Shooters Forum banner

lee reloading pressess worth buying?

10419 Views 18 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  unclenick
Hey I found a Lee reloading press ket and am wondering if they are any good
1 - 3 of 19 Posts
Lee kits are a perfectly good way to start out. Even when you graduate to more expensive specialized tools later, you'll still find use for the Lee kit components for other things. My old Lee press still does decapping and some kinds of portable service.

RCBS dies have the same standard 7/8-14 thread that Lee and most makers use. Most all brands will work. The exceptions are 50 Cal. BMG dies and Dillon Square Deal dies, which are not standard, though Dillon's other dies are.

BTW, Welcome to the Forum.
You will likely want three more Breechlock die bushings so you can have one on each pistol die so you can leave them in place after you get the die set up correctly.

You'll need a set of 40 S&W dies. I recommend a Lee set with the separate Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die and powder through expander die to work with your measure (I think they can do that with the Perfect measure, but call Lee to check).

40 S&W are prone to case bulging, so get a Lee Bulge Buster to use with the Factor Crimp Die to iron bulges out, unless you are only going to load at very light target pressures.

You will need primers, bullets, powder, and brass (if you haven't accumulated that already).

I strongly recommend you get a caliper for measuring lengths. An inexpensive Chinese one is adequate for most reloading measurements.

Don't bother with the Lee case length gauge for the trimmer unless you actually measure your sized cases coming out too long. Most pistol brass doesn't grow to need routine trimming the way rifle cases do.

Get a loading tray to set the charged cases in so you can take a flashlight and look in the cases to see that no accidental missed cases or double-charged cases are there before you start seating bullets.

You'll need bolts and other mounting hardware for the press.

You may want a case cleaning tumbler. They can also polish cases if you want that. The main thing is to remove dirt and grit that can score the loading dies, but just wiping cases off with a rag also does pretty well. You can also wash them in a jug of water with a little detergent in it, or with citric acid or lemon cleaner or vinegar for more vigorous cleaning, then let them dry out for a few days. If you are going to use a wet method though, because water can't get out from under a primer well, you'll then do best to get a separate universal decapping die and remove the primers with that before washing. The universal decapping die is wide enough that won't be scarred by dirt present before the cleaning.
See less See more
noylj said:
The longer cases minimize head space and will almost always produce better accuracy.
Correct, but let me add the caveat that the case, resized and dropped into the chamber must not stick out beyond the back edge of the barrel. As long as it does not, you should be good to go.
1 - 3 of 19 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top