Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

[Snakum]

I just bought the Lee Breech Lock Challenger reloading kit and extra accessories from Midway and I am hugely disappointed. The following problems are preventing me from using it:

The Perfect Powder Measurer ... The "thimble" that is essentially the locking ring that sets the metering rod is missing completely. It was not in the box.

Also on the Powder Measurer we never could get a consistent load. When we looked down the hole where the hopper slides in there is something like styrofoam squeezed out between the joined parts, and powder is hanging up on it, of course.

The scale will not stay zeroed. I even finally broke out a level to ensure the surface was flat, and lubricated all the mating surfaces. It simply will not stay zeroed.

And on a minor note: the tapped hole on the press for attaching the primer deflector plate is stripped.


I have called Midway and they gave me an email address for Lee (Lee doesn't have one on their site) and it was kicked back. I tried calling the 800 number for Lee Precision around 5:00PM today and never got an answer nor a voicemail. I'm totally stuck here.

So I was wondering, is this a common problem with Lee products, or just the lower end stuff? Also, are they this hard to reach about issues, or is mine an isolated case? SHould I just return the whole thing and get the RockChucker from Gander, and if I do, am I still going to fight probelms with scales and powder measurers?

 

[Snakum]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

Nevermind. It's going back to Midway. Live and learn. I had folks on another site tell me it was a good first reloading setup. What a joke.

 

[Victor N TN]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

I have had good luck with their priming tools and decapping punches. Everything else is suspect to me. I have tried several of their presses and never had any luck with any of them.

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

The scale; nothing on a scale needs nor should be "lubed", all it needs is to be clean. If any beam scale won't atay zeroed (or read consistantly) it's because the pivots are dirty/rough or something is rubbing between the beam and scale body. It's easy to move the beam around so it makes contact with the body on that light scale but there is no way the razor pivots will be inconsistant of themselves.

If you want to find a product manufactor who is flawless about missing nuts or screws, good luck, I haven't done so.

Don't know what level of consistancy you expected from a volume dispensing powder measure but if this is your first effort you may very well be dissappointed by all of them. The Lee Perfect isn't perfect but it's not only inexpensive it's also perhaps THE most consistant measure available at any price for dispensing coarse grained powders.

 

[Snakum]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

I actually like the press and the quick-change die setup. It's just nothing <span style="font-style: italic">else </span>works.

Maybe if I cried and bawled on the phone and was generally pitiful they'd send me a new, higher end scale and powder measure and I could keep everything else.

 

[rommel500]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

I bought the same kit and so far for the money I am happy. I will agree the scale is crap so I bought an RCBS scale. I haven't had a chance to use the powder thrower yet but so far just checking it out it looks ok. I have a buddy who only uses Lee and his quite happy.

I de-primmed and sized 50 .223 cases last night and the press worked great. I bought a RCBS small base sizer die and a Redding competition seater die. So far its been working great.

 

[Snakum]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

I finally figured out the scale issue: after blowing out the zero screw nut and threads and all other parts with WD40 to ensure there was no dirt or anything binding it up, and ensuring it was on a perfectly flat surface, we found that the beam had to be placed in the pivot groove in a very specific manner for it to run consistently. Seems to work when we did that.

The powder measurer is toast though. The hard styrofoam-like that has squeezed out into the channel is enough to trap a very significant quantity of powder, which isn't released by tapping on it. You have to bang pretty hard to get the powder to drop thru. We couldn't scrape the protrusion off either. Hard stuff. This could build up on someone who wasn't aware and over charge a case considerably. I was a QA Engineer in mfg for almost ten years and I know stuff happens. But I am surprised they wouldn't pay more attention to this considering the possible consequences.

Fuzz ... I'm not trying to insult Lee. Don't take it personally. This is the kind of info I wish I'd had when I was deciding which kit to buy.

 

[mjb2]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

I'll agree with fuzzball here about the scale being adequate. The arm does need to be set just right on the razor/pivot edge, but it is very noticible when it is not. It is very sensitive to changes in weighed charges. Just "puff' a little air on it and see it move...It is as accurate as my digital scale when set up correctly.

The powder thrower - well, it sounds like you got a bad one. They also work very well when setup correctly and are very accurate and repeatable. They are also cheap enough that I bought several. One for .223 match loads, one for .308 and one for 9mm. I just set them to throw the desired charge and lock 'em down. I use the same powder/brass/bullet/primer combo so I only need to spot check the thrown charge when I first begin. Thay are that consistent. It is recommended that because the thrower is all plastic that you rub a dryer sheet on the thrower to help dispell any potential static charge that may affect the thrower. Running a bunch of powder thru it also works as the graphite coating on the powder seems to help "lube" the thrower.

 

[Victor N TN]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

Take it easy when you are "spraying" everything with WD40. It will kill powder and primers.

 

[Snakum]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

Thanks for the dryer sheet trick. I'll do that when I start again. Talked to Lee this morning (they had closed already yesterday and have no voicemail) and they are sending another powder chassis out asap. I can get by with it and start upgrading as I learn more. I still love the press and the quick-change die system and the primer loader. Pretty good engineering design.

Can someone recommend a scale that isn't quite as touchy?

 

[ejd049]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

The powder measurer does suck. It is way off on every drop!!!
The scales will lock on the desired weight by pushing the little black tab that sticks out on the lower right of the slider.

The best thing out off the kit was the press and hand primer!!!

 

[LoneWolfUSMC]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

I had a pre-breechlock kit. The Challenger press worked well until too many rounds of primer pocket swaging busted the linkage. Lee offered to replace the aluminum linkage for free or I could upgrade to the steel linkage at a cost (like $4). I slapped a steel linkage on it. Another member here sent me a Classic Cast and I have been rocking on that one and use the old Challenger as my backup.

I used the "safety scale" for awhile and produced some nice loads with it, but it's a pain to use quickly. I replaced it with a RCBS Rangemaster. The safety scale is now a backup.

I still use the Perfect Powder Measure. What it lacks in "feel" it makes up for in accuracy and value. I use mainly "stick" powders and it's relatively accurate. If I run it close to my change I rarely have to trickle, but I get an overthrow once in awhile. I prefer to throw a couple tenths low and trickle up and it runs pretty well.

It will be getting replaced this year with an automatic powder measure just for the speed. I don't have as much time for reloading as I used to.

 

[Quicky06]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

Dont take this the wrong way but i dont see how you can complain about a reloading kit that cost 100 bucks.

The scale is not the best but it gets the job done. I bough a charge master and will NEVER use another beam scale unless i get a promethus(whcih i wont).

The powder measure is a cheap piece of plastic and should be treated like one. Dont trust it. the only thing i ever used it for was throwing under and trickling up, for that it works good. For a $10 tool it gets the job done for the begginer.

The press is great i still use it for all my rifle loads. I like the lee breach lock more than the hornady lock n load. THHe press keeps kicking and as long as it doesnt fall apart it will atleast be used for to pull bullets.

The powder funnel works as good as any other.

The priming tool is great. Never had a problem. Youll find me every sunday night whatching the pacific and priming brass from that morning with a bin on each side. Ive never used the press to prime.


Just remember that you bought a 100 dollar begginers reloading kit. You get what you pay for. Youll use it for a while and start to realise what YOU want diffrent and start getting them.

The only thing i wish was diffrent was the ball on the press handle. It came loose and just got epoxied back on.

 

[rrflyer]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

Mines set up next to my dillon 650.

Its what I've loaded all my rifle rounds on. I think for the 85 bucks or whatever it is its a hell of a deal.


The powder measure has been very consistent with varget and RE15. +- .1 most of the time.

 

[KE5MUJ]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

I initially started with the Turret Press, didnt like it at all. I called Lee and they said send it back (BTW, dont try and call during lunch or after 430 CST, they wont answer)

I exchanged it for the classic Cast Press and very happy with it. The safety prime and depriming process is nice IMO.

I use the perfect powder peasure, charge low and then trickle up as stated earlier in the thread. Works great. No problem here with the scale either.

 

[Former0302]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

Take my opinion with a grain of salt, because I only have used Lee dies and presses and have only been reloading for a year, but all in all I've had pretty good luck with them.

I never liked the scale either, I upgraded to an nice digital pretty quickly (AcuLab).

I've had intermitant consistency from the powder measure (using Varget). I too drop under the charge I want and trickle up. Every once in a while it throws under or over by about a grain or two...enough to not trust it by itself when getting close to max charges.

When I received the 3 jaw chuck for their zip trim, it was constructed backwards... but their customer service sent me another one before I even got a chance to send the defective one back. Pretty good CS.

The zip trim's internal coil spring broke after a couple of months of hard use (trimming years of saved up brass), but I took it apart and it was a pretty easy fix. Been working fine since.

My .223 full length and seating dies get me within .001 to .002 of runout consistently and my .308 get me within ..002 to .004. That seems to be good enough to produce results similar to FGMM or better. Their collet dies are pretty good, and end up giving me about the same runout.

I use the press that came with the original kit for depriming brass and a turret press for everything else...mainly because I'm lazy and don't want to swap out dies all the time.

I'm know there is better equipment that will produce ammo within greater tolerances and more quickly...but for now I'm doing allright with the Lee stuff and it didn't break the bank to get started.

 

[kamaswing]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

I bought that same kit from midway.. It was on sale and a great price. To tell ya the truth thats the only way I could have talked my wife into buying it was the price. I received it and was very very disappointed! The whole thing is plastic!! I went and bought a new rcbs scale. The one that came in the kit I couldnt even balance. The powder thrower was junk. Went and bought a rcbs uniflo with stand. The only positive thing in the whole kit is the press. Im talking the rest of it is shit. The press has bushings that let you change out dies quick and easy. the way the spent primers get kicked out is freaking clean and sweet. I wish the bolts had a little more space between them to help them hold it down tighter, but in all for the price I would honestly save my money next time and get the RCBS kit. I spent just as much in upgrades as it would be to go get the RCBS kit.

 

[MLC]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

I personally prefer my Lee powder measure to the RCBS that came with my Rock Chucker kit.

 

[nhm16]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MLC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I personally prefer my Lee powder measure to the RCBS that came with my Rock Chucker kit. </div></div>

I agree. For the $20 I paid for mine it's been amazingly consistent with stick powders.

 

[RebelRouser]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

I only have the challenger press and use it for seating. I works very well for the peanuts it costed!

 

[One_Feather]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

Their priming tool rocks, had lots of probs with the powder measure that came with the turret press I think I eventually broke it from tinkering with it so much.

 

[oneshot onekill]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

I think I have the same kit but it was purchased a couple years ago and I just started using it.

I found the priming tool didn't seat the primers deep enough if you mean the one that works on the press itself. Even when I forced them harder than I should have it just flattened the primer.

The powder measurer works best if you tighten the screw on the side of the pivot to the point that it's hard to work the lever.

I bought a digital scale almost immediately and I weigh every powder drop. It's usually within a tenth or two straight from the measurer but I don't trust that plastic thing!

The press itself works as expected but I'll gradually replace almost everything else with more precise tools.

 

[pdogdown]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

It is the kit I started with because it is what I could afford and just upgraded around it by design. The powder measure throws Varget decent but made a horible mess when I tried the AA#7 when I tried to start reloading 9MM. She was wanting to shoot women's league so I convinced her to let me get a Hornady progressive LNL press. I have been really happy with that for pistol and even plunking .223 ammo. I like the press. I am giving my dad my Lee setup for .270 for what little he shoots and wanted to keep the press so I bought him one of the cheap smart reloader ones. The SmartReloader one is absolute junk (their small one, I here the bigger one is decent) and I took it back.
Also for .223 I really like the lee collet die for giving just a smidge of tension over the Hornady's dies I had been using for it. Just got my S-type redding and 200 pieces of new lapua brass so hopefully I got the right bushing. Going to the garage to work on that now. Wish me luck.

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

"Fuzz ... I'm not trying to insult Lee. Don't take it personally. This is the kind of info I wish I'd had when I was deciding which kit to buy."

Not s personal thing to me at all, different opinions aren't personal attacks. ??

Lee is NOT my favorite brand for much (love those collet neck sizers, Factory Crimp Dies, Auto Primes and case trim tools tho) but all WORK!

I have a much more costly Redding powder measure. I drop coarse powder charges light and trickle up; that's necessary with them all. My young friend's Lee Perfect simply has less varation between dropped charges of coarse powders than any measure I've ever used and that's most of the common types.

I do have - and hate, so I very rarely use - that little Lee scale but it WORKS! My RCBS 1010 (Ohaus made really) or the 505 or Redding, etc, beam scales are, IMHO, much better choices for powder weighing. (They're better than digitals too!)

Lee's presses and dies are very good tools for anyone. Well, EXCEPT the light alloy presses shouldn't be used to reform cases from one cartridge to another, that could overstress the design strenght. Lee's Classic Cast (steel) series presses are NOT so limited!

To the surprise of many, Lee's alum alloy presses ARE more rigid than cast iron presses so YOU can more easily load precision rifle ammo on your inexpensive press than I can on my cast iron Rock Chucker! (Not a guess, I've tested both the RC and Lee's presses and it's a fact; within their strength, Lee's often maligned alum "pot metal" presses ARE more rigid! That's also info you need to consider when you try "up-grading.")

 

[Snakum]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

I got the missing pieces from Lee the other day and installed everything. But the powder thrower was still so inconsistent I gave up on it. Once I figured out the trick to making the scale work properly/repeatably I just started spooning it in. I've gotten pretty fast with the old teaspoon and I know the powder is correct every single time.

I don't imagine many folks trust any measurer for precision shooting loads, do they?

I've grown to like the press even more now that I've run about 300 rounds thru it. I even prefer the 'pressed' primer operation to the hand primer - and I've used both - though I could never get the auto feed to work properly.

To someone's point up there ... yes, I do indeed expect every single piece of an $89 kit to work properly. And the fact that some of you do not is a pretty sad commentary on our increasingly lowered expectations of quality and customer service.

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

"the powder thrower was still so inconsistent...I don't imagine many folks trust any measurer for precision shooting loads, do they?"

Most any powder measure will work pretty consistantly with fine grained powders, none will work consistantly with coarse powders. You still don't tell us what inconsistancy you are getting or with what powder so it's impossible to say if what you're getting is "normal" or not.

BR competion is normally at 100 and 200 yards. Few of those shooters bother to weigh charges but they do use fine powders. Only at much longer ranges, perhaps 400+ yards, does the velocity spread become significant for groups and weighing become very helpful. But, many of the rest of us do it anyway.

 

[EddieNFL]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> I don't imagine many folks trust any measurer for precision shooting loads, do they?</div></div>

I'm one of the few.

See Fuzzball's post.

 

[rockn30809]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

At least you are loading now. I bought a challenger kit when I first started loading and it has worked good for me thru the years. I have been pretty happy with everything but the scale, upgraded to a 505 with a month of getting my equipment. Lee scale works but just wasn't impressed with it. I also upgraded to the ball cutter for the trimmer. Hope to upgrade to a real trimmer one day. The measure is hardley used, I use the dippers.

 

[Snakum]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

Yep ... it's nice to be rolling my own. It's kind of fun messing with this stuff and trying to get as precise as humanly possible with the equipment. I figured last night it's costing me roughly .55 cents per round, too.

Is there a thrower that works with the cylindrical-shaped powders? As near I can tell from weighing the charges the Lee unit varies at least .2 grains so I have to throw light and trickle it in to make it perfect. .2 grains will make a significant difference (as I found out the hard way

).

 

[DAFAR]

Re: Lee Challenger kit is very disappointing.

You know I can not comment on the scale because I have never used the Lee scale. I will admit the scal looks pretty chinsey.
However as far as the rest of the lee stuff goes I have used it almost exclusively for twenty years and I love it. The one exception is thier priming mechanism on the pro 100 is trash. However the way I load with the three station press it has no effect on me.

 

[Vinootz]

it’s an okay starter press. Over time you can upgrade and still use the Challenger for certain things.

 

[RegionRat]

it’s an okay starter press. Over time you can upgrade and still use the Challenger for certain things.

The thread is pretty old. The last time the OP was seen in the forum was 2014.
Nothing wrong with dragging up an old thread, but to see if the folks you are commenting to are still around, hover your cursor over their avatar and you will see a little pop up window that shows when the last time they were seen. That way, you know you are talking to someone who is either still active, or wasting your breath on someone who is long gone.... YMMV