Lee Precision Classic Turret Press

[Snipe10]

I'm brand new to reloading and going back and forth on what to get. I was looking at a single stage like the Rockchucker or a progressive like the Dillon 550. Being new, I didn't want to go straight to a progressive, or at least was advised not to. Then I found the Lee Classic Turret Kit which looks like a good compromise, any thoughts here? Once again, I've never reloaded except shotgun shells for my dad when I was a kid. Will load primarily 45 acp, 45 colt, 308 and 6.5 cm, thanks in advance

[TCWriter]

I like my Classic Turret and have loaded 18K rounds on it over the last two years. It's a great way to start; only one thing is happening at a time so it's easier to learn and make reliable ammo, but once you've got it dialed in, you're still capable of making 200+ rounds an hour. Plus, it's affordable.

At this point, I wouldn't say no to a Dillon progressive (it'd be nice to sit down and bang out 500 rounds in an hour), but I haven't yet pulled the trigger on an upgrade. 

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Sarge]

A 550 is pretty close to a turret press as you have to turn the plate by hand each time you pull the handle. It is not by definition a progressive press like the other Dillon presses. Pretty good press but if cost is an issue you would be fine with the LEE turret

[busdriver02]

Bought a turret for my first press. Same reasons you stated. As soon as it had paid for itself, I bought a 550. It's a huge difference

Unless money is an issue, skip the turret.

[Snipe10]

So straight to the Dillon? 

[Garmil]

1 hour ago, Sarge said:

A 550 is pretty close to a turret press as you have to turn the plate by hand each time you pull the handle. It is not by definition a progressive press like the other Dillon presses. Pretty good press but if cost is an issue you would be fine with the LEE turret

550. 4 pulls = 4 completed rounds

turret 4 pulls= 1 completed round

id say that's pretty significant

[busdriver02]

I load 500 rounds an hour on the 550. I was getting 150ish an hour on the turret.

[Sarge]

2 hours ago, Garmil said:

550. 4 pulls = 4 completed rounds

turret 4 pulls= 1 completed round

id say that's pretty significant

I get that it's way different but it's not fully progressive. Not that I'd advise it but a 550 can load one at a time if somebody is really worried about screwing up.

[Sarge]

8 minutes ago, busdriver02 said:

I load 500 rounds an hour on the 550. I was getting 150ish an hour on the turret.

Still child's play.

 

[springer99]

If you've not reloaded before, TC gave you good advise.  The Lee Classic Cast Turret press is highly regarded by most that have used it, and it's considered to be the best value for the buck for starting out.  It'll put out quality ammunition as well as much more expensive presses, and can even easily be converted to run as a single-stage press.   I used my LCT that way when loading 30-06, as I charged the cases off press and this simplified the operation a lot.   Buying inexpensive, spare turrets make caliber changes about a 1 minute task.

If you are happy with loading 150-175rounds per hour, then you can't go wrong with a LCT.  IF you need to load at a much higher rate, then Dillon or a LnL is what you need.  Load quality will be the same for all of them.

Edited August 21, 2016 by springer99

[ArrDave]

I just made the switch to a Dillon 650XL. You will never be "happy" loading 150 rounds an hour, especially if you shoot a lot. I shoot about 1000 rounds a month, or more sometimes and keeping up meant 7 hours and 4000 lever pulls. It means 2 hours and 1000 lever pulls now. The LCT will get you what you want, but I would do a 550 or even a square deal B if you only shoot pistol. The one caveat is that you will likely need to QC your progressive ammo more than your turret ammo, specifically looking at primers for primers not seated to full depth. The 650 is a trick to the shell plate adjusted just so so it still advances and doesn't seize up (affects primer depth). You will need to use case lube on the progressive or start wet tumbling with pins and zip wax car wash. A 550 you won't regret buying as resale is pretty well flat, and it would take a bit to outgrow. 650 you can do a bullet feeder and case feeder and have obscene production. Most folks could "make due" at 400-500 rounds an hour.


EDIT: my recommendation is start on a 550 or square deal B and just run one case at a time while learning.

Sent from an iDevice. Please forgive any grammatical or spelling errors. If the post doesn't make sense or is not amusing then it is technology's fault and most certainly not operator error.

[warpspeed]

For the calibers you have mentioned, I'd suggest a single stage press for the 308 & 6.5 CM and a Dillon Square Deal or the 550 for the 45 & 45.

My expectations for my rifle round, especially my 6.5, are perfection and since I have found it on a single stage press I'm not going to mess up a good thing.

 

 

[inspector1999]

So my two cents, the Lee classic turret will load everything you want to load. You will be able to quickly change calibers for cheap with extra tool heads. Once you learn how to load each caliber and to the quantity of each you need, you will probably upgrade to a progressive press.

If you choose pretty much any other press than a Square Deal B, your dies will work on the new press, so no money lost there.

You will want to keep the LCT; for your low round calibers it will work awesomely, for load development it will work awesomely.

For those calibers you shoot a lot of, a progressive will make ammo faster. I have a LCT and just sold a Square Deal B to fund a 650 because I wanted a case feeder. The ammo from the Lee was just as good as the Square Deal. The SDB just made more, quicker. The 650 will be faster than the SDB. But I still have the Lee and use it.

So I guess what I am saying is buying the Lee classic turret won't be a waste of money or time but expect to want to upgrade.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk

[36873687]

I started on a lct cause of funds an glad I did it all matters is how many rounds you are going to shoot a month. I have a 650 now there's no comparison between the two, I still use my LCT for rifle an working up loads. 

[Stevenb]

my opinion after owning both the Lee Classic Turret and Square Deal B, skip the SDB. The SDB is a good press, but I'm a Lee FCD evangelist and not being able to run one on the SDB has me running everything through a single stage with the FCD. That isn't the only reason, being able to use regular dies, quick change tool heads, the ability to add a case feeder and also a bullet feeder if you want to really ramp it up.

I've got another session to go on the SDB tonight to finish loading up everything I have on hand for 9mm and then it will be pulled down and sold to fund a 650.

[SCTaylor]

Quote

my recommendation is start on a 550 or square deal B and just run one case at a time while learning. 

 

I completely agree with this! I started with a Lee Turret and then moved up to a 550. It would have been just as easy to learn on the 550 as the Turret. No matter what anyone says, you can run it much like a single stage press, one round at a time. It is much easier to visualized every step, turn the shell plate by hand moving to the next station, and to tweak the setup.  Not to mention priming on the Turret is kinda a PITA, 550 is a breeze.

Once you're ready to run all 4 stations at one time, get after it.

Now, I would say if you want to start loading on the low(er) cost side, the Turret is a great press at an affordable price. I still have mine and use it to load the less shot calibers; 30-06 and 45 colt.

Edited August 24, 2016 by SCTaylor

[firewood]

Some shooters approach handloading as a necessary evil, others consider it to be a hobby within a hobby. Those who call it a hobby tend to get carried away and buy all kinds of handloading equipment. Those who consider it a chore tend to go with an inexpensive option and suck it up as far as time spent making ammo.

For me I belong to the hobby crowd. Not that I have unlimited funds to throw at this but I want better than entry level presses and so forth and while this my ruffle some feathers, outside to the Lee cast single stage press, the entire line of Lee presses are basically entry level items. Do they work? Yes they do. Are they heavy duty, robust and made for high volume? No sorry they are not.

The down side of a progressive is the cost compared to a single stage. I know that it is fashionable to advise the newb that it is better from a safety perspective to learn on a single stage press. OK that is a subject for debate. My personal experience is: I started on a single stage Rockchucker. I load pistol so it took me about 3 months to conclude that this was way too slow. So I got a turret press.

It is true that the turret press concept is a bit faster than a single stage but what a lot of turret press fans don't seem to understand is that a turret press is really just a single stage with the ability to hold more than one die at a time. As mentioned you can only process 1 pc of brass at a time on a turret press while a progressive handles 4-7 pcs of brass at a time.

One of the negatives of the Lee turret press kit that everyone talks about is that in my opinion the primer tool is really an afterthought and the scale that comes with it is a horror. A little more cash will get a lot better stuff, just something to consider. But if you are on a budget then that kit is probably the best option and you can upgrade at a later time.

The turret press sped things up a little and on that press (RCBS turret) I cranked out about 15K rounds before I finally admitted to myself that I need more speed. My wife "gave" me a LNL progressive for  Christmas a few years ago. My desire to make a new bench had me putting off setting that press up for 9 months. What I would like to say is that when I first started using my progressive I still had a time keeping everything organized in my mind, there is a lot going on on a progressive press. So I say this as an individual that made well over 20K rounds pistol ammo before going progressive it was still a bit confusing. So based on my experience I would say if you are careful or better yet have a mentor, go right to the progressive.

Edited August 25, 2016 by firewood

[fastluck13]

I used a turret press for years. It made very good ammo but was very slow. Primers also went everywhere. It also seemed to require a lot of attention to keep it running well. 

 

I use a Hornady LNL now and couldn't be happier this side of a Dillon 1050.

[Steve RA]

If you get the turret, get the Lee Ergo hand priming device and throw away the priming equipment on the press.  It's a lot easier to prime cases in bulk and just load on the press.

[paul788]

Ask who reloads among the people you shoot with.  You will find someone who has a LCT.  Try it out for yourself.  They probably have more than one press, ask to try them all.  See what works for you.

Paul Beck

 

[36873687]

Still say for a new reloader LCT is the way to go

[dwzuspsa]

I bought the first 3-hole turret press when it came out-traded a 22 rifle for it even up sometime in the early eighties.  I started shooting USPSA around 1987 and have loaded hundreds of thousands of round on Lee turret presses 3 and four hole.  Loading on the turret press, especially for new reloaders, you only do one thing at a time and you can watch each stage as it indexes to the next stage.  The new reloader can watch all the stages of reloading from sizing, belling the case to dropping the powder charge, to bullet seating to crimping....Dillion make fine quality equipment but Lee makes reloading a little safer because you are not doing all the functions at one time.

[ringer]

Something that hasn't been mention yet (I think) is that a progressive like a Hornady LNL or Dillon can be used to only load one round at a time by simply putting in only one piece of brass until that has gone through all the stages and is loaded. 

I recently did just this to show a new loader how his press operated and to become comfortable with each stage and the machine in general.

Once he was comfortable loading one round at a time he moved to progressive mode and hasn't looked back.

So getting a progressive and using it like a 'turret' at first and then as a progressive can be the best of both worlds.