I have been loading 12GA shot shells for years using a MEC loader. Lately, I have been shooting Trap with a 20GA as it has a lower recoil and is easier on the old bones. Since I didn't expect to reload a large volume of 20's I decided to try the Lee, as it was a third the price of a new MEC. Knowing the Lee is mostly plastic, I didn't expect it be as robust as the MEC but I did expect it to work well out of the box.
There are two extra steps in the loading process with the Lee but that is no big deal. (You must insert the empty shell into a resizing ring in step 1 and remove it during step 2/) In loading 100 shells, it occasionally failed to drop all the shot. You don't realize this until you remove the shell from station 3, and in doing so the remaining shot will drop. Though it is only 7/8 oz of shot, those little buggers bounce everywhere! After 1 or 2 occasions, you begin to slap the side of the loader to make sure all the shot drops when it is supposed to! Problem solved. The problems just listed are small and acceptable. The last issue that caused me to return the item, was poor and inconsistent crimps! I was loading Winchester target, Remington Gun Club, Rio, and AA cases. The AA cases were the only ones that crimped properly. The others crimped well only some of the time. And, before you ask, I used the proper crimp starter for each type of case.
To quote my wife, "You know you get what you pay for!" Save up a few more dollars and buy a MEC. You will be glad you did!
