LEEEE Reloading equipment. Thoughts? Recommendations?

The more powder that's in a case, the less important a tenth of a grain becomes. A tenth of a grain in a 9mm casing is alot, in a 338 it's not.

I don't get too excited about tenths when loading for my rifles as long as I'm +/- .2gr I can live with that.

I know its anal of me but since I like to shoot the 338 Rem Ultra Mag really far (for fun not to hunt) I want to be as consistant as possible.

When I am shooting for the 600 yard gong and accross the valley at the 1,100 yard gongs a few tenths of a grain can make a big difference.

Within 300 yards probably not so much, and most hunting ammo, like my .35s I just trust the Lee powder measure.

Its my big rifles that even though I know a tenth of a grain is not going to make a big deal, I just have to try to be as consistant as possible.

When I load for my 338-378 Weatherby I am just as bad even though I know a slight fraction does not matter.

I have been using reduced charges in 338-378 Wby because it kicks the living crap out of me even though it weighs in at nearly 14 pounds.

I need to send the 338-378 Wby to EA Brown for a JP howitzer muzzle break, but the diameter of the barrel might be too thick as it is almost 1.5" at the muzzle.



My wife is also tired of the brown truck showing up with 8 lb canisters of Retumbo every other month and getting the credit card bill.

Mohunter makes a good point. When you've got a .22lr with 1.72 grains (I weighed one) then +/- 1 grain is HUGE!!!

with a 458 lott, +/- 5 grains isn't even that much.

So yeah, i'm with scorge... if I'm loading for a magnum rifle and my whole batch is 20-60 rounds, why not be precise. When I'm firing some keith bullets at paper from my dictator, i'm not too worried about a couple of tenths of a grain variation.

But for the hunting loads, I'll work-up some real sexy charges with premium bullets and weigh all the powder... and... and... I get excited just thinking about it!!

I have been using Northwest Custom Projectiles for my all out hunting and shooting loads in my Savage .300 Win Mag.

http://customprojectile.3dcartstores.com/30-Cal-RBT-AT-180_p_42.html

These suckers are expensive and at nearly $2 per, the wife raises holy hell but they work like a champ. I shot a Nilgai in Texas at a laser measured 344 yards and it punched a hole big as a tangerine. Wish I could have recovered that bullet.

Same hunt on another day I hit an Ibex at a uphill quartering away shot that I goofed the lead and hit him in the neck. Made a real bloody mess. But dropped him dead in his tracks.

I wish NWCP would make that 30 cal bullet in a 220gr .338 same configuration.

All of this ammo I loaded on Lee dies supplemented by CH4D, Redding, RCBS, etc.



Hard to tell from the pic but I shattered the aluminum bedding on the lower old stock that we cut open with a bandsaw, when this rifle was converted from .308 to .300 Win Mag. Newer stiffer stock, with reinforced bedding and larger stiffer pillars and a full bedding job.

I have always believed that a poor craftsman blames the tools.

You and I have very similar taste when it comes to cartridges!
Unfortunately I can't afford brass and bullets for the .338 lapua (one of my faves) or the .338 RUM. I've been lusting after a .300 win mag for a while now.

That's a great looking rig you have there!
As for your hunting stories, that's just the kind of stuff I like to hear about!

Oops realized I screwed up - that Savage conversion is a .300 WSM, not .300 Winchester Mag based on the old .375 H&H.

Rifle started life as a .308 and is now a .300 WSM converted by Grumpy's here in Granite Falls. Only holds 2 though - one in the pipe and one in the mag.

Mea culpa!!!

The difference realiztically between the .338 Lapua, and the .338 RUM is so slight to be near identical.

My monster bashing .338-378 Wby holds about 11 gr more powder and gives about 110 more fps, near negligable at 1,100 yards and no animal is going to suffer for lack of 110 fps.

Dies for my Wby though are near $250 and one nice thing about the old pedestrian .338 WM is dies are cheap.

My Ruger 77 tang safety 338 WM maybe old and nothin fancy but she gets the job done as long as I do my part. Does not kick the stuffin out of me either.

When you get into some of these crazy calibers - Lee does not make dies although I have heard good things about Lee custom service.

Another forum that I was member of that died a slow lingering death due to moderator/owner neglect did several Lee custom order molds on a group buy. I still have all the diagrams from the molds as I was part of the pressure testing and evaluation team.

I was able to convince my 1st SGT to bring me on active duty and use my contacts in the Guard to test and evaluate the bullets. And I got college credit for it too - how sweet is that!!

I have been considering talking to members here if they would be interested in another group buy of these molds. I have always wondered if Lee kept the cherries, but have never asked. IF they have the cherries, startup and tooling costs might be less. Something I have been mulling since I saw this forum's birth and rise.

Probably should start another topic for the Lee mold idea rather than hijack this one though ....

I'm looking for pics for that Ibex and Nilgai they are around here somewhere. I just went to digital year before last - because I had to, not that I wanted to.

as far as lee products go i love them basicly everything i use is lee i love my single stage press i actually have a 150 dollar redding trimmer and i use the lee hand trimmers by the time i set the redding up and have it ready to cut i can already have the whole batch done with the lee hand trimmers i dont have a turret press so i cant give you an opinion on that but as far as lee as a brand goes get lee you want be disapointed and you can take all that money you saved and get some good bullets!

I too agree with Dart - I love the Lee products.

My $10 Lee swap meet special 30-06 and 7mm Rem Mag dies load pretty darn good ammo on my $20 single stage Lee O Classic press.

I have abused my press using a 4' and 5' cheater bar to swage pulled SS109 bullets and just about every other thing you are not supposed to do.

I have never had an issue other than some rust on the press and that is because I live in the soggy PNW where we get liquid sunshine all the time!!

A trip in the sand blaster cabinet and then get squirted with some Ceramacote from Brownells followed by a trip into the wife's stove while she is visiting family and its all good!!

I love the Lee trimmers - they are nearly soldier proof!!

I really liked the Dillon power trimmer set up we had at the Armory but it cost near $800 all told and was a group buy. But for doing small lots of non-military brass and a little cussing when I get a military case - the Lee trimmers are great.

Where else can an $8 trimmer do thousands of cases without failure. Some have complained about the cutter getting dull but I have yet to have that problem.

I did not like the Zip Trim though. I broke mine three times and finally told Midway to credit me the cost rather than replace it and I will go back to a 3/8 drill.

I did keep the jaw chuck though from the Zip Trim and chucked it in my drill and that holds every cartridge but the big stupid stuff without having to find the right shell holder.

BTW if anyone wants a bunch of misc loose Lee shell holders for the hand held trimmer hit me up. I have a box of them that I keep meaning to toss in the recycling bin.

Definately get the ball trimmer though and stuff the large trim cutter in a ball too. When I replaced the handle on my press with something with more leverage and grip, I took the old wooden ball and drilled it out to hold the large Lee cutter.

Buried the Lee large cutter in the old wooden ball with some Devcon and a few taps of a rubber mallet when I was glass & pillar bedding a Contender forend. Great use for some extra glass bedding compound.