Lee Turret Press Rookie Question

[joespapa]

Reloaded my first rounds yesterday on a buddy's older 3 hole Lee Turret Press.
I had myself convinced to get a Lee 4 hole for myself, but now, not so sure. The primer-feed on his press works only about every second pull of the lever without help.
Seems to need to be jiggled to get it to feed . Of course, he's so used to it it's no problem for him, but a giant PAIN for me! What I'm wondering is if the new ones are like this or is his just in need of repair?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[flgolfer29]

I have the Lee Classic Turret, 4-hole, and the primer feed works as designed if properly set-up. Very satisfied with the press/primer feed.

joe

 

[Maddog 521]

I have been using a Lee 3-hole press since 1984. I don't prime with the press. I use a RCBS hand primer with good success. It is much easier and faster priming several hundred before I go to the press and start the final steps. It works well for me.

 

[FF112173]

I use my fathers 3-hole Lee turret progressive turret press with the hand primer. I will be upgrading to a Dillon before the end of the month. I have found the spinning of the Dye to constantly lose index, the powder block sticks and drops inconsistent powder amounts and the bullet seating also seems inconsistent. He has 4 sets of Dye's so we will keep it around for the other calibers but for 9mm, that I shoot most, I am getting a Dillon.

 

[tlay]

I have the 4 hole and have never had a problem with the primer feed. You have to make sure it is centered on the brass. You can loosen the nut on top and move it around until it is centered.

 

[gwpercle]

Properly set up are the critical words here, it doesn't matter what brand. I got tired of trying to properly set them up and just got a hand held priming tool and started doing all priming off-press. Get better feel and better results doing it this way. But some folks just like messing with mechanical gadgets so they will keep at it with auto-feed jiggle.
For future reference, you use die's to reload with and Rit Dye to tie-dye T-shirts. Wish I knew why but I haven't a clue.

Gary

 

[normanlclark]

I also have the 4 hole Lee turret press. I have never had any problems with the primer feed. In fact it is one of the better features of the press in my opinion. Yes, it seems rather flimsy and crude in design, but it works very well for me after thousands of loads.

 

[tekarra]

I have been using a three hole Lee press since the 80s with very few priming problems. Need to get new priming cups as the originals are showing signs of wear.

 

[Titegroups]

I own 2 4 holes they aint perfect but they function fine for me. Im not a kid anymore and dont expect the world to be perfect, nothing is.

 

[scooter123]

I prefer to hand prime. It allows me to feel pretty quickly if I have a casing with a loose primer pocket or a NATO casing that missed the pocket swaging operation. I've also found hand priming to be 100% perfect in telling the difference between a small or large primer 45 ACP casing.

 

[texan4ut]

Loaded my 1st 50 rounds last week of 9mm the primer feed worked great most of the time. It failed when I was low on primers and i just refilled it, it also failed a couple of times with plenty of primers. seems one would hang up for some reason. Overall very pleased with my 4 turret press. What I need now is some 4 turret press disks so I can set up some other calibers.

 

[MajorDude]

I have been using a three hole Lee for many years and just got a 4 hole Classic Turret and there is quite a bit of difference between the two. For most of my reloading I prefer the control and double checking available by manually indexing the die stations. I never use auto indexing. The classic Turret is quite a sturdy press and I love it. It's convenient to have all your dies set and stored in a replaceable turret. The spent primer handling alone makes it worth the price. I went four hole because I have been loading quite a bit of 9mm and 45acp and prefer to seat and taper crimp in separate steps. I have a Dillon that I use for progressive high volume reloading, but find I use the turrets more often because it's so much more convenient to change calibers. I always seat primers with a hand tool, preferring to feel them seat.

 

[shovelwrench]

I use my fathers 3-hole Lee turret progressive turret press with the hand primer. I will be upgrading to a Dillon before the end of the month. I have found the spinning of the Dye to constantly lose index, the powder block sticks and drops inconsistent powder amounts and the bullet seating also seems inconsistent. He has 4 sets of Dye's so we will keep it around for the other calibers but for 9mm, that I shoot most, I am getting a Dillon.

The way to get these to hold index is to adjust the nut on the indexing rod till the rod holds the weight of the turret (theres a sweet spot and you may have to flip the nut over). Then it just floats with very little force on the indexing "ratchet".

And the upgraded powder hopper eliminates the disk from sticking with certain powders like the original design does sometimes...

 

[Papabear7]

The way to get these to hold index is to adjust the nut on the indexing rod till the rod holds the weight of the turret (theres a sweet spot and you may have to flip the nut over). Then it just floats with very little force on the indexing "ratchet".

And the upgraded powder hopper eliminates the disk from sticking with certain powders like the original design does sometimes...

Thanks for the great tip on the sweet spot--I'll try that on my 3-hole. Also wanted to 2nd that point on the upgraded hopper; my old hopper crumbled so I bought the upgrade and it's really much better, both in action and on/off/disk-changing.

 

[cstone]

Yet another hand primer. I load .40 S&W and .38 Spl on a Lee Pro 1000. Put the tumbled, sized, and primed cases into the collator, fill the powder hopper on the auto pro and seat a bullet on every pull of the handle. I use a friend's Dillon 650 for .223 and have the same basic procedure. I put the tumbled, sized, trimmed, and primed cases into the case feeder, fill the powder hopper and seat a bullet on every pull of the handle.

It takes a bit longer, but allows me to do many of the case steps away from the press. Sitting on the front porch, decapping or priming brass is just relaxing for me. With the scarcity of reasonably priced powder and primers, I am using this time to get ahead on my case prep for all of the brass I have accumulated. When powder and primers come back into stock, I will have lots of brass ready to go.

 

[Wee Hooker]

Having spent years using both, I can tell you that the three hole and the new classic turret are two completely different machines.
The Classic Turret is the way to go as they fixed all the issues with the older style. Improvements of the LCT over the old 3 hole are:

-Completely new faster and 99.9% reliable Saftey Prime system.
- 100% catch all spent primer catch.
- 100% sturdier with cast steel base and heavier ram.
-100% smoother in operation.
-4th hole allows you to run factory crimp die (in 4 die sets) to resize your finished round.

You should be very happy if you get the LCT.

 

[S&W1006]

I have a 3 hole and I hand prime. I prefer the 3 hole because I resize all my brass and clean the primer pocket if needed and hand prime all my brass. To each their own its just how I do it.

 

[FF112173]

As far as the inconsistent powder disbursements, could that be a static electricity problem? I've noticed powder stuck to the plastic parts on multiple occasions. Or am I just thinking out of left field here?

 

[Twoboxer]

I started reloading last year and chose the Lee CT so I understand your choice. You didn't tell us what you are planning to reload, so let me offer what I learned since then.

If you are loading rifle, there may not be a lot of "speed" to be gained by choosing the LCT. You will likely resize/decap and then tumble clean to remove the lube. If you weigh each powder charge, there's only one more die-step necessary, two if you crimp and separate crimp from seating.

Whether one die-step or two, you will still need 4 strokes on the Lee to complete the round. So, for rifle only, I'd recommend a single stage. There are many to choose from . . . I chose Hornady because I like the lock-and-load bushings for quick caliber changes.

If reloading pistol up to batches of 100-150 rounds, the LCT is a good choice . . . if you are successful at getting it to prime reliably. Many folks can do this, particularly with large primers. I never could with small primers. Remember, it's still 4x300 strokes to complete 300 rounds.

For batches ~200 and up, the Hornady LNL progressive press turned out to be a great choice for me . . . good speed, easy on the old operator, low cost, quick and low cost caliber changes and very good concentricity.

That's where I wound up after six months or so . . . a LNL Classic single stage, and a LNL AP for multiple rifle and pistol cartridges. YMMV

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Reloaded my first rounds yesterday on a buddy's older 3 hole Lee Turret Press.

I think that right there is the problem. The older design is not as good as the newer stuff. I also agree the Classic 4 Hole Turret Press is the way to go, not the Deluxe. For very little more money it's a much better press.

I have been using a Classic 4 Hole Turret press for well over 8 years now and like said above, it's not perfect but it's a very good press. I can safely load 180 to 200 handgun rounds per hour, sometimes eve more if I'm on a good roll. I think it's the best tool for those who don't need the services of a progressive press. I sometimes even load rifle ammo on it but I do remove the auto-index rod and load like a single stage press. (especially 45-70 ammo)