredj338]

IMO, the lee hand tool has got to be the most tedious way to handload. A cheap lee ss press is a better tool. Clamp it o a folding workmate, it's portable & takes up little room.

 

[BgDnTx]

Lee Challenger Kit for this Newbie

I only knew I wanted to reload for a new 629 that I love, and to date I have loaded less than 200 rounds - so newbie is for real in this post.
I bought a Lee Challenger Kit because I wanted all the necessary stuff to load a bullet and didn't have a clue as to what I needed. (Lee said just buy the powder, primers, and of course the dies, etc and go for it)
At the same time by chance, I got a RCBS used digital scale from a friend since I didn't think much of the powder loader that came with the kit (powder measure being crucial).
I find all the Lee equipment gets the job done. I have checked the powder charges out of the loader on the digital scale and they are consistently under 1/10th grain accuracy. Only thing that is touchy is the Lee scale, which I do not use, but seems fairly accurate too.
I certainly recommend a Lee kit @ ~$120 for a starting setup - and someday I may go for one of those $1000 jobs - but since I shoot maybe 100-150 rds a month, maybe not.

 

[M3Stuart]

I have a Lee loader but would recommend starting with a Lee Single Stage Challenger kit and a good ($30) caliper. I loaded upwards of 10K rounds with that $130ish bucks worth of equipment with 100% success.

Oh, and I averaged 85 rounds per hour overall when I added up all the time invested.

 

[s&wbest]

Decided to purchase the lee hand press and 40 s&w die kit. The hand press was smaller in size than I thought it to be. Still possible to toss it in a backpack. Now the search for pistol powder is on. Can locate h110 and IMR4227 for my .357 but anything else is out of stock. The shipping and hazmat fees kill the cost savings of reloading in small batches. Need to hook up with others to see how they are cutting costs.

 

[ironhead7544]

I have been toying with reloading for my .38, .45 and maybe .32 longs. Can anyone recommend a "for Dummies" type of book that someone inexperienced could read and make some decisions about equipment, and learn how it all works? Thanks

The Lyman is a good one to start with.

 

[mikld]

Wow some really bad info/replies! A Lee Loader is what it is. It is a compact, easy to use hand tool set for reloading a cartridge (in the same category as a Lyman 310, that nobody complains about!). Any one that can successfully use simple hand tools can use one (and it seems like there are many who can't).

It neck sizes bottle necked case only, and full length sizes straight sided cases. Lee shows on a youtube video that using one isn't necessarily slow, he reloads a cartridge in less than 50 seconds. They will produce accurate ammo; the world record for 1,000 yard competition was held by a shooter that reloaded with a Lee Loader. A Lee Loader is an excellent way to learn the theories, (the why's and wherefore's) of each step of reloading. The user sees every thing that is done and when it's done and why it's done. I can't understand why one wouldn't be able to reload semi-auto ammo with a Lee Loader (mine in 45 ACP seems to work fine). As far as popping primers I have only had this experience with a .44 Magnum set using Winchester Magnum primers, not with my 4 other sets. I like to use a Lee Loader on occasion when I feel "retro" or just don't want to set up one of my presses (I have a set of excellent Herter's dies in 30-30, but haven't used them in a few years always going to my Lee Loader for my single shot 30-30).

So, I'd suggest a Lee Loader for a new reloader to learn and understand what reloading is all about. He can move on if/when he feels under equipped...

 

[oberon]

Many of us have loaded a ton of ammo on the Lee hand loading tool.
It is by far, the most tedious, time consuming, tough way to load ....but it works.
Save your rubles and get a single stage setup.
You will be doing yourself a favor.