Any Experience with Lee Classic Loaders?

[afmo]

ran a search for classic loader and came up with nothing...so

After reading and doing some research on 9mm reloading, i can get materials for about 11 cents per load, saving a nickel or so each... was looking at reloaders and found this on midway.

Lee Classic Loader 9mm

I don't want anything fancy, just something that i can use to reload range shells for cheap. at 20.00 bucks, are these worth it? Or a waste of cash?

[Fastsc92]

they work, but if you're shooting 9mm...you're going to be spending a lot of time reloading. Get a turrett or a progressive press at the least. That little guy might be ok for loading rifle rounds, but any autoloader, you're wasting your time. Just my two cents

[fredj338]

Way more trouble than they are worth & it so slow it will only turn you off to handloading. At the minimum, get a Lee single stage press, dies, dippers & a good powder scale (not the Lee, cheap crap). That will give you 50rds an hour out put & very good ammo. The turret will be faster, about 150rds/hr, but costs more. The progressive upto 650rds/hr but cost alot more. As you can see, time is money but the Classic is so slow I can only think of it as a survival tool that you throw into your back pack just incase you ever run out of ammo.

[Dave Starr]

Several years ago, I used one for reloading ammo for one of my rifles - 32 Winchester Special. It was slow, but it worked well. One problem I had was setting off primers when I seated them - the set uses a hollow tube and a hammer; put the primer in the seater base, set a case on the base, drop the tube in the case & hit it. I went to a hand primer.

[mif_slim]

Hey, I havent used the single stage press, but on my Lee handloader kit I cna load 1 round per 45 seconds. Time taken mostly because of powder measurements. So your saying that the press sucks more then the hand loader? if so, im happy with my purchase then. hehehe

[gaowlpoop]

I have used the Lee Classic for 30-30, 38 Special and most recently 9mm. I had good sucess with the 30-30 except one time I picked up some brass at a range. I resized it but it would not chamber in my 30-30. Found out that the Lee only resized the neck. A friend of mine full length resized them and everything was fine.

The pistol cases are another story. It takes A LOT of force to resize them. They are not tapered so you have to "drive" them all the way into the die. I didnt like that much. I also had some problems with the primers going off while trying to seat them like Dave Starr said.

I would get a press. Even the least expensive press http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...380&t=11082005
would be a big step up and well worth while, even if you have to wait to get it..

[afmo]

Thanks for the info, so on that single stage press, you'd have to buy each die (?) so one for depriming, one for reshaping, one for priming, one for seating the bullet etc, and do each stage, i.e. deprime them all, then reshape them all then load them and seat the bullet etc?

[gaowlpoop]

That is about it for the dies - however they come in a set with a shell holder (it holds the shell in the press so you can run it through the die). On a single stage press you put in a die and adjust it. Then you do all your brass for that operation, size and decap as an example. Then put in the next die and adjust it - so on until you have finished rounds.