It is easy to get into the weeds when loading your own ammunition. With all the bullets, powders, die sets, presses, tumblers, and case trimmers on the market, it can be intimidating to start, particularly if you prefer a simple setup that won’t take up too much space in a busy home. I am one of those people and the Lee Hand Press is the setup I ultimately landed on. After fifteen years of use, here are my thoughts on it and how it stacks up to other competing options.
The Lee Hand Press: What Is It?
Lee Precision has been making reloading equipment for seven decades. While Lee is not known for sophistication, they are unrivaled in cost-effective solutions to get the most mileage out of your equipment. Lee’s first product was the Lee Loader. That unit allows you to literally hammer together new ammunition out of fired cases. The Loader is still made today and it was the setup I first started with. But it is not as versatile as it seems. If you want a new caliber, you must buy another set in that caliber. Rifle loaders only neck size the case, so you can’t use reloaded ammunition between different rifles. There is also the need to de-prime, resize, and seat bullets with a hammer. Not exactly quiet. I went the next step up with the Lee Hand Press.
The Lee Hand Press measures in at just under a foot long and weighs just two pounds. It is an aluminum clam-shell style unit that features a stainless-steel piston that is grooved for Lee shell holders. The piston runs through a removeable breech block where the reloading dies are fastened.
The dies can either be screwed in directly released via a quick-change bushing that keeps the dies fixed at the desired depth when they are put back in place. This is a handy feature as the Lee Hand Press is a single-stage unit that performs one function at a time. It does not have the speed or output of a progressive press where expander dies, bullet seater dies, and crimp dies are in continuous use. The payoff is size, as the Lee Hand Press and the essentials for reloading can be kept in a tackle box or a generously sized ammunition can. It also does not require a bench for mounting. Loading can be done at a table or even in your favorite recliner.
Tools of the Trade: Worthwhile Minimalistic Extras
Chances are that if the Lee Hand Press is appealing, so to are other reloading gear that is not too involved. Beyond case preparation equipment, I pair my Lee Hand Press with either a Lee Dipper Set or a Hornady Powder Scale for powder measuring and a Lee Ram Prime unit for priming cases.
Lee Hand Press Action
The Lee Dipper Set is just a set of scoops that easily measures out powder by volume, one scoop at a time. After consulting the reloading manual of your choice, select the dipper that throws that amount of powder. But that will leave you with dippers that you might not have a use for. In that case, a Hornady Powder scale takes up even less room, is slightly more precise, but is tedious.
Lee Ram Primer
Depriming empty cases is done with the decapping die in your reloading die set. Installing new primers is not covered and many setups involve separate units off the press. The Lee Ram Prime Unit’s rammer fits in the shell holder of the press while a threaded sheath holds a shell holder where a die would ordinarily be screwed in. Place a primer into the spring-loaded cup of the rammer and then fold the Hand Press to shove the primer into the empty case mounted at the top.
Quick Change Bushing
Operation
With simple single-stage presses that require the dies to come out with every stage of the reloading process, it is useful to go by operation, rather than by cartridge. First decapping, then re-priming, followed by running the case through the powder/expander die, and then the bullet seating die to finish the process.
Using the Lee Hand Press itself is straightforward. Opening the hinge exposes shell holder groove in the piston. Insert the required shell holder from your die set. To install dies, you can either thread them in directly into the breech block and make the necessary adjustments using the collar on the dies.
Bullet Resizing Kit
Alternatively, pressing the detent holding in the breech block allows for a quick twist to detach the die that is fixed in its place. This breech lock system is an excellent way to keep the reloading die at the appropriate setting. But more important is that it is quicker than taking the time to thread and unthread the dies in place. Since the Lee Hand Press ships with only one breech lock unit, I still take out my dies the old-fashioned way. But grabbing a few additional breech locks to accommodate the other reloading dies is not a bad idea.
The Lee Hand Press: Gateway Drug and Final Solution
If you are looking at getting into reloading without needing a full work bench, the Lee Hand Press is an excellent addition. The only major limitation is the sheer speed that this single-stage unit does have. If you are getting into competitive shooting or go through a high round count, you will be shucking away with this little unit for quite a while. But if you aim for a box or two of ammunition for the range or the hunt, the Lee Hand Press is a good end-all and be-all.
