Lee Turret Press Opinions

curtdad

curtdad

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
Location
Bath, ON
Hello all, Unfortunately I have to get back into reloading as my current supplier will retire...The last press I had was a Lee Progressive Circa 2000 and it was garbage. Everyone boast the Dillon 650/1050...not in my budget so I opted for a Lee turret press. I am just setting up the 9mm minor to start....have done more decapping and deprimming of old ammo than anything else. I think the 9mm dies are set now just 9 major, .38 super, .357, .40, 44 mag and .45...some work to go. Any advice on my press and set up would be greatly appreciated

Sig
DVC
 
I started off with a Lee Turret press, or Tourette's press as I sometimes called it, and found the quarter-turn mechanism and the priming add-on to be way too finicky and both needed constant prodding to do the right thing.

Eventually without the offending bits it became my rifle press, run 50 cases through the decap & size die, then prime them off-press, charge them, then turn the turret by hand and set bullets in all 50, etc.

Can very much recommend a Dillon Square Deal as a pistol press, though.
 
curtdad said:
Hello all, Unfortunately I have to get back into reloading as my current supplier will retire...The last press I had was a Lee Progressive Circa 2000 and it was garbage. Everyone boast the Dillon 650/1050...not in my budget so I opted for a Lee turret press. I am just setting up the 9mm minor to start....have done more decapping and deprimming of old ammo than anything else. I think the 9mm dies are set now just 9 major, .38 super, .357, .40, 44 mag and .45...some work to go. Any advice on my press and set up would be greatly appreciated

Sig
DVC
Click to expand...
I had nothing but good luck with my turret press when I used to own pistols/reload pistol cartridges. There's a square ratchet piece that wears out with use, so if your press gets finicky, and doesn't index quite all the way, that's about the only thing that can really go wrong. Keep the ball bearing and inner surface lightly oiled (where the removable 3 or 4 hole turret disc drops in, along with the spiral rod) and k-chunk k-chunk all day long. Never let someones lack of understanding be YOUR lack of understanding.(y)
 
I have an older Turret Press, the kind with 3 station turret and no auto-index.

I don't do my .38 Spl / 9mm / .45 ACP on it, but I think it's great for my medium volume reloading. Cartridges from .32 ACP to .44 Magnum get loaded there, at a pace of something like 150 rounds/hour. Because it's hand driven it has almost infinite flexibility. You can double stroke, you can remove a case and reinstall, you can go back a die and repeat a step. I'm not convinced that 4 stations and auto-indexing is at all an improvement.

Insert a case. Stroke the handle to resize/ deprime, and re-prime on lowering.
Advance the turret. Stroke the handle to expand and drop powder.
Advance the turret. Add a bullet and stroke the handle to seat and crimp.
Advance the turret and remove the finished round. Insert the next case.
 
I have the Lee Turret Press with the wooden ball handle. I probably ran thousands of 45 ACP on it and while it did well for "plinking ammo", I was seeing far too much variation in powder charge to be acceptable for IPSC loads. I never tried the adjustable powder feeder, but only used the pre-measured holes.

***Mine also eventually had the ball come loose and popped out on the "Priming" push. I drilled the shaft and ball to run a bolt through it. I'm not slicing my wrist on that tapered tube! Not again!

I now use it like a single stage for rifle ammo, having removed the rod that rotates the turret entirely.
Deprime the brass (either with the Lee Decapping Die or a hand deprimer)
Clean the brass
Resize all the brass
Hand/Press Prime all casings
Load the powder by hand for all casings
Seat all the projectiles
Crimp everything
Shoot
Repeat

While it is a good press and extra turrets for additional calibres are affordable, I found it too slow for my needs while I shot more than I do now. I also didn't have enough brass at the time to have a lot loaded ammunition on hand, so I was spending all my time doing this.

I use the Lee for Rifle and the lower volume cartridges and run the high-volume stuff on a Dillon 550b.

The Dillon 550b saved me a lot of time on high volume pistol calibres and the powder dispenser was far more consistent for IPSC loads, but conversion kits are expensive on their own on top of the press itself. On the positive side, their Lifetime warranty seems to also cover user error, as I bent the tray you "feed" the casings from when I left the casing on the outer part and ran the arm to run an adjustment. I contacted them to find out how to order a replacement part and how much it would cost. All I got was an email asking for my address and I had the part in my mailbox less than a week later. If I was to do it again, I would go for a 650 today, as it mixes the progressive side of the 750 and the safer primer feeding system of the 550.

Each have their use, but for so many different calibres, the LEE will do the job fine and is a good purchase.
 
I got one years ago when they first came out. Loaded a lot of ammo on it, and it was something that I could afford a out 45 years.
Parts would wear out and break, mostly linkage. Somewhere along the line, i fixed it one last time and converted it to 4 hole and auto index, then kicked it under the bench and left it there until my son found it. I have no idea how much handgun ammo on it, but eventually he started breaking everything from the handle and linkage. When it was looking like he was spending more time waiting for parts that aren’t free than loading, I got him a Dillon on the promise that I’d ever have to load 9mm, 357, 44 Mag and 45 ACP again.

I guess I can’t #####, it was cheap when i got it, and I guess it was better than nothing; which was my other option back then. It is what it is,
 
I have a 4 hole turret press. Like others here, I have loaded many thousands of rounds of handgun cartridges and a few thousand rifle cartridges on it. No complaints at all. The indexing bushing on the ram that rides on the square rod wears out and you should keep a few spares on hand. The turret plates like a bit of lube and that's about it. The wood ball on the lever came loose on mine as well and I glued it back in place with some polyurethane glue. It hasn't moved since.

It is a decent medium volume press and a great value for what you get. It isn't as precise as a good single stage press for rifle rounds and it doesn't crank out ammo like a Dillon, but it isn't supposed to fill those roles. Accept it for what it is meant to be and you won't be disappointed.


Mark
 
I use a Lee 4 turret, auto indexing press. I think it's the Lee Classic model. For pistol calibers I love it. The auto-indexing for me isn't a big feature, but I like it. With everything set up it's about 15 seconds per pistol round.

What I don't like is the variation in bullet seating depth I get with the rifle cartridges. It's probably around +/- .003" using a vernier caliper and an ogive tool. I'm not sure if that amount of variance causes much inaccuracy in my target rifles.

For pistol cartridges, I really like the 4 turret Lee press and their 4-die pistol kits. I've had the press for around 15 years, maybe longer. I would not hesitate to buy it again. I wish I was at home using it right now. Arts and crafts for men.
 
BattleRife said:
I have an older Turret Press, the kind with 3 station turret and no auto-index.
Click to expand...
I had the 3-hole Turret press for more than 30 years and it was great. The auto-index is worthwhile but can be finicky at times.

I must have loaded a couple hundred thousand rounds on that old Lee. Eventually gave it to a friend when I got a more modern Lee press and am kinda regretting that. The Lee Turret press is super fast to change plates. It literally takes a few seconds.


mmattockx said:
The indexing bushing on the ram that rides on the square rod wears out and you should keep a few spares on hand. The turret plates like a bit of lube and that's about it
Click to expand...
THIS.
 
The Dillon 550 is probably the best option financially. It is super adaptable to almost any caliber, although caliber changes are a little slower.

I've never used a 650/750 but I get the feeling they are best left set up for one cartridge.

I've got a couple of older 1050's and while they can be great and man do they produce ammo at a hell of a rate, they can be super finicky because there is so much going on all at once. I use one 1050 for 223 case prep and the other for loading 223 ammo.
 
I've loaded thousands of pistol with my Lee 4 hole turret. Never replaced the plastic bushing yet..although I do keep spares. I think the trick is to not be pounding away on the handle...keep it smooth. When you want to use it as a single stage, just remove the indexing rod. As suggested, get a few extra turrets...changing calibers is a snap. I use a powder cop...wouldn't be without it. Always know if you have the proper powder charge.
 
Last edited:
I own four Lee 3 hole turret presses, one 4 hole, a Dillon 550, a Lyman turret press, a Lyman "Orange Crush" single stage, had a couple RCBS single stages, and various shotgun presses. So, a little experience with presses. The Lee turrets are under rated IMHO. The Dillon is faster, but the Lee gives you a different kind of versatility. I recommend them to people who want more speed than a single stage, but not as much complexity as a true progressive. - dan
 
dan belisle said:
I own four Lee 3 hole turret presses, one 4 hole, a Dillon 550, a Lyman turret press, a Lyman "Orange Crush" single stage, had a couple RCBS single stages, and various shotgun presses. So, a little experience with presses. The Lee turrets are under rated IMHO. The Dillon is faster, but the Lee gives you a different kind of versatility. I recommend them to people who want more speed than a single stage, but not as much complexity as a true progressive. - dan
Click to expand...

Very well said.

I like my Lee 4-holer because it is versatile and make great ammo. I use it for calibres big and small and get great results with it.

I like my Lee dies too, but will sneak in a part from Lyman or RCBS if they give me a capability thathghe red stuff does not.

.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom