Two things I'll mention. First, on the dies, they use a collet nut to hold the depriming/neck expanding pin in place. Which is fine, except that if you have to take that pin out for some reason, it may be damn near impossible to ever get it to stay in place; after you tighten it down, it may slip and won't deprime because it slid up, and you're not sure if the neck expander is doing its job. Had that happen a couple of times, only thing that fixed it was to get a new pin and collet nut and install them.
Yes, I considered using threadlocker on them, but if you do actually need to remove it later, that could make it fun.
Yes, I considered using threadlocker on them, but if you do actually need to remove it later, that could make it fun.
On the moulds, they used to use a setscrew in the side of one block to lock the bolt that holds the spruecutter in place. Now there's no setscrew, and every few casts you have to retighten the damn thing. Lots of fun. I don't know of they decided 'Good enough', or it saves a few pennies, but I wish they'd stuck with the old system.
Note: if you need the decapping rod/collet nut, they're less expensive from Midway than ordering them direct from Lee.
4 comments:
Shouldn't be too hard to drill & tap a setscrew hole. Any hardware store has the screws.
I degrease the stem and nut, then lube just the threads on the nut.
Started to comment, but it became rather lengthy. Email sent.
The decapping rod was designed to give and slide up should you try to deprime a off centered flash hole of a crimped primer pocket. If a Berdan case accidently got in the die it would slide up before breaking off (hey RCBS you hear me?) Most people who whine about Lee can complain about anything. It does what it's meant to do. It is not outrageously expensive and a new handloader can start up and be loading quality ammo in 15 minutes.
If you find the handle screws backing out, you may be beating the mold to death. Try peening the hole where it sits with a center punch. FWIW I have and use all kinds of equipt. It is a poor craftsman that blames the tool for his lack of skill. Just saying.
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