Opinions on Lee classic turret press

[bigtubby]

Moving up from a RCBS Rockchucker single stage press need something just a little faster only need maybe 500 to 600 rnds a month of .38spec, .357 and .44 spec total. I know the Dillion's are great but don't think I need that much of a press. What do you guys that own them or have owned them think of the Lee?

 

[Claude Clay]

i use the square deal for lots of rounds and the lee just as you described:

small amounts, handgun, at about 150 rounds per hour. rifle 50 to 75.
mine is the thin red base 4 hole model.

 

[gspn]

I have the Lee Classic Cast and I load maybe 500 to 1,000 rounds a month in .45 acp, 41 mag, 44 mag, 10mm, 357, 38, 7mm mag, and .243.

I love it. I buy a 4 hole turret for each caliber, set the dies once, then just drop them in and go. Caliber changes take less than a minute. If you use the auto powered measure it will take a few minutes longer but not much.

It is a good press for 100 rounds an hour...I might get a bit more when I focus on speed but I'd guess I average about 100 an hour on pistol.

It's a wonderful little press. In three or four years of using it I've had only one problem...a small square plastic piece wore out...but they had a spare in the kit so I was back in action in no time.

I occasionally toy with the idea of getting a progressive...but I don't load the volume needed to justify fooling with the acquisition.

 

[springer99]

The Lee Classic Cast Turret is probably what you are looking for, in the calibers listed. It'll do around 150-175 rounds per hour and if you get a few extra turrets, is very quick to change-over. Remove the auto-rotate rod(a 5sec task) and you even have a single-stage press if you want to go back to rifle cases.

 

[Sniderman]

I've got a Lee Classic three hole that works just fine for all my handgun loads, 300/500 a month is not difficult to pound out.
The Lee isn't one of the "Sexy" presses but it does the job for very low money.

I also bought the four hole plate, changes out easily, just remove the three bolts on top and bolt on the four hole plate.
I load seven different calibers of handgun loads and have individual turrets for each caliber. With plates for each caliber, the dies stay adjusted, no tweaking for OAL, just a turn of the wrist, change out a shellholder and your on to another caliber.
I like the simplicity of the Lee and have no plans to move on to some other press.
I wish you luck with this! Have fun!

 

[nosmr2]

I love mine. 100 rounds an hour is about average. Great stuff at affordable prices.

 

[bigtubby]

Ya I am looking at the 4 hole I think i will order it with the extra turrets, primer and powder feeder.

 

[Jaxondog]

I have several Lee turret press's and several single stage and i use the single stage's more. Love em both.

 

[kostner]

Have two of them one the wife 9mm and mine 45 acp it has been over twenty years and the presses work better then we do.

 

[Lost Sheep]

You have made a good choice

Welcome, and thanks for asking our advice

Moving up from a RCBS Rockchucker single stage press need something just a little faster only need maybe 500 to 600 rnds a month of .38spec, .357 and .44 spec total. I know the Dillion's are great but don't think I need that much of a press. What do you guys that own them or have owned them think of the Lee?

Ya I am looking at the 4 hole I think i will order it with the extra turrets, primer and powder feeder.

I started in 1975 with a Rockchucker, then got a couple of Lee progressives and recently discovered the Lee Classic Turret. I couldn't be happier and traded off the progressives.

Check out Kempf's Gun Shop (on line) for a really nice kit for $210 (including dies, which most kits don't). Add a manual or two and a scale and you are all set to load in fine style.

Other than that kit, I suggest assembling your own kit.

Speed? I loaded 100 rounds in 47 minutes the first time out (and I am slow - cautious, I am).

The Lee Turrets are the only turrets that have auto-advancing, which makes them the best turrets in the world today (as long as you don't need more than 4 die stations). The Classic is superior to the Deluxe, though both operate identically.

I load .357, 9mm, 44 Mag, 45 Colt/454 Casull, 45 ACP a few hundred rounds at a sitting.

Lost Sheep

 

[Hondo 60]

The Lee Classic Turret is the finest turret press ever made.
Just ask Richard Lee, he'll tell ya. LOL

Seriously, I agree with Richard.

 

[shootniron]

I have the Classic Cast 4-hole and have used it a good bit. I use it to reload .44mag, .45lc, and .454 for my hunting handguns. While I like it and continue to use it, it has never indexed properly 100% of the time and that can be a bit of a distraction and it keeps me from giving it a 5 star rating. But. it is a fairly efficient way to reload if you do not have a progressive. However, it will never replace my progressives for for.45acp and .38/.357 and double volume that they allow me to produce.

 

[Lost Sheep]

Naming and diagnosing

I have the Classic Cast 4-hole and have used it a good bit. I use it to reload .44mag, .45lc, and .454 for my hunting handguns. While I like it and continue to use it, it has never indexed properly 100% of the time and that can be a bit of a distraction and it keeps me from giving it a 5 star rating. But. it is a fairly efficient way to reload if you do not have a progressive. However, it will never replace my progressives for for.45acp and .38/.357 and double volume that they allow me to produce.

Lee Classic Cast is a single stage
Lee Classic Turret is a turret
Lee Deluxe Turret is inferior to the Classic Turret
Lee Classic Turret is a newer model than the Deluxe Turret
Lee could use some better naming conventions.

Really,

Indexing of the turret mostly depends on the ball detents and if yours doesn't index properly because of them, a call to Lee is appropriate. They will make it right, even out of warranty, I expect, because an indexing problem like that is most probably a manufacturing defect. On the other hand, most indexing problems with the Lee Turrets can be cured by replacing the 50 cent square ratchet (which is designed to break before any more expensive parts do, which means it will wear.) Third alternate explanation is not properly stroking the ram (either a short stroke or backing up a little somewhere).

I hope my comments help you analyze your Turret Press' misbehavior and help to cure it.

Lost Sheep

 

[oldreloader]

I bought one last year and glad I did! My old Rockchucker doesn't see much use now. The Classic Turret will work great. I load 9 MM 45 ACP 223 30-06 and some 30-30. It works great. I have the Pro Auto Disc and Safety Prime too. They are worth the money. Get some extra turrets and adjustable charge bars to round out the order. You'll be glad you did!

 

[shootniron]

Lost Sheep,

Yeah, when putting cast in the name, I should not have capitlized it as I was actually referring to the construction and not the name. And, I also have the excellent Classic Cast single stage that I sold a RockChucker after purchasing...just a great press in my opinion.

I have replaced the ratchet and it still does the same thing. I should have called Lee about it and I really never think about until I am loading at night and they are closed. It is really not a bad problem, but it can be irritating to me as I am not really known to be the most patient person anyway. Also, I really use it as much as a single stage as I do as a turret press because of the nature of these handgun loads and the small quantities that I do them in. I normally like to visually check the powder level in the cases before seating the bullet just to make sure the loads appear at the right level throughout the cases. This isn't really necessary, but it is a quirk in my nature. I will try to make a point of mentioning it to them and see if we can come up with a solution. At any rate, thanks for your input and I will try to follow-up on it.

 

[greyling22]

it's a great press, though I never hit the speed most folks here claim. I don't use it for precision rifle reloading or high volume pistol, but for medium volume stuff it can't be beat.

 

[Fishslayer]

I've had my Classic Turret for 3 years and thousands of rounds of 9mm, .38/.357 &.45ACP.

I've replaced one 50 cent plastic part which Lee had to me real quickly.

I recommend it.

 

[RandyP]

FS Reloading now sells the new Classic turret kit for $200. Kempf's offers one too. IMHO it is the best bang for the buck in reloading.

http://fsreloading.com/classic-turret-press-kit-90304.html

At a very relaxed pace I'm churning out 150-175 rounds per hour in pistol calibers. I too have separate turrets set up with dies for the 4 calibers I reload. At Lee prices it is very affordable to do.

 

[unknwn]

From what I've read, the Lee Turret press can be problematic if the operator is overzealous with thier stroke.
The momentum of the turret spinning in the collar can lead to the press overshooting the intended stopping point for a press operation.
This can be overcome by reaching up and budging the turret so that it "clicks" into alignment.
The instruction I used said to turn the centering nut for the turret shaft about a 1/16 of a turn or so backward so that it stops just prior to the indexing groove.
If the lever is stroked real slow, the turret would stop short of lining up with the die over the ram.
If the lever is stroked vigorously, it "swings" past the short index and would stop exactly in line -die station over the ram-.
You can get an idea of how this works by observing the loaded turret advancing past the appropriate stopping point when used in the adjustment range it came supplied with. Crank the arm fast, and you can often see the turret "swing" right past the intended stopping point.
For this to work as described, the turret needs to be fully loaded with dies and associated tooling.
I don't know that I've done a very good job of explaining it, but if I can find the original post/instruction , I will follow-up with a thread listing the link.

 

[psyshack]

I also have a Classic Turret. Best press out there for the money hands down.

If your having indexing issues: Adjust the nut on the indexing rod. If your having issues feeding primers: Add or remove washers sized right under the safety prime bracket to raise or lower the assembly and get the left/right placement set right.

I load 9mm, 10mm, .45acp, .38sp, .357 on mine. I have complete turrets for each including Pro Powder Measure's and risers. Also have charge bar and double disc kit. Caliber changes are not a issue at all. Change out shell plate. Change the turret out.

My small Lee bench turns out fantastic ammo.

 

[john16443]

Moving up from a RCBS Rockchucker single stage press need something just a little faster only need maybe 500 to 600 rnds a month of .38spec, .357 and .44 spec total. I know the Dillion's are great but don't think I need that much of a press. What do you guys that own them or have owned them think of the Lee?

bigtubby - You haven't bought that Lee Classic Turret yet?? I thought we had you convinced on the other forum already. For your situation, it will be an excellent press for many years to come. Want to start loading a new caliber, my oh my, it will cost a grand total of $50 or less for a new turret and dies presuming you have a shellholder set.

 

[unknwn]

Although the following is not the information I indicated in my previous post, I found this information saved in my documents.
These paragraphs outline the procedure for properly aligning the Lee ClassicCast turret press indexing to factory intentions.

THIS APPLIES TO THE CLASSIC TURRET PRESS or older models of the 4-hole press also. It does NOT apply to a 3-hole turret press; they are adjusted in another manner.
--------------------------***********************-------------------------------------
The nylon square ratchet that comes with the turret press is designed to properly index the press for 10s of thousands of rounds; however, an extra does comes with the press. This inexpensive part is made of nylon for two reasons with the first being that if the index rod is operated against the proper rotation, the nylon will fail before any damage occurs to any other part. The second is that they are inexpensive to produce and purchase.

The ratchet enables the indexing without “tweaking” or adjustment. The index rod may be removed and replaced at will without affecting the timing of the press. In the unlikely event that your press was received and not indexing correctly, the ratchet is not the reason and the issue is easily resolved with information in Lee’s FAQ on their website regarding turret press index alignment.* There is even a video on the website showing how to align the turret--

http://www.leeprecision.com/html/HelpVideos/videos/Four hole turret index adjustment-1.wmv

The only reason the ratchet would be damaged is from forcing the index rod against that ratchet. This generally occurs when turrets are removed with the ram at the bottom of the stroke as the ratchet is “engaged” during the down stroke. When removing turrets, it is necessary to raise the ram about an inch or so.*

A problem can ultimately affect indexing if the ratchet is excessively forced against the index rod, because the top portion of the ram, designed to rotate for another reason, would do so under these circumstances. Then, even with the ratchet replaced, the entire housing is off center. The proper alignment of the housing is completed by using the lever portion of the priming arm and aligning it with the two bumps on the base of the press

The nylon housing that holds the ratchet never needs to be opened other than to eventually replace the nylon ratchet. Remove the index rod, then the housing by removing the horizontal screw. Replace the ratchet remembering to place the flange in the downward position and reattach the nylon housing.* This housing does nothing more than contain the ratchet. Do not over tighten the screw because the threads can be stripped.


I hope this might be of use to the many ClassicCast users out there.

 

[dnmccoy]

I I love mine!

 

[dickttx]

psyshack, is that a solid piece of wood on top of your bench? How deep is it?