Lee Classic Turret

[SharuLady]

Hi, I am planning on purchasing a Lee Classic Turret but I have some questions.

1) does this turret have the primer catch tube when de-priming?

2) can you deprime cases before you tumble them or does that need to be done first. I would like to de-prime the cases before tumbling but I am not sure if dirty cases will harm the dies. Is there a way to de-prime cases by hand and what tool(s) are available? I have looked up the sight of the Harvey Depriming Tool but I haven't been able to locate it on that sight.

TYIA, Ruth

[Az Rick]

Hi back, When purchasing a die set, one die will be a resizing/ deprime die. What you want to do is have a method to catch the old primers as they are pushed out. They are dirty and can make a mess. I'd imagine you could get one from Lee. I wouldn't think they would be expensive, you could check first. Ask the seller if it's lying around somewhere.

I wouldn't deprime before tumbling as small bits of the tumbling media get caught in the flash holes of the case. You have to check each case and use a pin to push them out, they really can get wedged in there. The tumbling process cleans the case before you resize/deprime.

Best,

PS perhaps you could rig up a spent primer catcher, something as simple as a trash can or some kind of plastic container. placed so it catches them.

[DLCTEX]

If you are talking about the Lee Classic Cast Turret it does have the primer catch tube and the large diameter ram. By using the Lee universal depriming die you can deprime cases without sizing. Extremely dirty cases can cause wear on dies. I have deprimed cases by hand using a metal rod with the end ground down over a hole in a board. The universal decap pin from leeprecision.com/caseconditioningtools #90292 for $2.00 used with a shell holder (a hole drilled through a board of the appropriate size would hold the shell holder) and a hammer would get the job done economically. The universal deprime die is cheap enough to be my chosen method.

[44Vaquero]

Sharulady,

1. The ram in a classic captures the spent primers and they drop into a tube for disposal.

2. A.You can do either way, depending upon your individual loading style. For pistol cases I usually do not de-prime prior to tumbling, rifle I do.

B.The pistol dies are carbide and will not be harmed by a dirty case(dirt can scratch the case though). Rifle dies are a different story. You can also purchase a Universal e-priming die that does not re-size the case and in works on your press like any other die body.

What calibers will you be reloading?

[SharuLady]

HI,
Thank you to all that replied. It is appreciated! I had seen mention of the tube on the other turrets to catch the primers but had not seen it specifically mentioned on the Lee Classic Turret. Great to hear that it also has one.

I am purchasng the Lee Deluxe 4 die sets for the calibers I will be loading. They are, 2 different 9mm, 45acp, also will be loading for 2 Win 30-30's. Will be getting the Lee Deluxe 3 die set for the rifles.
If I can find the right brass and mold for a Colt D. A. 32 Colt. (states on the pistol: Colt's New Pocket +) It appears to read as a year of 1905. My Husband inherited this from his dad and before that his Grandfather. I believe Wincherster makes seasonal rounds for it as: Win 32 short (Colt), but they are very costly. It is why I am hoping to find mold, dies, load info for this pistol.

It seems the Universal de-priming die from Lee's is what is needed.
I was wanting to tumble all the brass and primer seats to get all the areas to be cleaned. Will be using fine crushed walnut as the medium along with the additives of NuShine & Mineral Spirits. After de-prming & tumbling I was planning on then doing all necessary prepping to the cases. Any other suggestions or opinions are welcome.
TY again, Ruth

[SharuLady]

Hi again,
The main reason I wanted to tumble the brass after de-priming was that all the brass I recently picked up at a local gun show was from a shooting range and since I don't know who shot it or if they cleaned up their brass before loading it. So being kind of anal about cleaning these up first will allow me to inspect all the brass better for any/all damage. I got 1500+ 45 acp brass for $50.00, 2k+ of 9mm brass for $30.00 and 450+ 30-30 brass for $35.00. All from the same vender that lives close by and will call me when he has more. I think I got it all at a good price.
Ruth

[rodsvet]

You did well on the price!

[geargnasher]

The Classic Turret and Classic cast presses are the only ones I know of from Lee that have the El Supremo primer catch tubes on the bottom of the hollow ram, you'll like the system as it's clean and keeps primer residue out of the ram oil. You did good on the brass and choice of press, if I had to start over from scratch with reloading equipment the Lee Classic Turret would be the first item I'd purchase, along with about a dozen extra turret plates.

Be careful using the Factory Crimp dies for the short pistol calibers, depending on the exact dimensions of your boolits and brass they often post-size the case and boolit together, swaging the boolit below the groove dimension of the barrel and causing gas blowby and leading. The pistol FCDs with the carbide sizing sleeve (similar to the carbide sizing die) are dimensioned for jacketed bullets, which of course run a couple thousandths smaller than what we typically must size our cast boolits to in order to get a good gas seal in the barrel. Just be aware of that, if you try the FCDs on pistol rounds make a "dummy" with no powder or primer, seat and crimp a boolit and then pull it back out with an inertia-type puller and measure the drive bands to see how much the die has swaged the boolit. If it's smaller than groove diameter, eliminate the die from the process and use the crimp shoulder in the seater die or purchase a separate crimping die that doesn't have the sizing sleeve.

The collet-style FCD in the rifle calibers, especially .30-30, is an absolutely wonderful tool, by all means plan on using it.

Gear

[another gunslinger]

The Lee Clasic Cast Turrent is my primary reloading press.

Yes, it has a primer catch tube. the only downside of it is that the primer charging arm has to be installed or ocassionaly the old primer will fall out the front. I don't prime on the press (I prefer to prime by hand unless I am using a prgressive press), but I still have one of the little priming arms on there to deflect the spent primers down the ram where they go throught the included clear tube and into my waiting bucket.

the press is auto-indexing, which is nice if you need it, the auto index system is easy to disable by tacking the die plate off (1/8 turn and lift) and pulling the index rod out and put the die plate back on. then it works as single stage (great for depriming prior to case prep) or as a manually actuated turrent press.

Great press, best value going, in my opinion.

[SharuLady]

Ty Geargnasher for the info, I have made note of it for future reference.

Ty another gunslinger for your info also, I have made note of this as well.

I really do appreciate all the tips and info!
Ruth

[gunoil]

Probably the best press ever made as a whole vote. Few tips and tricks here and there, i watch lots of youtubes on Lee equipment. Go to titianreloading.com Dennis is owner down the street from lee and was a lee engineer til he opened the store. This way you have answers for everything about your lee classic.... I buy all my stuff here.

videos
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/24F0D153-DD0F-4791-A385-4601714A47B3-8780-00000A0EDA5CBB34.mp4

below: believe it or not, it does not move that much, the iphone 5 accelerates the motion that much when making video.
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/C0F7A090-8E1D-4591-AA0F-7A980503232B-8780-000009AAC1A596FD.mp4

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/FB86484A-F47F-44CF-A8D0-A7509743503F-8780-00000811F464CC5C.jpg

[SharuLady]

Hi Gunoil,
Ty for your reply. I have spoken with Dennis at Titan Reloading and he has been very helpful. I am also watching a lot of youtube videos as well.
Ruth

[badgeredd]

You might want to look into using the stainless steel media for tumbling your brass. Advantage is the media very rarely sticks in the flash holes, and ti cleans the primers pockets and inside of the case extremely well. Disadvantage is one uses water and detergent to clean the cases in the tumbling process so one has to wait a day for for the cases to air dry. For me the superior cleaning action is worth the trouble which is somewhat offset by rarely having media stuck in the flash hole. Just a thought....

Edd

P.S. the stainless steel pins are meant to be used in a rotating tumbler, I haven't a clue if they can be used in a vibratory tumbler.

[1hole]

The people who get media stuck in the flash holes are using 12-20 grit which is perfect for clogging the flash holes. IF you get 20-40 grit it's much finer, won't clog the primer holes and works just as well.

But, whatever tumble media you use, first use the mentioned universal decapper die, tumble your cases and then resize; the decap pin will clear the flash holes. Don't bother with critical inspection of your cases until after sizing, that always opens any small cracks quite a bit and that makes it a breeze to see them.