Thinking about a turret press.

[farmerjim]

Lee classic turret. I prime off the press with the RCBS hand primer. My first black square ratchet went out at 1k rounds. The replacement has gone over 9 k and still going strong. I have 10 spares in the parts box now.

[historicfirearms]

I have sold three different progressive presses and kept my Lee Classic Turret. I like the convenience of changing calibers versus the progressives. Also, I feel more relaxed running the turret. With the progressives, reloading just felt like work. I reload for a hobby so the relaxed pace of the turret press suites me better. If a fella needed thousands of rounds per month, then the progressive would be the way to go.

[tazman]

This is what I want so I can load my precision .308 and .243. It's a good middle ground between my Crusher and the 550.


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I load my 243 and 30-06 on the Lee Classic cast turret. For these larger cartridges, I pull the index rod out and us it in single stage mode. I use it in full index mode for my 223.
I just returned from the range after using ammo I loaded for the 243 and the 223 on this press. I shot 1 inch or smaller groups(5 shot) with both calibers at 200 yards. No problems with the quality.

[jmort]

"Long story short, don't short stroke the press and the ratchet lasts."

^^^ This and,
Love the Classic Cast Turret

[trails4u]

Another vote for the Lee.... I've had mine, well...let's just say a while, and I'm still on my first indexing ratchet. I'm going to guess no less than 20-30,000 rds. I load everything from .380 to 5.56 on it, but have to admit, I do still single stage my hunting stuff. When it comes to killing something.....I like to measure.

[Bzcraig]

I too use the Lee Turret and don't need anything more for my loading needs. I prime off the press, size rifle brass and my boolits on a Lee Breech Lock Challenger press. I read many reviews and comments before buying my turret and purchased extra plastic rachets having read about them breaking. I can report I have not broken it after 4 years of use and 15-20k (minimum) rounds. I don't short stroke as mentioned or try to move the turret head manually unless the ram in 1/2 way up!

[tranders]

Fantastic information! The Lee Classic turret was the one on my mind because of the auto indexing feature.

[kmw1954]

Fantastic information! The Lee Classic turret was the one on my mind because of the auto indexing feature.

If you are interested in the Lee then go look at a sponsors site listed at the top of the page. Titan Reloading. I doubt you will find a better price anywhere.

[dromia]

I have a Redding T7 and love it, I also had a Lee Classic turret for a while not at all a bad press but the priming system is a disaster as is Lee's overall lack of QC, any thing that needs whole websites and pages of You Tube videos to help people to get the products to work has to say something bad about the company. I moved the Lee on and have another T7 on order.

Even if the Lee had worked as advertised I would have found the four hole turret limiting for the way I like to load most of my cartridges.

[Lefty Red]

I like a turret press and have owned two, but since Hornady offers the lock and load conversion for the rock chucker press I see no real need for a turret press. I actually sold both of my turret presses. The quick change ability and the fact you can leave the dies set up mirrors the advantages of a turret. If your single stage is a rock chucker you might look into the conversion.

+1! I did this on my Lee Classic Cast. I like the Hornady LNL bushing over the Lee Breech Lock version. And they are cheaper too.

[Lefty Red]

I have the T7. Well worth the money? I would say yes. The higher cost of Turret heads may be a consideration if you load several caliber. I find I can fit two complete calipers on one head. One set of three dies for each 44mag and 357mag and a Lee Deprimer Die. If I want to use a four die set, I go to the Dillon 550. The T7 is my favorite for making ammo one round at a time. I use it for batch loading of <100 rounds for hunting ammo.

I had the Lee Classic Cast Turret. Best bang for the buck and I would say the best all around press under $200 ever! Only reason I sold it was to take that money and get a T7. I have gotten away from switching allot of calibers so the T7 loads the two calibers I want to. I personally could never get the auto index working perfect for me. But have used reloaders that were adjusted perfectly and they are a wonderful press! I just use to manually index anyways. I check all rounds in each stage. I find indexing the head much easier than the T7. I think the Lee has a bit more play in the head than the T7, but I never had a bad round due to it.

If I had to buy just one press again, I would say the Lee will do it. I really like my T7, but it's under used. I use my Lee Classic Cast Single Stafe with a Hornady LNL bushing in it weekly for my 38s and all depriming for case cleaning. I use my Dillon 550 for large amounts of 45ACP loading.

Lefty

[Lefty Red]

Also, I have to say the priming is the downfall on any press. I just Deprime on my single stage press and then prime by hand after cleaning the case. I have used Dillons and Lee's and Hornady and Redding and none are perfect in priming. And I have cussed them all!

But Lee does get a pat on the back for depriming. The old prime goes down and thru the ram into a tube. Much better design than any other press.

Lefty

[OS OK]

Wouldn't it be a gas if that T-7's head was full of LnL inserts? Wonder what that would cost is there's room for them?

I've only had one turret...the T-Mag II with 5 turret tops, yeah baby!

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

been using the Lee turret for about 6 years now , for people who are medium volume shooters 300 to 900 rounds a month and load more than 1 or 2 cartridges it is great

there is the lee turret and the lee classic cast turret the turrets and priming are the same but the classic cast is the way to go longer ram will auto index on 30-06 , the longer ram also drops the old primer out a tube through the bottom of the ram and not flipping it out onto the reloading bench

2x on having the little plastic piece on hand that indexes , but as important is to keep it lubed it takes a lot longer to wear out with some lube


I DO think a turret is better over a single stage , because you go from powder in to a case to a bullet seated on the case in one pull of the handle , it makes a double charge harder

the pro auto disk is the way to go for powder on the turret it works great I have 2 of the pro auto disks , one of the basic auto disk and I just picked up an auto drum but haven't tried it yet

I load 9mm, 40 S&W , 45acp , 38spl , 44 Mag , 30-30 , 30-06 , and 223 there is a turret set up for each and I have a spare turrets set up with my sizing dies , just pull the indexing rod and you have a single stage that you can rotate to a new die by hand easily

[pmer]

If you have not bought a turret yet give a close look to the Hornaday LNL conversion. I have a RCBS RCII and it cured my itch for a new turret. Adjust your dies one time and they twist in and out of the press real quick. I can still do case forming and it still has good cartridge OAL repeatability.

I had a T-7 and was starting to miss the idea of quick changes in the reloading process that a turret press can afford but the LNL conversion solved it.

[Ickisrulz]

I use a Redding #25 turret press for pistol rounds. I find it spend up the process significantly over a single stage. I do not prime on the press. I re-size and expand, prime using a hand tool and then place the cases in a loading block. The cases in the block are run under a Uniflow and then checked. The turret press is used to seat the bullets and crimp. So I have the ability to observe the rounds during the process and some speed.

[Rusty Parker]

Happy with my Lee Classic Turret as well. Have loaded pistol for 5-6 years, just started loading rifle and it's going pretty much just as smoothly. The safety primer seems to work well for me, I know others don't care for it. Sometimes I get tired of priming on the upstroke, especially if I've done a couple hundred rounds already. I've also got a separate Lee single stage if I want to decap separately or whatever. The little black piece that does the auto-indexing has a screw that needs to be kept tight to keep the indexing precise. Overall happy both with the press and with the Lee dies. Whoever said medium volume reloaders should be happy with this press is exactly right.

[JeffG]

I recently added the RCBS turret press and like it. I'm getting used to the priming on it still, getting used to what it wants to be happy. I have mine setup for doing cast and jacketed 5.56.

[kmw1954]

JeffG, we don't see many of those presses!

[ukrifleman]

I load 16 calibres with my Lee Classic turret press and find it fits the bill.

I only use the indexing rod for pistol calibres, ( 44-40 and 45 Colt) and can load 200/hour with ease.

I like the Lee turret, because it allows you to monitor every stage of the reloading process and changing to another calibre only takes seconds.

Great value for money in my opinion.

ukrifleman.