What Dies to Use With Lee Breech Locks

Lee Precision is company that specializes in manufacturing equipment for metallic cartridge hand loading and reloading. This allows individuals to make their own metallic cartridges at home (for use in shotguns, rifle and pistols) as opposed to buying them from the store. Dies are the objects inserted into the press that are used for removing spent primers, seating and crimping the bullets, and various other stages of the hand-loading process. The Lee Breech Lock system, used on most of the company's single-stage reloading presses, allows for more rapid removal and installation of dies, provided the dies being used are compatible with the Lee Breech Lock system.

  1. Reloading Dies

    • Reloading presses can be used for hand-loading a wide variety of pistol and rifle cartridges. The primary change that must be made to switch between cartridges is to change the dies: the dies are the metal cylinders into which the cartridge is pressed to perform a number of operations. Though the steps differ based on the shape of the cartridge, the general functions of reloading dies include the following:

      Decapping (remove the spent primer)

      Resizing the case back to factory dimensions

      Expanding the case mouth to accept a new bullet

      Seating the new bullet in the case

      Crimping the case mouth around the bullet to hold it tightly in place

    Interchangeability

    • Reloading dies, regardless of the brand of the die or the press in which they are being used, are essentially interchangeable. This means that a Lee press which uses the Breech Lock system will accept dies from a wide variety of other brands and manufacturers. The only exception to this rule is "large" series dies, used for 0.50 caliber and larger cartridges. These dies are only designed to be used in certain larger presses. For increased compatibility of parts, however, it is generally recommended that Lee Precision dies be used with a Lee Precision press.

    Lee Breech Lock System

    • The advantage to using Lee Breech Lock system is that dies are able to be inserted or removed with considerably less effort than traditional dies, which have to be screwed into place. To use it, the die of your choice is inserted into the Lee Breech Lock Quick Change Bushing. The Lee Breech Lock Quick Change Bushings have two smooth sides and two threaded sides.

      The user simply inserts the die and bushing combination into the press with the smooth sides of the die touching the threaded portion of the press. Once the die is inserted all the way, twist the die 1/16th of a turn to the right to tighten it in place.

    Die Sets

    • To ensure consistency of quality in reloading, the hand-loader should purchase dies in a set. Die sets for rifle calibers will typically include three dies: a full-length resizing die, a bullet seating die and a factory crimp die. Die sets for pistol calibers should include four dies: a full-length resizing die, a case flaring die, a bullet seating die and a factory crimp die. Additionally, for pistols, a set of carbide dies is recommended as they will not require any case lubrication. Otherwise, lubricant must be applied to each case to work it in and out of the dies.