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I have only ever used one press...the Lee Classic Turret and I have nothing bad to say about it. I think they hit it out of the park with that one.
Having said that, some of Lee's gadgets seem to be better than others and I assume that to be the case with anyone that makes reloading equipment. I'll let others try out the newest press but it appears to me that some Lee presses are great...if you're a tinkerer, which I am not.
Of course, I know that no one is comparing the Lee to a Dillon. We all are aware that they are so far apart that they are almost mutually exclusive in terms of category. However, for Dillon owners the Lee can fit a niche. It's useful for small quantity loading of calibers not frequently used. It would serve very well to decap or to size and decap brass for use on the Dillon. Processing brass on the Lee avoids "dumping" primer pocket debris into the Dillon's mechanism.
When Lee introduced the Classic Cast Turret, they outdid themselves. Mine is most useful. I suspect that this press will do nicely for the man or woman wishing to load small quantities without hair pulling, cursing, screaming, or beating the press flat with a sledge hammer. All jokes aside, I have high hopes for the new Lee progressive and may buy one after the beta testers have done their job.
Over the last week I’ve loaded a few hundred and have spent hours mucking around (not the machines fault my R room is a gotdamn pigsty and I couldn’t figure out which press I wanted to use)
@mtnbkr and me hit the range last week to do some snub practice. I needed to load 38. The last time I loaded 38 was before I got the Lee progressive, and I usually small batch on the Lee Classic Turret with my 550b other set for 9mm or 45. I also installed the Lee bench plate mounting system; all you hav to do is bolt a plate onto the bottom of your press and “lock” plate to your bench. You slide the press in, screw down 4 nuts, and our press is setup. In my experience not a bad system at all.
Once I got it dialed in I was cranked out about 200 over the course of an hour. For reference I do about 120 round per hour on LCT and 300-350 on my Dillon.
It a little awkward seating bullets as you have to almost reach behind the press to get to the charged case, but it’s not bad once you get use to it.
What does suck are the die bushings. A pox to whoever invented those.
There’s more moving pieces and more steps to mess up compared to the 550 or LCT. I see this as a great press for someone that wants to move up from the LCT to something that produces more but doesn’t want to shell out the money for a Dillon. It’s also a good press or someone that wants a second press they can load a few hundred rounds with at a time.
I specifically bought mine because I have a glut of 40 cal And .358 bullets i need to load and shoot, but I don’t want to mess with my 550 or pay $50 plus for a caliber kit from Dillon.
All in all, I like it an feel it’s a good deal go the price.
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Not a big fan, myself. If I need to remove a die for whatever reason, often the die will just start unscrewing from the bushing. I think I will probably start using full sets of the "lock ring eliminator" (bushing plus integral lock ring with set screw).Quote:
Originally Posted by richiecotite
How's the press running almost a year later?Quote:
Originally Posted by richiecotite
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tokarev
The press still works and fits my needs well.
Like I mentioned, I bought it as a secondary to my 550b, which is setup 90% of the time with 9mm and 10% of the time 45acp. A year later, It's still setup for 38. I reloaded about 100 rounds of 40 s&w back in the summer, but it's almost exclusively set for 38. I've loaded maybe 800 rounds total through it. After getting to spend a little time with it there are things i like and things I dislike about it.
-Price is outstanding for what you get. The shell plates can be used for multiple calibers vs. the 550.
-Lee bracket system has worked well for me so far on this and and an LCT I have setup for rifle rounds.
-Press runs smooth and comes with a roller style handle
-Can be upgraded with a case feeder and bullet feeder for less than $100 (I haven't done it as that's outside of my needs for now)
-Wish it had a removable toolhead vs. bushings.
-Harder to get into rhythm as the process is different and requires an extra step with the left hand to prime, and give stage 3 a reacharound to add the bullet. I still don't like that as it's awkward and slows things down some.
-All the plastic on it makes it feel cheap
Overall, it's a great value. If this had come out before I outgrew my LCT I would have gotten this and been none the wiser. This would be a good press for someone going through 600+ rounds per month of various pistol calibers. I imagine with the different feeders and practice 100 rounds in 12 minutes for around $250 all setup.
Wow, excellent review, my friend.Quote:
Originally Posted by richiecotite
I've run one since May or June.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tokarev
The manual primer feed seems to need attention now and then. Disassemble, smooth whatever is rough, reassemble.
I have had (one instance) spent primers clog up at the top of the disposal tube and build up under the shell plate at the first station.
Other than that, no problems.
I am not a high volume shooter, and I do not at this time use either the case feeder or the bullet feeder.
I guess I'm still somewhat confused by this little press and what it offers over something like the Turret or Pro 1000. It is going to be faster than the Turret and it offers an extra die station than the Pro but the afterthought primer feeder has me scratching my head.
Is the stroke on the press long enough to load 308, 6.5 CM etc? If so, that's an obvious improvement over the Pro.
Anyway, I have used the Pro with great effect to load sized and primed pistol brass. Especially with the case feeder and case collation hopper. Place the powder die in station one, the seater die in station two and a crimp die in station three and the little press will really churn out the ammo. Of course the down side is your brass has to be sized and primed on another press and/or adds a couple more steps to the loading process.
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Can't you install the resize die only and run hulls through it at a rapid pace and then prime off press with a tray equipped priming tool?