Thoughts on Lee Classic Turret Press?

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The description says it will drop 1-80 gr. Of powder.
2 of the drums are sized for large cartridges & 2 are sized for pistol cartridges. I only use it for pistol so I can't give you an exact answer. It has been unfailingly accurate for me.
 
Problems:

Inconsistent powder charges with some powders. Use powders that flow better. I almost always charge in the middle of a range to account for +- 0.2 grains. I end up weighing every charge if I'm worried.

Sometimes crimping can be difficult.
 
+1

Charging my .30-06 loads with IMR 4350. The drop is inconsistent in any powder drop. I have been throwing and trickling up weighing every charge since I am on the upper edge of the allowed range.

I ordered my Lee Classic Turret tonight. Recent price drop to $99 on Amazon. Looking forward to having a turret press around to go with my other presses.
 
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I charge rifle cases with one of those free-standing powder dispensers, either my Lee or RCBS. Too much powder to dump using the on-press dispenser, and I want the charges to be reasonably accurate.

Love my LCT press, but I don't consider the driven turret feature to be the be-all, end-all, best-thing-ever for reloading. Depends on the ammo I'm making. Sometimes I crank 'em out, sometimes I go slow and single-stage. Love the versatility of the LCT for this!
 
rondog said:
....i don't consider the driven turret feature to be the be-all, end-all, best-thing-ever for reloading. Depends on the ammo I'm making. Sometimes I crank 'em out, sometimes I go slow and single-stage. Love the versatility of the LCT for this!
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree about rifle. Where the indexing feature shines is loading pistol. As long as you follow a basic rule of not manually turning the turret when the ram is all the way up or down, you'll never have an indexing problem and you won't wear out the little square plastic "thingie" that everybody complains about.
 
Ram up, you're golden. Ram down, don't turn the turret by hand. I just remove the drive rod, much easier that way.
 
Yesterday evening I decapped ~2k 9x19 cases with my Lee universal decapping die (I am going to F.A.R.T. them today :)).

Rather than remove the indexing rod, I changed the handle position in the way I described earlier in this Thread (along with my reasoning).

With that change, the handle was vertical when the ram was halfway down (never engaging the indexing rod) and horizontal when all the way up.

I found it to be the perfect setup (for me) for decapping while standing.

I thought about this Thread as I was working on all those cases ... lottsa time to think, dontchaknow. ;)

BTW, my benchtop is 37½" high.
 
I took advantage of the new $99 price at Amazon and ordered mine today. Free shipping with my Prime as well.
Going to be fitting it up with an Auto Drum Powder Measure. Have to laugh too because I finally fixed the leaking on my PPM, anyone looking to buy a PPM :)
 
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I am well acquainted with my Lee Classic Cast turret and learned it quickly. I use every available feature and have added all the add-ons from InLine Fabrication. I load 13 cartridges, mostly lead bullets, have a turret for each plus a few special dedicated turrets for jacketed setups.

Too much is made of the indexing. I would guess that people have trouble with it when they go too fast. My tempo allows me to feel everything that is happening. Note that if the handle is pulled halfway, you will be able to feel when the turret is in neutral indexing and can be turned either way without knocking the indexing out of adjustment. The only plastic sleeve I replaced was from expected wear rather than abuse.

A couple notes include avoiding Hornady sizers because of that long decapping rod interfering with the powder measure. I spray the turret and the mating part of the frame with One-Shot, if the turret seems a little bound up. For awhile after that I have to take it easy with the inertia of the turret moving (handle pull), or the turret will pass the détente and have to be adjusted back by hand. to align with the shell holder. The primer feed bracket on the turret has to be properly aligned with the shell holder, or priming will be a headache. It is surprising how well it all works once you achieve that alignment.
 
A squirt of REM-OIL or TRI FLow on the turrets make them turn real easy.

I have an old 3 hole deluxe turret. I am very happy with it and have loaded at least 20K rounds on it.

Hope you like your new Lee turret.
 
Dudedog said:
A squirt of REM-OIL or TRI FLow on the turrets make them turn real easy.
Click to expand...

What locations? I was watching the Inline Fabrication video of their case ejector and was surprised to see a puddle of oil on the bottom of the index rod to casting. Is that a friction area?
 
No, but the index rod could us a tiny bit of lube. I coated mine with moly and let it dry, so no puddle for me!
 
Originally Posted by Dudedog
A squirt of REM-OIL or TRI FLow on the turrets make them turn real easy.
Click to expand...

What locations? I was watching the Inline Fabrication video of their case ejector and was surprised to see a puddle of oil on the bottom of the index rod to casting. Is that a friction area?
Click to expand...


The ring that carries the rubber ejector flipper is metal riding on a metal rod. Lubricating that mating area would make sense but not enough to puddle.
 
I lightly lube the head that the dies screw in on the "lugs", makes it turn MUCH easier and smoother. -- the "lugs"
 
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AV8TOR said:
What locations? I was watching the Inline Fabrication video of their case ejector and was surprised to see a puddle of oil on the bottom of the index rod to casting. Is that a friction area?
Click to expand...

No. I've had my press for around 7 years now...and I've never lubed anything on it. It runs just fine.
 
The only lubricant I've ever used on mine is a small amount of powdered graphite on the edge where the turret rests on the press. IMO, unless it's a high friction area, lubricating and oiling causes more problems than it solves by attracting dust and grit which then requires more cleaning and maintenance to operate properly.
 
ANY press needs lubrication on the ram/bore intersection, the pivot points of the arm/lever. Those are high stress points that require lube to rotate or slide. Failure to lube the ram will make it hog out the bore it rides in. Care must be taken to remove any grit that may build up at the top surface of the bore that the ram rides in to prevent it from acting like an abrasive.

One of the main reasons for the use of the hollow ram to get rid of the spent primers is to remove the grit they contain that over time will wear the ram and it's bore. Older presses leave that apcray on top of the press where it can do it's damage.
 
snuffy said:
One of the main reasons for the use of the hollow ram to get rid of the spent primers is to remove the grit they contain that over time will wear the ram and it's bore. Older presses leave that apcray on top of the press where it can do it's damage.
Click to expand...

That is precisely why I sold my Challenger press. I chose to replace it with the Classic Turret specifically for the way it handles spent primers.
 
That is precisely why I sold my Challenger press. I chose to replace it with the Classic Turret specifically for the way it handles spent primers.
Click to expand...

It's just swell, except the end cap hangs at puppy height.
 
The press itself is plain great. With quality bullets and sorting my cases by headstamp (this is, using the same brand for every batch of produced ammo) my OAL is as consistent as +/- .002. It's hard to beat that when your equipment doesn't have the tag "match" labelled on it.

But it does require lube. Not much, but it does. Lube the ram, the pivot points and the surface contacts on the priming lever. You'll see that your LCT runs much smoother.
 
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