lee dies on my 550

[Goomba]

i put some of my old lee dies on my Dillon, loading .223, and i seem to have nothing but problems.

my solution= Dillon dies

my question is, anyone every have any problem with lee dies? Mine don't seem to re-size all the way, or crimp all the way...and a couple other small things.

also loading .40, one of my lee dies seats and crimps leaving one station to do nothing. (i know this isn't terrible, but its a 4 stage press for a reason)

 

[Scrivener]

Lee dies tend to be somewhat shorter, meaning you need to put the lock ring UNDER the die if you have a Dillon.

As seating and crimping are best done separately, use the combo die in station #3 and then use a Lee Factory Crimp Die in station #4 to crimp. It's a carbide die, so set it down ALL the way so it can proof-size the finished cartridge.

EC in 5
4
3
2
1................

 

[EddieCoyle]

Lee dies suck.

Here's a partial list of the problems I've had with Lee dies (new ones):

1. Defect in a carbide sizing ring that badly scored the cases (Lee replaced it free of charge).
2. .380 sizing die oversized (Lee replaced it free of charge).
3. Wrong belling insert in a .40/10mm die (Lee sent the correct part free of charge).
4. Bad threads on a die (Lee replaced it free of charge).

Lee's customer service is great. They always come through and make it right.

I have no idea of the quality of Redding's, Forster's, or RCBS's customer service. You know why? I've never needed them.

ETA: Another thing I don't like about their dies is that the stop in the crimping die and the inserts in the powder-through expander dies are made from aluminum. These parts 'flatten out' some during use, and you end up having to repeatedly adjust them during the first few 1000 rounds.

 

[Scrivener]

Lee dies suck.

They are not the top of the reloading food chain.

However, the OP said he already had some, the working with what he has seemed the immediate issue.

Although the purchase of Dillon dies for use in a Dillon press is the obvious solution and one he arrived at.

 

[EddieCoyle]

They are not the top of the reloading food chain.

That's like saying blue-green algae is not at the top of the food chain.

 

[Goomba]

its a bummer because i have dies sets by lee which are, .38,9mm/.40/10mm,.223 and i don't want to use them now. they just aren't worth the hassle.

 

[Supermoto]

its a bummer because i have dies sets by lee which are, .38,9mm/.40/10mm,.223 and i don't want to use them now. they just aren't worth the hassle.

Send them to me, I'll give them a good home. I had one issue with a LEE die being oversized, replaced it with a U-die.

 

[clerk.mvgc]

I have RCBS and Lee dies in most handgun calibers. I use the Lee dies in my 550. They aren't quite as long as the Dillon dies but this is easily offset by using Dillons locking rings on the Lee dies ( A lot cheaper than buying new dies). I use a Lee seating die, set to seat only, not crimp at all, in station 3 and a Lee factory crimp die in station 4. I could not get reloaded 9mm to work in my Para until I started using the Lee final crimp die, the Para now performs perfectly.

 

[BossHarley]

I originally started with Lee dies on a single stage press, and ended up replacing them all with when I went to a progressive press with RCBS, Redding, Hornady, and Dillon.

 

[TonyT]

For loading lead bullets I prefer the Dillon dies since one can readilly remove the seating insert and remove crud without disturbing the alignments. I always seat and crimp in separate operations. Where I have use Lee dies or other 3 die sets I have always purchased an extra crimping die. I have used Dillon, Lyman, RCBS, Hornady and Lee dies on my Dillon 550.

 

[Lopro]

I use nothing but Lee dies on my Hornady Progressive Press 380 , 9 mm Luger , 40 S&W , .223 never had a problem , do have a few Hornady dies was not impressed. Really like the Lee final crimp die for 40 S&W

 

[lord1234]

for 38, i'm happy with my lee dies. The only comment is that, like a previous poster, the dies are VERY short. I basically have to back the lock ring all the way out to get them to the proper length.

 

[Kenny474]

Funny, I sold my RCBS 30-06 and .222 dies because they wouldn't seat a bullet within .003". Bought a set of Lee dies and my problem was gone. Now it's always within .001". And I'm pretty sure it wasn't my batch of bullets, as Sierra Match Kings are pretty consistent. And I kept breaking the decapper pin on military brass too. Haven't had that problem either. I don't use a progressive, so maybe that has something to do with it. But I have had awesome results with all my Lee dies and equipment. I can't speak for handgun dies, but their rifle dies are great. Better more consistent ammo than RCBS. And I used both brands of dies on my custom billet aluminum press, so they each had an equal shot. The inconsistent seating depth definitely wasn't from press flex.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

i found that the lee dies were short and i had to use the thinner dillon lock rings to get the proper depth adjustment on all of the dies. i haven't had much experience with them yet, the rounds have all come out very consistent. we'll see what happens when i bring them to the range.

 

[jaypap]

Lee dies tend to be somewhat shorter, meaning you need to put the lock ring UNDER the die if you have a Dillon.

As seating and crimping are best done separately, use the combo die in station #3 and then use a Lee Factory Crimp Die in station #4 to crimp. It's a carbide die, so set it down ALL the way so it can proof-size the finished cartridge.

This is the answer, I 've used Lee dies like this and they work fine.