I ordered Lee dies for 9mm and 380 from MidwayUSA the end of May. Of course they were out of stock but accepting backorders. Originally they were expected to ship the middle of June and first part of July. As the weeks went by the expected delivery date continued to push farther and farther into the future. When the expected delivery dates reached August and September I decided I didn't want to wait that long.
So I went to the Lee web site and ordered the dies directly from the factory. They said that their normal delivery time was 2 weeks but because of the high demand they said not to contact them about the order until at least 4 weeks had gone by. Well, even 4 weeks would be quicker than August and September, I said to myself.
Imagine my suprise when I arrived home from work Friday afternoon. It didn't take 4 weeks, it only took 4 days!!! The dies were the last piece of my reloading puzzle so it's off to the workroom I go to get some reloading done!
Oh, and like most things in life, there are tradeoffs. Speed vs Cost. Price from Midway with shipping, about $89. Price direct from Lee with shipping, about $123. It was worth it to me to spend the extra $34 and have the dies in 4 days instead of waiting until Midway could ship them - who knows when. Oh, and by the way when I went into Midway to cancel the backorders. One of the expected arrival dates had slipped to the end of October!
So, the moral of the story is: if you're wanting Lee dies, and you can't find them anywhere, and you can afford the price, they are available at the factory site, Lee Precision, Inc. Reloading Tools and Equipment, for a price.
So I went to the Lee web site and ordered the dies directly from the factory. They said that their normal delivery time was 2 weeks but because of the high demand they said not to contact them about the order until at least 4 weeks had gone by. Well, even 4 weeks would be quicker than August and September, I said to myself.
Imagine my suprise when I arrived home from work Friday afternoon. It didn't take 4 weeks, it only took 4 days!!! The dies were the last piece of my reloading puzzle so it's off to the workroom I go to get some reloading done!
Oh, and like most things in life, there are tradeoffs. Speed vs Cost. Price from Midway with shipping, about $89. Price direct from Lee with shipping, about $123. It was worth it to me to spend the extra $34 and have the dies in 4 days instead of waiting until Midway could ship them - who knows when. Oh, and by the way when I went into Midway to cancel the backorders. One of the expected arrival dates had slipped to the end of October!
So, the moral of the story is: if you're wanting Lee dies, and you can't find them anywhere, and you can afford the price, they are available at the factory site, Lee Precision, Inc. Reloading Tools and Equipment, for a price.
