lee turret press

[jraney]

hey i have a few qeustions for those who may know. i am looking at buying a turret press to reload for my .45, cabelas has a lee turret press with a kit for $109. does anybody have any ideas if this is a good product, i do not want to spend alot of money so that is why i am looking at the low priced lee. any info would great i read the product reviews and most were very good they just had some problems with the thing alining correctly, and the powder despencer.



j

 

[fdshuster]

Alignment and powder dispensing are two very important subjects, in my opinion. Do you really need a turret press? I began loading 45 auto in 1960 on a single stage CH press, biefly had a Dillon when time was limited for loading, and since then have used nothing but my RCBS Partner and Rockchucker presses. Have used the RCBS "Little Dandy" powder measure for many years and find it to be extremely fast, reliable, and throws accurate charges, usually 4.0 to 4.2 grs. of Bullseye. I personally do not like the reloading "kits". Some of the items in the "kit" may be great, others will be so-so, and still others will be moved to the never-used category. I've seen many turret presses with enough slop in the turret that you can actually see it tilting when you run a case into the FL sizing die. Not good.

 

[jraney]

hey thanks for the info, that is pretty much all i needed to hear. i think i will just get another single stage press like i have becuase the pistol dies from rcbs are a 3 die set this way i can have 1 press for the seating and another for crimping. after i wrote the original post i kinda talked myself out of the turret press, oh and while i am on the subject of lee products why do they have to make some of their stuff so different or it may just be me but the powder despencer that came with the kit i bought first does not have a simple adjustment for measuring the powder. 1st you must get your powder and find it in the booklet for the despencer and get your powders volume density then do some math and then this gives you another number that you set the micrometer on the despncer. surely there is an easier way right? what do you folks think about the auto despencers along with the digital scales? what would you all suggest for accurate powder despencing and measuring,i am thinking about getting a different despencer and scale just not sure which to get.
any advice?

j

 

[fdshuster]

J: I have and use the RCBS Partner press for 45 auto, and use 4 die sets with the carbide sizer, of course. The crimp die is a taper and the amount of crimp applied is minimal, on cast lead bullets. I really like the RCBS Little Dandy powder measure. Fast, reliable and accurate with my typical charges of 4.0 to 4.2 grs. of Bullseye. Am using the old, out of production RCBS bench mount primer tool, but would not hesitate to use any good quality hand primer. An old RCBS 505 beam scale has served me well for about 30 years. From what little I know about it, I think the Lee Classic cast iron press (sells for around $75) might be one to consider, since it would be better suited for high power rifle later if you start loading for those also. Years ago I had the need for a lightweight portable single stage press, for 45 auto, ( Partner was not yet on the market) and I bought the Lee Classic aluminum press. The round holes in the cast pot metal linkage quickly became egg shaped and it was thrown in the trash, so that was a bad experience, for me, with that particular Lee product. I'm not slamming all Lee products. They, like others probably make some good quality products, but my experience was limited to that one press.

 

[jraney]

i looked at that little dandy powder despencer and was wondering how it worked i could not make much out just by reading what it said in my midwayusa mag. i was thinkin about getting the hornady lock n load despencer so i could use it for rifles or pistols i was not sure if i could do that with the little dandy. anyhow thanks for the info.

j

 

[fdshuster]

"J": The Little Dandy would not work for rifle charges, except the very smallest case capacity. it is intended for pistol loads, so disregard that suggestion if you need to use it for rifle. It is operated by hand turning a small drum that has a cavity that holds the powder charge. I like it because I can leave 50 primed cases in the loading block and place the "Dandy" on the mouth of each case, rotate the drum, then move on to the next. Very speedy. Each case is then visually checked for the proper powder level, no double or missed charges. With this method you are able to take the powder to the case, not the case to the powder = less handling of the case.

 

[Martin S]

I have a Lee turret press. I don't use the de-primmer die. I use the hand primmer to put in the primmers in. I index manually by hand. Works good on .357 or 38s.
Martin

 

[Rusty W]

I have a Lee Classic Cast Turret press. I've been using it for about 3-4 years and load everything from 32mag to 45-70. It works great although I have had problems with the powder dispencer and light loads, under 5gr of Unique or any large flake powder, Clays, Trailboss, 800x, Herco, Blue Dot, Red Dot, etc. I use a RCBS Uniflow for the bigger powder charges. I use the priming system and it took a little learning curve at first. Lee has video's on a lot of the operation and should be able to help with just about any problems starting up.
Here's a couple pic's from a cheap cell phone but it'll give you an idea on the press.