Here I am using the Lee Loader to reload some 45 colt cartridges with black powder and some of my own cast bullets. I think the Lee loader is a decent little setup for someone who does not want to invest in a full loading bench especially now with ammo being so hard to come by.
Lee Classic Loader
- Thread starter damoc
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GBExpat
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Preaching to the choir. 
Here is a pic (taken a couple of years ago) of the one on which I started my reloading journey in 1968 ...
Here is a pic (taken a couple of years ago) of the one on which I started my reloading journey in 1968 ...
GeoDudeFlorida
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I don't have any pictures of it but for years I used - and still do use - a Lee Hand Press. It uses the same dies and sell holders as a mounted press but is WAY more portable. I found it to have fewer parts to lose track of than the Loader kits - but I still have quite a few of those and still use them, too.
I'll dig some of this stuff out and take some pics this weekend. I use the Hand Press pretty regularly for seating pistol cartridges along with the stool-mounted RCBS Partner for flare & fill.
I'll dig some of this stuff out and take some pics this weekend. I use the Hand Press pretty regularly for seating pistol cartridges along with the stool-mounted RCBS Partner for flare & fill.
Like millions of others, I started with a Lee Loader (1969). Excellent teaching tool. Sometimes I feel "low tech" and get one of my 8 Lee Loaders out and pound out a few rounds. I have a Lee Loader for each of my favorite/most used cartridges, kinda "just in case thinking". I'm old and slow so using a LL is just fine with me and I often mix up methods (I have used an arbor press, weighed powder separately, used "partially" processed brass, sized/primed on my Co-Ax, etc.). I'm loading some experimental rounds for my 38 Special so I may get out my 38 Special Lee Loader...
GeoDudeFlorida
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Australian accent although I have been in the USA long enough its probably started to soften.
Looks like damoc is learning to use the Lee Loader. I fixed the primer popping problem by making sure the priming cup is clean and the disk is free. I had a 44 Magnum kit that would pop 2 out of 10-12 primers when new. I chamfered the primer pockets the same as I removed primer crimps and the 44 kit no longer pops primers. With a bit of practice one can speed up/ease up the process quite a bit. I never timed my LL reloads but I normally I'd do one box of hand gun ammo (50) or one box of rifle ammo (20) at a time, didn't feel "slow/tiresome" to me...
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GeoDudeFlorida
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Yup. Figured Victoria, New South Wales, maybe... It's the only place I heard an accent of an Australian and said he was from there.
Those Lee Loaders and black powder are a good idea. Keep one just for BP and one for smokeless maybe to keep things tidy. They pack so easy you could take both and compare bp to nitro loads side-by-side. I see questions on them pretty regular, mostly about what kind of hammer to use. Hard to explain sometimes the hammer matters maybe a little less than the anvil.
Mark_Mark
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was about say, I didn’t think Kiwis could have guns! lol
GeoDudeFlorida
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Only a Pom would call an Aussie a Kiwi.
GBExpat
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When Dad & I first started reloading for that bringback K98k, I would often setup on the floor in the TV room, watching the show and WHACKING away at the contraption with the oak hammer block that we had fashioned.
On a couple of occasions a primer let go while I was seating it and Mom would get skittish for awhile afterwards ...
... but she was a real trooper (farm girl) and used to put up with most of the silliness in which we boys would get ourselves involved.
On a couple of occasions a primer let go while I was seating it and Mom would get skittish for awhile afterwards ...
... but she was a real trooper (farm girl) and used to put up with most of the silliness in which we boys would get ourselves involved.
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Carl N. Brown
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Kiwi = New Zealander.
Learned that from watching PURSUIT OF THE GRAF SPEE (two British cruisers and one Kiwi cruiser versus a German panzerschiff).
Learned that from watching PURSUIT OF THE GRAF SPEE (two British cruisers and one Kiwi cruiser versus a German panzerschiff).
FROGO207
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I have several Lee loaders for things that will be utility firearms if ammo and housing get difficult. Some rifle, some pistol. I use them on occasion to show some how easy it is to reload with minimal equipment and make good ammo.
Mark_Mark
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POMEOnly a Pom would call an Aussie a Kiwi.
Prisoners of Mother England! I wish the world was back to these days
tactikel
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I’ve loaded many thousands of rounds using the classic. Starting at age 15 thru my 20’s. Cheap, fun, and makes great ammo.
Hooda Thunkit
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Now it's mine too.
Any video that can show me how something is done, in less than 3 minutes and with a minimum of extraneous yakking, is the one I watch.
A 30 minute video of a 2 minute process ? No thanks.
sparkyv
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My cast 135 gr RNFP, tumble lube design, "Mystery Metal" (approx. 12 BHN) sized to .357"+, 45-45-10. Starting loads of Universal and some with starting loads of W231 as per Hodgdon. Probably try in my 2" Taurus M85 fun gun. But it's raining and the "range" I use is 3 miles up a dirt logging road and often gets really slippery and muddy...
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