Hi:
I am considering reloading again after many years of absences.
Does Lee Turret Presses accept regular reloading dies (RCBS / Lyman / Redding)??
Thanks,
Jimmy

Yes. Have fun getting reaquainted with reloading!

Jimmy,

I would suggest a 4 hole turret and the Cast Iron specifically. You can get a Cast Iron Turret for less than the price of a Rock Chucker and have money left over to buy some extra turrets.

Go for a Dillon RL550 and you'll never look back...

quote:

Originally posted by tlen:
Go for a Dillon RL550 and you'll never look back...

I have one that I bought because it was cheap $50.

My 20+ year old Lee 1000 is easier to use and is faster, you can't tell the difference between the ammo the Dillon and the Lee produces.

If I was going to buy a new progressive/semi progressive press, I would buy the Lee progressive instead of a Dillon.

bgbill,

I can't let that post go by without comment. This is definitely a minority opinion. I have almost nothing but bad reviews about Lee Progressive loaders over the years. I'm glad you are happy with yours, but buddy, you have to be the 1% or less who are happy with their Lee Progressive. OTOH, I've read few complaints of the Dillon 550B. I think the newer Hornady LNL Progressives have the bugs worked out as well.

The only problem I have ever had with the Lee 1000 is the plastic tubes that you put the shells in got crushed from improper storage.

It has some surface rust on it, I have never had to replace a broken part on it, other than the plastic tubes.

The Dillon 550 is slower to load than the Lee 1000.

My Lee 1000 is over 20 years old, the basic design is the same, although Lee has done some improvements on it.

The nice thing about the Dillon is, it is easy and quick to change Calibers on it, mine came with 4 caliber conversion kits with it, and for rifle loads, I think it would be better than the Lee 1000.

For the price I paid for the Dillon and all the accessories it came with, it was a heck of a deal though.

I had a Lee 1000 for about three days and sent it back. Very bad design and lots of problems. Bought a Dillon Square Deal and was up and loading in no time.

Speaking of bad reviews, the majority of KBs (Kabooms) I read about are the end product of a Dillon 550B.

quote:

Paul5388;Speaking of bad reviews, the majority of KBs (Kabooms) I read about are the end product of a Dillon 550B.

Introduced error by the incompetence of the operator is the resultant KBs. As for the Dillon 550B it demands attention to detail which maybe beyond the abilities of certain individuals. I have three progressive units one of which is a Dillon 550B. I haven’t experienced a KB and I also own Glock pistols and haven’t experienced a KB either. When one follows safe procedures and the manufactures recommendations the nettlesome aspects such as KBs are avoided.

There are those that argue that the progressive unit is more prone unattended consequences. One may simply operate the unit with one cartridge case performing all the stage operations before inserting a new cartridge case. It’s not that difficult if it were there would be no Dillon nor RCBS, Hornady, and etcetera in the progressive unit market place. There is a learning curve but not insurmountable.

quote:

When one follows safe procedures and the manufactures recommendations the nettlesome aspects such as KBs are avoided.

While it is of the uttmost importance to follow safe and design specifications while reloading it is not the end all to KB's. There have been a bunch of them with factory loads in CERTAIN PISTOLS in calibers like 9mm, 40 S&W and 45ACP.

Not paying attention to details GREATLY increases the possibilities of having one though. The worst thing that can happen with a progressive press is not advancing in the powder stage or "backing up" to save a bullet in the crimping stage. It's hard to explain but I did notice that this would be a problem. Let's say you are loading on a Square Deal B. You notice that you forgot to put the bullet on and have cycled the lever. The turret advances and you stop, bring the ram up enough to manually reverse the shell holder. At that point you have put the already full case BACK under the powder dispenser. Set the bullet, cycle the handle and you now have a double charge in the case in the powder station. THIS HAS HAPPENED, BELIEVE ME. If for some reason you are distracted, i.e. your team on TV just scored a touchdown, the phone rings and you need to answer it, your wife needs some TLC, or whatever and you are loading on a 550b, unless you are an exceptional individual you may have forgotten where you are in the process and OOPS, you too now have a case with a double charge.

IMHO, the best thing to do when distracted or if you notice something you have forgotten to do is clear the progressive press of all cases and start over. Dump all powder from them and start again. You don't have to punch the primer out of any of them. I did as dennis40x has noted when I get cases that are purchased primed. Every time the handle is raised the case in the first position is deprimed. I simply put one case in, partially cycle the handle so the case will move to the next station, don't put a case in the first station, and cycle the press until I get a completed bullet. That certainly is not how the press was designed to be used but it will function that way. You just have to be a little mechanically inclined to figure that out.

Kind of a long post. Sorry about that. Take it for what it's worth.

quote:

smith crazy;There have been a bunch of them with factory loads in CERTAIN PISTOLS in calibers like 9mm, 40 S&W and 45ACP.

There are half truisms in regards to Glock. Obtain a copy of “The Glock in Competition 2nd edition ISBN-0-9662517-4-1”. Read Chapter 1-4 (The Exploding Glock, Fact or Fiction by Mark Passamaneck, P.E. TY40422.)

I've shot a few Glocks and used to own a plastic gun, but you'll notice I said "used to own". I trust them about as far as I can throw an elephant, whether it's with reloads or factory loads.

quote:

Paul5388;I've shot a few Glocks and used to own a plastic gun, but you'll notice I said "used to own". I trust them about as far as I can throw an elephant, whether it's with reloads or factory loads.

A substantial number of people would disagree with you on this subject. On the other hand you might learn something by reading“The Glock in Competition 2nd edition ISBN-0-9662517-4-1”. Read Chapter 1-4 (The Exploding Glock, Fact or Fiction by Mark Passamaneck, P.E. TY40422.) The information contained is informative.

quote:

would disagree with you

I think that is your ministry dennis. I am trying as hard as I can to point out areas where we COULD agree and all you do is point to the possible areas where we don't!

The CERTAIN PISTOLS as I put it are those with unsupported chambers. There are quite a few of them and they all are susecptable to KBs, much more than others with fully supported barrels. I own Glocks, I shoot reloads, I even have purchased aftermarket barrels so I could shoot reloads with cast bullets through them.

I also double loaded a 45ACP recently and shot it out of a SW1911. It has a fully supported barrel. Do you know what happened? The front site hit the forehead of the shooter during recoil. That's it.
I hate to tell on myself like that but if that had been done in my standard barreled Glock 21, which I love to shoot, it would have embeded plastic in my arm and hand like nobody's business.
I had a KB do you know what it was in? An all steel Browning High Power. Do you know why? Because of following the Lyman #48 manual. Do you know what happened to the High Power? Nothing! Do you know why? Because it was all steel?

Really, some people!