MichiganTom Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I bought a package deal of Lee products last December, a Pro 1000, and a 3 hole turret, then I promptly sold them and kept some accessories that were good . Then for some reason I bought a Lee 4 hole turret with extra's . That press is boxed up and being shipped out. I couldn't get any of the Lee stuff to work right except the single stage C frame reloader I paid $10 for. Today I'm getting a like new RCBS RS-3 for $90 to finally start loading soon. I have everything else I need except case lube now. The total investment will be $100 plus $80 for 2 sets of dies I got a Hornady scale and case trimmer, a lee scale and case trimmer, 380 steel dies, 30/06 carbides, primer tool, case chamfer , 2 hand primers , 3 handbooks for $0 out of pocket Primers,Powder and bullets are handy in the drawer I never have loaded on Lee before and will only use the Lee reloader for decapping, that's all it's good for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTNuge Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Guess those hundreds of thousands of people loading on Lee gear is doing something wrong. It's definitely not the best quality stuff out there and it didn't take me long to upgrade from a Lee Classic Turret to a Dillon xl650 but you can definitely crank out some decent ammo that goes bang. Like anything, you do get what you pay for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppa Bear Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I use a 4 hole classic turret for everything I reload. I have a 550 set up for quicker reloading of the small prime stuff right now, but I can still crank out 150 to 200 an hour on the LCT when I am setting up a new load. What kind of problems were you having? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganTom Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 (edited) None of the three would index worth a darn, the turrets all had play from side to side, the ram had a lot of wiggle. I just got tired of trying to tweak it in. The 4 hole wasn't a clasic cast iron one., maybe a NIB classic cast would be better instead of buying someone else's problem. I just got home with a used RCBS RS3 and will start playing with it in 15 minutes. I have to disassemble , clean and lube, then mount it . I need to KISS for awhile Edited March 10, 2013 by MichiganTom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppa Bear Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 All of my presses have been NIB except my 550. It was in very good shape to start with and I got a lot of extra parts as part of the purchase price. There are some tricks to making a Lee work well, but a ram that wobbles is not a good sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98sr20ve Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 LCT is good. The non-lct has a woble in the ram, The turret will center over the die. It will make consistent ammo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RammerJammer Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I use the classic Turret for pistol and the single stage classic or whatever with rifle and have only had minor issues. The majority of stuff that comes in the sets is worthless though. I do the opposite, keep the press and get rid of everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzi Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 I started with a RCBS single stage in the 70's. 1993 I picked up xl650. Just over a year ago I snagged a Lee Classic 4 hole Turret. I think it is great. It has taken its place among my press tools. I use it to produce 357 and 45 colt and soon 454 Casull. I've had no issues that I can complain about really, except one thing. I'm not really a fan of the Lee Safty primer. I tend to fumble that transaction especially on the large primers and they end up on the floor to often. I may have a defective large primer lee safty prime I dunno. Small primers oneI don't drop /fumble so much. The Lee 4 hole Classic Turret is also a back up for 45acp and 38 special which I load for production on my XL 650. IMO it works very well and I've produced just under 1k rounds with it combined 357 and 45 colt stuff so far. That little plastic square indexer I hear people whine about breaking is doing fine on my machine. I don't abuse it though. The press can function as a single station in a pinch and I use it for that on occasion rather than my RCBS. For the money, IMO , it can't be touched. I love my XL650 but if I find some newb wondering if they should reload or not I point them at that Lee as a starter kit. I can't vouch for Lee presses other than the Classic Turret as I never tried em. IMO it is a superior design over other Turret designs I see about for 2 major reasons. 3 point solid posts hold the turret down solid, no chance of lateral tweaking over time, and the turrets are actualliy something I'd buy. Other turret types cost 50 bucks or more per turret. / lol. I suppose the onliy down side I can think of is it only has 4 holes but for the life of me I dont' know why I'd need more. IF I ever do I have that 70's era RCBS single stage to use for the magical 5th hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98sr20ve Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Put a washer under the safety prime mount to raise it up just a little. That should solve the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandman76 Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 I've been using a LCT press for years. It works great. I am putting a hornady powder measure on it now. Great setup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Lee progressives are useless. The LCT may be the most underrated turret press because of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-Ho Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Have a lee turret. Is my Dillon better? Heck yes. Is the Lee a good press? heck yes. I've turn out 10's of thousands of rounds over the years when I was using that press. Now days it is used mainly for a few odd ball calibers I play with sometimes. Dillon gets my higher volume stuff. For someone starting out on a tight budget, I would have no problem recommending a Lee turret. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Lee progressives are useless. The LCT may be the most underrated turret press because of them. I have two Pro 1000's that run like a Singer sewing machine. It does take a high degree of mechanical aptitude, and patience, to get to that point. I have helped others get to that point, and along the way discovered there are people that have no business even getting into reloading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polizei1 Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 I loaded on a LCT (my first press) for a year or so, I had no issues with it at all! It's a great press for the money, especially if you upgrade the powder measure to the pro version and add a washer and line-up the safety primer to actually work right. I was doing ~150 an hour. That said, I have a Dillon 650 now and there is just simply no comparison. I understand the major price difference, but there's a reason why! In short, the LCT is a great cheap press, but anything progressive...at least for me, it's Dillon all the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reinz Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 (edited) Lee Presses (except for the Classic Cast SS) are Like AK-47's, they both look like a POS, but to the amazement of many, they just keep on putting out good ammo and a lot of it. Edited April 6, 2013 by Reinz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 A friend has the Lee Classic Turret and it works quite well, just throw away all the priming junk for the press and use a good hand held primer device. The newest Lee one works well and doesn't screw up very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD1 Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 do they still have a primer detonation issues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 What - Lee Turret Presses or Lee Hand Priming Tools ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellyrubber Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 i've been using a lee 4-hole turret press for over a year now. i did have to order some of those little square plastic ratchet indexes. a trip to ace hardware for a couple of nuts and bolts. thats been about the extent of my problems with it. i load 9mm for shooting steel. i knock out a couple hundred a week. i'm not into quanity. i visually inspect each round 4 times before i drop it in the to go box. i'm waiting on a pro auto-disk powder measure for it. it's a good basic press if you don't need a progressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganTom Posted April 9, 2013 Author Share Posted April 9, 2013 I traded 250 Rainer 115 CMJ's, and 400 SRP's, 550 SPP 's for a Lyman Spartan Press in good shape yesterday The bullets and primers I got in a trade for 2-525 Blazer Bulk 22's that were 2 for $32 at Dunhams last summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RammerJammer Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 I guess there is something wrong with my LCT because I have no problem with the safety primes system. It takes a couple of times to get the right angle but once I got it set a few thousand roinds ago there have been no issues. The powder disk measure is fine too if you buy the metering bar. If you just use the disk you are stuck either filing on it or taking a random charge that goes with the increments they have established. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 I guess there is something wrong with my LCT because I have no problem with the safety primes system. It takes a couple of times to get the right angle but once I got it set a few thousand roinds ago there have been no issues. The powder disk measure is fine too if you buy the metering bar. If you just use the disk you are stuck either filing on it or taking a random charge that goes with the increments they have established. Something wrong with my Pro 1000 too! I can not remember the last time I had a priming issue, but it was many thousands of rounds ago. I have used the metering bar, when making test loads but, don't care for it when running production. I bought extra disc and honed them out to my loads. Speaking of the powder system, it has been flawless for . . . gawd, never had a problem . . . ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98sr20ve Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 (edited) opps. Edited April 11, 2013 by 98sr20ve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErichF Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 I have reloaded about 10K rounds on my less-than-year old Lee Loadmaster. It works just fine. I don't use the case feeder, but I have used the RCBS Bullet-Feeding die. It's a solid press, just keep it fairly clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcernese Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 I have a lee loadmaster, once I followed the videos online to set it up and tune it, It ran great. I even use the bullet feeder. I can't imagine spending twice as much for a dillon. Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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