Lee Loader

I've only ran a couple thousand cases through mine, 9mm and 45acp. Mostly just depriming although I did run probably around 2-300 nines with the swaging setup and have more to do. Those pictures are not to confidence inspiring. If/when you contact Lee make sure to give us an update...

I am going to contact Lee. I'm going to also explain my alignment troubles and include pictures. I'll let you know what happens.

klr wrote:I am going to contact Lee. I'm going to also explain my alignment troubles and include pictures. I'll let you know what happens.

The alignment thing might factor into it.

I have 2 of the original lockring/bushing made of steel. I bought them when that was all I could get locally and was going to use them with my hand press. Seeing the wear that aluminum to aluminum is getting don't think I'll use them in either press.

Stay well, be safe, make smoke,

It's the case sizing that is hard on it. What happened to mine is the bushing to press fit starts to loosen without warning and eventually there isn't enough engagement between the press threads and the bushing threads causing the die bushing to pop upwards off the last 1/4" of the threads.

One tip I have for resizing is to make a vertical line on the press near the tooling threads. Mark the bushing inline with the press' mark. Keep an eye out for misalignment that indicates the bushings is rotating loose. It's a surprise when it pops out.

De-capping and swaging puts little force on the press (although the swage set up does put more than de-capping). Resizing puts a lot of stress on it considering its small base, cast body, and short handle. Now I know what the handle isn't 8" longer like it should be. I'll take some more pics today and contact Lee over the weekend.

I sent these pics in an email to Lee to see if there are any updates.

Unlike Lyman, I bet Lee responds.

I checked my APP, no wear yet. None on my Challenger Breech Lock either. I have no idea how many cases have passed through it, but it was doing everything that was done on the APP plus serving as the base for the Automator (Pro 1000).

How many cases have you sized on the APP? I've done 3000 +/-...plus that same number passed through the de-cap die AND again through the swage die.

Sizing combined with being able to work the mechanism much faster than a Challenger really adds up. Plus in my case the bushing to press fit loosened without me noticing. This is actually the main cause when coupled with the much higher resistance sizing. Even with 25 pounds needed for the swage die, resizing even small cases like 9X19 takes considerably more pressure. I have had no issues with the Phillips screw that keeps the bushing tight to the die, only the bushing staying tight in the press.

GasGuzzler wrote:How many cases have you sized on the APP?

I don't size any cases on the APP, that happens on the Classic Turret or Load-Master. I've swagged about 800 cases with the APP and decapped twice as many, but there should be no wear with the latter.

I think I just need another 3 of the old style bushings to have one on all of my various dies. I've been tickled to death with the original Lee breach lock bushings. I guess, while I'm at it, I better score another Lee Breach Lock Hand Press --- mine has at least 100k cycles on it (but still going strong).

Some things just last like they're supposed to


jd