Thinking About Lee Classic Turret Press

[jasonprox700]

I've been thinking about purchasing a Lee Classic Turret Press, but I have a few questions for those that have them.  I'm thinking about getting just the press, and then get the powder dispenser and primer later (if I find I want them).  I already have an RCBS hand primer and RCBS chargemaster. 

How do you like them?  For the price, they seem hard to beat.

How well does the powder dispenser work?  I have heard conflicting arguements on this.  I read an article from a guy who tested one.  He found that his loads varied by almost 2 grains from min to max.  Is that true?

Also, which turrets, 3 or 4 hole?  I will be reloading both pistol (.40 S&W) and rifle (.223/5.56) cartridges.

[nova71]

I have been using a three hole Lee press for over 20 years and it is still doing great. mine didn't have the powder dispenser (wasn't available at that time) and I bought a progressive press later with it and I never liked it, didn't use it. I didn't trust it. sold it and stayed with my 3 hole turret press. I use a Lee hand primer because I like to be able to feel it being seated, and I use a RCBS powder dispenser. I mainly like the idea of being able to change dies with just a twist and not have to reset everything . I reload nine different calibers so it was a no brainer for me. I have the round storage containers to keep them in and I am happy with it. ........ Larry(nova71)

[LONGTOM]

I use to have one and while it did ok for the price I didn't like the extra play it had when fully engaged.
Made adjusting the crimp die a little more of a pain than a single stage.
I still use my Lee single stage and love it.
I now own a RCBS 6 hole turrent press with extra heads.
Havn't had a chance to try it yet.



LONGTOM

[rdmallory]

I prime off the press but use the Lee disc powder drop and it works fine. You will need to get the adjustable powder bar for fine pistol load adjustments. And get the double disc set if you are loading Varget in the .223.

They only make the Classic in 4 hole. I use the sizer as a single stage then Powder, pullet, crimp with the other three as a turret.


Doug

[tacotime]

I've used one since 1985.  Generally good. Still going.  Older ones are 3 hole - that's what I have.  The bad: The auto index was poor on mine due to the plastic gear nut thing.  Index now discarded.  The powder dispenser occasionally hung up and didn't dispense, causing a number of primer-only rounds that squibbed.  I now prime and charge off the press and turn the turret by hand.

The thing that I question now is how the gap between the turret and the housing at the top allows the turret to pop up slightly when the ram is raised, but it's inherent in the design and has always been that way.  Still I may go to the cast breech lock press.

[dickttx]

I bought one (Classic) just before Christmas when Cabela's was having a decent sale.
Just got it going the past couple of weeks.  As I always have, I size by boxes of 50, then hand prime with a Lee auto-prime. 
I bought the auto powder dispenser about the same time as the press, but from Graf.  The first one they sent had lots of the teflon coating missing on the base.  Called Lee, they said it was Gran's problem.  Graf CS sent me another one and a prepaid RA to return the first one.  The second one was just like the first.  Called Lee again, they said send it back to Graf and have them send me one from a different lot.  Since they don't have a lot # on the dispenser or box that was hard to do.  Contacted Graf again.  They contacted Lee, who sent me another one.  Now I have two.  The teflon coating on the third one was OK, but the first time I used it the adjustable charge bar it made a couple of scratches on the teflon.?

Anyway, I had ordered a universal charging die, since all but my 9mm die sets are not Lee.  Got it all together and it drops almost perfect charges of Unique.  Finally, seating bullets (45 Colt) with an RCBS die, took awhile to get adjusted.  As noted in some of the other posts, there is slack in the turret, so that had to be allowed for.

All your dies will probably have to be reset because the turret is probably not the same thickness as where your dies screw into the single stage press.

I actually think I am going to like it and eventually start priming on it too.  Now it is just a convenient single stage.  I will probably eventually get all Lee pistol 4-die sets also.

It is very nice to just pop the turret in and out and be all set to go.  I am storing mine now in 39oz plastic coffee cans, along with the shell holder and case trimmer gauge and shellholder.

[Catfish]

I have been loading my own since 1965 and have owned several pieces of Lee junk over the years. Any more I will not buy anything made by Lee. It will not hold up to the volume I load and their die bodies are to short for my Dillon tool heads. There is a very good reason that Lee stuff is always the cheapest, but I think they are still way over priced.

[JustaShooter]

Catfish, I've asked you before but never got a reply - how much volume do you load that the Lee equipment doesn't hold up?  I've loaded 10s of thousands through the Lee Pro 1000 I have, if not more, and haven't had to do more than normal maintenance (other than self-inflicted damage, which Lee covered at no cost to me even after explaining I caused it).

I can't speak to the die body length issue - the Lee dies I have are as long as the RCBS and Redding dies I have and fit all of the presses I've used, but I don't have any Dillon presses so maybe it is a Dillon issue, not a Lee...

Just a Shooter

[billy_56081]

I have a LEE turret press I have personally loaded thousands of rounds on. I have never replaced even one part. Far from junk. I haveseveral turrets and keep my dies set up in them.

[McDerry]

Makes me wonder how I've loaded 30,000 rounds on my Pro 1000 over the last couple years...


The auto disk powder dispenser works better with ball and extruded powders versus the flake jobs.  Can't get the flakes to even remotely meter well on smaller cases.  but if its ball of a extruded powder they stay accurate to within .2 of a grain.   All I use for my pistol dies are the lee carbide dies. 

[quickdtoo]

Lee makes 3 turret presses, the 3 hole, 4 hole w/auto index and the Classic which is all steel and cast iron.

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1295595946.4257=/html/catalog/turretpress.html

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1295595946.4257=/html/catalog/turretpress.html#ClassicTurretPress

http://www.realguns.com/archives/122.htm

http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews2006/leeturretpress/index.asp

I've had a Lee Classic turret press for a few years, love it, but I only use it as a single stage, so can't help with the other features, dies are all adjusted and ready to load just by dropping a preloaded turret in the press, no removing and installing dies for each operation, just rotate the turret.

Every time I see someone dis Lee products, I think of Papajohn "complaining" about his Lee Turret press!  

Tim

http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/index.php/topic,19388.msg195341.html#msg195341

I sat down to load a few hundred 38's tonight, and my Lee Turret Press is exhibiting some wobble in the handle I've never felt before.  I'm thinking I may have finally worn it out!  It still works, but the handle swings from side to side, several inches, when it's in the lower end of its arc.

Cheap piece of junk has only loaded about 630,000 rounds in the last 20+ years, an average of 4 strokes of the handle per loaded round, a mere 2.5 Million operations performed without any problems.  I think I paid $59.00 for it back in the early 80's....well, what did I expect from cast aluminum?

Then again, it DOES still work......I guess I'll just keep cranking the handle until it falls off in a few more years!

Papajohn the Aluminum Abuser

[rdmallory]

The only thing I have replaced on mine is the wooden ball with a larger Q-ball. I had loaded so many rounds it was causing hand cramps.


Doug

[dickttx]

rd mallory

They only make the Classic in 4 hole. I use the sizer as a single stage then Powder, pullet, crimp with the other three as a turret.

When you do the powder, bullet and crimp do you put the auto-indexing rod in, then just pump the lever again to pass the sizer?

[rdmallory]

Powder drop and case expander Step one
Bullet seat Step Two
Case Crimp step three.

I leave the index rod in but depending on what I am loading I sometimes short stroke it and advance by hand past the 4th hole or 3rd and 4th hole if I am loading 5.7x28 which I don't crimp.


I keep the size/deprime in the 4th hole and use it as a single stage.

[maddogg]

No problems with mine I load 9mm,40 S&W, 38SP and 357 Mag.
I also prime by hand,and I would suggest the 4 hole turret with a  Lee Pro auto-disk powder measure.
Be sure you weigh the powder as the disks tend to through less than the chart says.