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Lee Press Experience's


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I started on a limited budget so my son convinced me to buy a pro1000. He 17 at that time set it up and I cranked out ammo, after 60k + of 9mm sold it and purchased a loadmaster which does 9,40 and 45acp with a little tinkering usually caused by me. The web videos are a great help and I will not need anything more expensive.

Also have a classic turret that I use for rifle 243,270 and 7.63x39.

Would I recommend lee progessives to everyone no but the classic turret yes.

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I got three presses, a Lee Classic Turret and two Dillon Square deals (9 and .45). I do enjoy loading more on the Lee than on the Square deals. I have yet to have a fail with a primer, or powder drop or any other issue with the Lee. However, I do have a small can full of bad rounds with upside down, or side-ways primers, or no primers at all from my two Dillons. In the Lee press, I am in control of every step, especially the important priming step.

The SD's are faster, but I have a lot of scrap/waste from them, so my majority of loads are done on the Lee.

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Ive been using a loadmaster for three years, it works good, has its stupid issues, such as the powder charge system. but hasnt let me down yet... I'd love to upgrade to a dillion but that will be a next year ordeal...

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I started with a RCBS single stage in the 70's.

1993 I picked up xl650.

Just over a year ago I snagged a Lee Classic 4 hole Turret.

I think it is great. It has taken its place among my press tools.

I use it to produce 357 and 45 colt and soon 454 Casull.

I've had no issues that I can complain about really, except one thing. I'm not really a fan of the Lee Safty primer.

I tend to fumble that transaction especially on the large primers and they end up on the floor to often. I may

have a defective large primer lee safty prime I dunno. Small primers oneI don't drop /fumble so much.

The Lee 4 hole Classic Turret is also a back up for 45acp and 38 special which I load

for production on my XL 650.

IMO it works very well and I've produced just under 1k rounds with it combined 357 and 45 colt stuff so far.

That little plastic square indexer I hear people whine about breaking is doing fine on my machine. I don't abuse it though.

The press can function as a single station in a pinch and I use it for that on occasion rather than my RCBS.

For the money, IMO , it can't be touched. I love my XL650 but if I find some newb wondering if they should reload or not

I point them at that Lee as a starter kit. I can't vouch for Lee presses other than the Classic Turret as I never tried em.

IMO it is a superior design over other Turret designs I see about for 2 major reasons. 3 point solid posts hold the turret down solid, no chance of lateral tweaking over time, and the turrets are actualliy something I'd buy. Other turret types cost

50 bucks or more per turret. / lol.

I suppose the onliy down side I can think of is it only has 4 holes but for the life of me I dont' know why I'd need more.

IF I ever do I have that 70's era RCBS single stage to use for the magical 5th hole.

RE: the safety prime, I had a similar issue until i got my bracket dialed in. With the ram all the way up, loosen up the bracket and adjust the angle to get it just so. Now that I have mine set, I've not dropped another primer, and that was 2k+ rounds ago.

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My first press was a Lee Breech Lock. It was prefect for me as a first time reloader and I still use it. It has never given me any trouble at all but it is a single stage press. my second press was was the XL650 love it oh so much more.

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  • 1 month later...

I currently use a Lee Reloader single stage for sizing cast bullets, the open design makes that chore much easier.

I use a Lee Loadmaster with the casefeeder for everything else (the case collator that goes on top of the casefeeder tubes is a marvel of low-cost engineering). If you're cheap or broke and you are mechanically inclined, you can make a Loadmaster run just fine. Mine will easily churn out at least 500 rounds an hour with no rushing. But they have too many issues for me to be able to recommend them to anyone.

If I get back into shooting competitively on a regular basis, I'll probably break down, cry my tears, and then stroke a check for a Dillon 1050. But I'll still keep the Loadmaster for oddball jobs because once you get one set up right and have the hang of keeping it going, it'll run.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've had no issues that I can complain about really, except one thing. I'm not really a fan of the Lee Safty primer.

I tend to fumble that transaction especially on the large primers and they end up on the floor to often. I may

have a defective large primer lee safty prime I dunno. Small primers oneI don't drop /fumble so much.

I really got a chuckle out of this statement. Yep, there are days when I also fumble seven out of ten large primers then there are days like today when every single one pops right into the little cup. There's definitely a "feel" that you have to develop. Some days I have it and some days I don't.

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