lee classic turret press

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UT PROSIM

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i am looking at buying a turret press to speed up my pistol reloading from my single stage.
The lee classic is in my price range and has a lot of great reviews. they dont have kits for sale like they do for pro 1000 (that i have seen), so what do i need to get started loading 9mm and 45acp? I would like to make it as automated as i can, with auto primes and powder measures, which ones work for the lee classic?
Also id get a progressive but reliable ones are way to expensive for me.
thanks for the help
Pat
 
You didn't mention your volume needs...? In lieu of that, I'd recommend the Lee Classic Cast Turret press (LCT). Depending on your frustration tolerance and volume needs, a Pro1000 can work OK.

Kempf Gun Shop sells a very nice kit based on this press: Kempf Gun Shop LCT Kit.

Others may sell a kit but the kit will probably include the dreaded Lee Scale. Avoid it

Kempf’s kit includes:
• Lee Classic Turret Press
• Lee Deluxe 4-Die Set for the pistol caliber of your choice. (3 Die set in 380)
• Lee Auto Disk Powder Measure
• Lee Safety Prime System (Large or Small)
• Lee Auto Disk Riser (Required for the Safety Prime System)
• Six MTM 50 round Plastic Ammo Boxes

I recommend you upgrade the kit to the Pro Auto Disc Powder Measure.

Depending on what type of .45acp cartridges you're using, you'll need the other primer system and will def. need a different shellholder.
 
If you're organized, the Calssic turret can produce 200+ rounds per hour. If that is fast enough for you then there is no need to get a progressive at all. The LCT is a great machine and with the removable turret, caliber changes take 10 seconds and only cost $11.00.
 
What Jeff said. I have been loading on a Lee classic turret five years now and think it's a great press. I like to take my time and load at a comfortable pace. I sit down for three hours and end up with 500 rounds.
 
thanks for the quick responses and all the help. 200 rounds/ hour is just fine for me, plus i will be going back and forth between calibers.
Is the pro auto measure one that will go with a thru expander die? or better question what powder measure will work with the thru expander die in the LCT?
Pat
 
Yep. The Pro Auto Disk was made to use with the powder-through expander dies. I like mine a whole lot. I load .357 mag, 44 mag, 45 Colt, 454 Casull, and .480 Ruger in mine and it does well. I was kind of limited on bench space so I took my single stage press off the bench and use the turret press to load rifles with. It doesn't save me any time for rifles and it's not quite as precise for rifle loading when it comes to sizing, but it gets the job done for 5 different rifle calibers.
 
sellersm said:
You didn't mention your volume needs...? In lieu of that, I'd recommend the Lee Classic Cast Turret press (LCT). Depending on your frustration tolerance and volume needs, a Pro1000 can work OK.

Kempf Gun Shop sells a very nice kit based on this press: Kempf Gun Shop LCT Kit.

Others may sell a kit but the kit will probably include the dreaded Lee Scale. Avoid it

Kempf’s kit includes:
• Lee Classic Turret Press
• Lee Deluxe 4-Die Set for the pistol caliber of your choice. (3 Die set in 380)
• Lee Auto Disk Powder Measure
• Lee Safety Prime System (Large or Small)
• Lee Auto Disk Riser (Required for the Safety Prime System)
• Six MTM 50 round Plastic Ammo Boxes

I recommend you upgrade the kit to the Pro Auto Disc Powder Measure.

Depending on what type of .45acp cartridges you're using, you'll need the other primer system and will def. need a different shellholder.
Click to expand...
Cabelas has a kit available like this but it doesn't come with dies but it does come with the pro auto disk measure.
 
I like my Lee Classic although I don't have all the automation stuff. Real nice if you load for different cartridges being you can have different turret plates set and not have to set up everything every time your change loads
 
Hi,
This lee looks like a great idea.
I load mostly rifle so I have a couple of questions. Is there a solution to de-prime and full size the pistol cases in this turret? I assume as the brass stretches it will need trimming and that you cannot do in the press right?
So you will have to do all the prep. work in advance one by one.

That is what takes most of my time with the rifle brass to make sure I have
brass in spec and virtually identical.

Please let me know.
Thanks.
E.
 
You don't typically have to trim pistol brass. On the turret press, the first station deprimes, resizes, and re-primes. The second station flares and drops the powder charge. The 3rd station seats the bullet. The 4th station applies a factory crimp.

For rifles it is different. You can deprime, size, reprime on the first station but then you have to stop everything and trim cases. Plus, for my particular rifles, I have to weigh powder charges. It kind of disrupts the flow. But it still works and you can keep all the dies set up and adjusted on one turret, so there is a bit of efficiency there.
 
I was hopping the press provided a trimming option, if needed obviously.
If it had 6 stations maybe something could be done but with 4, trimming would have to be done outside defeating the purpose of any progressiveness
or semi-progressiveness like the case here with the manual indexing.
I know Dillon makes a motorized trimmer for their progressive presses but not clear about the chamfering.

For the rifle brass prep I use I use the lee trimmer in a RCBS motorized station but still, it is a pain when what I want is all the brass virtually
identical. The rest I don't mind. I play with the powders, seating depts, crimp, etc.. but the brass I want it to be always a carbon copy
if possible.

Thanks for the feedback anyway.
 
The Dillon 650 has an optional trimmer accessory, but it'll cost you $230 just for the trimmer.
The press itself is $560

Vs $100 for the Lee
 
If you're just loading pistol brass, you won't have to worry much about trimming. Pistol brass generally shrinks, beleave it or not.
 
Getting back to the OP, get the Lee Classic Turret kit from Kempfs. I did a few months ago and I couldn't be happier. I still use my single stage press for accuracy rifle loading and use the LCT for 9mm, .45 ACP and .223 rifle plinking rounds.

Kempfs has great prices and were a great help in making sure you get what you need. Just drop them an email or give 'em a call. Tell them what you're looking to do and they'll hook you up. I would recommend getting both 'upgrades' they offer. That'll get you the Pro powder measurer and both sizes of the safety prime system, which you will need to cover both 9mm and .45 ACP.

If you decide you want to load rifle on it, consider getting an extra pro powder measure. It's not absolutely necessary, but it is very convenient. When you load rifle, most likely you will have to double stack the auto disks which requires switching out a few screws on the measure. It takes probably 5 minutes to switch, so not a huge deal, but that's 5 minutes you could be doing something else:)
 
Using the Turret in the "straight-through" mode (as opposed to the "batch" mode) the Lee Autoprime is not a time saver, though some like it because priming with the hand-held Auto-prime supposedly gives you a better "feel"

The Auto-advancing feature of the Lee turret press lets you insert the empty case, go through the loading steps without touching the case again until you pluck it out as a finished round. That is the nature of "straight-through" processing.

I have dealt with Sue Kempf and she has my vote for one of the good ones. And Kempf's kit has everything you need to get started except a scale. Kempf's is the only kit I know of using the Classic Turret that also includes dies.

The Auto-Disk (either standard or Pro) drops powder through the middle of the hollow case-mouth belling die. Very convenient and fast. If you believe the Auto-Disk is not accurate enough for you, you can take it off and use a funnel to drop a weighed charge down the same path.

The Auto-Disks work on any press, but require the Lee dies for automatic functioning. They (both the Standard and the Pro) ive you a choice of a return spring or a pull-chain return. The spring works anywhere. The pull-chain only works on single stage or progressives. The rotating head of a Turret would get the pull-chain tangled up.

Look up some of the many videos featuring the Lee (and other) presses in operation. Very enlightening. Sorry, I don't have links handy.

Lost Sheep
 
Be aware there's two kinds of "Lee Classic Turret Presses". This is the good one, the "Cast Classic", the other is not quite so good. I had one of those years ago and broke a turret ring with it, and the aluminum handle snapped in half. The Cast is much tougher, has 4-hole turrets, and a much better spent primer catching system.

ClassicTP.jpg
 
i heart my LCT. Indeed, the cast with the 4 turret holes is the one you want. There is some play in the tolerances, but it's a consistent amount of play ;) So you can still set it and forget it (!) with each turret you have setup for whichever caliber. It's no hot rod dillon cranking out thousands of rounds per hour with case feeders and bullet feeders, but it is VERY easy to use, reliable, and just about perfect for the modest reloader.
 
Correct terminology is the cure for confusion

rondog, Sorry to be nit-picky, but terminology should be correct.

There are two kinds of Lee Turrets. One is the "Classic Cast Turret" and the other is the "Deluxe Turret". The Deluxe is the older design and the lesser of the two presses.

The Lee Classic Cast is a single stage press.

The Deluxe Turret now comes with the 4-hole turrets, but there may still be 3-hole turrets available.

Here is a link that shows a picture of a kit built around the Deluxe Turret

http://www.factorysales.com/html/xcart/catalog/pistol.html

Here is a link showing a picture of the Classic Turret (from the manufacturer's web site.)

http://leeprecision.com/xcart/4-Hole-Classic-Turret-Press.html

TheHighRoad had a thread a few years ago asking about the differences in the two Turret Presses

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-240827.html

and then there is this

http://carolinashootersforum.com/showthread.php?t=89187

Take all those comments with a grain of salt and rely on the manufacturer's information.

Remember, verify for yourself everything you learn from casual sources. Believe only half of what you see and one quarter of what you hear. That goes double for everything you find on the internet (with the possible exception of the actual web sites of the bullet and powder manufacturers). This advice applies to my message as much as anything else and especially to personal load recipes. Hare-brained reloaders might have dangerous habits and even an honest typographical error could be deadly. I heard about a powder manufacturer's web site that dropped a decimal point once. It was fixed REAL FAST, but mistakes happen. I work in accounting and frequently hit "7" instead of "4" because they are next to each other on the keypad.

Safety Always Safety All Ways. Wear eye protection, especially when seating primers.

Lost Sheep
 
Kempf is the way to go. Blow off Lee's factory sales unit. Get the two upgrades and spec out the one set of dies you want.

Then add a powder measure, riser, turret and dies of your choice. Your set to go for another caliber. I'm reloading 9mm, .45acp, .38 sp/p+, .38 lwc and .357. All have there own turrets setup and ready to go. I change out a turret and shell holder. Load up power and primers. Do a weight check and OAL check and I'm loading ammo.

The LCT is a wonderful press.
 
Kempf is the way to go. Blow off Lee's factory sales unit. Get the two upgrades and spec out the one set of dies you want.
Click to expand...

Why is Kempf less pricy? Kits are never the way to go for most people
with knowledge.
 
I got my Lee Classic Turret press from Factory Sales too. I ordered just the press.

$84.48 + $17.46 shipping. Had it a week after I ordered it. Best deal going.
 
Currently I'm using a Lee single stage but I too would like to speed up loading things like 38 Special and 9mm. Here's the rub...

I don't use the Factory Crimp Die, EVER. What do I need that 4th hole in the turret for? Can the press be set to double advance on the last stage or are you simply going to have to add a stroke of the lever to get the turret back to the sizing die again.
 
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