A Turret Press that works??

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Bobbyg00

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Hi All,

Does anyone know of a turret press that actually works flawlessly????
I'm running a LEE Classic Turret Press and it's about the most frustrating thing I've ever done. I have limited days I can reload. I'd like it to be as smooth as possible so I don't start hating it (like I do now).

Thanks!
 
What’s the issue? I too have a Lee classic turret. I only use it for pistol / revolver ammo – works great. Any bottle neck cartridges I still load with a single stage press.
 
I lucked out on finding a used Dillon 550B as my first press and it's been very enjoyable to use. I would have never justified the cost of one new if I hadn't run across this used one but now that I see the build quality and have experienced it in use I would defiantly buy one new.
 
laurencen said:
whats the frustrating issue? I use a RCBS turret for small caliber and a Hollywood turret for all the rest,
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brokenpine said:
What’s the issue? I too have a Lee classic turret. I only use it for pistol / revolver ammo – works great. Any bottle neck cartridges I still load with a single stage press.
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Fargone4sure said:
I absolutely love my Lee Classic Turret. Wouldn't want to guess how many thousands of rounds I've done on it. What issues are you having?
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Jefferson said:
what caliber are you reloading. pistol then use a Dillon square b. Flawless jefferson
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My biggest frustration is that the turret will not stay lined up. I am constantly adjusting it while holding the down rod (as suggested by LEE if the turret isn't lining up). One, maybe two rounds and it's out of line again. Crushing brass on the edges of my powder thru and resizing dies. Huge disappointment. Sounds like there are some good experiences out there. I load 9 and 45 on it. Sucks on both calibres.
 
Innercity said:
Take the Indexing dodad off the press and index it by hand.
This happened to mine within the first hour of using it.
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Thanks! I'd rather throw this thing in the garbage and buy a turret press that works. I'd have a hard time indexing by hand on a press that's supposed to auto index flawlessly. That might save me from going nuts in the mean time though!
 
Bobbyg00 said:
Thanks! I'd rather throw this thing in the garbage and buy a turret press that works. I'd have a hard time indexing by hand on a press that's supposed to auto index flawlessly. That might save me from going nuts in the mean time though!
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The Indexing ratchet is made of plastic it rides on the square rod. Yours is probably worn out, or broken.

http://leeprecision.com/square-ratchet.html
 
In the past 10 years I've only adjusted the indexing 3 or 4 times, takes 2 minutes. And I currently load about 30 different calibers on it. It sounds to me that there is something wrong with your index rod. I've had to replace the square ratchet once, they cost 50 cents, but the press should have had a spare. Or if the square index rod isn't staying adjusted, a new one is $5. But normally there isn't anything to go wrong with them. Pretty simple devices.
 
Innercity said:
The Indexing ratchet is made of plastic it rides on the square rod. Yours is probably worn out, or broken.

http://leeprecision.com/square-ratchet.html
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Fargone4sure said:
In the past 10 years I've only adjusted the indexing 3 or 4 times, takes 2 minutes. And I currently load about 30 different calibers on it. It sounds to me that there is something wrong with your index rod. I've had to replace the square ratchet once, they cost 50 cents, but the press should have had a spare. Or if the square index rod isn't staying adjusted, a new one is $5. But normally there isn't anything to go wrong with them. Pretty simple devices.
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Thanks for your help. I will try out those fixes.
 
they used to - and probably still do sell those things in boxes of 3/150- I've gone through scads of them as I got my first lee turret back in 88- the old 3 hole- I can't address the 4 hole as I graduated to the 1000 which NEVER wears out the same part- and replaced the shaft as well- now I use a loadmaster, which is a completely different ball of wax- I still have my turret and use it for primer seating and doing 1 round at a time oddball rifle rounds- ie 338 win mag- I got a loadmaster in 44 spcl/mag, which I use a lot- and 9mm in 1000, 45-1000 and 223/1000- get the idea I don't like changing turrets- well, that's why- the other I have is a Dillon 550 for the 308 wib, although it's slow and clumsy compared to the loadmaster
 
I had a similar issue with mine. Turned out all I needed to do was lubricate the 3 and 4 hole aluminum cast turrets. The difference was night and day. I do rifle and pistol. The only thing I'm not super happy about is the tolerance in seating depth I get with my rifle rounds. My average is around +/- 0.003" Not sure if that makes a difference to my groups or not. I use regular Lee reloading dies.
 
t-star said:
they used to - and probably still do sell those things in boxes of 3/150- I've gone through scads of them as I got my first lee turret back in 88- the old 3 hole- I can't address the 4 hole as I graduated to the 1000 which NEVER wears out the same part- and replaced the shaft as well- now I use a loadmaster, which is a completely different ball of wax- I still have my turret and use it for primer seating and doing 1 round at a time oddball rifle rounds- ie 338 win mag- I got a loadmaster in 44 spcl/mag, which I use a lot- and 9mm in 1000, 45-1000 and 223/1000- get the idea I don't like changing turrets- well, that's why- the other I have is a Dillon 550 for the 308 wib, although it's slow and clumsy compared to the loadmaster
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theshootist said:
I had a similar issue with mine. Turned out all I needed to do was lubricate the 3 and 4 hole aluminum cast turrets. The difference was night and day. I do rifle and pistol. The only thing I'm not super happy about is the tolerance in seating depth I get with my rifle rounds. My average is around +/- 0.003" Not sure if that makes a difference to my groups or not. I use regular Lee reloading dies.
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Awesome, thanks for the info! I will try all of these suggestions out
 
in the loamaster and the 1000 the turret doesn't move- it's the shellholder/plate- a LOT less to go wrong
 
I have a Lee turret press and load 9mm & 45acp also. When I first got it I had some
problems with the turret not always lining up.
There are some very good tips in the previous posts.
1. A little oil or grease on the turret helps.
2, The square indexing ratchet can cause havoc if it is worn. I replaced mine.
3. There are numerous videos on YouTube on how to adjust the indexing.

Now mine works 100% .
 
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