Need info about a LEE 4-Hole Turret press

[1SOW]

I just got my new LEE Press. I'm lubing, setting up the 4 dies, and did some depriming of range brass.

The spent primers eject out the right side of the ram into a hole in the press base. This hole is tapered at the bottom to DUMP THE SPENT PRIMER DIRECTLY UNDER THE BASE OF THE PRESS. With the press bolted to the bench top they are completely inaccessible unless you unbolt the press.

I HAD to have missed something somewhere!

Can anyone familiar with this press tell me what the h$## I did wrong?

Thanks,
Don

 

[Dean Williams]

It sounds like you did it right, and that's how the press is made. The cavity in the bottom of the press base holds a gob of primers. When it gets full you have to remove the press and clean them out. If you have your press mounted in a way that you can drill about a 1/2" - 3/4" hole beneath it, you can mount a soup can or something like that to catch the primers. Saves having to remove the press.

I just loosen the bolts on mine now and then and suck the spent primers from under the press with a shop vac.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

You didn't miss anything, that's what you will need to do.

BTW, if you would have bought the "Classic" 4 hole press the primers fall through the center of the ram and are collected in a plastic tube. Also, the cast iron base makes a much better press, the ram is twice as thick and the linkage is much heavier. If there's any way to return that press and switch it for the Classic 4 Hole Turret Press you will be much happier in the long run. I know because I originally bought the press you have and quickly switched it for the cast iron Classic model. You will especially appreciate the heavier press base and linkage if you are loading rifle rounds along with handgun rounds. (works great with 30-06 rounds)

 

[1SOW]

Thanks Dean and AA.

Mine is mounted on a cabinet with drawers under the top. No quick access.

I can live with it. Primer residue is nasty stuff though.

I'll only be loading 9mm (100-200/wk in the summer) some occassional 45, so I hoped this press would last awhile.
You're right though, a heavier press might be more consistent. I am nitpicky about cartridge consistency.

The base on mine is cast iron , but the primer drop is a poor design.

I deprimed about 500 9mm and needed to clean the ram slot. I shot it with some gun cleaner and wiped it down.. Guess where the mess goes.

 

[mallc]

Lee

Go Big Blue!

Scott

 

[green country shooter]

I mounted mine so that the hole is out past the edge of the table. The primers fall through into a trash can in theory, though about half the time they go flying off around the room and sometimes the hole clogs up and i have to dip them out. A screwdriver used as a sort of shovel can be used to scrape them out.

 

[snuffy]

The base on mine is cast iron , but the primer drop is a poor design.

No, it's aluminum. Does it look like the one in the pic below? It will be fine for loading handgun ammo, I used one for a couple of years, even loaded some .223 on it. I too drilled a hole through the top of the chest-of-drawers I was using for a loading bench. I put a soup can in the top drawer to catch the primers, (those that went where they were supposed to).





Best thing about your 4 hole turret is; the turrets will fit in the new LCT,(lee classic turret), so when you upgrade, you will already have all the turrets you need.

I now have the LCT, it's just so much better than the original 4 hole.

 

[unclesam099]

Side question for snuffy - can you run the 3 hole turrets in the Classic Cast Turret?

 

[RandyP]

As I understand it, 3 or 4 hole turrets work on either press.

 

[snuffy]

Side question for snuffy - can you run the 3 hole turrets in the Classic Cast Turret?

No. Or at least I doubt it. You would be better off asking lee if they make a conversion from 4 hole to 3 hole. The original lee turret was 3 hole, as you already know. When the 4 hole came out, they offered a conversion from 3 to 4. The big question would be can you do that in reverse? The steel ring that holds the turret would have to be changed, as well as the automatic advance driver and rod.

 

[Dean Williams]

I've had my Lee Turret since they first came out, so, 25 years or more, I'd guess. They only had three hole presses back then. I still have this press and use it almost daily. It's put out an unknown number of loaded cartridges, but has to be many, many, tens of thousands of rounds, and has loaded every pistol round I've ever shot since I got it. I keep telling myself I will get the Classic Turret, (cast iron model) when this one wears out, but I'm beginning to think it's going to last forever.

Lee makes an upgrade to the four hole turret for my old three holer, but I have so many three hole plates all set up that I'll probably never do it.

When the primer arm slot gets full of primer gunk, just use a small paint brush to wipe it out, brush away the stuff from around the ram and put a couple drops of oil on the ram and get back to work. Takes about 30 seconds.

 

[rockhound758]

I'll second Dean's point. While the Classic is a great press and no doubt nicer than the standard 4-hole, I reloaded thousands and thousands of rounds on my old trusty 3-hole press and I never really had a problem, other than the round wooden knob coming off (which epoxy fixed quite nicely). If you can exchange for the Classic, great, but if not, I'd say don't worry about it as I'm sure you'll find this one to work just fine as well.

 

[Mainsail]

I was at Cabela's yesterday wondering if the 3-hole turret would fit in my 4-hole classic turret press. The salesman tried it on theirs and it didn't fit.

 

[Redneck with a 40]

I have the standard 4 hole turret press and while the primer dump system sucks, its a good press, I'm happy with it. I'm up to about 12,000 rounds of 357/38 spl and 40 S&W on mine, it has yet to miss a beat.

 

[Dean Williams]

Randy P:

As I understand it, 3 or 4 hole turrets work on either press.

If you have some 3 hole turrets that you want to use on a 4 hole press, you can get the steel turret ring for a three holer and swap it out with the one on the four holer. It won't auto index, though, and you have to disable the four hole auto index rod.

 

[1SOW]

snuffy: The arm and the ram look the same , but everything else does look heavier duty on yours. With that pretty red paint job, I thought it was Cast, but that magnet SURE wouldn't stick to it. P.S. You're right "There is no free lunch" Heinlin wasn't it?

With 9mm my big concern is accuracy and consistency. I'm trying to get smart on the powder feeder. I'm kind of irked that it only loads in incremental jumps. I'm going to need somewhere between 4.1 and 4.5 grns and I'm stuck with 4.3 on the disk. I want to make minor power factor with minimum flip.

I'll make out though.

Thanks

 

[ArchAngelCD]

1SOW,
Go to a store that has the presses on display like at Cabela's. That's where I saw the Classic press and decided to change over right a way. When you see them side by side you will easily see the difference and how superior the Classic 4 hole press is. The linkage is totally different and it provides a lot more leverage.

 

[Naear88]

1SOW

With 9mm my big concern is accuracy and consistency. I'm trying to get smart on the powder feeder. I'm kind of irked that it only loads in incremental jumps. I'm going to need somewhere between 4.1 and 4.5 grns and I'm stuck with 4.3 on the disk. I want to make minor power factor with minimum flip.

Are you useing the Adjustable Charge Bar ?
Infinitely adjustable between .28 and 1.6 cc. Lifetime nylon with solid brass, zero backlash micrometer. Easy to set.

If you don't have the pro version you can get the upgrade kit that comes with new hopper and charge bar for 22 bucks
http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1234809056.2853=/html/catalog/powhan1.html

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Naear88,
Good advice and welcome to the forum...

I have the Adjustable Charge Bar, the Micro-Disk and the Double Disk Kit from Lee. I use them all and find them all useful in one application or another. I bought the Micro-Disk because I found the Adjustable Charge Bar doesn't work too well at very low charges with some powders. The "drop hole" doesn't sit right over the charge hole in the hopper so the charges are sometimes erratic when trying to charge very light powder drops.