Home Forums Reloading Shotshells Lee Load All II

Good enough for loading a case or 2 of 16 gauge a year? Do they have a rotating ring for the crimp so the crimp is in the same spot as the original crimp?

I don't plan to shoot it a whole bunch bit ammo isn't always the easiest to find and most of it isn't really what I am wanting.

I can load pretty much what I am wanting at any given time.

The Load All II will work. It is just slow and not as easy as using a MEC. There are no set stops and everything is by feel. I crushed a few cases doing the first box of ammo, but got the hang of it and did pretty well after that. You have to position the hull correctly in the pre-crimp station, since it does not rotate, but it is easy to line up the case properly. The sizing ring has to be placed on the hull before station one and has to be taken off after the primer is inserted.

A buddy started loading for 16 gauge on the Lee, but wasn't happy with the crimps he was getting. He bought a MEC and sold me his Lee. He got the same poor crimps with the MEC. It seems that his 16 gauge hulls weren't very good. After a couple of years using the Lee, I got a used MEC. The Lee did the job. It was just a bit wonky compared to MEC.

The trick with the Lee is you have to get your component stack height right. All of the loads on their data sheet is safe. But will they all crimp well? Nope.

I still have my first Lee, and still use it. It has it's place. But if money isn't an issue, get something more adjustable.

If you're looking to scatter shot on the floor, it can't hold a candle to the MEC.

Money is always an issue.

I say a case or 2 a year but I also wonder if I had something that loaded faster, would I shoot the 16 more since ammo would be more convenient/faster to load.

I see what you're saying about stack height. Basically trial and error until you hit everything right.

I have a Lee. Load 12, 16 and 20 with it. Can you do that with the same mec unit? Didn't think so. And the Lee costed 1/3 of what the mec does. So, there's that too.

I've loaded a lot of rounds through it. And far as I can tell, you have to stack the payload properly regardless of which loader you are using. That's always been a thing and why they make/sell shot cards, nitro cards, felt, wax, cardboard, etc.

Yes, having a 12, and a 16 and a 20 ga mec loaders would be nice to have. But it's not the end of the world that I don't either.

I know you can convert the 600 Jr to other gauges.

I load about a thousand twelve gauge shells a year on mine. It does fine, it’s a squeaky summbitch though.

shotgun crimp trimmers were most likely invented as a result of a lee loader. as hulls stretch from use, height changes, leaving you to go by feel.
a used mec is a better choice.
I use 9 in 5 gauges.
its been 40 years now. rusty and ugly, but i haven't worn one out yet.

Find a used 600 jr and quit messing around. Been using them for 55 yrs.

I prefer my sizemaster over the 600 jr because I like the way it resizes and it comes with the primer feed. I started with a lee when I was 11 years old and loaded a lot of rounds on one. They work they're just a bit slower and only offer a shallow crimp.

You also have to watch the feel on the lee where the mec is just a brainless go once set up properly. If only loading a few boxes a year the lee is fine.

I'm debating whether buying a lee for 20 gauge or using my 30 gauge conversion fir my sizemaster. I've heard it's a pain changing out the dies but I have the die set.

Now that the kids are gunning 20s I want to do a light 3/4 ounce 20 gauge load. The lee doesn't even offer a 3/4 ounce bushing but with a little work I could probably 3d print one.

Bb

Great post!

I bought myself a new 16 ga unit and then learned a friend was gifting me his old MEC. LMK if anyone is interested. Absolutely unused.

Have been using a 12-gauge Lee Load-All (not Lee Loader) since the late 1970s, shortly after they first appeared. It's still working fine--as are the 16 and 20-gauge versions I bought later.

But as some have noted they're not the shotshell loader doing a BUNCH of rounds. For that I have MECs, especially a 28-gauge. But somebody who's only going to load a few boxes a year, or for experimenting with different loads (which I do a lot) the Lee Load-Alls have worked very well for me--partly because it's easy to change the shot and powder measure-tubes.

I too started on a Lee load All in the late 70’s. I still have it and use it on occasion. As a young man I didn’t know it was slow. I didn’t have any other press as a yardstick. I was feeding a growing interest in trapshooting at the time and spent a lot of hours turning out 12 gauge trap loads. The crimp takes a bit of feel to get them positioned correctly but once you develop the feel it does fine. I also have one in 20 and should get one in 16 just to round out the collection.

I have PW 375’s in all the gauges and use them for most of my loading. My PW 800 sits in reserve for those rare times I need to crank out a bunch of target loads.

I have had a Lee load all for my 12 gauge and replaced it when I found a MEC for next to free... other wise I would still be using the Lee. I just bought a Lee load all for my 20 gauge... I don't shoot my 20 that much and I will only load one load in the 20 once I get it all worked out.

I really like the Lee Load All for what it is.... cheap and effective.

It will quiet right down if you polish the ejection pin marks out of the red, plastic spring-guide. (https://leeprecision.com/spring-guide)

It doesn't have to be fancy. Just use a file or wrap some coarse sandpaper around a dowel or shotgun hull and stroke the fin with the sink-marks where the ejectors were. Those marks make each coil of the spring go "SPOING" when it hits it.

tag

The advice I was given about the Lee was to look for a used MEC. I put a WTB ad in out local hunting forum. I got a reply and paid $100 shipped . It came with an adjustable charge bar and a automatic primer feed. Another $100 for parts to bring it up to current standards . So for about $150 US, I was set.

I had by mistake bought a Marlin bolt 16ga at an auction . I looked at the price of shells ,then the price of the Lee and sold the shotgun. I made money on it !

I have a 20 gauge lee load all that a neighbor gave me back in college. It never was fast and sometimes I get a funky crimp if I don't line up the shell right, yet if you have the time, it will do the job.

Only thing I have found when using Herco powder, not much comes out the slide bar area moving it back and forth because it's a flake powder. Yet with WSF, I will have that tiny grain powder over the place after reloading a box of shells.