Speer dissing Lee?

[snapshotmd]

I just got my Lee collet dies for the 303 British and on the instructions was a disclaimer that Speer does not recommend Lee dies to seat their bullets. Well that's just convenient because I've got a whole load of Speer .311 bullets!

Do I need to get another die set? Anyone have experience on this?

 

[mike_in_md]

I just got my Lee collet dies for the 303 British and on the instructions was a disclaimer that Speer does not recommend Lee dies to seat their bullets. Well that's just convenient because I've got a whole load of Speer .311 bullets!

Do I need to get another die set? Anyone have experience on this?

I would load some up and see how you like them. I think that the issue may have something to do with the way the Lee dies crimps a rifle bullet. I think the bullet manufacture thinks that it hurts accuracy and Lee thinks that it helps accuracy. I'd let my gun decide

 

[Bootknife]

I have Lee Crimper dies that I use on Straight wall rifle/pistol loads for some time and I think it doe's help stabilize the velocities,The crony confirms that.They are plenty accurate enough for cowboy action as well.Just my 2 cents!

 

[Half-cocked]

I think Speer recommends against using the Lee Factory Crimp Die on its bullets, not sizing/seating dies in general.

And from what I've read, Speer is the only bullet maker that says this, and it's probably just legal "CYA" nonsense.

 

[Chris L]

Here's what Speer's website says:

Q.
I bought a reloading die set and there’s a note with the dies that says something like, “Speer does not recommend using their bullets with these dies.” What’s the deal?

A.
Speer never made such a broad recommendation. Speer’s recommendation is: Do not apply a crimp to any bullet that does not have a crimp groove. The die company in question markets a die to produce a “factory crimp” and recommends it be used on any bullet. Speer’s tests, and those by another bullet maker and an independent gun writer, show that crimping a bullet that doesn’t have a crimp groove degrades group size by an average of 40 percent. Other than the crimp die, we have no problem with our bullets in that firm’s dies, although our preference is for RCBS® products.
We express ours thanks to the die maker for allowing us to make contact with so many new SPEER customers.

 

[Bonanza]

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/faq/index.cgi

Speer Warning on Factory Crimp die

A few years back Speer ran some advertisements on the Factory crimp die, making claims that it destroyed accuracy, ruined bullets, etc. No other bullet manufacturer has a problem with it (Hawk bullet Co. recommends its use) so we included the warning in our instructions.

There is no safety issue in using Speer bullets in conjunction with the Factory Crimp Die.

 

[guthook]

I just got a set of Lee 8x56R dies yesterday. It states in the instructions:

"Speer advises that Speer bullets should not be used with certain Lee Dies. All other brands work great!"

Whatever.

 

[snapshotmd]

I just got a set of Lee 8x56R dies yesterday. It states in the instructions:

"Speer advises that Speer bullets should not be used with certain Lee Dies. All other brands work great!"

Whatever.

Yeah, I admit I ad libbed a little... I was at work when I posted I loaded 30 rounds of .303 with one reject. I didn't push down hard enough for the collet to size the neck down far enough. The bullet pulled out with the ram. The other reloads look alright. Haven't been to the range yet but we'll see how they do.

 

[Capt.Link.]

The post on not crimping non crimp groove type bullets is quite valid I wonder if Speer is concerned with the side wall construction of their bullets.

 

[guthook]

Yeah, I admit I ad libbed a little... I was at work when I posted I loaded 30 rounds of .303 with one reject. I didn't push down hard enough for the collet to size the neck down far enough. The bullet pulled out with the ram. The other reloads look alright. Haven't been to the range yet but we'll see how they do.

Wasn't bustin' on you at all.
Just pointing out the pissing contest the two companies seem to have with each other.

 

[K31]

F' Lee.

 

[Capt.Link.]

I don't really know of any war between the two and Lees not bad stuff been using some of my lee components for over 3 decades.

 

[GNLaFrance]

There is no pissing contest between Lee and Speer. They're not even competitors - Speer makes bullets and Lee makes reloading equipment. They're both serious businesses trying to make a buck in a very highly regulated and potentially litigious industry.

If one of them finds a potential safety issue or something that could affect the quality of the customer's ammo, then it's a good idea for them to speak up, don't you think?

The world has enough pissing contests going on as it is. I think the good people at Lee and Speer realize that.

 

[Capt.Link.]

Absolutely I agree I don't think the warning was for safety probably for performance some jackets are thin and the crimp die may injure them