New to reloading - Lee 4 hole turret press?

SlimTim

SlimTim

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Hi All,

After spending a small fortune already this summer on ammo, Im looking at getting a reloading set up for loading pistol ammo (9mm, 40 s&w and 45acp). Im looking for a set up to load approx. 500 rounds per month and the Lee 4 hole turret press kit has appealed to me so far. Any opinions on this set up for a beginner? Id also want to get the safety prime as well. Any help would be appreciated.

Tim
 
Good starter set up. I have loaded about 8000 rounds of 9mm, 223, 30-30 and 38 spl. with my buddy on ours in the last year. Seems pretty good value for your dollar. Safety prime is nice once you get used to it as well.

Eventually you will want to upgrade but that will be few years down the road. At least that is my opinion of the matter!! :D
 
I've cranked out 10 of 1000s of rounds on a Lee Classic 4 hole turret. For pistol I had a powder dispenser right in the head, dropping W231. For rifle I remove the turning stem and single stage it, turning the head by hand to the needed die. All my long range target shooting ammo has be reloaded on my classic 4 hole turret, some reaching out to a mile. The classic has less play in it due to a larger shaft. From 223 to just under 50 cal it does them all.
I have moved on to another press for pistol but all my rifle is still reloaded on the classic 4 hole.
 
Im getting it mainly to load for .45 auto, the price and availability of that ammo is crazy around here. Any recommended online retailers that you guys would suggest buying the press from?
 
I love my Classic Turret. As long as you are happy with a rate of 130-160 pistol rounds per hour, you'll be fine.

Safety Prime is a must, for me. Be sure you lubricate (and keep them lubed) all metal to metal contacts, as well as the Square Action Rod where it slides up and down on the clamp that holds the square ratchet.

Be sure to get the ProAuto Disk Powder Measure as well as the Adjustable Charge Disk. Get a few spare Square ratchets as I hear they wear fast. I've loaded about 4-5,000 on my Classic Turret and the original ratchet is holding up well so far. As long as the square ratchet/action rod and the turret circumference are well lubed, you should index reliably.

If the turret is not indexing accurately (it stops before clicking into the next position) do not make any adjustments to the square nut on top of the action rod right away, as some online experts say. Lube the machine thoroughly but sparingly...you want to confine lubricant only on mating surfaces...keep everything else on the press dry and clean so as not to contaminate primers and powder via your hands and fingers.

The Loadmaster is good too, but IMO it is a move-up machine. Start with the simple classic turret. You can even use the turret as a manual index until you are comfortable with your understanding of the overall reloading process.
 
I use mine for loading rifle .308 and .303 and oddball stuff like 357Sig , .45acp and .455 Webely. Also use it for decapping all my rifle stuff and any other odd job like swaging crimped primer pockets. A very useful press to have. get extra square ratchets and replace every 6 months.
 
The LEE turret is probably their best product. I've pumped out thousands upon thousands of .38spl and 9mm rounds from mine. You can do about 150-200 rounds per hour if you have the disk cavity powder thrower and safety prime attachment.

I usually just do an hour on it every time I'm bored, and eventually I have a small ammo can full of 9mm.

I think you can get that kit for $150.00 now and it comes with everything you need for rifle and pistol. You have to take the turret rod out for rifle, because the top won't clear the cartridge when it turns and you'll have spilled powder everywhere.
 
For best results, I'd suggest Dillon or Horn. progressive presses if you want to churn out fairly large amounts of ammo. For single stage, the quickest and most precise is the Forster Co-ax...hands down. Making ammo is not something you should scrimp on, don't always buy the cheapest, this is important sh%t.
 
My first press was a Lee Turret 3-hole. It has been my go-to press for pistol cartridges for over 20 years, and has done a good bunch of rifle cartridges as well. I never bothered to ugrade to the 4 hole. I am not a Lee fan because a lot of their stuff is poor quality IMO, but the turret press is something they got right.
 
When I started reloading, I bought a Lee 3 hole turret press. It lasted something like 20 years and then 2 years ago, it conked out due to metal fatigue in some moving parts. I went to my local pusher to look for a replacement, and he suggested that we send it to Lee for repair and see what happens. Much to my surprise, a couple of months later, Lee sent me a new press, free of charge!

I don't think you can go wrong buying Lee products.
 
Factorysales.com is where I got mine. For the price it is an exellent press start on. I will probably upgrade in the future but like some guys say on here that they always go back to it for something. I'm sure that mine will always be set up. I load .45,.40,.223 and will use it for 9mm and .308. It has it's quirks like everything but once you get it down you will be happy with it. It's not a waste of money at all and get some spare rachets, just to have.
 
cigarbufff said:
how much does factory charge for shipping?
Click to expand...

I just checked them out (I'm in a similar boat, using the single-stage at my club is not really efficient for me, so I'm looking for a turret).

Lee Factory Sales has the turret on for $84 US, with shipping with USPS adding another $55 on top.
 
I would take a serious look at a Dillon RL 550B instead. I shoot around 500-600 rounds of centrefire pistol ammo per month and find it about right for my volume requirements. Their turret press seems to be one of Lee's better products, but I think you might find it a bit slow.
 
In my opinion, Lee's best products are:

Collet dies
Turret Press
Pistol Carbide dies
Classic Cast / Breech lock challenger press
Hand prime device

Everything else seems kind of hokey, especially the PRO1000, zip trim, finger bullet feeder, chamfer and deburr tool. I don't know how their molds are, because I don't cast.

I have Forster, RCBS, Hornady, and Lyman tools on my bench. You have to figure out what works for you, and what you can get out of the value products to save a little money.
 
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