Lee Turret Press Comments

mmattockx

mmattockx

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I have had the classic turret press since last January, when I set up for loading rifle and handgun calibres. I had used it as a glorified single stage press on 6.5x55, 22-250, 30-06 and .44 Magnum up until a few days ago. A while back, I bought the safety primer feed and Auto Disk Pro powder measure and finally got around to installing them last week. Took a couple of hours to get everything installed, set right and get the correct disk and port in the measure.

Wow, what a huge step up. I loaded 50 rounds of .44 Mag as a test and it took less than an hour, with me going very carefully to avoid any dumb mistakes like not re-priming a case or double charging some rounds. I can easily see loading 100 rounds of .44 per hour once I get comfortable with it and into a rhythym. I was also checking every primer to ensure that they were seated flush or deeper, as my Redhawk has no tolerance for protruding primers. Loading for a gun that is not fussy on primer depth would significantly speed things up and I think over 120 rounds/hour of 9mm would be very realistic once I get rolling.

The question comes up regularly about rounds/hour and choosing between a turret and a full progressive, so I figured I would post my experience with it so far. Since I will never be reloading huge quantities of 9mm (I am only loading 9mm to get lead bullets for steel shoots), the turrret will easily handle everything I will throw at it and offers me the option of using it as a single stage to load up to .338 Win Mag, while also letting me bang out a couple of hundred rounds of 9mm or .44 Mag target loads in an evening without breaking a sweat. Calibre changes are dirt cheap, only needing a new turret plate (<$10) and a new set of dies. I have 3 plates, one for .44 Mag, one for 9mm and one for rifle calibres.

For me, it is the perfect combination of versatility and production rate.

Mark
 
I can get up to 200 rounds an hour in 9mm if everything goes smoothly! .44 mag is a little less but not by too much! Putting the heavier crimp seems to add a little time! I agree it is a great press for someone who only shoots a couple hundred rounds a week! I shoot around 50 - .223, 50 - 44 mag, and 200 9mm in a week and I can load all that in around 3 - 4 hours! Not too bad for a $200 set up!
 
I use my tuuret for the smaller volume stuff and the Loadmaster for the 9 & 40. the turret is flexiable and easy to change for different jobs. It's a great way to start reloading.
 
I've got one of the 4 hole jobs. I was full lenght resizing some 300 win mag brass with one, and broke the turret before getting through 20 cases. I returned it to the store and bought a RCBS Rockchuker. About a 1.5 yrs ago, I bought another one. I use it almost exclusively for 44 mag, and I love it for that.
 
blacksmithden said:
I've got one of the 4 hole jobs. I was full lenght resizing some 300 win mag brass with one, and broke the turret before getting through 20 cases. I returned it to the store and bought a RCBS Rockchuker. About a 1.5 yrs ago, I bought another one. I use it almost exclusively for 44 mag, and I love it for that.
Click to expand...

What broke on the turret? I plan to load .338 Win Mag with mine, so I would like to know what to watch for.

Mark
 
I've had a turret press for about 10 years. Converted it from 3-hole to 4, even though I haven't used the 4th hole yet.
I've done thousands of rounds of various rifle cals. with no complaints. Great press.:)
I load handgun on progressives simply for speed. For rifle I like a more precision cartridge.
 
mmattockx said:
What broke on the turret? I plan to load .338 Win Mag with mine, so I would like to know what to watch for.

Mark
Click to expand...

Pardon my crappy typing and proof reading :)

The very first thing I did with mine was to full length size some 300 win mag brass. The die holder/turret split along it's length after about 20. I probably should have sent it to Lee, but the thing wasn't even 2 hours out of the store. I took it back and showed them the problem. I pointed out that Lee says "it will handle the largest magnum calibers" in their advertising. The guy at the store told me "yea, but in reality, it won't handle them". I had to agree since it broke after all of 20 rounds. He offered to send the turret to Lee for me. I told him I was just getting into reloading and didn't want to wait for my 2 hour old press to come back in 6 weeks. I asked him "what press won't break resizing 300 win mag ?" He showed me a Rockchucker. I got a credit for the turret and bought that in it's place. A good move at the time.

I've owned 4 Lee presses since then. All of them have broken one way or another, except for my current 4 hole turret. I use it exclusively for loading pistol rounds though. I know some guys have used them for rifle with good results, but I won't try it again.
 
I've got a 3 hole turret press i bought about 1985. Was my main reloader for pistol and rifle for several years. I don't know how many rounds it has loaded, but in the early years i easily did a thousand rounds a month of 9mm and .38 spl. I still use it regularly for pistol and 10 or 12 rifle calibers and irregularly for many more.... I have used it to reform 8x57 brass to 9.3x57, and i full length size all my new rifle brass on it. Never had a problem, but just starting to see some minor slop in the turret. I've always lubricated the turret with lubriplate.
 
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Depends how much time you have. My xl650 does 800 rounds per hour and I would not go slower.
Only match 308 ammo gets every charge weighted and single stage through my coax.

It still takes a while to crank tons of ammo. If I was shooting much more, I would definitely get a 1050 with auto drive.
 
I guess when you use a single stage for so long, these fancy new turret type gadgets are a little overwhelming ;).

But... I can punch out 25 rounds/hour. :)
 
I just got the 4 hole classic turret press the other day and it made a world of difference in how much time I saved reloading over my old single stage. I need to get more turret disks though. I only have one currently that is set up for .40 s&w
 
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