Now an update! I called Lee and explained to them that the turrets were SO ROUGH that they added resistance that made the turret VERY difficult to turn, this causes the
nylon locking nut to turn on the index rod, throwing off the index of the turret. It made the press unusable, if it can't index.
Lee tech support was very understanding, he explained that some of the turrets have burrs on them, just file the burrs smooth, which I had already done, and I explained to him that the worst of the machining was in the groove that can't be sanded smooth because that makes the turret smaller, and loose fitting, poor alignment, poor consistency, and he agreed the turret was defective.
Wait, wait, let me get this straight.. LEE ADMITTED that the turret was defective!
Turns out the metal square locking nut is no longer made and out of stock with no expected replacements so Lee equipped these presses with a nylon lock nut that basically prays there is enough friction to turn the turret, and not the nylon locking nut. In my case, the rough turrets made the locking nut turn every time, and I never once got it to keep the index after it was set. Now, the WORST part, is there is no "fix" for this, and no plans to fix it from Lee. They are going to keep using the nylon lock nut.
This would be a deal breaker for me and I know a lot of others, if they couldn't get the press to index. I fought it for a couple of hours and got nowhere with it staying indexed. If I wasn't mechanical, and a 50+yr welder, I would have RMA'ed the whole order back to Graf&Sons. As far as the two really rough turrets that I had ordered with the press, Graf&Sons sent me a prepaid UPS label to return them for a refund. Graf&Sons customer support lady went out of her way to call LEE and consult with their techs, and called me back as she said she would so they too get an A+ for the day!
I was ready to mill a suitable chunk of steel and thread it, but I stopped in Home Depot and picked up some 1/4x20 square nuts and used a center punch to distort the metal enough to make it HARD to turn once adjusted to index. It works VERY well, I am posting this here so others could see that all that is necessary is a 29¢ hardware store square nut and a center punch. Problem SOLVED!
Attachment 319019 Attachment 319020
The nut doesn't have to thread on the rod fully, just until the distorted threads lock the nut firmly against turning. It's actually an improvement if it stays at the top of the rod, the square hole in the turret gets smaller and the nut fits tighter.
I know there are many here that have had the 4 hole classic press for many years problem free, some with the nylon lock nut, and I am NOT knocking the press! Years ago, Lee MADE these presses with a metal locking square nut on the index rod. I wasn't that lucky, but turned it into an easy and repeatable fix.
And THANKS for the replies in this thread!