lee classic turret press alignment fix

[bdecker9]

NOT INDEX PROBLEM!
has anyone else had/have this problem with their Lee CT? Mine was just a tad off. enough that if i bounce the casing off of the shell holder it would line up 99% of the time. it seemed to mostly affect the FLS dies, with their decapping rod most likely to blame... the problem is that the case comes up on the ram just to slam into the die, and hang up or sometimes slide in, its like 1/16 of a an inch left or right and/or front to back. well i worked around mine and could still hold a good rhythm and crank out rounds. but i had to put case in "kinda" hard, size then push to center on the case holder for priming. UNTIL NOW. I AM MUCHO HAPPY, been dealing with this for 3 years, and now i just have to break my counter-problem habits, life is good.

***People will still read this and post about timing the index rod. save it please. that is not the issue with this situation. if your press is turning and stopping at the correct station, timing is good. don't ruin a good index rod, like um, someone i know.

THE FIX:
I had to loosen the 3 main bolts that hold the tool head ring. put in a set of dies, i would use a die with a decapper, it may take a bunch of force but you push on the ring to center up the ram/die union, there is a little bit of play in the bolt holes, for this very purpose. if you find it takes a bunch pressure it may be better with two people, as you need to re-tighten the bolts while pressure is applied to the ring.

i just wanted to share, cause this has drove me nuts for a long time. i've sat and stared at the press for lots of time on several occasions, leveled and re-leveled my bench. moved the dies around, different tool heads etc. it was pretty simple.

decker

[Rory McCanuck]

Once you have the bolts loosened, could you not align it with a case in the die?
Get it started in the die, run the ram up to the top to straighten everything up, then tighten the bolts back up.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I had a similar issue with alignment on my first Lee classic turret press which I bought in 2006. But it was only a problem with a couple calibers that I load many on this press. It gave me fits for year. Yes I tried your trick of loosening the main bolt's, align, then retighten. It would never move enough. I don't want to say how many thousands of 9's were loaded on this press, where I had to "fingerpush" on every case, for the case to enter the FL die. (I wonder how true those reloads where :oops: )

A couple years ago, I had visions of mounting a 3 hole turret and relating hardware onto a Classic Turret base. So I bought a second (New) Classic turret press. Well that project never worked...Wrong length spacer/legs. BUT, I thought to myself, at least I'll be rid of the alignment issues for those couple of calibers with the New CT.

Guess What, still had the same issues on the NEW press.

btw, I really like Lee dies, and of the many many caliber's I reload, most are Lee dies...SO I'm NOT about to be bashing here.

So, after thinking about this and using the new press, I finally figured out "MY" problem....


My problem was a couple "out of spec" Lee Shell holders. That day, I ordered up a set of Lyman shell holders and a few others that weren't in the kit to cover some of the unique calibers I load. Problem solved !

Now if I ever have a problem with any caliber, I have a shell holder of another brand to try.

I'm not saying your problem wasn't fixed by adjusting the Main bolts...I'm just sharing my similar problem and different solution.
My 2¢
Jon

[MT Chambers]

RE: ALIGNMENT FIX
a) align press with middle of garbage can top
b) drop in

[dudel]

RE: ALIGNMENT FIX
a) align press with middle of garbage can top
b) drop in


Or as I did, pack it in original box, list on eBay, recover most of your cost.

[str8wal]

I index manually and have never had a problem.

[tazman]

Sorry to hear about the problems. My classic cast turret works perfectly. No adjustments needed.

[fryboy]

having learned about "squaring" the dies and indexing ( no not the indexing rod aspect of it ) the turret top with ye olde original 3 hole i have a lil thought nibbling away at the back of me noggin ( erm yes i have the classic cast turret press too , two'of'em in fact ) ...about this set of dies , but first jonB's point is a valid one as also is sometimes a turret it's self can be to blame - perhaps not even all the holes as it'd take just one ...but back to the dies ... sometimes the seating stem can be set where the expander is trying to do it's thing while it's still sizing , this is really a critical setting in something small like 22 hornet but could ( at least in theory ) present it's self in other cartridges , i always try to set my decapper/expander as low as it can go and not hit the inside bottom of the case , it wouldnt take much to stick for a second and may not be the problem but if nothing else is working it's worth checking

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

many good points fryboy.

BTW, I had to fix many typos in my post.

I actually typed "I'm about to be bashing here" opps :oops:

I meant "I'm NOT about to be bashing here"..geewhiz, I gotta reread my stuff a couple times before I click "post"

[fryboy]

wanna know a secret ? i leave most my typos to irritate the grammar gestapo and punctuation policia ( yeah.. it's a thankless job but some one has to keep their heart pumping ...

seems like the harder i try to not make one the more i make [sigh] perhaps i'm still rebelling against some terrible english teacher ? ( now had they taught american ... i'm pretty sure that language wouldnt of been lowest on me report cards , besides i was busy learning spanglish erm and girls :bigsmyl2: )

the main thing is that the OP fixed a lil irritant he had and shared it and we just added other possible causes that could have similar effects ( from point a to point b ...it's all about the journey my friends )

[VHoward]

I didn't have an alignment issue with mine. Mine was just sloppy loose everywhere right out of the box and all the nuts and bolts were tight.
It worked OK. But I still was not happy with it. I sold it on ebay.

[markinalpine]

Try reading the instructions! :idea:
I know this is a novel approach, unknown to many, but sometimes even REAL MEN stop and ask for directions.
From the PDF instructions available at the Lee web-site:
http://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/90064.pdf

Cycle the press up and down.

If the turret does not stop in the correct

position—follow these instructions.

With the ram in the down position, place a

1/4-inch wrench on the index rod and hold

in position. Now rotate the turret into the

correct position. Never use a pliers as index

rod damage will occur.

Mark [smilie=w:

[bdecker9]

post 12 likes please see OP. lmao. the press never slowed me down. just required 2 extra "reflexes" on each round. no big deal. the thing that annoyed me was that i knew there was a fix. ITS WAS AND STILL IS A GREAT PRESS.