Lee disappoints......

[dbosman]

STL is here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3501652

QUOTE=CraigOK;5138966]I'm sorry man, thats very frustrating. Does anyone make an aftermarket one, or could it be 3d printed?[/QUOTE]

[dbosman]

The plastic ratchets are intended to be sacrificial parts. They are meant to tell us to slow down and figure out what the issue is.

[kmw1954]

The plastic ratchets for the 3 hole press are the same part for the Pro1000 press.

Titan reloading also shows them out of stock.

Might try placing a wanted ad post in the buy/sell/trade forum.. Just maybe a fellow member here has a few they can spare.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

yeah, I was extra cautious with turning the turret as i placed it in place. It worked fine for the first couple of cranks then at about #20, it would only turn the turret halfway between the dies. I’m not gonna attempt the other ratchet and save it for later. I did inspect the auto index rod for any abnormalities to which I saw none.

I have owned 4 of the Lee 3 hole turret Presses, I bought them all used. Two of them came with the index parts. I bought a Index kit and tried to install it the third Press that didn't have those parts. I never got it to turn as freely as the two presses that came with the index parts. Once the ratchet slips, it never works well afterward. Oiling the rod made it worse...which is weird, because I oil the rod on my 4 hole press to make the 4 hole index system cycle easier. While I think I am pretty handy, I gave up on trying to make the index work on that third press. I wrecked 6 ratchets trying to make it work. When I acquired the fourth Lee 3 hole turret press, it also came without the Index parts. It also had other problems, I replaced a lot of parts on it with New Lee parts, this was back when Lee still stocked parts for these. Anyway, I attempted to install the index kit on the fourth Press, and it worked flawlessly from the get-go. The only thing I can think of, is adjusting the height/length of the index rod. Maybe there needs to be a certain amount of slop...and when I was trying to make it work (and failed) with the third Press, maybe I didn't have that adjusted to have the correct amount of slop.

PM sent with more info.

[Joel Chavez]

At this point, I’m just gonna manually index the 3hole and test out the 4hole this weekend.....if it arrives on Friday according to USPS tracking info

[Joel Chavez]

The plastic ratchets are intended to be sacrificial parts. They are meant to tell us to slow down and figure out what the issue is.

Trust me I was extra cautious cranking on the lever. My guess is that the plastic material was inferior thus failing prematurely.

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello Guys,

I have only two complaints about Lee Precision,
1. My 32-40 decapper expander, the expander is held in place with a collet and sometimes it slips.
2. On their Web Page, they used to list all the components in a Die Set under Replacement Parts.
For example a 45 Colt Carbide Set 90514 consists of a Sizer 90533, Expanding Die 90586, Seating Die 91192.
They no longer list the separate components.
I know it's not much of a complaint, but I did find it interesting information.

AntiqueSledMan.

[GasGuzzler]

I have the 4-hole and my ratchet collar lasted about 7 years and 30K pulls. It's a fuse link in the mechanism so if you short stroke the press or do not have the turret seated properly it will break. If you got only one part from Lee it would have been free plus shipping. They only charge for items if you get more than one.

[bedbugbilly]

Sorry to hear the problem you had - frustrating I know. I usually get my Lee stuff from Titan - I would give Dennis a call and explain what your issue is and just see if he happened to have the part you need.

I'm like one of the previous posters and I'm sure many others. I ordered my 4 hole Lee classic turret probably 15 years ago and at the time - ordered the spare plastic parts figuring they were probably a "weak link". I have reloaded thousands of rounds on it and it is still going on all the original parts.

Don't know if you have done this or not - but maybe put a WTB in the Sell/Trade section here and who knows what someone might have laying around - maybe someone who sold a 3 hole turret but still has those parts laying around in their parts and pieces.

[1hole]

Hello Guys,

I have only two complaints about Lee Precision,
1. My 32-40 decapper expander, the expander is held in place with a collet and sometimes it slips.

Lee's collet nut holds their unthreaded decap rod better centered in a sizer than any other design but we have to use it correctly.

First, take the rod and collet nut out of the die and clean them of all oil or grease. Then, using the proper size end wrenches that most of us already have, put it back together very tightly and all will be well.

[Joel Chavez]

I have the 4-hole and my ratchet collar lasted about 7 years and 30K pulls. It's a fuse link in the mechanism so if you short stroke the press or do not have the turret seated properly it will break. If you got only one part from Lee it would have been free plus shipping. They only charge for items if you get more than one.

Correct, the first ratchet was free the second was .50¢. However shipping was still $8 lol.

[Conditor22]

I'd take the press apart, clean, look for problems that might cause binding, lube. It might not be the fault of the plastic part you might have a binding/friction problem elsewhere.

[onelight]

Correct, the first ratchet was free the second was .50¢. However shipping was still $8 lol.

Yup I always do a little shopping to get all on the order I can . Problem now is they are out of a lot of things.

[jetinteriorguy]

You’ll love the four holer. I’ve loaded well over 10000 rounds on mine and still haven’t needed to use one of the spare ratchet pieces. This press is truly one of the best designed pieces of equipment you can get, it just works without any headaches and can produce some extremely good ammo. I even use it for .223 and 7.62x39 plinking ammo and it easily makes sub 2 MOA ammo. I’ve just recently started using the double disc setup in the Pro Disc and it is the most consistent method I’ve found for powder dispensing. It’s also fairly easy to play with the disc combinations to usually get what you need, and with Accurate 1680 is the only way I don’t get powder leaking all over. I also modify cavities with a tapered reamer for customizing for my standard pistol loads.