Hand press or turret press

[Centurian22]

Ted beat me to it. The hand press is a great way to get started but if you can swing the money for the classic turret you certainly won't be disappointed in that either. For my LCT I built a very sturdy stand for it out of 2x3's just big enough for the press and a small space on either side for cases or bullets.



It doesn't look like much but it's solid and let's me load in the living room sitting with the wife instead of exiled to the basement. Space can be worked with for very little money and a bigger investment in creativity.

Good luck with your equipment choices.

 

[Lost Sheep]

So money isn't the tightest but I have comntemplated getting a Lee handpress.

I do like the price of the Turret press and am leaning towards that.

Anyone have experiance with the hand press? I wouldn't be loading massive amounts of rounds in one sitting, and range time has been scant lately. That being said I don't NEED to churn out 500 and hour or anything.

Either would work I just don't want to buy the hand press to just replace it with the turret later.

I like the portability and the fact that since I am tight on space the hand press might be up my alley.

This is what I was thinking about versus the classic turret four hole:

http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Precision-Cast-Reloading-Press/dp/B000NOQIFO

Please share your thoughts and experiences.

Don't buy for your current needs. Evaluate your needs for the near future. How many rounds will you be loading once you figure out how much more affordable it is, rolling your own?

We could target our advice better is you shared some information about yourself:

What calibers will you be reloading?

What quantities will you be reloading for those calibers?

How much time will you be willing to devote to those quantities

What is your budget?

How much space will you devote permanently to a loading area, if any? It is handy to have an area you always use, even if your press is portable.

How portable do you need it to be? Even a bench-mounted press can be.

What are your shooting goals? Cheap ammo? Ultimate long-range accuracy? Casual plinking, Serious competition - what kind? Cowboy Action Shooting? Strictly hunting?

I load for 6 calibers and everything I need fits in 3 medium sized toolboxes plus a folding workbench. Central to my setup is a Lee Classic Turret mounted on a folding workbench. I can set up anywhere in 10-12 minutes.

The Lee Classic Turret is far superior to the Lee Deluxe Turret and can take full length rifle cartridges where the Deluxe is a full inch shorter in capacity.

Lost Sheep

 

[kingmt]

I guess I'm the only one doesn't like the hand press. I have a buddy that does 45-70 on his but there is so much flex in it I don't even like using it to seat primers.

I have never used the turret so I can't say. I would recommend a Load Master, Pro1000, or a Classic Cast SS.

I really hate doing handgun on a SS & not crazy about building rifle on a progressive.

 

[Lost Sheep]

I guess I'm the only one doesn't like the hand press. I have a buddy that does 45-70 on his but there is so much flex in it I don't even like using it to seat primers.

I have never used the turret so I can't say. I would recommend a Load Master, Pro1000, or a Classic Cast SS.

I really hate doing handgun on a SS & not crazy about building rifle on a progressive.

Then the turret splits the difference nicely, doesn't it?

Lost Sheep

 

[bugsbunny45]

Get both. Learn on the hand press them move up to the classic. Thats how I started. LEE makes very good stuff. Some call Lee stuff cheap and junk but I say quality at a good cost. I load 30.06 .223 .30 for m1 carbine 9mm .45 and .380

 

[FROGO207]

I have a Lee hand press. several single stage, and a couple turret presses. Now, I use them all at times. The hand press really shines when working up a load at the range as I used to take a RCBS SS press with me and now it is lots easier IMHO. Some flex in the hand press? There is some flex in most presses unless adjusted correctly so take the slop out of the linkage and other flex is not an issue IMHO. There is a point of diminishing returns as far as accuracy goes. Then you are just wasting reloading time with ritual motions with little gain IMHO. There is a big difference loading for accurate 100-200 yard ammo versus accurate 1000+ yard ammo for sure. You need to decide what your point of need is and work efficiently there. I would eventually own both choices in the future if I were in your shoes just for the ease of use. YMMV

 

[Elkins45]

Best answer is always to buy both, but if I were only buying one it would be the turret. I load all my pistol ammo on either a turret or a Pro 1000 (which is just an automated turret) with no problems.

They only thing that would sway me toward the hand press is if you only plan to load a few rounds of rifle ammo at a time. But even there, full-length resizing '06 length rifle cases on a hand press would get really old really fast IMO.

 

[kingmt]

"Then the turret splits the difference
nicely, doesn't it?"

I don't know. I've never used it. I might love it but it seemed pointless to me. It doesn't have the best features of ether. I've load 30-06 on my Pro1000 & while it worked fine it wasn't the best choice. I like 1 round for every pull of the handle for handgun. If I could only have one & I could afford it that would be the Load Master. I'd take a Pro1000 & SS over it.

I wasn't suggesting a progressive since that want the question. I was stating my feelings on a hand press. I only mentioned the others to say I do like Lee presses.

 

[fallout mike]

My stuff is a combination of lee, lyman, and RCBS. I have a lyman turret that I bought from a gentleman here and i use that 90% of the time. I have a rockchucker and I just found a use for it. I started putting my sizing dies in it. I have a cheap $25 plastic lee powder thrower that works heads and shoulders above my $100 RCBS powder thrower. I have lyman and RCBS beam scales that are equal to me but I mostly use my hornady digital scale currently. Half my dies are lee and half are RCBS. I actually prefer the lee dies. Now I will say there is no doubt that the RCBS stuff is made much better than the lee stuff. Cast iron vs plastic. But it doesn't necessarily work better. Definitely more durable though. There is a couple of calibers that I want the lee hand presses in for working up loads at the range.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

It didn't take long before I decided I'd need a little more machinery if I wanted to shoot more than 100-200 rounds a month.

This is what I was thinking too. Now, I've never used a hand press, so take my advice for what it's worth, but if you're wanting volume, it's not the way to go. If you just want to load up a box or two a month, then it would probably do you just fine.
If I had one, it would get used for range use like others have mentioned.
I actually have the Lee Turret on backorder at Midway right now. Estimated date they're getting them is 2/28.

 

[mljdeckard]

I concur with post #4. The hand press and a hand priming tool let me do the bulk of the work while I watch TV. The turret press is great to have even as a beginner, because you can use it as a single-stage while you learn.

 

[GT1]

I actually have the Lee Turret on backorder at Midway right now. Estimated date they're getting them is 2/28.

You won't be sorry, I have loaded 9mm on my classic turret for a while and recently have been loading .223. It is a really nice little press.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Yeah, I've watched the Youtube videos and stuff and like the press a lot. We were going to go progressive, but we can't afford what we want right now, so we're going the turret w/auto index route. It will at least double our output over regular single stage.
When we can afford a LNL progressive or a Dillon 650, we'll go that route.
We thought about a Lee progressive but the reviews are 50-50. That's not odds we want to take. Never heard a bad thing about their turrets though.

 

[RustyFN]

Lee turret presses are good for "quantity" ammo such as 9mm and other semi auto pistol. For rifle not so much, because the main purpose of reloading is accuracy, and if your putting out 300 rounds an hour of 223, I would be afraid of shooting it, unless you spend the close to 1000.00 for a Dillon.

Well I guess that's your experience but if you can't make quality rifle ammo on the classic turret it's not the fault of the press. I load 223 on a classic turret press and can shoot MOA and sub MOA on a good day with ammo that was made at around 250 per hour. You can make good ammo or you can't it doesn't matter how much the press cost.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Lee turret presses are good for "quantity" ammo such as 9mm and other semi auto pistol. For rifle not so much

You do know that you don't have to use the auto-index feature don't you? If you want greater control over rifle stuff, just do it single stage on the turret press and measure each charge, or however you do it.

 

[fallout mike]

I use my turret as a single stage. I just don't have to change the die out to start the next stage. Some people have replied here that doesn't really know what they are speaking of.

 

[Cosmoline]

I've used a Lee hand press for years. It's fine for small batches but I recently upgraded to the Lee classic cast iron press. I whipped through about 550 rounds of .357 brass, decapping and expanding, in one sitting. It's a beast.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/317831/lee-classic-cast-single-stage-press

Personally I would not go with a turret. I don't think you gain much over a traditional single stage. But my own method is to decap, resize, and expand THEN clean. So it wouldn't make much sense to try to do all stages in one go. After cleaning and drying I then prime, and stow the primed and prepared cases away. That way actual handloading can be done very quickly the night before a range trip. I just pull out the bag of prepared brass, pour the powder and seat the round. That's something I prefer to do with the hand press even now. My method also separates the process into a messy phase and a not-so-messy phase. One is for the bench, the other can be done in front of the computer.

 

[Certaindeaf]

.Personally I would not go with a turret. I don't think you gain much over a traditional single stage..

With a Lee auto-index you handle the brass 1/3-1/4 as much compared to a single stage.. you probably handle your brass even more than this with a single stage if you use a hand primer.
The Auto-indexing turret is probably 3-5 times faster than a single stage considering all throughput.

 

[Elkins45]

I insert and remove a case twice to create each loaded round on my turret press:

Insert, resize and remove all cases

Prime all cases by hand

Reinsert a case

Rotate the turret to the expander die, then flare and charge using the expander and an auto disk powder measure

Rotate the turret to the seater die

Seat the bullet

Remove the loaded round

Rotate the turret back to the expander...

This procedure cuts down on case handing considerably.

 

[Certaindeaf]

For straight wall I clean and let it spin.. 3-4 strokes per ride instead of 3-5 strokes and then all the taking it out and putting it back into a shellholder business.

 

[Lost Sheep]

Yeah, I've watched the Youtube videos and stuff and like the press a lot. We were going to go progressive, but we can't afford what we want right now, so we're going the turret w/auto index route. It will at least double our output over regular single stage.
When we can afford a LNL progressive or a Dillon 650, we'll go that route.
We thought about a Lee progressive but the reviews are 50-50. That's not odds we want to take. Never heard a bad thing about their turrets though.

The Deluxe turret has 1" shorter vertical space in the opening for the brass and bullet than the Classic turret.

Now, you have heard one thing bad about (one of) Lee's turrets.

The Deluxe drops deprimed primers outside the ram where they are SUPPOSED to fall into the cavity under the press. This is never 100%. The Classic Turret drops the spent primers down the inside of the hollow ram into a flexible plastic tube. Far superior.

The Classic Turret is cast iron with a lot more bearing surface on the ram than the Deluxe turret which is cast aluminum. So, not only is there more pressure on the bearing surface, but since aluminum is softer than iron it takes more care.

The linkage on the Classic Turret is stronger than the linkage on the Deluxe turret (or, at least it was in 2010).

The Classic Turret is superior to the Deluxe turret. But either will run circles around any other turret press currently made (because no one else makes an auto-indexing turret press).

Lost Sheep

 

[IlikeSA]

I have the non-classic turret and am quite happy with it. I use it single stage by not completing the full lever action when I deprime. After cleaning, I will then use the turret feature to load up the rest of the brass.

 

[PaisteMage]

What calibers will you be reloading? ".357," and " .38" exclusively until I buy rifle.

What quantities will you be reloading for those calibers? I don't get to shoot as much as I want but when I do the time it takes to shoot two hundred rounds is usually about the time the rest of the world comes calling. Something like what "Centurian" has would be a good compromise though.

How much time will you be willing to devote to those quantities? I have a couple hours a day, easy.

What is your budget? 225 or so. That isn't including ammo components (just clarifying)

How much space will you devote permanently to a loading area, if any? WEll I do have a storage space where my bench idea was supposed to go.

 

[Lost Sheep]

What calibers will you be reloading? ".357," and " .38" exclusively until I buy rifle.

What quantities will you be reloading for those calibers? I don't get to shoot as much as I want but when I do the time it takes to shoot two hundred rounds is usually about the time the rest of the world comes calling. Something like what "Centurian" has would be a good compromise though.

How much time will you be willing to devote to those quantities? I have a couple hours a day, easy.

What is your budget? 225 or so. That isn't including ammo components (just clarifying)

How much space will you devote permanently to a loading area, if any? WEll I do have a storage space where my bench idea was supposed to go.

Kempf's gun shop online has a kit consisting of

Lee Classic Turret (which is what Centurion has pictured)
One set of deluxe (4-die set) dies of your choice
Auto-Disk Powder measure
Primer dispenser for both large and small primers
a half-dozen plastic MTM ammo boxes (the only frill in the kit)

Add a decent scale, loading manual, calipers a few miscellaneous small tools and a second set of dies with their own turret disk and you are up to $350 or so.

You can get by without the powder measure if you get the $15 set of dippers or make one of your own for zero dollars, but don't do without the scale. You can get by without the primer dispenser if you keep your fingers clean.

purchases singly, the pieces cost

$110 Lee Classic Turret press
$40 4-Die die set
$13 extra turret
$40 extra die set
$30 Lee Safety Scale
$2 for 3 carriage bolts and wing nuts to mount your press on a 2x6 which you will then clamp into a folding workbench.
so, $235 to start
$25 more for the primer dispenser
$30 more for a powder measure
$25 for calipers
$315 and you are nicely set up ($50 more for a scale that is easier to use than Lee's)

The first time I set up my Classic Turret press and ran in continuous mode I did 100 rounds in 47 minutes, including replenishing the supplies and boxing up the finished product. Setup (taking my press from its toolbox where it resides when not in use) and putting it on the workbench, fully set up and calibrated, powder measure verified for charge weight takes about 15 minutes all told. Putting it away, less than 5, so knocking out 200-250 rounds from lights on to lights out is well achievable. (Not that I put a stopwatch on myself regularly, but do so for curiosity's sake)

Space? I have everything I want or need in three toolboxes, the largest of which is 10"x10"x23", plus a folding workbench and a vibrating cleaner for my cases, which does not fit in a toolbox.

Lost sheep