i am new to reloading and have a question. i have seen a lot of info on 4 hole turret presses (esp. lee classic) but not much on the lee 3 hole turret. the price of the 3 hole is pretty reasonable and i have seen a few on ebay.

what are your opinions on this. i am considering depriming outside with a mallet and punch (slow i know) to cut down on primer dust (small kids and lead concerns). I currently have a hand press that I use with a lee classic loader.

what could I expect by depriming and hand priming first with what I have, then using the 3 hole turret press for finishing up.

thanks for any help you can give, I am new and am asking a lot of questions.

I forgot to figure in sizing with my depriming plan.....I would slow things down dramatically by doing this instead of doing it all in one motion.

thanks

I have one of the three holers that I use for pistol. Since I always resize and clean cases and recap by hand before loading I find the three hole press holding a Lee expander with powder measure, seater and crimper dies is just about perfect for my pistol reloading. A four holer would just waste a hole. I keep a set of dies for each cartridge in their own turret already setup and ready to load. I keep other turrets with three different resizing and decapping dies.

However I do find the auto advance to not be particularly reliable on the three hole press and it is cheaply made, none-the-less I like it and would get another if this one broke.


By the way depriming with a mallet and punch is slow and likely to be more enviromentally hazardous than depriming on the press, especially if (when) you discover a live primer. Just practice good hygiene, and don't get distracted.

Jerry Liles