Lee precision presses

meo2

meo2

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Does anyone knows if a lee precision press would be a good investment for a first press ? I was interested in buying a turret kit or a loadmaster but
i was told buy the company i was dealing with that if i wanted to invest in a good press that would last a life time to go with the RCBS Rock Chucker supreme master kit ...
Wich is double the price of a Lee single stage press kit ...
 
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I started with a Rockchucker and it was slow - and threw spent primers on the floor. Single stage presses are such a bother to set up for each stage - it just gets old fast - each reloading session is so full of checking and rechecking settings. I'm thinking that my Lee turret will put out the same COL for the next box as it did for the last - but if I have to unscrew my dies out of a single stage and put them back in later and reset - um - I'm not sure how many bullets will be odd before I get things right.

I went to a Lee Classic Cast Turret and after some serious tweeking - I'll admit that - I will stay with it forever - and here is why: I have maybe a dozen turrets - each caliber stays set up and ready - if there is only two dies for a rifle caliber, I'll have two sets in a 4 - hole turret. If I needed a box of .243 - I could be up and running within a few minutes. I made a little wooden turret bolted to my bench with a single bolt and a wingnut - with three Lee powder measures on it - with room for a fourth - so my most recent powder settings stay set up also. The Lee powder measures are cheap - and when I am done loading, I take the powder back out and drop a card with the current setting written on it into the measure. For Pistol, a disc measure fits right on the die - and the Auto Disc measures are really constant right from the first load - when they start deviating after say 10,000 loads, change the rubber wiper.

The Turret actuating rod is pulled out so it does not turn when doing rifle - put it in for doing the progressive loading for pistol.

Major tweeks for the Lee Turret:
Drill the bolt holes out way oversized in the top steel plate which holds the turret so it can be lined up perfectly with the ram. Lee recommends this if yours does not line up right from factory.
Grind the stops off so that the ram goes overcenter like the RCBS presses do - so you don't have to "feel" the end of the stroke.
A little lube on the turret makes it smoother.

The Lee Cast Turret is not a fancy or expensive tool - but it does all things rather well - right from the learning stage to the place where you can do one box of .45acp and one box of .17 REM and one of .22 250 and one of .243 with no odd cartridges and still tuck the kids in at bedtime.
 
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Thank you very much anchor I was having doubts about the lee turret kit... I don't know anything about reloading yet but i know this much, i don't want to spend a hole day reloading ammo
on a single stage when i can do it in a few hours with a turret or a progressive press. Lee presses prices are very affordable compared to the others so i was wodering if they were built cheaper
or they will last ... I basically gonna reload 9mm but if i can find what i need i would reload a few boxes of 303 savage cause i own one and can't get the ammo anywhere now.
The lee loadmaster was what i was looking forward to buy at first but my second coice is the Lee classic turret kit .
 
If I were having to do it all over again, the LEE Classic Turret would be the only press I would get. LEE press's are the only one's made to catch the spent primer's.Why do you think they call them rock CHUCKER'S? primer's will end up on the floor.
 
A buddy gave me one of those true progressive Lee presses - might have been the Loadmaster - and I bolted it to a bench about a year ago and fiddled and fiddled and fiddled and gave it back.

The Lee Classic Cast Turret will last longer than I will.

One more thing - forget the primer feeder thingy - just pick them out of a tray and load the primer arm.
 
Anchor ... It's faster that way ? isn't it ? So your suggestion is the turret, cool ! How about the die set .... should i get the delux 4 die set ? with the factory crimp die ?
 
The pimer feeders are fussy and don't feed the last few primers right - and single feeding primers is just as quick because you can feed them on the run - while the ram is moving.

Yes - always get the Lee 4 die set for pistol - the seating die is great - needing no wrenches - like the primitive locking nut on RCBS require.

The decapper on the Lee dies are much better than anyone elses also.

The "Factory Crimp" die is good - because on straight cases like your 9mm, it does not crimp really, but rather tapers a little - and brings the completed cartridge to size and shape all the way down - which is important to prevent feeding issues in auto guns. Often, a cartridge gets chubby or out of shape at the mouth or where a bullet is distorting the case or where a case is "Glocked" from an unsupporting chamber. The factory crimp dies fixes this.
 
Lee Classic Cast Turret or Classic Cast Single Stage is the way to go. There is an aluminum version that is cheaper but will not last you long and you need to buy a a set of DIEs for your caliber. I've read some premature breakage due to weak material from other forums. The LEE Loadmaster seems to be value for money since the kit comes with everything you need to start reloading. But the LEE Classic Cast Turret will give you flexibility of going single stage and 3-4 hole turret. There are other manufacturer who offers good entry level presses. RCBS, Hornady and Dillon are worth exploring. I've done almost 4000 rds with my Lee Classic Cast Turret. No problems so far. I might be exploring the Lee Progressive (cast iron) very soon and still keep the Classic Cast Turret for other calibers and a back-up.
 
The Lee name is a bit of a misnomer as precision is not something you'll find in their products.
I started with a Rock chucker, then bought a lee loadmaster and then a Dillon 550b.
I still have the Rockchucker and use it regularly.
I love my Dillon and use it a lot.
I couldn't get the Lee off my bench fast enough, it's long gone.
 
For loading pistol I'd go for the lee turret over any single stage press. That's not because it's built better, because it's not even close, but because the design is better for volume. My first press was a lee turret when they first came out. It was a lot less money and I had little enough of that. The dealer recommended a RCBS for much more, and RCBS dies instead of lee. Who was right? Both of us were. I was right because I really couldn't afford the more expensive stuff and he was because I wore that press out, rebuilt it and kicked it under the bench 15 years ago and threw the dies away before that. There's all sorts of green paint and boxes around now.

Buy what you can afford and start loading.talk yourself into believing it's just as good if it helps you sleep at night but it isn't.
The good part is you will make your money back fast on the lee., so even if you up grade down the road you're still ahead.
 
zuke said:
If I were having to do it all over again, the LEE Classic Turret would be the only press I would get. LEE press's are the only one's made to catch the spent primer's.Why do you think they call them rock CHUCKER'S? primer's will end up on the floor.
Click to expand...

Not exactly the Forster has a spent primer cup integrated into the press..
 
ambishooter said:
Lee Classic Cast Turret or Classic Cast Single Stage is the way to go. There is an aluminum version that is cheaper but will not last you long and you need to buy a a set of DIEs for your caliber. I've read some premature breakage due to weak material from other forums. The LEE Loadmaster seems to be value for money since the kit comes with everything you need to start reloading. But the LEE Classic Cast Turret will give you flexibility of going single stage and 3-4 hole turret. There are other manufacturer who offers good entry level presses. RCBS, Hornady and Dillon are worth exploring. I've done almost 4000 rds with my Lee Classic Cast Turret. No problems so far. I might be exploring the Lee Progressive (cast iron) very soon and still keep the Classic Cast Turret for other calibers and a back-up.
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If you read on lee precision web site the load master is as interchangeable as the turret but for small rifle caliber ... you just need to bye the dies you need and a the turret you put the dies in so you don't have to change the set up on your actual calibre ....
 
Dogleg said:
For loading pistol I'd go for the lee turret over any single stage press. That's not because it's built better, because it's not even close, but because the design is better for volume. My first press was a lee turret when they first came out. It was a lot less money and I had little enough of that. The dealer recommended a RCBS for much more, and RCBS dies instead of lee. Who was right? Both of us were. I was right because I really couldn't afford the more expensive stuff and he was because I wore that press out, rebuilt it and kicked it under the bench 15 years ago and threw the dies away before that. There's all sorts of green paint and boxes around now.

Buy what you can afford and start loading.talk yourself into believing it's just as good if it helps you sleep at night but it isn't.
The good part is you will make your money back fast on the lee., so even if you up grade down the road you're still ahead.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your honesty i want to start reloading but i don't have the budget to buy a dillon 650 or even a dillon 550b i turned to lee cause it's cheaper but if it's not gonna last i rether wait and buy a better press..
 
I started out reloading this summer. I bought a Lee 50th anniversary set with a set of 8mm dies for a Mauser. Lots of learning. Like how some casings from the once fired ammo were stiff in the Lee shell holder. So I got a RCBS shell holder and it was fine. It wasn't very expensive for the overall set and for the 100 or so cases I have to fill, it works just fine. I use a kids rock tumbler I got from value village for $5 with rape seed inside to clean the shells.

I kept all my receipts and after running through my first jar of 1LB powder I calculated it cost me 1/3 the cost for a box of 20 and 12 trips to the range for the whole package to pay for itself. I've got 4 trips left and after that it's a straight cost for primers, bullets and powder.

Yes, there are more expensive and maybe even better, but what I got to start does the job and I still have all my fingers and facial parts.
 
williss said:
Thinking of going out and buying the Lee Precision 50th anniversary Kit today. Figure start with the basics and upgrade as needed. Planning on reloading 9MM and later 30-06.
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That's the kit I started off with. I used to reload pistol and rifle ammo on it. If you get a good technique going, you can crank them out at a decent rate. I reload in stages. One day I'll size brass. When I have some down time, I'll flare and prime cases. On days I reload, I just need to dump powder and seat bullets. Then i discovered the joys of a progressive press. lol
 
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