lee classic turret press kit

Can you find it? I've been looking for the Lee Classic Turret Press with no luck.

Good quality kit - yes
Good kit for a 1st timer - debatable

I have one and it serves its purpose well.

If you search this forum you will find tons of threads on these very topics.

Yes it is a quality piece of gear. I have the Lee 4-hole turret press and really enjoy it. I bought it from fsreloading.com. The site indicates that Lee Precision is 4-5 weeks behind due to recent surge in demand.

The LCT is what I started with and I have no complaints. I got comfortable with 45acp and now also reload 9mm. I'm now getting set up for reloading 223.

I just started reloading and would some day like to get the Lee Turret Press. To get me started I went with the Lee Hand Press, because it takes the same dies as bench mounted press and it was only $35.

I started on a LCT too, still use it and it has been perfect.

I started with the 5 hole turret.
I figgered I'd eventually end up wanting it anyway, so I just went with it. No regrets.

It's just how I roll.

I would say out of all of the presses I have ever owned the Lee turret I had was the best value. Paid $20 for it used with extra turrets and two die sets.
I gave it to a good friend 10 years ago when he wanted to start reloading, it has been all he has ever wanted.

I started on a Lee Classic Turret a couple of years ago. Couldn't be more pleased. It's everything I could ask for in a press.

One thought. Don't get a kit. There are items you'll want to upgrade on, and after you do that, you'll find that the kit didn't save you any money.

Case in point. The Lee Safety Scale. Forget it, and get a more usable scale. My humble suggestion is an RCBS 502 or 505, or equivalent. And the Lee standard Auto Disk powder measure. Forget it, and get the Pro auto disk powder measure.

My LCT has thousands of rounds under it's belt and I've never had an issue with it. The only dislike I can think of is that the pro powder measure tends to rotate itself to the off position as you load. I just made a little filler plate to prevent it from rotating.
Mine stays set up for .45acp most of the time, but I have several turrets so each is set for my popular calibers. One extra is available for infrequently loaded calibers or my buddies calibers.

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Had mine for 3 years; never had a problem;loading 357 mag, 9mm. Only have about 5000 loads through it.

This one.....great! Have one now and use it for 13 calibers, love it.



This one.....not so great. Had one in my youth, snapped the handle in half once, snapped a turret ring another time. And it has no good means to catch the spent primers. Pain in the butt, I gave it to my brother years ago, I think he still uses it for minor things.



Oh, and I agreed about the Lee Safety Scale. It'll work, and it's accurate, but it's not very user friendly. An RCBS 5-0-5 is far better.

Check out Kempf's to get one of their 'kits'. It's not the typical kit you'd get at a 'big box' store. You can call them to customize the kit to what you want to load. When I ordered mine from them a few years ago, they put together a kit with .223, .45 ACP & 9mm. They'll be able to steer you in the right direction and get you set up with what you need. I don't think they sent me anything that I didn't need.

Unarguably the absolute best 4-hole autoindexing turret on the planet

Of course, only Lee makes any autoindexing turret press and, as rondog pointed out, superior to the other one Lee makes (the Deluxe). The Classic is cast iron and steel. The deluxe is aluminum and steel.

The Classic has a 1" taller opening, drops its primers down through the hollow ram whose diameter is larger than the Deluxe's (leading to better alignment and longer wear) and has better leverage in the linkage, which is stronger, to boot.

Other turret preses exist, but none autoindex (which you can turn on or off, at will) and all the others (while they have more die stations) have higher prices on their spare turrets. All turret presses have to have some movement (or "slop") to allow the turret to rotate at the operator's will. Other turret presses also have their turrets secured on a center post allowing the turret to tilt. The Lee has its turret secured around the periphery, in a ring. The turret can lift, but lifts straight up.

Yes jb27, Kempf's kit is excellent and Sue Kempf is VERY good to work with. Kempf's is the only ket I recommend, as it allows you to avoid the Lee Scale (not a bad scale, it is as accurate as any, but if you can't get used to a vernier you will hate it). It also only weighs up to 110 grains.

Lost Sheep

I started with a pair of used Lee Pro 1000 and after about 2000 rounds decided it was too much for me. I sold them both and bought a Lee Classic Turret and a Lee Classic Cast. I load 9mm, 45 ACP, 45 Colt and 45-70 on the LCT and use the LCC for black powder shot shells, sizing lead bullets and anything else I need an extra station for.

hey_poolboy said:

My LCT has thousands of rounds under it's belt and I've never had an issue with it. The only dislike I can think of is that the pro powder measure tends to rotate itself to the off position as you load. I just made a little filler plate to prevent it from rotating.
Mine stays set up for .45acp most of the time, but I have several turrets so each is set for my popular calibers. One extra is available for infrequently loaded calibers or my buddies calibers.

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Click to expand...

Take the Hopper off, look at the bottom. Tighten that screw just a touch.

Sent from my CZ85 Combat

I followed Lost Sheep's advice several months ago and went with the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit from Kempf's, and I have absolutely no regrets. For me, the turret process just makes sense. 4 pulls of the lever = 1 loaded cartridge.

If you want to start out slow and batch-load (as you would on a single stage press) just take out the auto-index, or do what i do...just don't lower the ram all the way.

I think it is the perfect press for beginners.

The Lee Classic Cast is a GREAT first press. That's what I started on and it has served me very, very well. No complaints.

If you want to use it as a single stage press then just remove the index rod (takes maybe 5 seconds with no tools).

If you want to load at a faster rate then leave the index rod in. Using that press I've loaded:

45 acp
38 spcl
357 mag
44 spcl
44 mag
41mag
10mm
45 colt
7mm rem mag
30-06
243

It loads them all well. Changing calibers is fast and cheap. I have a separate turret for each caliber (at 8 bucks each it's pretty cheap). It takes me maybe 20 seconds to change calibers.

I'd recommend that press to anyone starting out...it's really that good a deal.

I like mine so well that my old RockchuckerII seldom sees action.

Don"t get them mixed up

gspn said:

The Lee Classic Cast is a GREAT first press. That's what I started on and it has served me very, very well. No complaints.

If you want to use it as a single stage press then just remove the index rod (takes maybe 5 seconds with no tools).

If you want to load at a faster rate then leave the index rod in. Using that press I've loaded:
(edited for brevity)
I'd recommend that press to anyone starting out...it's really that good a deal.

Click to expand...

The Lee Classic Cast is a single stage press. The Lee Classic Turret is a Turret press. They share the same operating lever at the bottom end, but the uppers are completely different.

Lee could use a better naming convention, but what else is new?

Lost Sheep

I started on a LCT 5 years ago and load every thing on it.
I was given a RCBS Rockchucker II and I'm going to start loading all my rifle and SP rounds on it.
Is a LCT a great press yes it is.

Lost Sheep said:

The Lee Classic Cast is a single stage press. The Lee Classic Turret is a Turret press. They share the same operating lever at the bottom end, but the uppers are completely different.

Lee could use a better naming convention, but what else is new?

Lost Sheep

Click to expand...

There is also the Classic Cast Turret press. I have the 4 hole, and I think there is an older 3 hole version. (limited edition maybe)

joeschmoe said:

I think there is an older 3 hole version. (limited edition maybe)

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Lee's 3-hole turret has been around for years and used to be called the Deluxe Turret Press. Now you can get it in a 4-hole version as well as the original 3-hole version.

The "Deluxe" turret uses the same aluminum base as the Pro-1000 press. The Classic Turret uses a stronger cast iron base but operates exactly as the aluminum-based (4-hole model) does.

Lost Sheep