Anyone for lee reloading gear?

[callie]

After 5 weeks waiting for an order of reloading gear and being told it was on the way, and then to be told that it would be another 15 days before the ship docked at Tilbury plus waiting time for customs to release said goods then more waiting time for the order to be made up and shipped to say I was getting "Kranky" might tell you something, 8 possibly 9 weeks was beyond a joke, anyway, understanderbly, I cancelled the order, went on the net and after a bit of surfing came up with "Lee precision factory sales", put an order in with them and 12 days later it's on the doorstep, you can't beat that and what makes it even better after paying shipping fees , vat, and handling fees to parcel force I'm still quids in, I've bought bullets and unprimed cases as well that have here in a few days from the US, I only need primers and powder and for obvious reasons I've got to buy them in the UK, and guess what?-they're on "back order", how long I'm going to wait for them is anyones guess. What a state this country is getting into. Don't they want our money???...callie

 

[Brithunter]

Oh yes they want your money, lots of it too after all they have to have their 300% mark up.

I too found what you have in the past. I wanted an unusual dire set, well for this country it seems, the importers quoted at least 6 months. Yes SIX MONTHS. Seems I had miss the bi-annual order. So I brought them direct from lee and had them in my hand in less than two weeks. When I tackled the importer about this they had the nerve to say I shouldn't have done that and waited for them to get them over .. Yeah right!

Also had similar problems with RUAG over 9.3x57 ammo and brass. talk about unhelpful and a rip off. I ended up importing the brass myself from Sweden with the help of a Swedish gun collector. Then the importers wonder why we the customers are not happy and going elsewhere

 

[splash]

it's not just guns and the like. All the importors think they have the right to over inflate prices.

I know they have overheads but they take the **** . The buzz word is we live in a globle market unless you live in the UK

 

[ecoman]

It's a general attitude gentlemen, and I don't know how it arrived. Except for in some cases - everything is too difficult - or not available - or has a long waiting list - 'costs far more than anywhere else in the world.
And in some stores - the indifferent or surly attitude leaves a lot to be desired from some young UK staff. It's as though THEY are doing US a favour.
No wonder we tend to employ and buy from elsewhere. I have a mate who wanted a replacement Mannlicher magazine and put it on order in a shop in the north. It took MONTHS and cost him something like a new mortgage.
I seldom enter a tackleshop in the North now. I just could not afford it. I go on-line instead. I tried shopping 'locally' when I was looking around for a .308. No 'way.

 

[jcampbellsmith]

I have had orders delivered from these folk in under a week.
Specializing in Reloading Supplies and Equipment for Firearms - Sinclair International

It's also worthwhile signing up for their catalogue.
Regards JCS

 

[Tamus]

I've used Sinclair International too. They do a good catalogue service.
Hornady, Lee, Lyman, Redding and RCBS are companies I also recommend dealing direct with, from my own personal experience.
The trouble with small scale direct import is the customs and revenue charges really knock chunks out of the bargains.
In this country, Tim Hannam has always served me well, before him I really liked Mountain and Sowden but they've long gone, sadly.

Correction: Mountain and Sowden do still seem to exist, not sure how you contact them now though.

 

[flyingfisherman]

Its nice to know that all that money that people pay to the government for importing and exporting goes into making the system glitch free and user friendly!! Ive heard a lot of people moaning about how bad the import/export system is in this country... Doesnt help with the old economy either!

 

[Muir]

JAYB and I have discussed the disparity between US retail and UK retail and it's usually "Dollar to the Pound" when it comes from a place like Midway. This means (as of this morning) a multiplier of 1.56, or, a fifty percent mark-up. Comparing MidwayUSA and MidwayUK prices, that seems to hold true. I am all for supporting local gunshops when I can. I like having a place to go and see the new guns first hand, and to fiddle with the 2nd hand stuff, but some shops do go to far. (I am reminded of a shop in Yuma, Arizona where I stood at the counter for 30 minutes with a rifle and a handful of money and the young clerk continued to talk elk hunting to the man behind me without even acknowledging my presence....) To those shops I present my backside as I leave and make a point not to return. Service sells.

Now, the US Postal Service has flat rate, First Class International shipping that allows up to 20 pounds weight for $38 US when loaded into one of their standardized boxes. Dimensionally, these boxes will hold maybe 10 sets of reloading dies.(??) Maybe you should start up a "group buy" for the little items and make arrangements with a place in the States to ship items for you once you have enough to order. It would save being pillaged by the locals. ~Muir

PS: As to the Lee Precision folks. I have had nothing but good luck with them. The standard items have arrived almost before the computer keys have cooled and the custom dies and bullet molds I have had made came out exactly to my specifications and within the agree time frame. They are an old company that still does customer service well.

 

[Brithunter]

Muir, I have recently had a spot of bother with Lee in answering some questions about a set of their dies. i brought a brand new set of special Ltd run dies for the .280AI. however it seems that as Nosler list this chambering in their custom line of rifles that SAAMI decided to redesign the .280AI as old Ackely obviously didn't know what he was doing. They moved the position of the shoulder or so i am informed and it means that the original Ackley won't chamber. So I tried to contact Lee and ask them to which specs these dies are made. No joy. A friend in the US tried and got stone walled. After several tries of e-mailing he said Dammit and phoned them. it seem who ever was answering te e-mails had not got a clue and could not be bothered to find out. After the phone call he got a reply by e-mail :-

Thank you for choosing Lee Precision. Our dies are manufactured to the original 280 Ackley Improved specifications, i.e. with a 40° shoulder and the neck/shoulder location unchanged from the standard cartridge. This may result in a condition of insufficient headspace in some rifles, which can be corrected by carefully removing material from the base of the die. If the die were made to the other specification it could result in a condition of excessive headspace, which can be dangerous, and there is no way to correct it other than replacing the die.

So there you have it. Pity it has taken some two months to get that answer I can now with this information source a suitable chamber reamer.

Oh you have not got one laying about have you?..................

Midway UK lists one so now I have to scrape the pennies together to get one.

Oh the dies took about 6 days to arrive and even with the post office pickking my pocket for their £8 handling fee ( iI thought that's what you paid the postage for???)and the duty they were still less than i could have got them here and I wonder just how long a set of these dies would have taken through the official lee importer?

 

[caorach]

I think the problem with firearms is the regulation - this allows anyone with something to sell to be in a position of control and to treat you badly. If only there was a way for us to get some form of "de-regulation" of our supplies then we would all be ordering mail order from the USA.

I know what you are saying Muir, it is nice to have a friendly local supplier but my experience in the UK, certainly when it comes to firearms, is that most local suppliers appear to be holding you to ransom by using the regulations as a framework to excuse awful service and crazy prices. Now in many cases I suspect this is not a deliberate plan on their part as they would love to have stock to sell to us but they are, in turn, being stitched up by the importers etc. but even so we as consumers suffer.

I live near Belfast in Northern Ireland, it's a boghole at the end of the supply chain, and long before the internet there were a range of independent record shops in the town. As there were only a few of them and as they were, basically, our only option their customer service was awful and their prices were hugely inflated. Since Amazon.co.uk opened for sales I haven't bought a single CD in a local shop and, not surprisingly, most or all have now closed. Do I miss them? No way. Do I want to go back to being treated badly and being told that ordering a slightly obscure CD would take up to 6 months? No way. Do I care they are closed? No way. Do I like being able to get nearly anything I want in a matter of days, and to be able to order it from the comfort of my arm chair while drinking my tea? Oh yes. Would I trade amazon.co.uk for having a local record shop again? No way. It is such a shame that the legal situation in this country ensures that we can't have something similar for reloading components as it would be a revolution for most of us. As a simple example I've been trying to get a box of 150 grain 308 Nosler Partitions. I bet Muir could have them within a week without even leaving his house. I've been trying for about 6 months with no indication of when, or if, they might appear. This time next year I hope to make my traditional trip to Scotland for a stag and I'm already worried about how I'm going to get components to load up ammo for the trip, in case you missed it that's not for another year!

 

[Muir]

Caorach: Actually, I could stop on the way home from work and pick up a box. Maybe it's time to get a different bullet??

Brit: Next time, if ever, you need to call or Email Lee, address it to "Pat" he is the go-to guy there. Sorry you got a nudnik in the front office. I don't think I have the 280 IMP reamer but i'll bet I could lay hands on one (new) soon enough. Want me to look around for one for you?? ~Muir

 

[Brithunter]

Muir PM sent and thanks for teh assist i will note about Pat....