Lee turrret press.

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Just another voice of reason .. lol

I'd go with the Classic Cast Turret press.
I had their "deluxe" model, and it wasn't very "deluxe" in my opinion.

The linkage liked to stutter & spent primers went everywhere.
I sold it 4 years ago & I think I'm still finding spent primers.!
(ok just kidding, but they did fly everywhere)

The Classic has much smoother linkage & the spent primers drop straight down a tube.
 
I started out with the cheaper delux turret not knowing it was a "cheap press".
Click to expand...

but spent primers go everywhere!
Click to expand...

Loaded 10000s of rounds on my "Deluxe turret" It does throw used primers everywhere, The Classic has a tube to drop them in one place.
I still use my Deluxe (and LNL) but having used a friends Classic it is worth the extra money over the Deluxe.
I prefer to do a quick clean on cases, decap, then hand prime. I do the same when using the turret or LNL.

I have both the Autodisk and the Auto drum. The disk is nice if the load you want is thrown by a disk (enlarged some holes to get what I wanted) because there is nothing to adjust insert disk and go. The advantage of the autodrum is it's easy to adjust to get exactly what you want. I never cared for the adjustable charge for the disk measure. If I was choosing between to two I would say get the autodrum.

You may not need it but get the Lee powder riser just in case.
I keep each set of dies on a turret head and just swap the measure.
Makes changing calibers a snap.


I would say go for it you will be happy with the Lee Classic Turret.
 
One more thing: 2011redrider was kind enough to forward a artical to me from Brownells comparing the lee with the rcbs and redding turrent presses. The lee showed very well against them but for one thing: the space between dies on the turrent may not have enough room for the non lee dies locking rings. 2011 said he has used lee and rcbs dies, but hornady dies would not fit. Any of you encounter this?

E
 
Just use Lee lockrings if your present lock rings are too big. If you don't have any Lee rings I can send you a whole box of them.
 
jim in Anchorage said:
One more thing: 2011redrider was kind enough to forward a artical to me from Brownells comparing the lee with the rcbs and redding turrent presses. The lee showed very well against them but for one thing: the space between dies on the turrent may not have enough room for the non lee dies locking rings. 2011 said he has used lee and rcbs dies, but hornady dies would not fit. Any of you encounter this?

E
Click to expand...
The current RCBS locking rings are the same size as the Lee rings but the sure-lock Hornady rings are elongated and can hit the next ring. I have 2 sets of Hornady dies and bought RCBS rings for the one set I use on a turret. No big deal.
 
Don't forget to get the riser that goes under the powder measure. And get a few extra powder drums.
 
Thinking of the Lee Classic Turret press, and wonder if it will handle 30-06 length cases? I think the Autoprime and disc measure would probably be all I need. If not, could probably sell the scale and measure and replace it with the other one. Anyone to the contrary? :)
 
IWAC said:
Thinking of the Lee Classic Turret press, and wonder if it will handle 30-06 length cases? I think the Autoprime and disc measure would probably be all I need. If not, could probably sell the scale and measure and replace it with the other one. Anyone to the contrary? :)
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I have loaded many hundreds or 30-06 rounds on my LCT press without a problem. The linkage and cast iron base are easily up to the task.
 
I run two of the Classic Turrets. Have for several years. I'd guess 10K rounds + of trouble free operation so far. Not only does the LCT have great bang for the buck but it's just a great press IMHO. ( I've had others including some full progressives.) Read the reviews at midway to convince yourself.
Get the classic turret though. It's got better features and construction as compared to the old. Don't forget to order powder risers either. They don't tell you but you'll need them.
 
The LCT bridges the gap between a single stage and a manual index progressive like the Dillon 550B. It does not turn out a loaded round for every pull of the handle like the Dillon does. But since it's auto indexing the turret is actually useful.

The other brand turrets are for the most part die holders. They do speed up the process because you don't have to screw dies in and out. But they aren't as fast as the Lee. There is also a huge cost difference in turret costs. Spares for the Lee affordable while others certainly aren't.

The LCT is a very versatile press. It's strong enough for all reloading operations. But I would not use it for case forming. That's what single stages are for. I've had a lot of presses. Well I still have a lot of them. But I use a LCT and 550B the most. A LCC handles the heavy work.

I've since added six more turrets since this pic. I guess you can say I'm biased :)
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OK, I'll be THAT guy.

I have a LCT and I ended up going back to doing most of my rifle reloading with a single stage (Lee's least expensive press, the Breach Lock Reloader press).

I used the LCT to assemble some .30/30, .308 and .223 and ended up with some pretty inconsistent velocities in each caliber (as much as 137 fps between min and max in some calibers). I started to weed out the variables and found that there were inconsistencies in powder drops, bullet seating and crimps when using the turret. I also noticed that the turret has a great deal of play when the ram is raised to whichever die is in position.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to throw out the LCT. However, as far as reloading goes, it's relegated to pistol loads only. I also still use it for some prep and priming of rifle casings (and it tends to drop a primer from time to time). I just don't trust the lack of consistency I get from it when going from empty rifle casing to assembled bullet with it.
 
I bought a Lee Deluxe Turret in 2005, long before the classic came out. I've easily done 65,000 total rounds on this press and its still chugging right along. I paid $65 for it in 2005. I'm pretty impressed.
 
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