Lee Classic Turret / Lyman T-Mag II

[Bisbee]

I’m thinking of retiring my Load Master and replacing it with a turret press. The two I’m considering are the Lee Classic Turret and the Lyman T-Mag II. For those that own these presses would you please share with me your pro’s and con’s of ownership and help me decide which one to go with. Your input is much appreciated.

[Jailer]

The Lee has auto indexing and tool heads are cheap. Caliber changes take literally less than a minute.

[Ben]

I've used them both. I'd got with the Lee Classic Turret and never look back.

Ben

[leadman]

Tthe Lyman has to be manually indexed for each die. The Lee has the turret that holds 4 dies and cheap enough to buy them for each die set. IIRC the turret for the Lyman is around $80 and you have to take a large nut off to change it.
I had one of the older Lyman presses called Spar-T and it was a good press, but not near the convenience or speed of the Lee.
It is also simple to disable the auto advance on the Lee by just removing the rod that turns the turret. No tools needed.

[9-toes]

Lee Classic - I only had to play with the timing a bit but was simple and works flawless now.

[geargnasher]

I've had a Lyman T-Mag, RCBS turret, and they are both gone. With the money I got for them I bought some other stuff, among them the Lee Classic Turret and all the accessories (small and large Safety Prime kit, Pro Autodisk, and riser for it, and a bunch of extra turret heads.) It is the best press I've ever owned, bar none. Both the design and the manufacturing were top-notch on mine, although last year there were some production problems involving the shellholder holder being mis-machined. I can load .30-'06 in auto-index mode, and it makes straight, square ammo due to the outside-support design of the turret head, rather than the center pivot of the other designs that tends to wobble. The auto-index feature is really nice, but buy some extra square ratchets for it because you'll probably break the first one getting the hang of using it. Lubricate the turret around the edges and lubricate the auto-index rod and it runs smooth as glass. If I could have only one press, this would be it. I keep extra turret heads loaded with pre-set dies so all I have to do it swap the head, powder measure (if I'm using it), shellholder, and maybe the primer gizmo, all of which takes less than two minutes including the powder measure. Extra turrets, die parts, and shellplates are stored in the small, plastic Folger's coffee cans with a dessicant bag inside. If I thought I would ever wear this one out, I'd buy two more, but so far one is all I need, although I keep an old aluminum-base three-hole Lee turret set up for three-station calibers. I also keep an extra turret head with a universal decapper, universal expander, RCBS swager, and powder charging die, and one other one with all my Lee push-through boolit sizers all in one place. It really saves space.

Yes, I'm a Fanboy. You will be too if you get one, it's an excellent press for any job.

Gear

[41 mag fan]

Had the Lee Classic 4 holer for yrs now. Probably have close to 50k of loads on it.
The only complaints i have on mine, is the square ratchet is plastic and wears out pretty easily if it's not set up exact.
But for .50 ea i bought a bagful that'll last me for 10yrs.
The other complaint, is the turret head will lift ever so slightly when a round is pushed into the die.
But for the price of the press and the turret heads, you cant beat it, hands down.

I use a small gatorade can to hold my turrets with dies in, and my extra turrets.

One thing I like is Lees closeouts have the turret heads for $9/ea and with the flat $5 shipping, it can't be beat.


I, myself don't like the Lee powder measure, and on the norm, just use my Lee for pistol loading only, so I use my Lyman DPS3 to throw a charge. By the time I set the pan back on the scale, and finish a round, the Lymans thrown my charge and is waiting.

[trixter]

I bought the Load Master and am happy with it for the most part. The priming system is problematic, then I bought the Classic turret to do rifle; 300 Savage, 30-06, and 223. Some of the primers were not seated deep enough from the Load Master on some 45's, and I ran them through the Classic Turret and wow, I'm Impressed. Now I know I should adjust the Load Master, and I have a jillion times but I just can't get it right, So I might even start doing my 45's on it too. I like it, I like it a lot. I would recommend the Lee Classic Turret press.

[FergusonTO35]

I'm planning to get a Lee turret press also. Could someone please explain how priming works on one of these machines? If you buy just the press does it come with any sort of priming tool?

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

a BIG + 1 from me for the Lee classic turret press !

I'm planning to get a Lee turret press also. Could someone please explain how priming works on one of these machines? If you buy just the press does it come with any sort of priming tool?

Ferg,
the press comes with priming arms, like nearly all presses do.
so you can put primers in by hand, one at a time.

Order the Safety Prime kit from Lee if you don't want to handle each primer.
Yeah it's plastic and seems flimsy and a little tricky to get setup right the first time.
but once it's setup, it works awesome.
There is a tiny little spring in each saftey prime arm.
I've broken two of those, they are easy to replace.
Lee sent spares to me free upon request.

Or just order them with the extra "index" disks to have them on hand,
so when you do break down, your not waiting 3 or 4 days to have them
shipped to you.

BTW, I've broke one index disk early on...my fault
I used the press to load more than 10,000 rounds.
so 1 disk and 2 springs doesn't seem like a big deal for that many cycles.
But worth mentioning them here.
Jon

[soldierbilly1]

I've used them both. I'd got with the Lee Classic Turret and never look back.

Ben

THIS.

The Lee is too easy. The lyman does not lend itself to on the fly loading. Its too slow!

The Lee enables you to load one round with 4 ups and downs. The Lyman is too awkward for this. You would Size 50 rounds, then flare 50, then seat 50 etc. too slow!

billy boy

[rintinglen]

The Lee CLASSIC Turret press is by far their best press. The Lyman is good, but the Lee is better.
I am no fan of the Lee Progressives, but the Lee Classic Turret press is the best turret press there is--bar none.

[Danderdude]

For the turret guys, how do you set up your rifle stations? The way I'm seeing it, I'd like to have 5 holes:
1. Size/Decap
1b. Prime on downstroke
2. Rifle Case Mouth Flare
3. Powder Charge
4. Seat
5. Lee Rifle FCD

2 & 3 might be able to be combined for .30 cal rifles if the 7.62x25 Tokarev or .30 Mauser powder-through expander could be adapted to use on them, but I have no idea if this is viable, or which style of expander Lee uses for those. Does anyone happen to have one, or a lead on whether or not this might work?

[Gibson]

I have never owned a Lyman Press, so I'm not really qualified to make an either/or judgement. All I can do is to tell you that I own a Lee Classic Turret and many accoutrements and it works as advertised. No complaints. Matter of fact, I could say many good things about it.

[EDK]

Since I am reloading for lever actions or semi-autos, I full length re-size on my ROCK CHUCKER, tumble the cases to remove the re-sizing lubricant, and check the case length with a LEE trimmer in a cordless drill. Then it is time to fire up the DILLON 550B.

1. A LYMAN M die for neck expansion and re-prime on the down stroke.
2. Powder drop.
3. Seat the boolit....or dreaded "J word" for 5.56!
4. Crimp/smooth out neck flare.

30/30, 7.62 (.308) and 5.56 (.223) are almost as easy as running the pistol calibers on the DILLON. I'm using DILLON dies plus an assortment of LYMAN or RCBS. If I shoot more of one of the auto loader calibers, I will try a RCBS X-die to eliminate case stretch and trimming.

I got a lot of brass to reload in the shack, but it's just too d*** hot to do a lot! MIHEC invoiced 434640 to me, but it won't get fired up unless it is late at night.

I'm glad I'm retired 'cause power plants are hot year round...and any high priority repair job is gonna get you dehydrated and in a world of hurt in short order this time of year.

[geargnasher]

For the turret guys, how do you set up your rifle stations? The way I'm seeing it, I'd like to have 5 holes:
1. Size/Decap
1b. Prime on downstroke
2. Rifle Case Mouth Flare
3. Powder Charge
4. Seat
5. Lee Rifle FCD

2 & 3 might be able to be combined for .30 cal rifles if the 7.62x25 Tokarev or .30 Mauser powder-through expander could be adapted to use on them, but I have no idea if this is viable, or which style of expander Lee uses for those. Does anyone happen to have one, or a lead on whether or not this might work?

Either size/decap in a separate operation, seat/crimp in one operation, or FCD crimp in a separate operation. You can prime on the press at any point before dropping the powder charge.

Lee intended the use of the Rifle Charge Die and Autodisk combo on the press, but it's iffy for longer cases like .30-'06 because the die body is too short to take the ram full-stroke before the die body runs out of threads. For longer cases, I think they intended for the Perfect Powder Measure to be mounted on top of a Universal Charge Die (not the same as the RCD), but I've never used this setup. PowderThruExpander dies for .30-caliber can be modified or made (.30 Carbine PTE spud in the longer Rifle Charge Die would work, but you risk powder bridging with heavy charges of stick powder and sometimes the spud won't guide into the case neck very well since there's nothing to guide the outside of the case). Besides, the Lee expanders are too short and often the wrong outside diameter for true neck expansion, although they can make a good flare; for example I use a .38 Special spud in a Rifle Charge Die body to charge .35 Remington with the Autodisk.

For the most accurate ammo, you're better off expanding with a good, dedicated expander die like RCBS makes and charging in the next station.

Gear

[rromeo]

I think of the Lee Classic Turret as a Toyota Corolla. It will last for years and do what you need it to. So far, mine has only been used for handgun rounds, but I have plans to expand.

[monge]

The LEE has been good to me no problems I would recomend it fast simple and strong!

[Danderdude]

Either size/decap in a separate operation, seat/crimp in one operation, or FCD crimp in a separate operation.

Separate operations, that's a hassle. I know some people like to size/decap before tumbling, but I don't see tumbling as necessary between every firing. As far as crimping with the seating die, I've had nothing but **** luck with that. If I go full stroke (shellholder contacts bottom of die) it tries to overcrimp, binds and ends up belling the shoulder of my 7.5 Swiss ammo or bulging the throat of my 7.62x39. The Lee's don't have a repeatably-precise ram stop, either, so holding off from the die gives inconsistent crimps.

Also, I've found that once the mouth is flared, rather than fully expanded, the GC "clears the way" for the boolit so that the neck tension doesn't swage it down. That said, I'm betting that the .30 Carbine expander would work just fine for my .30 cal rifles, but then you're stuck with the Autodisk when I'd much rather have the Universal Charging Die and Perfect Powder Measure combo.

But then the PPM/UCD are designed for chain pullback on a progressive rather than spring pullback on a turret. I'm sure something could be rigged up though.

The options are just unsavory.

[1bluehorse]

Separate operations, that's a hassle. I know some people like to size/decap before tumbling, but I don't see tumbling as necessary between every firing. As far as crimping with the seating die, I've had nothing but **** luck with that. If I go full stroke (shellholder contacts bottom of die) it tries to overcrimp, binds and ends up belling the shoulder of my 7.5 Swiss ammo or bulging the throat of my 7.62x39. The Lee's don't have a repeatably-precise ram stop, either, so holding off from the die gives inconsistent crimps.

Also, I've found that once the mouth is flared, rather than fully expanded, the GC "clears the way" for the boolit so that the neck tension doesn't swage it down. That said, I'm betting that the .30 Carbine expander would work just fine for my .30 cal rifles, but then you're stuck with the Autodisk when I'd much rather have the Universal Charging Die and Perfect Powder Measure combo.

But then the PPM/UCD are designed for chain pullback on a progressive rather than spring pullback on a turret. I'm sure something could be rigged up though.

The options are just unsavory.

If the LCT press won't work for you because you need more stations then go with the Lyman or RCBS turret presses (or Redding). They're more expensive, aren't as easy/fast/convenient to use (my opinion, I've owned both, {not the Redding}) but they are good presses and have more stations for die configurations...I'm not real sure of the PPM setup on a press (I use the disc Pro model) but I was under the impression it would work like the other rotor type measures, ie; lever operated with some kind of automated "arm".