Lee Turret Press

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mushoot

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I'm having a great time with my new turret press. There has been one problem so far, the priming tool falls off the press and on to the floor. This last time the primer cup must have bent so that a primer will no longer fit in it. I tried rounding it out, but to no avail. Lee said to send it back and they would send me a new one. How do you keep this from happening? At the very least I am going to put an old towel on the floor where they hit. Thanks, John
 
Kind of hard to make it go up and down with duct tape around it. I suspect cleaning more often and lubrication may help. What do you think? I thought I had been cleaning it enough.
 
What exactly is "supposed" to hold it on the press? I can't picture a company making a press where the pieces fall off. Does it just clip on or what?
 
On my classic turret as long as the shell holder is in place the lever can't come out. I would think it would be the same on the deluxe turret but not sure. Which turret press do you have?
 
I have the delux. The part slips down in a slot in the ram, over a retaining pin of sorts. It is below the shell holder. It swings in and out as the ram goes up and down. Sometimes when the ram goes up it decides to take a trip to the ground.
 
I'm not familiar with the deluxe press. With the classic turret you can't remove the lever even by hand until the shell holder is removed.
 
It sounds like the spring loaded ring is catching on or in the bottom of the shell holder. You might take the shell holder off and make sure the hole through the top of the ram and the hole through the shell holder are clean. If they are, check the priming arm and see if the sides are perfectly straight using a straight edge. Also check and make sure that the priming arm lines up perfectly with the hole in the top of the ram and that your shell holder does not have any burrs inside the hole.

Good luck.
 
Mine did the same thing,found that the primer cup pin was just a tad bent causing the cup to hang on the shall holder.Also clean any burrs from the cup an shell holder.This may just be the fix for your's.
 
I have this turret press. The problem you describe is caused by the arm and the slot not being clean--probably the primer detrius when you punch out a used primer. Are you cleaning your brass and making sure the media is all out of the cases?

start with a thorough cleaning of the primer arm slot in the ram and the primer arm. Pay close attention to the slot sides and the back of the arm. When there is grunge buildup on the back and / or sides of the arm, it inhibits the arm clean drop, making it possible for it to pop off the pin.

Then, do a complete cleaning of the shell holder. Be sure to get under the rim and inside the hole before you reinstall it. I use gun scrubber / brake cleaner for this, and the only lubrication that goes on is a tiny drop on the pin.

When I do reinstall the arm, I double-check for completely free operation--i.e., the arm should slide up and into the holder and back out cleanly as the press is cycled.

Personally, I find that when I am reloading used (handgun) brass, I may need to do this particular maintenance every 200 rounds or so.

Jim H.
 
I've had the same problem with mine. I think the primer cup or the shaft it sits on could be damaged slightly. I've tried the cleaning of the ram no help there. I get done cleaning it and 2 shells later it falls out again. I think I'm going to drill a hole in the rear of the primer tool and attach it to my press with a small piece of string to prevent it from hitting the floor any more. It will sure make it easier to pick up.
 
It sounds like the spring loaded ring is catching on or in the bottom of the shell holder.
Click to expand...
My thought exactly. The problem will only be worse if the ring is now out of round due to hitting the floor. Clean the channel carefully, and hopefully the replacement sent by Lee will work properly.
 
mine did that when I upgraded my old turret press to the new style priming system. it was really annoying. I put a little motor oil on the primer arm and stopped being to aggressive on my stroke. problem went away after a little while. I guess it smoothed out enough. I think it was just hanging up in the chanel. I haven't tried my large primer arm yet. I'm going to take the burs off the edges and see if that helps.

ps: I'm up in burnet (about an hour away) if you need reloading help.
 
Thanks, I got the new parts from Lee today. I tried removing the shell holder and installing the primer part through the top of the ram. It bounced out on the second stroke of the ram. I put some break free on it and it worked great. I had cleaned the ram and other parts with gun scrubber. I think the clean it after every 200 rounds is the right answer, An old towel will be where it hits on my tile floor from now on. Life is good if this is my only problem:)
 
The primer system on that press leaves alot to be desired. I batch prime with my lee hand primer, and removed my sizing die from the mix. I use my single stage for all my sizing, batch prime, then all the primed brass goes into its respective coffee can awaiting a hot muggy day, so I can load:D When I fire up the turret, I can easily load 100rds in 15min, using the prepped cases.
 
You've got it - you have to keep the channel in which the priming arm rides pretty clean. Depending on how many rounds I load and what else I do in the garage (i.e., woodwork) it varies how often between cleanings. Don't think lube alone will fix it. You gotta clean the gunk out of the channel. Last time I lubed, I used powdered graphite - seems to be working well, and no oily residue to catch & hold dirt. I also chased the sides of the priming arm with a fine file. Probably didn't remove much at all, but helped to smooth it all out after several tumbles to the floor.

Q
 
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