Using little "Lee Loader" to crimp .357

[fjlee]

I've used the little Lee Loaders for many years. My first one cost $9.95, I think. I've reloaded shotgun and rifle ammo with them, but never reloaded any handgun ammunition. The rifle ammo I did did NOT require a crimp.

I love the Lee Loaders, and the slowness doesn't bother me a bit. I don't use the powder dipper, I use a set of scales. Also an arbor press instead of hammer!!!!

I now am looking ahead, and planning to load .357 ammo, both jacketed and cast, for a Ruger GP100 4 inch.

Has any of the Forum members used the little Lee Loader to reload .357 ammo? I am particularly interested in how the crimping went. Was it really do-able? Did you get a nice, firm consistent crimp? Were you able to control the tightness and depth of crimp? I can see that being VERY consistent with case trimming to length would be important step.

Thank you...... FJ Lee

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I used one for over 10 years to make all of my ammo. Crimping is easy. You just have to practice your taps.

My suggestions is get a steel railroad tie plate (you can find some along some railroads as scrap) or something big and heavy to hit it against. Also get a hand priming press. Priming with the lee loader can be noisy if you make a mistake. Not a big deal, just noisy. The dippers tend to be conservative, but until you buy a scale don't go to far from the published loads.

I still have my original lee loader. It is now 27 years old and gets used occasionally to knock out primers or the like.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[MCgunner]

Haven't used my .357/.38 Lee tool in years and years and years. Used to reload in my dorm room in college with it. What would they do to you now days? I went to Texas A&M, though, not your normal hippy school. I knew guys that cleaned their guns in their rooms, though they weren't supposed to have them there.

IIRC, just flip the "die" upside down to crimp and, yeah, just a few little taps and it's pretty easy to control a roll crimp. Now, I have no idea about crimping autoloader calibers that require a taper crimp. But, I never owned a centerfire autoloader until a good 10-12 years later when I was set up with a press.

 

[fjlee]

Tnx for responses......I appreciate that. Glad there are still some of the old Lee Loader folks still floating around!

I don't yet have my .357 Lee Loader......but I think I visualize what you guys are saying. It sounds like the crimp process is both do-able, and controllable.

I guess I was worried that the process might be inconsistent from one round to the next. Sounds like if I have my brass all trimmed to consistent length, and develop a good "feel" on my little arbor press, that I should be able to get nice consistent crimps, that are tight.

There are some jacketed .357 bullets out there that have no cannelure/crimping groove. I hope that the Lee Loader can also crimp those. Maybe the arbor press will be an asset in that case, also.

I'm eager to get started! And ya know.........I'll bet I'll hafta mail-order my .357 Lee Loader. I doubt if any Denver Co area shops/dealers/stores would have one on the shelf. Maybe gun show time?

Tnx again..........and any additional comments are ceretainly welcome!

FJ Lee Denver CO

 

[MCgunner]

I got the .357 one first, for some odd reason. It was in the old cardboard box they used to come in and I still have the box, though it's a little tattered. My .38 set was bought after they stared coming in plastic boxes. I had a .30-30 tool even before that! I remember I had to do a "demonstration speech" in a college speech class and used the .30-30 tool and my demonstration was loading a round from empty brass. Just seemed like a natural. I sold my .30-30 to an uncle, didn't reload, don't know WHAT I did with that tool, maybe I gave it to him, but I know where the .38/.357 tools are.

 

[fjlee]

>>>I got the .357 one first, for some odd reason. It was in the old cardboard >>>box they used to come in and I still have the box, though it's a little >>>tattered.


Our Lee Loader background sounds similar. I still have all of my Lee Loaders, and they are all in cardboard boxes! 30-06, .300 Win mag, 12 gauge, and I also have one of the rather scarce 30-06 "Target Model" Lee Loaders.....also in cardboard!! I'm 64 years old......and I think I started by loading 16 gauge, using my brothers Lee Loader, at about the age of 12 or so.

I bet there are a lot of Lee Loaders that have been gathering dust for a loooong time! I hope I can ferret out one in .357. Maybe Craiglist?

FJ Lee Denver CO

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Brass length does not matter to the lee loader. You are crimping based upon "feel" and eyeball not brass length. Once you get a feel for the taps I could get a near perfect crimp with one whap nearly every time. Sometimes an extra tick was necessary but rarely.

Once you do a couple, the flow is really easy and quite a lot of exercise. It will teach you great basics and its a good start to a lifelong hobby.

Loading in the dorm room was an honored tradition back then. At least I did not have an AR hanging over the door jam like several of the vets did when I went to school. I only had a measly 38 special, 357 magnum and a 30/30 for protection. Some of those guys had more loaded mags then I had brass!

 

[CajunBass]

I used a Lee-Loader to put up thousands of rounds of 38 and 45acp ammo back years ago. Never had any trouble at all with the crimping for either of them. I never did any 357 ammo, but it shouldn't be any different.

Eventually I got a "real" reloading setup, then got out of shooting for a lot of years, so like a numbskull, I sold all that.

I think I'll get a couple more of those "Lee-Loaders." They were fun.

 

[bakert]

Don't see why you couldn't crimp the .357 rds with a little care. Don't get too heavy handed. I still have the Lee Loader I bought years ago when first getting into loading my own and only shot a few .38s each weekend. Nothing fancy and slow but got the job done with serviceable ammo that worked for little money.

 

[fjlee]

>>>Brass length does not matter to the lee loader. You are crimping based >>>upon "feel" and eyeball not brass length. Once you get a feel for the taps >>>I could get a near perfect crimp with one whap nearly every time. >>>Sometimes an extra tick was necessary but rarely.


Right you are!! Thank you for making me think!! When I saw your response, I remembered that the instructions with my 30-06 Lee Loader mentioned crimping. So I got out those instructions....and now I understand.

A clean, smooth, and square case end is important, but overall case length does not apply, as far as crimping with the Lee Loader is concerned.

Thanks to all......good responses.......and I mostly see where I'm headed.

FJ Lee

 

[MCgunner]

Our Lee Loader background sounds similar. I still have all of my Lee Loaders, and they are all in cardboard boxes! 30-06, .300 Win mag, 12 gauge, and I also have one of the rather scarce 30-06 "Target Model" Lee Loaders.....also in cardboard!! I'm 64 years old......and I think I started by loading 16 gauge, using my brothers Lee Loader, at about the age of 12 or so.

Yup, pretty close. You got a little time on me, I'm 54, but I got started reloading watchin' my grandpa and uncle at age 10. My uncle died, my grandpa gave me his old pacific press, redding balance, dies and such. When I was off at college, I got the Lee tools because I had no place for the bench stuff, just left 'em at home in the shop "reloading room" until after graduation. Now, they sit in my shop and I still use that old pacific press for some of my rifle stuff. It has the .30-06 size case holder in it and isn't easily interchangable, so I have other presses now days, but I still use it!

For about a year, I actually had that old pacific press mounted on a box on the back of my 64 Chevy pick up and would climb up in the bed and reload. LOL, best I could do until I finally settled.