Well thats bust it.

[activeviii]

No loading for me for now until i can sort a press out.

View attachment 33026



I was only crimping the .222

spoke to Lee this morning and the postage on replacement parts cost more than the press.

Will be knocking on friends doors to reload now.

​

 

[paul o']

well that's a lee for you ! cheap crap cast and full of air holes, but you never know some one may have a bit in the wish i'd never got a lee press bin sell what bits you have left and get a better tool for the job

No loading for me for now until i can sort a press out.

View attachment 33026



I was only crimping the .222

spoke to Lee this morning and the postage on replacement parts cost more than the press.

Will be knocking on friends doors to reload now.

​

 

[mereside]

just speak to lee they will replace it with the updated part, they now make that in steel rather than cast what happens is the nut slackens giving play on the lever arm and breaks the cast, atb wayne

 

[african jack]

Richard Lee states they are 3 times stronger than needed ??????

 

[activeviii]

I cant sell it, it was a gift from a very kind gent.

i spoke to lee and they can do the upgrade parts no problem but then when i asked how much on postage, well lets just say i sounded like a girl.

i was thinking of going into a fabrication shopand asking if they could weld it or make a new part.

 

[saddler]

Richard Lee states they are 3 times stronger than needed ??????

BUT is that not the answer to the question, "How do you make sure your pot-metal presses make it to the dealer & don't disintegrate during shipping?"

I can ask one of the importers about a replacement part if you get stuck.

LEE should be replacing it free of charge

 

[african jack]

BUT is that not the answer to the question, "How do you make sure your pot-metal presses make it to the dealer & don't disintegrate during shipping?"

I can ask one of the importers about a replacement part if you get stuck.

LEE should be replacing it free of charge

Buy a RCBS mine was bought in 1968

 

[Yorkie]

No loading for me for now until i can sort a press out.

View attachment 33026



I was only crimping the .222

spoke to Lee this morning and the postage on replacement parts cost more than the press.

Will be knocking on friends doors to reload now.

​

I am suprised you have not been accused of being a ham fisted gorilla. I break Lee products and the website is at my door with burning torches and pitchforks .
Do not bother trying to weld it, it is monkey metal. I gave a part to our TIG welder at work. After trying he just laughed and tossed it in the Bin. He suspected a zinc alloy.
There is a reason Lee is cheap!
Cue Muir, stage left.

Yorkie.

 

[bewsher500]

its a pretty basic design
and decent fabricator could knock up a steel replacement for significantly less than the postage to the US

alternatively ring Henry Krank
they have a parts bin that rivals Lee's own!!

 

[NeilG]

No loading for me for now until i can sort a press out.

View attachment 33026



I was only crimping the .222

spoke to Lee this morning and the postage on replacement parts cost more than the press.

Will be knocking on friends doors to reload now.

​

Were you jumping on the handle to get a firm crimp - .... Maybe you got a `Friday` made unit, just before beer o`clock.... Lee products have done many people proud, especially those new to reloading..... Might be cheap, but according to many a post / thread on SD, you don`t need mega kit to turn out ammo for deer.

Sorry to hear of your woes though.

All the best.

Neil.

 

[paul o']

seen this happen on 9mil cases let alone a bottle neck i'll say this until i pop me clogs ! buy cheap buy ______ feel free to add your own words , look out Muir's just logged on as "you never know how good they are till you have owned one"

 

[old man]

Mine went too!

 

[charadam]

So, that's 2 in who knows how many tens of thousands.

Systematic failure in design and quality then.

 

[Sharpie]

If that is the linkage from an (early) Challenger then yes, the alloy links could fail.

In the first 2 years Lee would replace under guarantee, and later goodwill.

But they later changed to steel (cast or powder-metallurgy, I'm not sure) which fixed the problem.

Test yours with a magnet. If they are not steel, that would explain it.

Then in 2006 it was discontinued.

Nevertheless they retained compatibility with the current Challenger and you can retrofit the latest parts. See

http://leeprecision.net/support/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/249/5/challenger-press-toggles

So I think you have had a good run for your money and have a way forward to make your press better than new.

​Hannams reloading usually have the parts. In the US they cost $15 ISTR.

 

[activeviii]

Don't get me wrong, the Lee kit has done me proud, I started loading the triple with one of their reloader jobbies, the ones you hit with a hammer. i was getting clover leaf grouping with it. i still use the same recipe, i was lucky in a very kind gent on here, (thanks Chris) gave me the press, along with other bits. since then i have begged, borrowed and bartered just so i could keep shooting.

The press stays!

I spoke to Lee and the parts are $25. the postage is $252. i questions this and they said it was right. i said i think i'll hang it on the wall as a reminder.

But now i hope i have is sorted. i have spoke to Rob at titan reloading and he said he can sent via snail mail. might take a few months but its £17 all in.

 

[Whitebeard]

active do yourdelf a favour and buy yourself a proper press which basically means anything other then Lee

Ian.

 

[8x57]

Don't get me wrong, the Lee kit has done me proud, I started loading the triple with one of their reloader jobbies, the ones you hit with a hammer. i was getting clover leaf grouping with it. i still use the same recipe, i was lucky in a very kind gent on here, (thanks Chris) gave me the press, along with other bits. since then i have begged, borrowed and bartered just so i could keep shooting.

The press stays!

I spoke to Lee and the parts are $25. the postage is $252. i questions this and they said it was right. i said i think i'll hang it on the wall as a reminder.

But now i hope i have is sorted. i have spoke to Rob at titan reloading and he said he can sent via snail mail. might take a few months but its £17 all in.

There is clearly some misunderstanding here activii. I have purchased parts direct from Lee previously and the postage was reasonable, certainly not anything like you quote. In fact the parts plus postage were still cheaper than I could buy in this country but most of all they had what I wanted and it only took a few days for the parts to arrive.
In your case the press that you have has a well known weakness/fault which is easily rectified by a modified replacement part. This part is usually in stock at Hannam's or Krank's.

I have had a Lee press fail on me. The threaded die holder area of the press sheared clean off when I was bumping back the shoulder on some 8x57irs cases. The press was over 20 years old and owed me nothing as that too was a gift. Lee make some useable kit and some of quite doubtful quality but all of it is cheap. They also make some that in my opinion can only be beaten at considerably greater cost. You pays your money and makes your choice. That is why my reloading kit is not at all colour co-ordinated and is from various manufacturers. Most of it I have had a considerable length of time. I probably would never buy a Lee press myself but wouldn't hesitate in suggesting that someone new to reloading buys a Lee cast iron challenger press.

 

[Selous]

Richard Lee states they are 3 times stronger than needed ??????

I wonder if he means you can load three cartridges before it breaks!? I'm sure he is talking about acute load to failure when tested using an instrument testing machine. The trouble is that this is unlikely to reproduce the method of failure unless you want to pull down on the handle until it breaks. In this situation it is almost certainly repetitive strain induce changes in the metal that have lead to work hardening and ultimately failure through a point of stress concentration. The material used (alloy) is suboptimal as it is relatively susceptible to repetitive fatigue. They try to get around the problem by increasing the dimensions of the handle. Steel would be better and titanium better still at resisting fatigue failure, though is more flexible than steel. I really can't see lee producing anything from titanium!

 

[techman]

Hi All, This happend to mine also. Managed to cobble bits together to finish the batch, then bought an RCBS one. No further problems.

 

[Muir]

That must have been a hell of a crimp.
Yeah, that link can break which is why Lee made a steel replacement. $252 shipping?? Doubt it. About $40 US for first class postage. I ship to the UK and on a 10 ounce part that's not happening. Fix it or sell it or set it aside.~Muir