Sunday, April 02, 2006

Lee Challenger

I've been reloading on a Lee Challenger Press for .. oh.. twenty years. I never saw any reason to upgrade. I bought it as part of a Challenger Press Kit, for roughly the same $50.00 they are selling for today. No, I didn't keep the receipt.

Anyway, today I was reloading a batch of .45 ACP and heard something snap. This press, please recall, has reloaded countless thousands of rounds of ammo. It has done a lot of full length resizing of magnum rifle brass. It has reloaded case after case of pistol ammo. It taught three boys to reload. It is currently teaching grandchildren to reload. It has been used, abused, and trifled with.



It appears I broke a Toggle Clamp Half.



Luckily, I was able to finish with my Hand Press. Last Christmas, I had considered buying a Classic Cast Press, but when I was ordering it, it was out of stock at the places I normally shop.

So, the question becomes: Do I upgrade, or do I fix the Challenger, or do I both?

Decisions, decisions.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You send the broken Challenger back to Lee for a free fix, and you also order a Classic Cast. Then you'll have two good presses. However, from what I hear Lee needs another factory to keep up with the huge demand for the Classic Cast.