Broke my Lee Press!
- Thread starter Dave R
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Peter M. Eick
Member
Lee stuff will break if you use it a lot. It is not that big of a deal since it is cheap, but if you don't want it to break, then buy a better press. I find lee hand presses like these last around 10,000 rounds till they fail. I now have 3 that I use and just store them up until I have a bunch of broken ones and then send them in for 1/2 cost replacement.
this is the weak spot in this press. that's why midway has the spare parts ready to sell you. The new version of this press have a different linkage. I think that if you buy the replacement part, and a spare, you'll be better off than a whole new press, IMHO. And now that you have a spare ready to go, it will never break... just ask Al Norris
rbernie
Contributing Member
That's what I did, when my Challenger broke after 20 years of service.
Were I to do it again, I'd suggest upgrading directly to the Lee Classic Turret. It's much faster (in auto-index mode) than a true single stage, and yet it's still quite happy doing small lots and single operations.
papajohn
Member
I managed to break one of the Lee Turret Presses a year back, but it took me about 600,000 rounds to do it, and it was fixed in a few days. The replacement part was made of steel, not cast aluminum, and I doubt I'll need to make any more phone calls to Lee for awhile. The Hand Priming Tools used to be horribly breakable, but I sent them a nastygram once when ordering six MORE new connecting rods, and they seemed to get better after that.
I recommend Lee stuff to the new reloaders I coach, especially when it comes to dies. The only times I had trouble with bad dies, they were made by somebody else. I have about three dozen sets from Lee, not a bad one in the whole bunch. And the ones I had problems with cost a lot more!
Papajohn
I recommend Lee stuff to the new reloaders I coach, especially when it comes to dies. The only times I had trouble with bad dies, they were made by somebody else. I have about three dozen sets from Lee, not a bad one in the whole bunch. And the ones I had problems with cost a lot more!
Papajohn
Well, I called Lee. No joy on an upgrade. You guys must drive a harder bargain than I do.
On the other hand, they had a FAQ on their website that dealt specifically with the links on the Challenger press, saying send them in and we'll replace them. So I printed a copy of that, and sent the parts in for replacement.
I must not be the only one who broke those.
On the other hand, they had a FAQ on their website that dealt specifically with the links on the Challenger press, saying send them in and we'll replace them. So I printed a copy of that, and sent the parts in for replacement.
I must not be the only one who broke those.
ranger335v
Member
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2006
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"The Lee Classic Cast is as strong as a Rockchucker."
Stronger, and a larger ram too.
Stronger, and a larger ram too.
MilsurpShooter
Member
I have that exact press and had that exact piece break in almost the same way. I sent the piece back to them along with a check explaining what happened and that I needed a replacement piece. They sent me the new piece and the check back saying they were sorry that it happened and they would use the broken piece I sent them to try to better the design.
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