Lee Classic Turret and auto-powder drops

[alexanderkidd]

Anyone have a good recommendation for setting up a Lee Classic 4-hole Turret with a case activated powder drop? The main problem I'm running into is that I want to expand (Lyman M-die) as a separate step from charging the case with powder. Do not want to have to buy a bunch of Lee powder-through expanders, plus my Lyman M-dies seem to be much better for cast bullets.

The options I'm exploring are:

Hornady Lock n' Load powder measure with Case Activated Powder drop. Have the measure, thinking of purchasing the kit. Does it work with the Lee Classic and/or will I miss using it manually?

Lee Pro Auto Disk measure. Can't seem to any information on whether you can charge pistol cases without using a powder-through Lee die...


Any help appreciated!

[Randy C]

What cal. are you going to load this way?

[alexanderkidd]

What cal. are you going to load this way?

.45ACP, 44-40, .223, and .308.

[Randy C]

If your not trying to do sever hundred at a time expand them on a separate press may be a little lee press, but YOU will still have to have a powder through die.

Looks like they solved your problem

[44Vaquero]

1st thing's 1st:

Lee's options will be more cost effective then any other brand. You can drop powder with a Lee powder thru die with out expanding the case mouth. It's dependent on how you set it up.

Lymans M-Dies will take up 1 station of the 4 and you will still need to drop powder so it doers not matter if you use Hornady, RCBS or Lee's case activated powder drops in the 3rd station

Lee makes a rifle charging die that does not expand the case mouth if that's what you are looking for. But to answer your question Lee's equipment is designed to work around the idea of powder being dropped thru the expansion die for pistol cases.

Hornady's automatic powder set-up appears to be more in-line with what you want, but their pistol expanders still can be set to expand the case mouth. I know of several people who are using the Hornady set-up on the Lee turret.

[enfieldphile]

The Lee Pro Auto Disk powder measure and Lee case expander works really well.

You can stack disks if you wish. Blank disks are available if you need to make a special measure chamber.

A second drop tube can be added to raise the powder measure higher.
I have NEVER had the Lee expander fail or EVER had shaved lead from a Boolit.

I would be more concerned with getting a Redding Profile Crimp die to replace the Lee carbide crimp die. IMO, the lee carbide crimp die is an answer to a non-existent problem.

[alexanderkidd]

Interesting to know... I invested in a few Lyman M Dies because I found I was shaving lead seating bullets, no matter what settings I tried. I had the problem with a RCBS Carbide .45ACP die set. I did not have any problems whatsoever with my .38special/357 mag set from Lyman (turns out this die set comes with the M die, which is probably why I did not have any problems whatsoever).

This lead me to conclude I needed M dies for all my cast bullet loading, which takes another station on the turret and disallows the powder-through expander option.

It sounds like Lee powder through expanders are more cast-bullet friendly then?

[enfieldphile]

I have Lee powder through expanders on pre-setup turret die plates for my Lee Cast Classic Turret press. calibers: 38/357, 44 Special/44Mag, 45acp/45AR and .45Colt I can't scientifically say-for-a-fact the Lee powder-through-the-expanders are more cast-boolit friendly. However I can say w/ 100% certainty not one of them has ever scrapped alloy off a boolit. That's a total of 9 different molds.

Interesting to know... I invested in a few Lyman M Dies because I found I was shaving lead seating bullets, no matter what settings I tried. I had the problem with a RCBS Carbide .45ACP die set. I did not have any problems whatsoever with my .38special/357 mag set from Lyman (turns out this die set comes with the M die, which is probably why I did not have any problems whatsoever).

This lead me to conclude I needed M dies for all my cast bullet loading, which takes another station on the turret and disallows the powder-through expander option.

It sounds like Lee powder through expanders are more cast-bullet friendly then?

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Alexander, answers to your questions in the quote in red below:

Anyone have a good recommendation for setting up a Lee Classic 4-hole Turret with a case activated powder drop? I have personal experience doing that very thing, including trying several powder measures.

The main problem I'm running into is that I want to expand (Lyman M-die) as a separate step from charging the case with powder. Do not want to have to buy a bunch of Lee powder-through expanders, plus my Lyman M-dies seem to be much better for cast bullets.
There are men on this board that can make custom expanders to fit the Lee powder measures but work like the Lyman M-dies. But I would only use these for pistol, due to the limitations of the Lee powder measure related to volume and keeping up with the powder demands of rifle cartridges when reloading in quantity.

The options I'm exploring are:

Hornady Lock n' Load powder measure with Case Activated Powder drop. Have the measure, thinking of purchasing the kit. Does it work with the Lee Classic and/or will I miss using it manually? Unfortunately, the LnL powder measure with the case activated powder drop is TOO HEAVY and makes the Lee awkward and unbalanced in operation. But there's good news - the RCBS Uniflow, very similar in operation to the Hornady, commonly available used for good prices, works with either the Hornady or RCBS case activated powder drop. It can and does balance on the Lee press and works well there.

Lee Pro Auto Disk measure. Can't seem to any information on whether you can charge pistol cases without using a powder-through Lee die...See above about modified powder through expander inserts.

Any help appreciated!

I've used and tried all the measures you've mentioned in your post on the Lee Classic Turret. Only the RCBS Uniflow and the Lee Pro Auto Disk feel comfortable during operation of the press. The Hornady LnL powder measure causes the Lee to feel "tippy" and unbalanced. I would advise against using an LnL measure on the Lee for that reason. This is unfortunate, because the Hornady holds a good bit of powder for volume reloading.

My suggestion is try the RCBS Uniflow with a case activated powder drop, either the RCBS (more expensive) or the Hornady CAPD (more affordable). I think you'll find you're happy with it.

But if you're reloading only pistol, I'd stay with the Lee Pro Auto Disk and do what I had to make it work.

[dromia]

I use an M die for case neck expansion and use the Lee Prodisk powder measure on the Classic turret.

I use the rifle charging die for activating the Prodisk, for small cases like the 310 Cadet I need to put the rifle activating insert into a powder through expander body for a pistol calibre as the rifle die body is too long.

Works fine but you may need an additional riser if you are using Lee's damned finicky priming system.

[fred2892]

I have 55's uniflow, Dillon, 3br measures, but my first choice is always a Lee autodisc. It is very simple to adapt a rifle charging die to give you the characteristics of the m die combined with a powder through expanding die. Below is the standard Lee rifle charging die insert, next to it is one I made to give me a powder through expander for 7.62x54r. It gives me a 2 thou neck tension and a minimal neck flare to prevent shaving. I have made adaptors for many calibres including .303, .310 cadet, 8mm Mauser. Really can't understand why Lee don't offer calibre specific inserts for their rifle charging die.

[dudel]

I haven't had any problem with the Dillon powder dump and expander shaving lead on pistol rounds. Dillon powder dump doesn't expand rifle rounds though, and an M die is useful there.

The problem I had with the LCT was that the Dillon was too heavy to index smoothly or consistently. I prefer the Dillon powder dump over other dumps that I tried, so the LCT left and the 550b came in.

So, while the Dillon powder dump works well for me and my propellants, it was not a good match for the LCT.

[dragon813gt]

The only issue is what do you want to do on press? You can do every step if you seat/crimp at the same time. I do this and have had no issues. But some have and will tell you that you have to crimp separately. I charge cases w/ the PAD and have the dies set up like this. Sizing Die 2 / Powder through expander that is set up for no case flare / M Die / Seat/Crimp Die. I load 9mm, 40, 38/357 & 45 this way. W/ both jacketed and cast.

[alexanderkidd]

Thanks everybody for the great info.

[tomf52]

I use the Lyman M die, comes as a set with all the different expanders , and my RCBS Uniflow Powder measure that screws right into the top of the M die. This is done on a Lee Classic cast turret press, no additional positions needed.OK, it's not an automatic drop and you have to manually reach up and throw the charge but big deal.

[gefiltephish]

I use the Lyman M die, comes as a set with all the different expanders , and my RCBS Uniflow Powder measure that screws right into the top of the M die. This is done on a Lee Classic cast turret press, no additional positions needed.OK, it's not an automatic drop and you have to manually reach up and throw the charge but big deal.

As a technicality, I believe what you're describing is not the M die, but rather Lyman's "Multi-Expand Powder Charge Die". Yes it has the stepped plugs like an M die. You may find yourself having custom plugs made for cast, especially if you use significantly oversize bullets.

I have the LNL setup, but on the LCT I prefer to use Lee's Pro Auto Disk with a modified adjustable charge bar for pistol. I also use the M die in station 2 and the Lee powder thru die in station 3 adjusted to give only a tiny flare, if needed. It works fine. I have been thinking about having custom M-die like expanders made for the Lee powder thru though, it would open a station as I like to crimp separately. For rifle, I found the whole double stacking of disks to be a royal pia. So, I use the PPM or the LNL for that, either standalone or on the LNL press. Honestly I don't load that much rifle so I'm more likely to simply weigh each charge.

[Echd]

Consider heavily using the Lee autodisk. There are lee rifle charging dies you can use to charge the cases, and the autodisk is a seriously high quality piece of equipment.

It might be cheap, but if I had to compare my measures with a mix of ease of use and accuracy, it'd easily put the Lee on top, followed by the Hornady and Redding, and then the Dillon. Even the larger Lee Perfect Powder Measure is pretty dang accurate with most powders I've tried.

[yellowfin]

I'm yet to see a reason to use anything other than the Lee Autodisk for pistol reloading. For me it's been simple and completely reliable.

[blikseme300]

I have 55's uniflow, Dillon, 3br measures, but my first choice is always a Lee autodisc. It is very simple to adapt a rifle charging die to give you the characteristics of the m die combined with a powder through expanding die. Below is the standard Lee rifle charging die insert, next to it is one I made to give me a powder through expander for 7.62x54r. It gives me a 2 thou neck tension and a minimal neck flare to prevent shaving. I have made adaptors for many calibres including .303, .310 cadet, 8mm Mauser. Really can't understand why Lee don't offer calibre specific inserts for their rifle charging die.

This is exactly what I have done to allow case expanding and powder charging using the Lee auto disc pro. That Lee does not offer expanders for rifle is baffling. I mainly load on Hornady LnL AP's and use Lee auto disc pros almost exclusively. Owning or having access to a lathe makes life so much easier when casting & reloading as it allows you the create the tools that the manufacturers don't.

[alexanderkidd]

I'm trying out the Lyman Multi-Expand powder through die. Seems to work OK but seems to have a tendency to dent case mouths if alignment is off when the lever is pulled. Anyone else have this experience? I'm assuming it's because the die body can't align the case the way a caliber-specific expander can.