But not nessaseraly. A lot of things are overpriced (think food, shooting supplys, etc. sometimes you are paying for the name.
There's this thing called "marketing"...
But not nessaseraly. A lot of things are overpriced (think food, shooting supplys, etc. sometimes you are paying for the name.
Tool snobbery. Not researching. Believing "Internet Wisdom". Following what "they" said. Thinking that "if it costs more, it's better, right?" Like the many posts about the RCBS bench prime; worse tool design I've seen in a long time (cannot use right out of the box, needs riser, or handle must stick out over bench edge 6". Primer tubes wagging back and forth in front of the user's face, etc.). If the same tool was painted red with "Lee" on the side the complaints would be endless...
Having read Lee Hater's since I started watching reloading forums in 2006. Over the first 10 or so years I would try to duplicate the complaints and found 98% were just operator error (Lifetime machinist/mechanic here and quite familiar with proper use of all kinds of hand tools). Or maybe I'm the most fortunate reloader around and have had absolute minimal problems with all the Lee tools I have purchased. Most of the Hater's complaints are like the guy that condemns their Harbor Freight blade screwdriver because it doesn't work for a prybar for removing the rusted brake shoes from his '90 Chevy. Many just parrot other complaints from forum members, to sound "experienced". I have maybe 11 Lee die sets, 5 sizing dies, Lee hand primer, a dozen bullet molds, 4 case trimmers and a dozen other Lee tools along with a metric ton of assorted tools by all manufacturers and if I need a new tool, I won't hesitate to buy Lee...
Rant over...
If less expensive Lee products were really as good as other brands, then why would handloaders pay more for other brands?
I’ll take anything you don’t want.I've used the following Lee Precision products:
Universal Case Expander
Pistol Die Sets
Factory Carbide Crimp Die
4-Hole Classic Turret Press
Universal De-capping Die
New Auto-Prime hand priming tool
Two-cavity Pistol Molds
Pro 4 Casting Pot
APP
Powder Funnel
Case Feed Magazine with Collator
Ultimate Lock Rings with Press Adapter
Of those, I still regularly use about half of them. The only ones I regard as a reasonably good value are the Universal De-capping Die, New Auto-Prime hand priming tool, Two-Cavity Pistol Molds, Powder funnel, Case Feed Magazine with Collator, and the Ultimate Lock Rings with Press Adapter. And of the Lee Precision products I've owned, the only ones I will recommend without reservations are the Powder Funnel and the Ultimate Lock Rings with Press Adapter.
I don't recommend many Lee Precision products because they so often have shortcomings or issues. That's obvious from the countless user improvements and YouTube videos illustrating those improvements. Lee Precision products are darlings of the Fix-It-Yourself Handyman world.
Why does the less reliable Rolex sell for many times the price of the more precise and reliable Timex?
Why does a Formula one car cost 12-15 million, can only haul one person with no luggage and I can get an new 45 ft diesel buss for 200k?
There can be more than one factor. If it doesn’t make sense at first sense, there probably are.
It’s unavoidable on THR. You could start a thread about the cost of cheese in Holland and before the second page have a post complaining about Lee. It’s a religion on this site. Some of the Blue worshippers won’t leave you alone until you admit 2+2 not only equals 5 but All Things Blue are good and Richard Lee was a con artist. It’s how this forum is.Didn't mean to start a punching match over Lee quality
Sorry, sold the stuff I didn't want to the Fix-It-Yourself crowd .I’ll take anything you don’t want.
I’ll even pay shipping.
That’s a shame. The odd thing is that I am a mod’er but have never had to modify anything from Lee. Frankford, Lymans, and RCBS, yes, but the Lee dies are good out of the box. The RCBS Uniflow and Lyman digital scale I have just about given up on. I do better and faster with Lee dippers and a 505 scale.Sorry, sold the stuff I didn't want to the Fix-It-Yourself crowd .
here ya goMy only gripe with Lee is that they refuse to make .257 dia. molds. And last time I checked, they were not selling mold blanks.
My only gripe with Lee is that they refuse to make .257 dia. molds. And last time I checked, they were not selling mold blanks.
Why do 99% of forum threads discussing the lack of quality in reloading equipment always center around Lee?
If you really could bat 500, you would be a God on earth.Having batted around 500 with Lee products over the years, I took a chance on a set of their 30 Super Carry dies since they were about half the price of any others. My biggest gripe was the fact they over-use the tooling and the finish on their expanders and carbide inserts are less than desirable with some bordering on atrocious. Thankfully they must have used new sharp bits to produce the latest caliber dies because these are by far the best I've ever seen from Lee. This is actually the first time I won't have to do any polishing on a new die set.
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