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#18097732 02/04/23
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What is the general consensus when it comes to Lee Dies for loading hunting ammo used < 500yds? If you say they're junk, please post the basis for your opinion.


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They work. I have a couple sets. Edk

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I don't own any Lee loading dies but I do own a number of Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Dies. The only thing I find cheesy about them is the cheap locking rings which I replaced. Other then that I have no problem with their dies, it's the other Lee equipment that turned me off to their products.

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I use their collet neck sizing dies quite a bit. Before putting them into service I disassemble them and give them a careful examination. There can be a burr that needs removing, a wear surface that needs polishing, et cetera.

In my examples their regular FL sizing dies are on the tight side, particularly the neck section. They work the brass more than I'd prefer in most circumstances. They do have a nicely shaped expander mandrel in them, but IMO it needs better surface hardening or a harder base material.

Sometimes the little seating plug in the seating die needs work like heavy deburring to interface correctly with the bullet ogives. Sometimes they need to be replaced entirely because of poor machining. After all, we are trying to seat bullets straight.

My take is they're made with a heavy emphasis on economy, so tight QC, attention to detail and the best materials are not going to be found in their reloading gear as it will in gear from places like 21st Century, Harrell's and the like.

With Lee you'll sometimes need to be able to go under the hood and do a tune up.

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I have collet dies in most popular cartridges, I really like them, they compete easily with Bonanza Forster dies for low runout ammo. Huge fan of the Lee Factory Crimp dies. Most Lee products come in at less than a third of the competitors price, if I have to do a little polishing or tweaking here or there occasionally, I'm happy with that.


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After reading Mathman's post, there isn't much more that needs to be said, except to emphasize that their collet dies do work.

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Been using them for over 20 years.

It's what everyone used when I was growing up, they never had issues so it's what I typically order. Have others because that's what was available when I bought whatever was available for a new cartridge.

Most of my dies are Lee and my turret press is an old Lee 3 hole press.


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Their collet dies & crimp dies (both rifle & pistol) work for me; that really all the Lee dies that I use.

Interesting comment from mathman about the tighter sizing, especially in the necks.

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I don’t own any Lee dies so I can’t compare


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Most of my dies are Lee. The belling/expander and factory crimp dies are top notch, but as mathman stated, the sizers and especially seaters are definitely not on par with the higher tier brands. If you are a real burr up the azz type stickler for seating depth consistency, Lee are not the dies for you.

Make sure you clean them out before you use them, because metal dust/shavings are fairly common. I've gotten a couple dud dies right out of the box over the years, but they've replaced them with no hassle both times.

I'm not a long range or match shooter, so they're fine for my purposes. 🤷‍♂️

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Long time user of their collet dies. Love 'em.


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I have almost every kind of sets of dies, including Herters and several custom dies. On cartridges I don't load much, many are Lee (too many). Most of my dies are RCBS. I like RCBS because their customer service is the best, IMO.

The set of Lee dies for 30-30 - I really do not like! I'll be replacing them with RCBS. The expander in these dies is over-sized and I size my cases with the expander in, set way below the body of the die, but do not touch the brass with the outside part of the die. Then I push the brass with the expander out and size the brass by pushing the brass into the die. I do it this way so the stretching is minimized. I seriously doubt I will ever by another set of Lee dies, I mostly bought them because they were cheap and I had little money. Now, it seems they are not so cheap.

Another thing I dislike about Lee dies is how the expander stem has to be firmly tightened or they often push up and when they do, the expander is into the compression portion of the body of the die. If I don't notice, (which I notice almost every time) the brass is ruined.

Mark me down as a Lee die disliker! If I bought a rifle in a new cartridge and Lee was the only die I could find. I would buy the Lee dies and use them until I could find a better set of dies.

Last edited by Bugger; 02/07/23.

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I've at least had satisfactory results with Lee dies. In 35 Remington I had both Redding and Lee full length die sets. Just for giggles i loaded handloads with both sets and carefully examined the results. I was unable to discern any significant differences with dial calipers, and both performed equally well. Eventually I sold the Lee dies and kept the Redding brand. I have one other set of Lee dies that I use and I have no complaints with them. They've been good dies in my experience.

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I've had good results with the collet dies for my Enfields and their less expensive RGB "really great buy" dies have worked fine for other open sighted milsurps.

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I been shooting with some guys that used Lee dies. They made some really accurate ammo.
That being said I prefer Forster for rifles and Redding for handguns. Hasbeen


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Lee dies are great!

For me, the VALUE box is smaller than the PRICE box for the "elite" devices.


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I have had satisfactory results, but I find on the dies I have the expander plug is too short and you really have to crank down on the top nut of the FL die so the decapping rod stays in place. Plus if you bend the pin, you have to replace the entire rod.

I guess you get what you pay for though.


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Originally Posted by saddlesore
I have had satisfactory results, but I find on the dies I have the expander plug is too short and you really have to crank down on the top nut of the FL die so the decapping rod stays in place. Plus if you bend the pin, you have to replace the entire rod.

I guess you get what you pay for though.

Could part of the problem be the expander is having to go back out of a neck that has been sized down a good bit more than necessary? Have you ever measured a neck sized without the expander in place so you can see how much work the expander is having to do?

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I reload hunting rifles only and the collet die gives me better accuracy than standard RCBS and Lee dies.


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I use them quite a bit. However, if I have a question, or problem, I just stop in and ask. I live 20 miles from Lee, Bartlein and Kreiger barrels. Kind of nice just stopping in .


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