First off....I'm not in the market for a Dillonn or Hornady

I am however looking for input from those who have used the Lee Clasic Cast 4 hole Turret Press

I want to tool 3 heads compleat to just plug-and-play for building steel clanking ammo

Pistols will be using Rainier plated cast bullets and the .223 will be 55 Hornady-FMJBT

40 S&W
45 ACP
.223 Rem

I used a three hole Lee Turret as my only press for about 5 years until I ordered a Dillon 450B in 1986. Since then I've added 4 or 5 more presses but I still use the Lee turret.

Thanks Fjold....gonna move this to reloading now....sorry

OK Ted I moved your original post here and deleted the second one, so you are good to go.

Thank you Mark

Gotta bring this back to the top....does no body have the 4 hole

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
First off....I'm not in the market for a Dillonn or Hornady

I am however looking for input from those who have used the Lee Clasic Cast 4 hole Turret Press

I want to tool 3 heads compleat to just plug-and-play for building steel clanking ammo

Pistols will be using Rainier plated cast bullets and the .223 will be 55 Hornady-FMJBT

40 S&W
45 ACP
.223 Rem

The Lee Classic Turret is the best auto-indexing turret press in current production, bar none.

Of course, there ARE only two autoindexing turret presses in current production, and the second is also made by Lee, the Deluxe Turret.


I kind of shotgunned this because you did not ask specific questions. I hope this helps.


Evolution: The Classic Turret is the newer design of the two.

Durability: The Classic Turret's base is cast iron, the Deluxe is cast aluminum. Iron wears better than the softer metal, aluminum.

Ease of use: The Deluxe has a 1" smaller vertical opening than the Classic Turret. Though either is capable of taking long rifle cartridges, the Classic Turret will take longer ones and if you have big hands is the clear winner

Spent Primer Handling: The Deluxe drops primers out of a slot in the ram to fall into a cavity inside the press base. But only about 90% succeed in their intended journey. The Classic drops primers down the center of the hollow ram and into a clear plastic tube which can contain a few hundred primers or be directed into a receptacle of your choice. The difference in the behavior of the debris (products of combustion) from the spent primers is even more striking. With the Deluxe, you wind up with primer detritus all over and have to dismount the press and sweep up the pile of spent primers every several hundred rounds.

More on Durability: The Deluxe ram is smaller than the Classic's ram. This gives a much different bearing surface for the ram to be guided as if moves up and down. The Classic press will last much longer because of the increased surface area and because iron is tougher than aluminum.

Even more on Durability: The Deluxe's linkage is aluminun and stampings. The Classic's linkage is more robust. I believe the leverage on both is the same.

The Deluxe is aluminum, spills spent primers and the vertical opening is 1" shorter (which you may find important when loading long cartridges or long bullets.

There are a few kits now built around the Classic Turret, but only one I know of would be of interest to someone who already reloads, Kempf's Gun Shop online. It does not include a scale or manual, but does include the primer dispenser and an Auto-Disk powder measure, both of which should be used with the press for maximum utility and efficiency.

The first time I used my Classic Turret, I timed myself. Starting with the press set up and the powder measure tested and verified for charge weight I started a clock, refilled powder measure, filled and installed the primer dispenser and installed it. Installed my dies (already mounted in a turret) filled my brass bowl bullets bowl and finished cartridge bowl, loaded 100 rounds, poured the remaining powder back into the powder container, and put my dies (with turret) back in the storage container and stopped the clock at 47 minutes.

You have to operate the primer dispenser gingerly, as alignment and full engagement with the priming arm are extremely important. But you can see if the primer is in the cup correctly and it is up out of the way of grit from the spent primers, unlike many other presses.

Caliber swaps are easy as pie if you have your dies installed in spare turrets (which are only $10 to $15 each).

Lost Sheep

I own one. It performs very well. I particularly enjoy the fact that with extra tool heads one can leave the dies exactly as adjusted for the next reloading session. It is quick and convenient. As explained to me by Mr. Lee himself, this not only solves the depth variable but it solves the "radial positioning of the die in the tool head threads variable." This means essentially that by using Lee's, (or Hornady's die position locking), one is guaranteed that the die's will also be in the exact radial "float" within the thread slop between the male and female threads.
I like removing variables, especially if it can be pain-in-the-buttless.

I have the Lyman T-Mag and there is no way anyone will ever convince me that the Lee turret is anywhere near as tough as the Lyman. It is the proverbial BSH..

With that said, the Redding is probably the best turret press on the market, but that also comes at a cost. I personaly think the T-Mag is the best value. I wouldnt mind a Lee for doing my pistol loads, but I wouldnt use one for my rifle loads.

Had a T-Mag.....it is not an auto indexing press

quote:

Originally posted by Tuckerp229:
I own one. It performs very well. I particularly enjoy the fact that with extra tool heads one can leave the dies exactly as adjusted for the next reloading session. It is quick and convenient. As explained to me by Mr. Lee himself, this not only solves the depth variable but it solves the "radial positioning of the die in the tool head threads variable." This means essentially that by using Lee's, (or Hornady's die position locking), one is guaranteed that the die's will also be in the exact radial "float" within the thread slop between the male and female threads.
I like removing variables, especially if it can be pain-in-the-buttless.

radial positioning...ok

loading for 40SW 45 ACP and .223 REM these are "go bang" range loads at sub 50 yards shooting at gongs

quote:

Originally posted by Wstrnhuntr:
I have the Lyman T-Mag and there is no way anyone will ever convince me that the Lee turret is anywhere near as tough as the Lyman. It is the proverbial BSH..

With that said, the Redding is probably the best turret press on the market, but that also comes at a cost. I personaly think the T-Mag is the best value. I wouldnt mind a Lee for doing my pistol loads, but I wouldnt use one for my rifle loads.

It is hard to tell which is tougher, more precise, better leverage etc. without owning (or at least running) both side-by-side with a variety of cartridges.

My friend has a Lyman T-Mag and is quite as happy with it as I am with my Lee.

For high accuracy rifle cartridges, I will mount my single stage RockChucker. But I keep thinking about a Forster.

Lost Sheep

quote:

But I keep thinking about a Forster.

Lost Sheep

Have you been thinking about the effect a crooked lock ring has when using the Forster?

I like mine, I've only been reloading for a few months and bought it cause it's the one my buddy uses and he helped me set mine up.

I have 45,38 and 9mm dies all set in their own turret so swaps are a breeze. I've made a ton of reliable,accurate and inexpensive (compared to factory prices) ammo. I only shoot a few hundred rounds a week and it works for me!

Hello , I have just started reloading and after a lot of research I bought the 4 station "classic" turret press . It costs somewhat more that the 4 hole "Kit" Turret press you can get .

I feel that the extra $$ is really worth it. I forget all the reasons I went with this one rather than the less expensive one.

Been reloading .223 so far and it couldn't be any easier . This press works great.Spend the extra money you won't be sorry.

Have had the four hole turret for about 10+ years now.
Have about 15 or so turrets set up with various dies so I can change calibers quick and easy. Took the automatic indexing off and have used it as a glorified single stage. I've put over 60,000 bullets thru it and am very happy with the ease of operation. If I had more money I might have upgrade to a Dillion or Hornady but I'll just put that money in bullets, powder, and primers and keep chugging along.

I had the Lee 4 hole turret press with the Pro powder disk measure. I reloaded .44 magnum on it for a while. I sold it because I could never throw an accurate enough charge. Looking back, I'm sure the problem could have been rectified by cleaning the powder hopper components with Hornady One Shot. It did a great job and for the money, it was hard to beat. It's a bit fussy trying to get the primer feed to work properly at times too. It wants to move to one side or the other.
I also have the Lyman T-Mag. It is a fairly solid press too, but the auto index feature on the Lee was nice. Will be moving on to a Hornady LNL, if I can ever find the time to take it out of the box and set it up.

I have been using the Lee Classic for about 10 years now. I use the 4-hole turrets so I can put 2 calibers of 2-die sets in one turret. Also they have enough room for 3-die sets and the occasional 4-die set. I have enough turrets to hold all my die sets so once set up they stay that way. I do not use the auto indexing, I put all the cartridges through one step, then go on to the next step.

Hugh