19 March 2004, 10:53
onefunzr2Re: Lee Dies are the Poorest
Here's a suggestion. Buy a Dillon RL550B progressive loader with the interchangeable toolheads. Then you install the Lee die set using your Snap-on tools only once. No need for the silly round storage case or a lifetime supply of Band-aids. Problem solved.
Ah! Eleven dollar tool heads for twenty-five sets of dies...
I could buy another gun.
Cheers from Darkest California,
Ross
20 March 2004, 19:34
billtI'll chime in on the merits of the Lee Factory Crimp Die. I have one in most every caliber I reload for. You cannot buckle a case with them, and I especially like the carbide sizer ring that final sizes the straight wall pistol calibers. The best die on the market for the price. Bill T.
21 March 2004, 02:16
bilmacLee may have some tools that don't measure up against more expensive stuff, but they have a place. Why buy the expensive stuff if you've got an old clunker gun that you just have to put a few rounds through. Some of these guns you can't buy a factory round for, but it doesn't matter if you use gold plated dies, the gun isn't going to shoot less than 2".
Another place Lee really shines is in innovation. They make some tools that the old blue blood companies can't match, they would never try something a little different. The Lee autoprime is bar none the best innovation for primer seating to ever come along. RCBS copied it, and I bought one, because it uses standard shell holders, you don't have to have a special one, but it is not near the tool that the Lee is, it is a pain to convert calibers, and it is not near as ergonomic, your hand get tired after only a few rounds.
Other Lee stuff I like are their 6 hole bullet mold. I wish other mfgs would figure out how to make as good a sprue cutter as the chiepo Lee. Their factory crimp die. Their lead pots work just as well as the high end pots. The auto disk powder measure, doesn't replace a std measure, but it has a place that the blue blood mfgs don't fill.
Don't knock a company just because they don't charge you as much for their stuff, I would tend to knock the others because they are probably making too much money selling their names.
21 March 2004, 02:56
groundhog devastationThere are several brands of dies in my reloading room...LEE, RCBS, Redding, Hornady, Pacific. If LEE made their collet die sets in all the calibers I shoot, there would only be LEE dies in the reloading room! I beleive that the Lee dies load the most concentric ammo of all my dies! At least that's what the runout guage shows me! And I have loaded test rounds from same lot of brass, powder, bullets using RCBS and LEE and the ammo loaded with the LEE dies actually shot smaller groups also!! A "cheapo" LEE fan here!!! GHD
22 March 2004, 21:00
The_RiflemanLee products will work fine if people would just read the instructions first.
23 March 2004, 04:14
UnstableI dont have a problem here either.
picked up a lee deluxe set (every you need except dies) and a set of carbide dies for my .45
read the directions and followed the steps in the reloading manuals and have been putting out good consistent .45 ammo since the first shell.
later I picked up the factory crimp die and the 4 hole conversion for my press and have been using that with the autodisk loader. 5.0 grains of bullseye behind a ranier 200g FPJ shoots great in my Sig.
I am about to start loading 30-06. I WILL be buying lee dies for it.
23 March 2004, 08:14
DeltaHunterI'm not a big fan of Lee products in general but I love the collet neck dies. I've got Redding S type neck dies sitting unused in the box because the collet dies just do a better job. As jpb said, though, they may require a little polishing first, but that's a one time deal.
23 March 2004, 11:55
OddballI have used several different brands of dies and find little difference in die bodies.