Thread: Newbie advice

The Lee Loader looks like it would get very old, very fast, with the amount of time and effort involved in loading each round. Also, I fail to see how any ammuntion loaded with a hammer and a scoop is going to be anywhere near as consistent as ammunition loaded on a press with proper dies and a set of scales. Cheap - but labour intensive and Soviet grade agricultural. Eventually your neck sized brass might also refuse to chamber - then what?

Definitely buy a press. I have mixed opinions on their kit though.

I started with the kit 3 years ago. I've learned that there are some things where using better quality tools will translate to a better quality finished product, and some things not so much. And that there are some things where saving a few dollars (even in the short term) is not worth the cost in time and sanity. About half of Lee kit was upgraded very quickly because it was either difficult to use or because I wasn't happy with the results.

- Doesn't include calipers (which are IMO essential).
- The scale. Replaced with a Hornady one very quickly. The Lee one doesn't have magnetic dampening and takes ages to settle and doesn't always do so repeatably.
- Case prep tools. Replaced with Lyman ones that come with handles and aren't fiddly af.
- Cutter and QuickTrim. The cutter is slow, and the QT needs individual dies to be of any use. Replaced with a universal bench mounted one.
- Powder thrower. Functional, but upgraded to an RCBS which is smoother, easier to adjust, and leaks less with ball powders.
- The hand priming tool. Actually pretty damn decent. Still using it - but it's not necessary if you're only loading a small volume.
- The press itself. Still using it. Not a fan of the bushing system but doubt I could produce noticeably better ammo with an RCBS/Redding/Forster press. Just superglue the wooden handle on because the feckin thing loves to come off otherwise.
- The lube. Nasty. Case wax is the way to go.

The only Lee dies I am using are their collet dies these days. I get much better consistency in sizing from the likes of RCBS and Redding and a good quality seating die is a good investment if you're chasing tiny groups.