Good starter kit but misleading picture - Lee Breech Lock Challenger Kit

First off, please note that this kit DOES NOT come with the red box of Universal Shell Holders pictured in the photo!! The photo is actually just a collection of Lee products and is not 100 percent accurate in depicting what you will get!

My kit included: Challenger Press / Perfect Powder Measure / Scale / Hand Primer (the LEE Autoprime, which is not the one shown here) and autoprime shell holders / primer pocket cleaning and chamfer tools / Lee Value Quick Trim case trimmer crank (die not included) / Lee drill bit case trimmer / press primer attachments and spent primer tube / tube of Lee Case Lube.

I spent over an hour on the phone with Optics Planet and Lee Precision trying to get this figured out. If you look at the Lee website, the Breechlock Challenger kit photo there is consistent with what I did (and didn't) get, but one reason I ordered from Optics Planet was because I needed the Universal Shell Holder kit! OP finally admitted the mistake and sent me a free box of universal shell holders, which was super cool of them, but there's no excuse for a company advertising a kit as including items it does not- so, buyer beware, (and hopefully OP changes this photo so there's no more confusion!)

As far as the kit itself, I'm really happy overall. I'm a novice reloader, so I didn't want to get in over my head at first, and I'd say that this kit is perfect for starting out. The press seems beefy and I've thus far deprimed and sized about a hundred cases- it works smooth. Make sure you clamp it solidly to your workspace because you need to be able to really torque on it when you full-length resize!

The scale is very sensitive and a little finicky to set up if you have big fingers, but it seems to be right on when zeroed correctly and referenced against my digital scale. Keep in mind that any little breath of air will move it, even just a sigh or the motion of a fan in the room.

The perfect powder measure is... ok. After I threw like 50 loads of 23 grains it began to get more and more consistent, so give it some time to break in. I don't think the measurement gauge is very accurate- I referenced it using the analog scale and my digital scale and then converting grains to ounces, and it consistently threw low... I think it's probably best suited for throwing a load that is close (just find the setting by weight, ignore the numbers), and then using a powder trickler to finish the job slowly. I certainly would not feel comfortable with a "set and forget" approach- but maybe that will change as it breaks in a little more...

The hand primer is cool, though it's pretty "plastic" feeling. Seems to seat primers just fine, and I have no complaints. I sort of dislike the priming system on the ram itself, though it does work (and you get one for small and one for large primers). The hand primer gives you a better feel for how the primer is slipping into the pocket, and I like that it comes with a bunch of sizes of shell holders.

The case trimming accessories are hit and miss- the one intended to be used in a drill is pretty disappointing, though useful enough in a pinch... you have to buy caliber specific guides and shell holders for it though, which will run around 7 bucks each... they work ok but not great, and the one I bought for .223 seems to be canted slightly. I did find that once I had the shell holder (purchased separately) and drill chuck I could use them to spin cases for cleaning with steel wool, and it makes chamfering the cases with the included tool a little easier. The Value Quick Trim crank is great, but you have to buy separate dies for each caliber to use it. The die mounts in the press and the crank slides in the from the top. The crank is adjustable and fairly precise. I purchased a .223 die for it and my cases come out nice and consistent, so the extra bucks for the die is totally worth it in my book and its a MUCH cheaper option than the benchtop case trimmers (which I have not used).

Finally, the primer pocket cleaner works fine (though it will not get rid of military crimp on 5.56). The chamfer tool is meh because it's hard to hold and pretty flimsy. The Lube is great- water soluble and I have yet to dent a case!

Overall a great starting kit that I've had a lot of fun with so far. You will need more stuff (most importantly, quality digital calipers and some sort of case checking tool, as well as your dies for each caliber) but this is enough to get you started. Be safe!