Setting Up Lee Three Hole Turret

[308win]

I got a pristine (actually looks new) Lee three hole turret on eBay for a good price. Now I need to figure out how to set it up to load 9mm and 45acp. I have an RCBS Jr that I am thinking I will use to size/decap/prime as step one and bell as step two. Then I will use the turret to charge (using an RCBS Uniflow) as hole one, seat as hole two, and crimp as hole three. Untill I get a Lee automatic powder measure to use with the expanding/charging die this seems to me to be the most efficient unless there is some way to use the Uniflow with the Lee expander/charging die that I am not smart enough to figure out on my own.

Comments/suggestions please. Thanks

 

[happy old sailor]

i have one of these and loaded many k rounds until i got my progressive. only prob was keeping the auto advance adjusted. i finaly gave up and did this manually. may i recommend you get a spare turret gadget for other calibers. that way there is no hassle changing dies. if you can afford it, get more powder measures for the other calibers. may i further recommend f & m reloading.com for spare parts. they are the cheapest i have found. Lee themselves are the highest. this a simple little machine and easy to figure out. you should like it and load many rounds easily.

many ppl on here have this machine and like it. if you get stuck, ask away.

 

[Rabid Rabbit]

I have a Lee 3 hole as well, only one complaint. I recommend resize/deprime then hand prime. That little T primer is slow and I don't get as good of a feel for seating depth. Try the T thing a couple times then imagine do that 500 times.

 

[W Turner]

I have a 4-hole turret press and love it. I use mine to do batch loading in .45 acp.
I tumble the brass, then I decap/resize all of the tumbled brass and use the Auto-Prime to prime all of it. This way all I have to do when I am ready to load up a couple hundred rounds is verify my powder measure is stil throwing the right charge and start loading. I will seat and crimp all of the rounds before running them all thru the FCD and doing my final inspection.

With all of the prep work out of the way, I can load 1-200 rounds per hour this way. I stop pretty often to check powder weights and OAL though, so it could be faster.

I'm not a high volume shooter, so this is plenty for me.

I would recommend getting a seperate turret for each cailber that way you can leave the dies set up just the way you like them.

W

 

[The Bushmaster]

I use a three hole Lee turret. I agree with Rabid Rabbit, the "T" primer seater is a waste unless you need to just prime one or two that did not set right the first time or are just preparing a few cases to load for testing. The Lee Auto Prime II is a good match for the Lee turret and I recommend it.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I use a 4 hole and have had no problems with it. I purchased extra turrets so I can set up all my dies for different calibers.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Yeah, yeah...I also have turret adapters for each caliber and an extra one for my Lee Factory Crimp Dies.

 

[AnthonyRSS]

The only thing I don't like about my three hole turret is that the primers just fall on the floor when punched out. So there are 700 spent primers on my floor and the vacuum hates them. Other than that I haven't had any problems with it. I use the Lee hand primer too.

 

[The Bushmaster]

AnthonyRSS. Cut a one inch hole just below the press and get one of those old aluminum ice trays or maybe one of the new plastic ones will work. Make a slide for the tray and when it is full, about several thousand spent primers, slide it out and dump them. My Lee Turret is bolted to the top of my bench and is set up in this manor and works great.