RE: serious help please!!!
 

Good gear sells itself....the rest is bought by bargain hunters.

To each his own...............

RE: serious help please!!!
 

You're probably going to end up with better stuff in a few years, so why not bite the bullet and get it now? I can't see wasting money on something you will be upgrading in a relatively short time anyhow. If you are serious about producing quality custom made ammo, learn how to do it right with decent equipment right off the bat. JMO........

RE: serious help please!!!
 

I have and currently have two presses by them, (not in use and need to go on ebay).

I think you will find most people on here started with lee and learned thier lesson. I have to laugh at people who does not know better.

RE: serious help please!!!
 

I have a Lee handpress, and it is good for seating bullets. It is tough to try to resize with it, unless you are the 800-pound gorilla in the room! In addition, you can't prime cases with it. I also have a Lee Turret press. It works OK, but it is no Redding, Forster, or RCBS! Same with Lee dies. About all I can say about them is that they work-but I would want another brand for precision ammo!

I started reloading in 1954 with a Lyman 310 tong tool with a .30/'06 die set. I currently have 310 dies for .45 Colt, .45/70, .30/06, 308 Win., 6.5 Jap, and .280 Remiongton. With the .308 and '06 dies, I can reload all .30 cal. rounds that have a case diameter no larger than the 7.62X54R Russian, and the others lend themselvces to loading other cartridges as well as the one thy were made for. For example, I can load 6.5mm Mannlicher-Schoenauer, 6.5X52 Carcano, 6.5X55, 6.5X57, 6.5/'06, and 6.5 Gibbs ammo with the 6.5 Jap dies. I can also load 7X57mm Mauser ammo with the .280 Remington dies. Yes, I have a set of 7/8X14 dies for all these rounds too, and many others as well. But it is sometimes amazing what you can make do with!

RE: serious help please!!!
 

I'm still using both Lee presses I have and they work very good and I like my Lee's easy primer very much and the safety scale works fine but like said earlier it only weighs up to 100grs is my only gripe on it,but Lee's other stuff is just not worth buying. I would never use Lee's dies for any reason when I can buy RCBS dies as inexpensively as they are. I wish I would have spent the money I spent on the Lee stuff and just used it on better stuff right off the bat. Now I have some Lee stuff I don't like and reselling it will net nothing. I will have a Lee safety scale and perfect powder measure for sale real soon if anyone likes Lee reloading stuff a lot.;)

RE: serious help please!!!
 

Started out here shootin' a tang safety M77 in 7X57, a beat up old relic I aquired on the cheapoff the used rack...too many moons ago.

Couldn't afford factory ammo and promptly went into reloading for the sole reason to save money. Problem was I couldn't afford reloading gear either.

Picked up a Lee Loader and a Speer manual at a gun show...for next to nuthin'.

Started hammering loads together andwas pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

When money loosened up and I could afford a press and dies, I chose tospend a few extra dollars on an RCBS starter kit, I'm still using that press today.....over 25 years later. Worth every nickle I spent on it.

I added a few things over the years that made life easier, RCBS, Forster, Hornady, Lyman, Redding...PACT. Nuthin' though, Lee.

Maybe Lee has stepped up to the plate and is now producing adequategoods, but when I started out it was mostly junk.

Those old Lee Loaders, though, did get me started out pretty fair.................

RE: serious help please!!!
 

Hey I'm getting in late but here is my two cents worth, I was always an RCBS man (cannot say one thing bad about there equipment) ,I also have a Dillion Progressive Press(again cannot say anything bad) but both Brands are expensive but they will last a lifetime( I've had Rockchucker for years and It still performs flawlessly) I would never even look at Lee because it was so cheap it couldn't be good and all my friends had RCBS and Dillion and laught at the mention of Lee,long story short I purchased a Lee Progressive press and dies at a garage sell and WOW...I hate to say it but my Lee performs as well as my Dillion and the Lee dies are as well built as the RCBS buy Lee save money, but most importantly buy good reloading manuals and read them! I use Nosler, Hornady,Speer,Sierra and Lee in that order, your first one should be the brand of bullet you think you will use most Good Luck

RE: serious help please!!!
 

I was running out of room so here's rest, Lee Dies(carbide) ,press and primer loader are fine but I would recomend a RCBS scales and powder measures, Lee is good at the big stuff but your more precise instruments I would go with RCBS, REDDING,LYMAN any of the big names......Compare Natchez, Midway and Midsouth Shooters on line for best prices,Good Luck and be careful its very safe and lots of fun as long as you pay attention to what your doing, I haven't fired a store bought round since 1976...

RE: serious help please!!!
 

You are about crazy to think the Lee1000 performs well. I hate mine. If you miss a primer, all cain breaks loose. If you forget and get below half full on the powder hopper, you got a dangerous situation. And if you try to crimp and set COL, your shells are going to be all over the place on the Lee. Not so with the 550B.

RE: serious help please!!!
 

I must be crazy, I spend a lot less time keeping my Lee Loadmaster running than my B550, who said anything about a Pro 1000, I was suggesting Duckdog would be just as happy with a Lee single stage as anything else as a beginning loader ,are we debating personal preferences for progressive presses now