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The short answer is no.
Used to be that you could get into reloading for about $100. The Lee Reloader “C” press with the Lee load manual could be had for about $30. Add the rest of the basics needed, all Lee Precision of course, and you could load for a single cartridge, handgun or standard rifle cartridges (sorry, magnum cartridges need a larger press) for a Benjamin invested in that basic equipment.
Today the Lee Reloader press as a stand alone unit is selling for about $55. Still the cheapest game in town, but add the rest of the basics, and you are now up to twice what it used to be only a couple of short years ago to get started.
And Lee is no longer the best value in reloading equipment. Sure, the Reloader press is the cheapest bench mounted press I know of, but step up to the Challenger press and you are now out of pocket $100. You are now at the cost of the RCBS Partner press. If you want to move away from an aluminum press, that same $100 will get you the Lyman Brass Smith C style press.
Move on up to the Lee Classic Cast single stage and you are now on equal cost with some serious competition. The RCBS Rockchucker, Redding Big Boss, and Lyman Brass Smith Victory, and you are within $10 of the MEC Marksman.
Lee still has a solid value in the Classic Cast Turret. Even at its new cost of about $190 it’s still $30 below the cost of the competitions turret presses.
I cut my teeth on RCBS, and am fond of Lyman. The Hornady Iron press it the best I have ever owned, but I have a soft spot for Lee Precision. They got me back into reloading after the great fire of ‘99. They were all I could afford at the time. But if I were to be in the same spot today at the prices available today, I would hardly give Lee Precision a second look. Their only saving grace in my minds eye is the Classic Cast Turret Press. A very capable press that seems to be about the only thing in their lineup that comes in at a price point below their competition. Right or wrong, that has always been where I think Lee Precision has shined. Equipment that’s good enough at a very good price point.
Used to be that you could get into reloading for about $100. The Lee Reloader “C” press with the Lee load manual could be had for about $30. Add the rest of the basics needed, all Lee Precision of course, and you could load for a single cartridge, handgun or standard rifle cartridges (sorry, magnum cartridges need a larger press) for a Benjamin invested in that basic equipment.
Today the Lee Reloader press as a stand alone unit is selling for about $55. Still the cheapest game in town, but add the rest of the basics, and you are now up to twice what it used to be only a couple of short years ago to get started.
And Lee is no longer the best value in reloading equipment. Sure, the Reloader press is the cheapest bench mounted press I know of, but step up to the Challenger press and you are now out of pocket $100. You are now at the cost of the RCBS Partner press. If you want to move away from an aluminum press, that same $100 will get you the Lyman Brass Smith C style press.
Move on up to the Lee Classic Cast single stage and you are now on equal cost with some serious competition. The RCBS Rockchucker, Redding Big Boss, and Lyman Brass Smith Victory, and you are within $10 of the MEC Marksman.
Lee still has a solid value in the Classic Cast Turret. Even at its new cost of about $190 it’s still $30 below the cost of the competitions turret presses.
I cut my teeth on RCBS, and am fond of Lyman. The Hornady Iron press it the best I have ever owned, but I have a soft spot for Lee Precision. They got me back into reloading after the great fire of ‘99. They were all I could afford at the time. But if I were to be in the same spot today at the prices available today, I would hardly give Lee Precision a second look. Their only saving grace in my minds eye is the Classic Cast Turret Press. A very capable press that seems to be about the only thing in their lineup that comes in at a price point below their competition. Right or wrong, that has always been where I think Lee Precision has shined. Equipment that’s good enough at a very good price point.