Lee Press - choose between turret / loadmaster

[xdpackin]

Hey everybody,

I've done alot of reloading with the stuff my Dad has and I'm looking to get my own low buck setup. He as all the cool stuff like the digital powder meters and junk. I know all of the individual items I'm going to need but I'm having a hard time choosing between which Lee press I'm going to order. I'm only going to be reloading .45 ACP ammo on this setup and I'm planning to shoot around 1000 rounds a month and loading in batches of around 300-500. I've done lots of reading here and I like the Lee brand, however, I'm having a hard time choosing between these three options:

1. Classic Turret Press 4 hole
2. Auto Index Turret Press 4 hole
3. LoadMaster

I realize that the both the loadmaster and 1000 progressive need a little TLC to get them working right but I'm not worried about that. I really like the Lock-in-Load Automatic but it is a little costly right now for my budget. I'm kinda favoring the turret press because it is always nice to have and then I can always add a nice LnL progressive when I want to spend the money and I'm doing larger batches. The only reason I've not included an option for the pro 1000 is because I think the factory crimp die is a really cool option and the 1000 only has 3 spots which would mean no room for the FCD.

Thus I'm down to choosing mostly between the auto index turret and the classic turret. Looking at the website it looks like the classic turret might be a bit more heavy duty construction which I like. However, I have to hand cycle the class to each station, right? I like the auto index but I'm not sure if it lives up to the reputation of the classic turret. Anybody have any personal experiance with these?

Thanks
Ty

 

[xdpackin]

ummm... I'm not sure but I think I was wrong about the "Lee Classic 4 Hole Turret Press" from at Midway... I think this one auto-indexs as well... so I guess I'm going to order this one... can't beat $83.99 for a sturdy steel and cast iron auto-index turret press! Anybody else have any input?

 

[Eagle103]

I'm thinking about getting one of those myself. It also looks like you need to buy the powder measure and the primer attachment though so the cost gets up around $130 before your done.
200+ rounds per hour sounds a lot better than the 50-60 I do now.
Lee has a good video of the new classic cast turret in action here.
http://www.leeprecision.com/html/catalog/HelpVideos/video.html

 

[RustyFN]

I own a Classic Turret Press and it is awesome. Very sturdy press. It was very easy to setup and operate. I can make between 200 and 250 an hour. Make sure you buy the safety prime large and small for it. You can buy the setup for just under $200. If you buy the auto disk get the pro auto disk, it is teflon coated inside and has a powder shutoff so if you want to change disks you won't spill powder. You will also want to buy a caliper and tumbler for your brass. Here is what I bought to give you an example.
Rusty

Lee Auto Disk Powder Measure Riser.
Lee Adjustable Charge Bar Auto Disk.
Lee Pro Auto Disk Powder Measure.
Lee Safety Prime Small and Large Primer Feeder.
Lee Classic Four Hole Turret Press.
Lee Deluxe Handgun Four Die Set 9mm Luger.
Lee Safety Magnetic Scale. ( will upgrade as needed )
Total was $207 including shipping and NRA donation.

 

[darwin-t]

If you are famiiar with reloading and are thinking of upgrading, I would strongly suggest the Load Master. I got one 2 weeks ago and am in awe of the quality of construction and I am comparing it directly with my Lee Turret press and Pro 1000. I would suggest feeding cases though one at a time (feed a case and let it run all of the way through before feeding another) for a while and then maybe start a new case every other pull of the handle for a bit before going full bore.

Check the video message that I am getting ready to respond to for links to my latest set up video and many other fine videos on the Load Master.

If you aren't comfortable with going to a Load Master yet, I'd suggest the classic turret with the safety prime attachment.

 

[xdpackin]

umm... I guess I'm still up in the air choosing between the loadmaster and the classic turret press, I think I'm going to go with the turret but what is the price break... I did a little math looking at the midway site and it looks to be around $50 bucks? I think the LoadMaster would make a great progressive but I'm just not sure what I really want. I really like the Lock-in-Load and I'll need a turret or single stage anyway for .270 and .308 in the next year or so that is why I'm kinda leaning on that side of things...

 

[darwin-t]

Both of the turret presses auto index. You can run them single stage by removing the index rod.

The classic press is the new model. From all accounts it's better than the regular model. If you buy a kit, it will almost certainly have the older model with it.

As for the difference between a turret and the Load Master, that's a purely personal choice. I got a turret press last Christmas. I was pretty happy with it, it is much better than a single stage press. It auto indexes so you only have to handle cases once. If you like loading with the batch method it is very easy to do it with this press and you don't have to change dies - you just turn the turret to change dies.

I'll admit I'm a bit lazy. I got tired of pulling the handle four times for each round. I bought a used Pro 1000 and didn't like it at all. The priming was so flakey and I couldn't visually check the charge before placing thebullet. I ended up resizing/depriming on the turret and doing the rest on the Pro 1000. This moved the bullet seating to the left front of the press where I could see it, but it was still more work than I wanted to do.

This Christmas Santa brought me a Load Master. It is SWEET. A round every pull of the handle, I never have to handle individual cases at all. I think my problem now will be that I'll soon have more ammo loaded than I can shoot any time soon and won't be able to reload for a while.

 

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Hello xdpackin,

(Good pistol choice, btw.)

I just happen to own both a Hornady LnL and I recently bought a Lee Classic Cast turret press. My buddy owns a Loadmaster and got rid of his older Lee turret for the new Classic cast at the same time I bought my classic cast. I think I might have the information you're looking for. I'm breaking up your questions from your posts to answer them.

He as all the cool stuff like the digital powder meters and junk. I know all of the individual items I'm going to need but I'm having a hard time choosing between which Lee press I'm going to order. I'm only going to be reloading .45 ACP ammo on this setup and I'm planning to shoot around 1000 rounds a month and loading in batches of around 300-500.

The fully decked out (Safety Prime and Pro Auto Disk) Classic turret press will turn out 200 plus rounds per hour. So with that, you could turn out 600 rounds in three hours. Plenty fast enough to meet your needs, assuming you have the time.

"I've done lots of reading here and I like the Lee brand, however, I'm having a hard time choosing between these three options:

1. Classic Turret Press 4 hole
2. Auto Index Turret Press 4 hole
3. LoadMaster

Of these three, I'd suggest only considering the 1st and 3rd option, due to the fact the Classic Turret has so many advantages over selection number 2, in particular cast iron, spent primer handling (keeps press clean and primer lead away from you, important), adjustable handle in both rotation and length, steel compound, setup for safety prime out of the box, etc. These improvements eliminate the older turret from consideration, unless you absolutely can't afford either of the other two. The loadmaster is a 5 station press and is fast, so also worth looking at.

I realize that the both the loadmaster and 1000 progressive need a little TLC to get them working right but I'm not worried about that. I really like the Lock-in-Load Automatic but it is a little costly right now for my budget. I'm kinda favoring the turret press because it is always nice to have and then I can always add a nice LnL progressive when I want to spend the money and I'm doing larger batches.

Your reasoning is very sound here. I wish I had the Classic Turret option when I bought my Hornady LnL. It would have met my needs for much less money and one of the major reasons I bought it was to reduce my caliber conversion costs over a Lock N Load or a Loadmaster. The Classic turret costs about half the money to add a new caliber the full blown progressives do. When you own a lot of guns, this can add up quickly. (Or when you're young, just got married, having kids and money is very tight.) It allows a fellow to have reloading, even when he's buying diapers.

The only reason I've not included an option for the pro 1000 is because I think the factory crimp die is a really cool option and the 1000 only has 3 spots which would mean no room for the FCD.

The FCD makes it much easier to set up your dies and get running, for sure. Again, your reasoning is sound.

Thus I'm down to choosing mostly between the auto index turret and the classic turret. Looking at the website it looks like the classic turret might be a bit more heavy duty construction which I like. However, I have to hand cycle the class to each station, right?

No, you don't. The Classic cast has a beautifully working automatic advance.

You are well advised though, to stone the worm gear rotating shaft to smooth it up as well as the lever prime and to lubricate every single rotating point with a good quality oil, preferably one with teflon in it, as well as the ram. I actually greased the ram on mine with Tetra Gun grease and used Breakfree/CLP to lubricate the various linkages.

Lube the rotating worm gear with a single drop of oil each side. This will minimize plastic wear. Also, go through the press and align the lever prime in the center of where it comes down and make sure the everything is centered "comfortably" in adjustments.

Take the time to line the safety prime up. You may have to use a round file to wobble out the bracket mount hole for the safety prime to liine up perfectly.

This little things make the press run much smoother. I had mine running smooth as silk within a couple hours of opening the box and I was going slow, learning how it worked, coming to understand how it could be improved and tweaking it to improve operation. Since I've done this, it's runs glass smooth and is a fun press to operate.


I like the auto index but I'm not sure if it lives up to the reputation of the classic turret. Anybody have any personal experiance with these?

Again, the Classic turret auto indexes, so you don't have to sacrifice this.

umm... I guess I'm still up in the air choosing between the loadmaster and the classic turret press, I think I'm going to go with the turret but what is the price break... I did a little math looking at the midway site and it looks to be around $50 bucks? I think the LoadMaster would make a great progressive but I'm just not sure what I really want. I really like the Lock-in-Load and I'll need a turret or single stage anyway for .270 and .308 in the next year or so that is why I'm kinda leaning on that side of things...

I think going with the Lee Classic Cast turret is a great idea. It's a great press, simple to setup and operate, has very low cost for caliber conversions (important for you at this point in your life). In fact, all you need to convert calibers is a die set and a 10 dollar turret. That makes the conversion cost about $35.00, pretty darn affordable in my book. And you're right about if you upgrade, this press will still be useful. I'm using it for calibers I don't want to load progressively right now, such as .303 Brit. If you change your mind, you can save up for anything other press you want and not feel rushed, because you have a good press.

 

[Sistema1927]

I am totally sold on the Lee Classic Turret press. I load .45 ACP, .45 Colt, .357/.38 by the hundreds and it works great. I love the auto-disk with the adjustable disk, the Safety-Prime, the auto-indexing, the way that spent primers are captured, swapping out the turrets with the dies perfectly adjusted, having the Lee FCD in a separate hole, etc. I haven't found anything that I don't like about it, and don't see the need for anything faster (or more expensive).

 

[SSN Vet]

I hope to get a classic turret press very soon....

try these guys for the best prices........http://www.fmreloading.com

I'd like to piggy back a question onto this thread.....

Can you reload rifle (.30-30 in my case) on the classic turret without dissabling the auto-index?

Lee's literature says something about having to do so if length exeeds 2-5/16". Not sure if that's case length or oal length (with bullet set).

 

[Caimlas]

My recommendation: get the newer Lee Cast Turret Press. It's got auto-indexing, and can take either 3 or 4 hole turrets (like $10 each and interchangeable). It's marginally more expensive and much more quality.

 

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

SSN Vet,

This should handle your question:

I just loaded 38 rounds of .303 British on my turret yesterday evening before I got to playing around with the .223. The S&B brass (seems to be good stuff)I was resizing and had crimped primers, so was a bit tough to resize. The Lee Classic handled it without any drama, even though I had the handle shortened up from where I was reloading pistol.

I should note though, that the rifle charging die (not part of the turret) maxes out right at the .308 caliber size, so .303 is about it for charging with that die. Don't know if Lee has a larger rifle charging die or not.

Dave

 

[strat81]

+1 to SSN Vet's recommendation of www.fmreloading.com. I ordered my Classic Cast Turret from them last month. They drop-ship from Lee so they keep prices down by not sitting on inventory. Their customer service is a bit lacking since they didn't e-mail me to tell me they cut items (bullets, loading block) from my order that were out of stock. But, for the money I saved over Midway or Natchez, it's worth it.

 

[SSN Vet]

I bit the bullet......(pun intended).....

and ordered my Lee classic turret from F & M Reloading just 10 min. ago.

ordered a complete set up with the pro-auto disk, safety primer, and dies for .357/.38 & .30-30.

JUST MY DUMB LUCK....they implemented Lee's first significant price increase in 3 years on Friday! So this wound up costing me about $20 more than I had planned.

So the whole shootin' match came in at $280 shipped (which was over my budget.....but hey, that's what budgets are for )

I've got an old office desk with a nice formica top that was being thrown away at work that I intend to set the whole kit and kaboodle up on.

Now I need to get busy and clean up a spot in the basement

definitely a scary proposition.

But hey......I took the plunge!!

 

[cloudcroft]

SSN Vet,

Congrats!

Later on, be sure to post how it all works for you.

-- John D.

 

[Eagle103]

I envy you SSN Vet. That total is a lot more than I thought it would cost though. By my arithmetic using FMs prices it should be:
Press $79
Pro Auto Disk Measure $30
Safety Primer feeds $20
Shipping $12
Total about $140 plus around $50 for your dies is about $190.
Maybe you ordered something else too. Just curious what I'd actually be spending on this system before I take the plunge too.

 

[SSN Vet]

if it helps anyone....

here's my complete list.... I guess you could say I went bananas

Order List for Turret Press Re-loading Set-Up
Item Description P/N Qty. Price.
1. Modern Reloading (2nd Ed.) 90277 (1) $15.99
2. Lee Classic Turret Press 90064 (1) $78.99
a. Extra 4-Hole Turret 90269 (1) $8.99
3. Lee Safety Primer Feed (Lg/Sm) 90997 (1) $19.99
4. Powder Handling
a. Lee Pro Auto-Disk Powder Measure 90429 (1) $29.75
b. Lee Double Disk Kit 90195 (1) $9.49
c. Lee Auto-Disk Riser 90041 (1) $6.25
d. Lee Safety Scale 90681 (1) $19.50
e. Lee Powder Funnel 90190 (1) $1.69
f. Lee Rifle Charging Die 90194 (1) $7.75
5. Case Prep.
a. Zip Trimmer 90899 (1) 15.75
b. Case Length Gauge (30/30 Win) 90136 (1) $3.39
c. Chamfer Tool 90109 (1) $1.99
d. Cutter with Ball grip 90275 (1) $3.75
e. Resizing Lube 90006 (1) $1.99
6. Die Sets
a. Lee Deluxe Pistol 4-Die Set (.357/.38) 90964 (1) $31.50
b. Lee PaceSetter 3-Die Set (.30-30) 90506 (1) $18.99
Shipping $11.70
Total $287.45

 

[Eagle103]

Thanks SSN Vet. At the risk of hijacking the thead can someone explain the purpse/use of the "adjustable charge bar" and the "double disk". I assume both are for fine tuning powder drops.

 

[Sistema1927]

SSN Vet, you will be very happy with that set-up.

Eagle103, the double disk allows one to throw larger weights than the single disk set-up by allowing you to stack two disks. The adjustable charge bar allow you to fine-tune your charges. It is micrometer adjustable as opposed to the fixed sizes of the standard disks.

 

[Zippy06]

SSN Vet.
Pull the index rod. Turret is now a single stage.
.223 will index. But, 30-30 will not. Or the bullets, I use, are too long.
According to Lee. 2 5/16" is the max.
Its not that bad. 100 rounds about an hour.

 

[SSN Vet]

F & M ordering experience.....

You can tell that your not talking to an outfit that has a dozen people sitting in a call center booking orders all day.....but I like that....

a human being answered the phone on the first ring.....what a concept!

The guy who answers the phone (forgot to ask for his name) is obviously a reloader himself, who has personal experience with a lot of the equipment.

I got meaningful advice and was encouraged to NOT order a few accesories that he didn't think I really neaded. (i.e. I'm not trying to work up fine tuned loads for maximum accuracy, so he suggested that I not get the micrometer adjustible charge bar).

Prices are the lowest I think you'll find.

Sorry xdpackin, if this hijacked your thread, take it as my vote for the classic turret press.

 

[SSN Vet]

.30-30 indexing....

Hey Zippy,

do you mean it won't auto index (with the lever arm), or that it won't index at all.

I'm prepared to have to disconnect the index bar, but I'm sure hoping that I can still index the turret by hand.

 

[RustyFN]

SSN Vet, congratulations. You will be very happy with the classic turret. If anybody buys the adjustable charge bar be careful trying to throw around 3 grains or less, it doesn't meter good. I had a problem and had to pull a bunch of bullets. I added a light to my press so I can see the charge before I set the bullet on and don't have the squib loads make it through any more. A hammer type bullet puller would be another good investment. Here is the light.
Rusty

 

[xdpackin]

thanks for all the good info everybody... I'm going to order my classic turret today!

 

[cloudcroft]

Sistema1927,

I got the adjustable charge bar for my Lee Perfect Powder Measure Pro so I didn't have to mess with the disks. It's working well for me...I do not go below 3 grains as RustyFN warns about so I can't comment on that.

I also use powder dippers but mainly those I make myself since that's the best way to get a precise charge with a dipper. This will come in handy with the tiny charges -- below 3 grains -- I will be using for my .32 ACP.

-- John D.