Bad reloading equipment?

A

allgrainbeer

New member
I am new to reloading and need to buy equipment.

what are the name brands I should stay away from. (accuracy, flexiblity, and reliablity are all considerations.)

Thanks
 
It would be easier for us to tell you which brands we like best.

I would be satisfied if everything I had was RCBS and sierra. I know my wife would be happy too.
 
I like RCBS, Dillon, Redding, those are all good brands, I only have had a bad personal experience with one brand, that is Lee, I cannot recommend it.
 
I think there are lots of good reloading equipment on the market. If it was bad folks in this day and age wouldn't be selling it.

Several years ago I switched to Lee equipment simply because all my "good" stuff was in storage and I didn't want to spend the several hundred dollars to buy two sets of the same thing.

Guess what the 70 buck cheapy loading equipment was as good as and in fact made better loads then the RCBS stuff sitting home in storage.

After ten years loading with that "trashy" Lee stuff the proof is in the accuracy of the loads and the ease of loading. I've used both and they all work well. Got to say the Lee Safety scale is the most accurate beam scale I've ever used.

Bottom line is you can pay lots of money or little money and get quality reloads from both. It's your money and your choice. Just don't believe all the Lee bashers as there is probably more Lee equipment out there than everyone elses combined and there Service is top rate if anything breaks.

Here's my bench.
Reloadingbench1.jpg


My buddies powder dispensing system.
RCBSdispandscale.jpg


Proof is in the pudding.
CZ52720440grHorn09-09-063.jpg
 
I'm in the process of replacing my 30 year old Pacific press with a Forster press. Hornady bought out Pacific several years ago.

I recently bought some Forster Benchrest dies and once in a while the shell holder will slip past the base of the case and result in a stuck case and it's a bear to remove.

I've had a Lee progressive press for years for my handgun ammo and once it is adjusted, never have had a problem with it.

Almost any of the major reloading tools are good, it mainly depends on your budget and what you are trying to accomplish.

If you are going for quanity, save your pennies for a Dillon progressive. If you are going for accuracy and close tolerances, go for Forster. If you are going for general reloading, Lee is hard to beat.
 
Quote:
Service is top rate if anything breaks.


LaughingSmilie.gif

I could write pages about their service, and none of it would be complimentary. They have the shortest warranty in the reloading business, and pot metal and plastic parts they use aren't durable at all.

Broken metal parts are almost unheard of on the good brands, common on the pot metal Lee parts.
broken-lee.jpg


broken-lee-2.jpg

broken-lee-3.jpg


Quote:
I think there are lots of good reloading equipment on the market. If it was bad folks in this day and age wouldn't be selling it.


Here's a comment I picked up on another message board:
"It never ceases to amaze me that in this modern age of information dissemination that people will still pay money for the LEE anniversary kit. I bought one at a Pawnshop new in the box so I could move my operation from a buddies house. Within 20 rounds the handle broke off in the press,the infernal measure always leaked and the scale was impossible to zero. At this point I've replaced everything except the hand primer,funnel and chuck for the trimmer."
 
As I have said in other threads, most all modern reloading equipment is capable of making quality loads, If-You-Know-What-You're-Doing! Spend a few $$$$ on some reloading manuals and books and study them, you may find that you can get good results with a few simple tools and the knowledge of how to use it correctly.
And now, for what my opinion is worth, the only press that I have bought and been dissatisfied with is the Lee 2001, it was sloppy lose after reloading only 2k rounds of .357 mag. I don't care for Lee dies either because of thier non-locking lock rings. That rubber O-Ring thing don't work for me.
I love Lee's AutoPrime hand priming tool and have two of them, one for large and one for small primers. The RCBS hand priming tool didn't work very well for me but I bought an early model and they claim to have made an improved model since then. I don't care, I like the Lee's. I also like the Lee case trimming tools. They are slow but simple, and idiot proof.
Again, this is only one man's experience but you can't go wrong in getting some reloading manuals and doing a little studying. May I suggest Lymans # 48 manual and RCBS #13 for starters. I hope this helps.........Later,B.
 
One item from Lee that I think is probably plus for the company is the Classic cast press. Seems to be a sturdy unit press for only a hair more than a RCBS Pardner press.
 
Funny how tens of thousands of loads have went thru my Lee presses and the only thing I ever broke was the handle on a auto-prime which only being ten years old was replaced free. Such a terrible warrentee.

Every place where reloading is discussed folks will bash poor old Richards Lee's equipment. I know at least a dozen folks puttig togather dandy reloads with this equipment and have been for years and years with no problems, including myself.

Yes there is some really good equipment out there, but "Every currently produced reloading press will reload ammunition. Strength requirements are not great. Material, wieght, fit and finish of the press has little relationship ot the quality of ammunition produced.

Your choice of presses and brands has been reduced through the years by the greatest of all equalizers, the competitive marketplace. Poorly made, badly designed, and costly presses are left by the wayside. companies such as Bair, Bonanza, Belding & Mull, Eagle, Herters, Herkner, Lachmiller, Ruhr-American and Texan are brand names long gone.

More interesting are the discontinued models of presses of existing manufacturers. The following presses were introduced to the public with great fanfare and rave reviews by eager recipients of free samples. RCBS A-4, RCBS Junior, Reloader, Reloader 2, Reloader 3, Reloader 4, Green Machine and Big Max. These names are trademarks of RCBS or Blount Inc. and are no longer in production. Dillon's discontinued list includes the 350, 350A, 350B, 450, 450A, 450B, 450JR, 550, 550A, RL1000, and the original Square Deal. There are many other discontinued models from contemporary manufactures. They were not bad presses. They were well made and aggressively promoted. For certian, they had shortcomings. The biggest defect was; they did not offer that which the consumer wanted. That could be many things, but the most important was the greatest value for the dollar." (Richard Lee)

Lee goes on to say never assume the customer is stupid. Customers recognize value.

Lee has sold their little O frame since it was developed and it's a winner. Yes they can be broken, but I've never seen one broken and I can't emagine the stress that had to be placed on it to make it brake. I size everything from 38 Special to 8mm Remington magnum and the same little press has been doing it for well over ten years. My Rockchucker, well it never made any better ammo and finally ended up in a yard sale. Was it good equipment, absolutly, but it didn't do anything the little red press wouldn't do.

I can find individual cases of broken equipment from any manufacture including RCBS, Dillon, Lyman and the rest. Does that make their equipment bad? I don't think so it's just bashing and that just makes our whole shooting community look silly.

I want to make sure that all you folks know I'm not intending to flame anyone here but there are hundreds of thousands of presses out there many of them Lee's that are making really good accurate ammo.

Lots of new reloaders are getting into the hobby of reloading because of this inexpensive good equipment that they simply would not be able to afford to do with other equipment.

Bottom line is there is a lot of good equipment out there and given folks being human they can find ways to break it, be it Lee, RCBS, Lyman, Forster and others. Does it do a good job, most all of it does, It is good value for the money, well thats the question isn't it....

My current reloading setup.
Reloadingbench1.jpg


The most accurate scale I've ever used.
LeeSafetyscaleoncustomholder.jpg
 
I have Lee dies ,priming tools , and hand case trimmers and these are all good products . I think a cast iron press is the way to go .I have a RCBS Rockchucker and a Redding T-7 . If I was doing it today I would look hard at the Lee Classic .I bought a friend a Lee Turret ,3 hole model and it has been very servicable .It now has about 2000 rounds of 223 on it and is working well with no broken parts .Lyman has an excellent reloading manual for beginners . I have 30+ years of reloading experience .
 
Gosh Bob...Your set up and mine are exact TWINS! Thanks for posting that, You took all the words right out of my mouth. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

AGB, Buy a LEE anniversery kit and never look back.
 
The only Lee product I would own is the pistol dies.
The Lee scale in the picture is junk, you would have a hard time fetch $5 on ebay and Lee press is just enough to get by. But I think their priming tool is based on very good design, too bad it's made out pot metal.
 
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I would be satisfied if everything I had was RCBS and sierra.



I've worn out 2 7mmRM with the RCBS Rock Chucker Press, loaded well over 5K rounds for 308 on it, an unknown number of 22-250 rounds, close to 1K for my 300 Jarret and I've expanded 100 Lapua Case Necks on it for my new 6mmBR Norma, that number soon to change though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif. RCBS all the way, you will be very pleased. I can’t tell you about their Customer Service though, I've never broken anything RCBS. Also +1 for the Sierra Bullets.
 
Bad reloading equipment? Well, when I decided to try upgrading from my Lee Loaders I bought a Herter's set. If you want to talk about an over priced, poorly designed piece of junk; that was it (they would up out of business about a year later). I would up using the Lee Loaders more than it until I could afford an RCBS press.

Regarding warranties;
I've never broken a single part on a piece of Lee equipment and I have used them hard.
The one time that I had to call RCBS it was to try to BUY a replacement lock ring for a used die that I had purchased. They wouldn't sell it to me, they inceased on sending it FREE.
I will let you decide which you prefer.
 
Quote:
The only Lee product I would own is their pistol dies.
The Lee scale in the picture is junk, have hard time fetch $5 on eBay. Lee press is entry lever, just enough to get by. But I think their priming tool is a very good design, but too bad it's made out pot metal.



"Every place where reloading is discussed folks will bash poor old Richards Lee's equipment. I know at least a dozen folks putting togather dandy reloads with this equipment and have been for years and years with no problems, including myself".

Considering this scale has loaded over ten thousand rounds and done it for $20.00 bucks I'm kinda proud of the "junk".

I've owned four of five scales in the past 45 years of reloading including RCBS and Redding and the "junk" Lee is the most accurate beam scale I've ever had. Only scale/dispenser I've found better is this one shown below, though I still use the "junk" Lee to check it. Course if this ten year old "junk" one wears out I'll be glad to go to Ebay to replace it for five bucks.

RCBSdispandscale.jpg
 
One thing that I still remember from the chemistry classes is you should use check weight (I see you have some)not another scale to calibrate a scale.
I agree the Pact in the pic is a better scale, I use one for myself, but why would you use a lesser scale to double-check a better scale, it don’t make any sense .…. flat out backwards.
Tools are matter of opinion and you have yours I have my. Doesn’t matter how long you've been doing it, you still won't convince me (and others) that Lee make a good scale, bad is bad.
People doing things the wrong way all the time, just because it’s been done over a long period it don't make it right, wrong is wrong. Some of you may think it’s snooty to say the things I said, but I’m not going to lie to AGB or send people down the wrong path, that is just is flat out wrong.
 
I have used lots of different loading equipment in the last 45 years and the only problem I ever had was with a cheap Lee press. First time it broke, they replaced it. Second time, I trashed it. I do think the Lee primer is very good.

Jack
 
Not available anymore, but a loading tool that has demonstrated its quality is an old Pacific "up-stroke" C-Press. It was given to me by my Grandfather over 50 years ago. I couldn't guess how many thousands of rounds it has loaded. It is used heavily today and is in "as-new" condition. That's assuming that 60+ years of use is not wearing.
 
Good Reloading Equipment.

You might want to look at the kit that RCBS sells if you're just starting out with reloading. It has nearly everything you need to get going. Most important is, buy a good reloading manual like the one Hornady sells, and read the how to reload part well.
Don't know the the RCBS kit has dial calipers in it, but you'll need them to measure case length and overall loaded round length, plus other things too. When your cases stretch beyond the spec length, you'll need to trim them, so you'll need a case trimmer too.

Martyn
 


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