When I was searching for a single stage press Lee was not on the list. After all how could something so much cheaper than the competition be better? However a few posters made some nice points and the long story short as most of you know I bought one.
So now I have loaded just over 1,000 rounds with this press. That was a lot of strokes in a short amount of time, thank goodness primers have been easy to find. So what do I think about this big red press?
The first thing I will say is to make sure you have a nice strong bench, this press has enough leverage to pull the mounts right through the wood.This makes sizing bottlenecks to long straight walled cases an easy task.
The power appears to be in how the linkage and handle is arraigned. It can be mounted left or right and at just about any angle you would feel comfortable working with. So if you have too much leverage just shorten the handle and you reduce your leverage. This is great for seating primers when you want more feel.
Lets face it this ram is large and with the linkage it has power. I will note that it will take more than a few cycles to get that smooth pull with the ram, after breaking it in it is as smooth as any other press ram. I do load my up with 30wt oil.
The cast press itself is strong and beefy enough to never have to worry about a press failure.The three point mounting system works well, just add some oversize washers.
The shell holder connection is one of the best that I have used with it having a positive lock but still very easy to take out. The large opening gives more than enough room for large hands and will handle even the big 50.
It does come with a large & small primer tool that works well enough. I have found it is best to keep one of these in the ram. That is because the primers drop down through the ram into a tube with a cap on the end. The primer tool keeps the primers from spitting out through the slot and not down the tube.
The dies screw into a bushing on the top of the die. I think you can replace this with bushing type if you like the bushings. I will note that you should give this a turn with a wrench prior to putting in your dies, mine was a little loose and want to come out with the dies.
Another thing you might want to do is use some wood/metal glue for the wooden knob. Mine did fly off on the upstroke when seating primers. When I added some two part epoxy the problem was solved.
Don't worry about the hollow handle, believe me you will pull the bolts through your table prior to bending the handle.
Once you get going your not going to want to stop with this press. It just has better feel than any other press. The only problem you will have is running out of components.
It may never win the beauty contest for single stage presses but there is not a better single stage press of this design on the market for this price. Hands down it does what the Hornady, RCBS, Redding and Lyman does for a lot less and might do it better. Don't take my word for it, just give it a look when your looking for your first or your next single stage press.
So now I have loaded just over 1,000 rounds with this press. That was a lot of strokes in a short amount of time, thank goodness primers have been easy to find. So what do I think about this big red press?
The first thing I will say is to make sure you have a nice strong bench, this press has enough leverage to pull the mounts right through the wood.This makes sizing bottlenecks to long straight walled cases an easy task.
The power appears to be in how the linkage and handle is arraigned. It can be mounted left or right and at just about any angle you would feel comfortable working with. So if you have too much leverage just shorten the handle and you reduce your leverage. This is great for seating primers when you want more feel.
Lets face it this ram is large and with the linkage it has power. I will note that it will take more than a few cycles to get that smooth pull with the ram, after breaking it in it is as smooth as any other press ram. I do load my up with 30wt oil.
The cast press itself is strong and beefy enough to never have to worry about a press failure.The three point mounting system works well, just add some oversize washers.
The shell holder connection is one of the best that I have used with it having a positive lock but still very easy to take out. The large opening gives more than enough room for large hands and will handle even the big 50.
It does come with a large & small primer tool that works well enough. I have found it is best to keep one of these in the ram. That is because the primers drop down through the ram into a tube with a cap on the end. The primer tool keeps the primers from spitting out through the slot and not down the tube.
The dies screw into a bushing on the top of the die. I think you can replace this with bushing type if you like the bushings. I will note that you should give this a turn with a wrench prior to putting in your dies, mine was a little loose and want to come out with the dies.
Another thing you might want to do is use some wood/metal glue for the wooden knob. Mine did fly off on the upstroke when seating primers. When I added some two part epoxy the problem was solved.
Don't worry about the hollow handle, believe me you will pull the bolts through your table prior to bending the handle.
Once you get going your not going to want to stop with this press. It just has better feel than any other press. The only problem you will have is running out of components.
It may never win the beauty contest for single stage presses but there is not a better single stage press of this design on the market for this price. Hands down it does what the Hornady, RCBS, Redding and Lyman does for a lot less and might do it better. Don't take my word for it, just give it a look when your looking for your first or your next single stage press.