Stefan A
Member
You'll have to take my impressions of this press with a grain of #9, I mean salt, because part of my impressions have to do with being a new progressive loader. I have read through the threads here regarding press setup and QC/Mods, etc.
Anyway, my initial impression is that I will be able to make a lot of ammo and that experience, in the long run, will be relatively stress free. I think it is well thought out for a budget press and I am glad that Lee has listened to their customers to make things right. I am particularly impressed that fixes were developed specifically from the experience of Livelife and others here on the forum. And I am glad that Lee is looking on forums to discover these issues. So, yes, I am happy with my purchase.
I purchased it knowing full well that I was buying into a budget press by I company who's equipment I have owned and have complained about. With that said, some of the same problems I have had on the Lee Classic Turret I am having now. Particularly with powder leaking. I wish they would take the time to mod their powder measure with the attention they have put into this press. I have watched enough videos, taken these powder measures apart, generally fiddled with them enough to know that this is a product that needs more time in R&D. I don't like powder spilling out of the measure, but it's not the end of the world and won't make the ammo or the process dangerous. So, I will move on from this. I have to remember, it's all budget priced.
I really wish it was easier to take cases in and out of the shell holder at any station. This would greatly aid in the testing phase. I am not ready to start cutting things up as was suggested in another thread.
From time to time I need to deactivate the primer slider, so I remove the spring. I find removing the spring difficult. Maybe I just need more practice. So, I wish there were an easier way to deactivate the primer slider.
I loaded, progressively, about 40 rounds of 357 mag this morning. I used the case feeder. The process mostly went well. Every primer seated, none of the cases activated the powder check, the consistency of OAL is acceptable, but not perfect. I am more concerned with crimping into the cannelure anyway which every round is.
Once or twice, I had that primer issue which I described in another thread. A primer somehow got stuck under the shell plate wedged in with the primer pin. At this point, I cannot say why this happening. At first I thought the vibration of just using the press knocked it off the pin if there was no case. Then I thought I may have tried to prime an already primed case. So, not sure what's going on with this. I DID read the information posted here about the primer system.
Also, maybe 5 times, after the case was pushed into station 1, the case moved out a bit. Enough that it jammed the press as the ram went up - because the case wouldn't go into the die. So, I had to pause to readjust the case position.
During one or two of these pauses, whether it be for the case issue, or the primer issue, I forgot to insert a bullet. So, I ended up with a bin with powder in it and an empty primed case. Of course, that's user error.
OK - finally a little scare that I had. It made me just walk away to take a breath and type all this. So, a few months ago, I fearfully removed a live primer from a case. I covered my turret press with some kind of covering. I put on leather gloves. Put on my glasses and hearing protection. Stood as far away from my press as I could while still grasping the handle. And then at the slowest imaginable speed, raised the ram until the primer popped out. There was no problem. Fast forward to today. I decided I need to complete the 2 cases which were primed that I had accidentally forgotten to put a bullet in. So, forgetting that they were already primed, I dropped them into the case tube. Then, without the slightest hesitation and none of the safeties as described above (except glasses), I resized and decapped! The moment I heard the little ping of the primer I knew what I did. No explosion .
Anyway, I think this will be a good press for me. I will just have to get used to a new system and a new rhythm. I am happy with the purchase.
Anyway, my initial impression is that I will be able to make a lot of ammo and that experience, in the long run, will be relatively stress free. I think it is well thought out for a budget press and I am glad that Lee has listened to their customers to make things right. I am particularly impressed that fixes were developed specifically from the experience of Livelife and others here on the forum. And I am glad that Lee is looking on forums to discover these issues. So, yes, I am happy with my purchase.
I purchased it knowing full well that I was buying into a budget press by I company who's equipment I have owned and have complained about. With that said, some of the same problems I have had on the Lee Classic Turret I am having now. Particularly with powder leaking. I wish they would take the time to mod their powder measure with the attention they have put into this press. I have watched enough videos, taken these powder measures apart, generally fiddled with them enough to know that this is a product that needs more time in R&D. I don't like powder spilling out of the measure, but it's not the end of the world and won't make the ammo or the process dangerous. So, I will move on from this. I have to remember, it's all budget priced.
I really wish it was easier to take cases in and out of the shell holder at any station. This would greatly aid in the testing phase. I am not ready to start cutting things up as was suggested in another thread.
From time to time I need to deactivate the primer slider, so I remove the spring. I find removing the spring difficult. Maybe I just need more practice. So, I wish there were an easier way to deactivate the primer slider.
I loaded, progressively, about 40 rounds of 357 mag this morning. I used the case feeder. The process mostly went well. Every primer seated, none of the cases activated the powder check, the consistency of OAL is acceptable, but not perfect. I am more concerned with crimping into the cannelure anyway which every round is.
Once or twice, I had that primer issue which I described in another thread. A primer somehow got stuck under the shell plate wedged in with the primer pin. At this point, I cannot say why this happening. At first I thought the vibration of just using the press knocked it off the pin if there was no case. Then I thought I may have tried to prime an already primed case. So, not sure what's going on with this. I DID read the information posted here about the primer system.
Also, maybe 5 times, after the case was pushed into station 1, the case moved out a bit. Enough that it jammed the press as the ram went up - because the case wouldn't go into the die. So, I had to pause to readjust the case position.
During one or two of these pauses, whether it be for the case issue, or the primer issue, I forgot to insert a bullet. So, I ended up with a bin with powder in it and an empty primed case. Of course, that's user error.
OK - finally a little scare that I had. It made me just walk away to take a breath and type all this. So, a few months ago, I fearfully removed a live primer from a case. I covered my turret press with some kind of covering. I put on leather gloves. Put on my glasses and hearing protection. Stood as far away from my press as I could while still grasping the handle. And then at the slowest imaginable speed, raised the ram until the primer popped out. There was no problem. Fast forward to today. I decided I need to complete the 2 cases which were primed that I had accidentally forgotten to put a bullet in. So, forgetting that they were already primed, I dropped them into the case tube. Then, without the slightest hesitation and none of the safeties as described above (except glasses), I resized and decapped! The moment I heard the little ping of the primer I knew what I did. No explosion .
Anyway, I think this will be a good press for me. I will just have to get used to a new system and a new rhythm. I am happy with the purchase.