Q: for Lee Turret Press Owners

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Dave R

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I was loading some pistol rounds on my single stage tonight. It got me thinking that I could save some time if I had a Turret press and could size/decap and flare in one step.

So, how handy are those turret presses? Do they save any time on bottleneck rifle presses?

I can't see myself priming on the press. I like my hand primer too much. And I don't see myself doing the "powder through expander" thing, because I like my Uniflow too much. So, will I only save time on straightwall cases, if I get one?

How much time do you owners actually save with a turret press? And how many steps do you do on the press?
 
I do everything on my Lee turret.

Station 1 sizes and de-primes on the downstroke, and then I reprime on the up stroke. I can't imagine why anyone would want to waste time hand priming considering how good the Lee Auto Prime works.

Station 2 flares the case, and I use the Pro Auto Disk powder measure, through the expander to drop the powder. This works pretty good, usually +/- 0.1 grains with ball powder. It doesn't do that good with non-ball powders. For long range, very precise loads I measure the load on the scale.

Station 3 seats the bullet.

Station 4 crimps.

Thats it. It works great.

Also, you use it as a single stage press if you remove the index rod.
 
My Lee turret press is dedicated to feed a 38 special for right now...and I echo what Lone_Gunman says except the priming part...I decap and tumble, then hand prime, then go through the turret.

I do it because I am too lazy to set up the auto-prime system...and it gives me a chance to closely inspect each and every piece of brass several times. :)


D
 
If you're not going to use the full abilities of the turret press, then you're better off staying with what you've got. The very idea of auto indexing, on press priming, powder through expanders is to save time. It CAN be done with the disc measure and the on press priming feature, accurately. You can get a case activated die where you could then use your uniflow measure.

Turret press and could size/decap and flare in one step.
Click to expand...

Actually it's two steps. The sizing and decapping, repriming is done on one stroke, the flaring/expanding is done on the same stroke with the powder through expander and powder dispensing.
 
you're describing pretty much the process i use for 7.62x39

i deprime/resize in first step
take out trim and reprime
fill from outside powder dispensor
then back on for bullet seating
and the third station is for crimp

still quicker than single stage by a long shot. I also like that i can stop more readily without leaving a lot of cases in various stages of completion.
 
If you get a turret press, get the Lee Classic Turret, not one of the old style. The new press is a rugged, life-long investment. Get the Safety Prime, etc. Right now Cabela's has the kit for about $150 with everything you need except dies. You would not be sorry.
 
I agree with everyone related to getting the whole nine yards and using it with the extras to get the full benefit. And the press of choice would be the newer Lee Classic Cast press. You can avoid trimming most of the cartridge life by using RCBS X dies and trimming only the first time.

BTW, you can also speed up your single stage by getting a Lee Classic Cast press and adding the Hornady Lock N Load system to it. If you're not going to use the full set of accessories for the turret, this route would be just as good to go with.

Just so you know, I own both the new Lee Safety Prime and the older Lee Auto Prime. The safety prime works just as well as the auto prime, but is faster, because it's on the press.

You can turn out without any effort an honest 200 rounds per hour with the Lee Classic Cast Turret press.

Dave
 
I just watched Lee's videos on how this thing works. There's a lot I didn't realize. Priming on the press looks great.

On powder dispensing--are you stuck with the disks? Or can you use their micrometer setting thing (what's it called?)

I would use this for a wide range of cartridges.
 
You can use the micro disk or you can use the micrometer. I recommend getting a double disk set and a micro disk first, then if you still need fine tuning, get the micrometer thingie.
 
turret press

i started about 1 yr ago reloading with the original Lee cigar box...everything was done by hand like the 'old days'...was doing about 15/hr.....graduated to the turret press and did about 100/hr...added the auto disk and now can easily do 20-25 in 10 mins....so if i want to reload before i go to the range it that simple....the addition to a bullet feeder would really add speed, but that would be too fast for me
 
Also, with a true progressive press (as I've used before), there's a whole lot happening with every pull of the handle...a mistake may be hard to note as the cases proceed very quickly through the process, so you must pay serious attention to what's going on. And once they are all loaded and in the collecting tray, you can't tell which has too much powder, no powder, or a partial charge. Of course, you CAN tell which has an inverted or no primer...but that's about it.

Yes, most progressive presses are designed NOT to double-charge...but with all that goes on with a progressive, screw-ups can happen anyway, even if caused by operator-error.

For me, reloading more slowly allows me to catch any problem right away, so for MY needs the Lee Class Turret Press is fast enough.

-- John D.
 
I agree with cloudcroft on this. I like the fact that with the turret press you can watch every case go through every step and still load 200 per hour. I also installed a small LED light so I can see the powder charge in every round as they go through the press.
Rusty
 
I find that the Safety Prime and the Auto-Disk are better than sliced bread.

"cloudcroft", is your body stuck in El Paso while your spirit is free in the mountains?

Back, "in the day" growing up in El Paso no summer trip to Cloudcroft was complete unless you took a dip in the pool below the tunnel and climbed to the end of the old railroad trestle and spit off the end. In the winter it was too icy and dangerous to do either! To date this somewhat, this was in the days before they put in the runaway truck escape ramps and when you could catch lunch at the Red Rooster in Alamogordo prior to heading up the hill.
 
Is the Auto-Disk really capable of dialing in the exact powder charge you want?

I understand it would be very accurate, but could I load 4.7 grains of TiteGroup, or 4.2 grains of Unique, or 25.5 grains of H335 (switched to rifles) or are the disks somewhat limiting in what powder charges you can throw?

If I could use the turret press with the Perfect Powder measure, I'd be good on powder charges.
 
Dave R,

You can get an exact load with either a combination of disks, including the micro disk or with the adjustable charge bar. After having a look at both powder measures, I like the Pro Auto Disk better of the two.

Dave
 
Also, with a true progressive press (as I've used before), there's a whole lot happening with every pull of the handle...a mistake may be hard to note as the cases proceed very quickly through the process, so you must pay serious attention to what's going on. And once they are all loaded and in the collecting tray, you can't tell which has too much powder, no powder, or a partial charge. Of course, you CAN tell which has an inverted or no primer...but that's about it.
Click to expand...

Very true, BUT there's one thing I've never seen posted. SOUND! My XL650 makes noise, or specific sounds when it's running right. After a few thousand loaded rounds, I right away noticed when something didn't sound right. Investigation showed a potential problem BEFORE it got into the finished shell tray. That's all part of the serious attention Dave alluded to.
 
Sistema1927,

After 42 years here, I will be moving to NM soon. Yes, the "high-country"...Los Alamos/White Rock or Cloudcroft/Ruidoso.

Never been to "the pool"...first time I've even heard about it!

I do not look forward to riding my v-twin MC down from Cloudcroft to Alamogordo on a snowy/icy steep grade like that road is! Scary.

Yes, I miss the old Red Rooster...it died many years ago...same as the one in El Paso.


DaveInFloweryBranchGA,

The charge-bar is infinitely adjustable...no way disks can be that exact.


snuffy,

What "serious attention?"

Was I supposed to be paying serious attention while reloading? :confused: :)


-- John D.
 
newby piggy back question.....

for guys "doing it all" on the Lee turret press......

are you cleaning your brass in a tumbler?

or just wiping it down and inspecting?

if you're tumbling, do you have to de-prime before you tumble?

my set up should ship this week and I'm not 100% sure about the "brass prep. thing" yet.

Some have posted that a quick wipe down is all that is needed. Others say dish soap and a scrubby is fine. While others deprime and tumble.

If you are sizing/depriming on the 1st pull and using the safety primer to prime on the return, how are you prepping your brass?

I broke the bank springing for the large/small safety primer and carbide dies......I won't be able to get a tumbler for some time.

thanks.
 
SSN Vet,

No matter WHAT brand/type of press I have, I ALWAYS clean the cases first, after using a Lyman Universal Depriming die on them -- set up in a Lee Reloader Press as my "depriming station" -- to remove spent primers.

Then they go into hot soapy water and I clean them, primer-pockets also with the Lee Primer Pocket Cleaner tool and Q-Tips (for inside the cases, too). After rinsing, they go into my food dehydrator to dry...if I want them dried quickly...if not, they just air-dry overnight/days (until I get to them), covered with a paper towel to keep ambient dust in the air off them.

So only after they are clean and dry do I ever put them into my press for resizing, etc.. No sand/dirt/grit ever comes in contact with any of my dies, carbide resizing dies or the others. I go out to the desert to shoot and cases are recovered from the sand out there...said cases need to be cleaned well.

I never have used nor have I ever owned a tumbler...it's of no use or interest to me.

Happy reloading,

-- John D.
 
I load only handgun calibers and keep it as simple as possible.

If the brass comes from a dirt/sand area outside then I will tumble it with plain corn/cob or walnut for 15 minutes to get the sand/dirt off. I then sift the brass out of the media and spray it with a solution of one part Lee Lube to ten parts 91% rubbing alcohol. I just put a couple hundred cases into a baggie, spray a couple of good squirts on them, shake and dump out onto newspaper. Let it dry on newspaper for 10 minutes and load. No wiping off, etc. needed. Just shoot it. If you need a little more lube on them, do three or four squirts of the spray gun into the baggie. I usually just hit 'em with two squirts. 9mm works a little better with more lube because that tapered case is the toughest to resize.

If I pick the brass off the indoor range floor all I do is spray it with the Lee Lube solution described above, let it dry and load. The carbon, etc from burnt powder and the gun oil, etc all help to make it go through the carbide die smoothly.

If you use the Lee Factory Crimp Die properly you will not ever have to trim handgun brass. It eliminates the need for that.
 
for guys "doing it all" on the Lee turret press......

are you cleaning your brass in a tumbler?

I'm cleaning my brass in a Frankford Arsenal tumbler for only enough time to clean it, not to shine it. I use corncob media and Nu Finish car polish I buy at the Dollar General for 4 bucks a bottle.

or just wiping it down and inspecting?

I always inspect, but like the fact the corn cob media will take care of dirt, water and other goodies that can wear out my dies.

if you're tumbling, do you have to de-prime before you tumble?

No, you don't and I don't./COLOR]

my set up should ship this week and I'm not 100% sure about the "brass prep. thing" yet.

An affordable tumble kit with the rotating cage in a bucket to separate the media from the brass has been the most convenient method I've found for dealing with dirty brass.

Some have posted that a quick wipe down is all that is needed. Others say dish soap and a scrubby is fine. While others deprime and tumble.

Really depends on your style of shooting and wether or not the brass makes it to the ground to get dirty. I wouldn't advise running brass through a die until the dirt has been gotten off, regardless of method, as the dirt is like sandpaper.

If you are sizing/depriming on the 1st pull and using the safety primer to prime on the return, how are you prepping your brass?

For pistol, no prep. Tumble, then run through press. Size, deprime and use safety prime all at top of prime stroke. Seat primer on down stroke. For rifle, depends on "Where" the brass is. For full length resizing where I'm trimming, I resize/deprime, then take it off press to trim. for neck sizing, just process through, no trimming. For RCBS X-die full length resizing after an initial trimming using a standard die, I don't trim, just process as per pistol brass.

I broke the bank springing for the large/small safety primer and carbide dies......I won't be able to get a tumbler for some time.

I'd wash with soap and water or another solution, rinse well with scalding hot water, let dry then process until I could afford the tumbler kit.
 
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