Lee turret press ?
I shoot more rifle than pistol, and for rifles am happy with reloading on my RCBS Rock Chucker single stage press. However, when I DO load pistol, it gets to be a real bear, and takes forever to load any volume on the single stage press.
I don't shoot enough pistol ammo, however, to feel warranted in investing in a big Dillon or even a fancy lee press. I was thinking however, that the Lee turret press might be a nice inbetween solution.
It looks to me that the lee turret press does everything a progressive press does, except there is only one ram, which means 3 pulls of the handle are needed except one. I would be loading 9mm, .32 acp, 9X18, .38 special, and a few others now and then. I don't care if it isn't the sturdiest or most well made thing, just so long as it works reliably and notably faster than a single stage press.
Does it have an automatic primer feeder available?
Does auto-index mean that it revolves the turret automatically?
Thanks!
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf
I don't shoot enough pistol ammo, however, to feel warranted in investing in a big Dillon or even a fancy lee press. I was thinking however, that the Lee turret press might be a nice inbetween solution.
It looks to me that the lee turret press does everything a progressive press does, except there is only one ram, which means 3 pulls of the handle are needed except one. I would be loading 9mm, .32 acp, 9X18, .38 special, and a few others now and then. I don't care if it isn't the sturdiest or most well made thing, just so long as it works reliably and notably faster than a single stage press.
Does it have an automatic primer feeder available?
Does auto-index mean that it revolves the turret automatically?
Thanks!
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf
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I was in the same position you are, so I bought a Lee turrent press it's cheap but it works it is much faster than a single stage press. I've loaded probably 3000 rounds through it. It doesn't have an automatic primer feed available for it, auto index does mean that it revolves automatically, the auto index is built pretty cheap but it works. Hope this helps.
"IF THE AMERICAN FIREARMS INDUSTRY IS SUED INTO BANKRUPTCY, WHO WILL SUPPLY OUR SOLDIERS."- NRA VICTORY FUND0 -
Hi Jonk,
Yes, there is an automatic primer feeder available for the turret press. Lee makes two progressive presses and one of them is based on the turret press. I haven't used the Lee automatic primer system with auto indexing and I have heard that there are some reliablity issues with it and this feature. However, I use the Lee Ram Prime system by itself on another press and that system works fine for me. You could also get Lee's hand primer system and that works well also.
Yes, auto-index for the Lee turret means the shell plate will automatically rotate to the next station with each pull of the handle. The turret press can be had with or without auto index.
I have used the Lee manual indexing turret press for over 20 years and would recommend it anyone. I usually load 38 special, 44 magnum, and 357 magnum on the turret. I use a Dillion 550 for my 45 ACP. However, I sometimes load the 45 ACP on the turret press and I can't tell the difference (after shooting) from the turret press rounds from the Dillon loaded rounds. There has never been a issue with quality or inaccurate ammunition from the Lee.
I would strongly recommend to consider buying the Lee Pro Auto Disk Powder Measure. This will allow an accurate measure of powder to be automatically dropped into the shell casing. It is a real time saver. I personally use the non-indexing turret and it will load a decent volume of cartridges and provide control over the process.
You could also consider getting the 4 hole shell plate for the turret press and use the Lee factory taper crimp die for your auto pistol cartridges. This is nice setup because at the final station the loaded cartridge is sized by the die to SAAMI specs for reliability.
Regards,
Heavyiron
"If I don't see you nomore on this world, I'll meet you on the next one, and don't be late!" - Jimi Hendrix0 -
P.S.
Sorry, I meant to include the link to Lee Precision.
http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1128868614.3851=/html/index.html
Heavyiron
"If I don't see you nomore on this world, I'll meet you on the next one, and don't be late!" - Jimi Hendrix0 -
I would buy the new 4 hole "Turret Press" with the "Auto Index" (I have one) There is NO AUTOMATIC PRIMER FEED for this model as far as I know? As you can see in the picture, I have 4 Lee Presses.[:)] 0 -
Although not a progressive press, I like my Lyman S/T. It has a turret with 6 stations to install dies. I previously loaded a lot of .45acp and .38 spl for the model 52 S&W, and just left the dies in the turret. This eliminated the need to change and adjust dies between stages. I would size 50 then turn to next die to expand and flare case(for lead bullets), then turn to bullet seating die. Worked fairly well for me. You can do better with the Lee progressive as you can have multiple die plates and just change them out leaving the dies always adjusted. Of course, I had this press before the progressive presses came out and saw no need to change. This press is also strong enough to load anything without problems.
Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see !!
NRA Life Member0 -
Interesting. I've written to Lee about the issue of automatic primer feeding; hopefully the feeder for the 1000 press will also work on the turret press. It would just seem silly to me to put the primers in one at a time, that would be the slowest part of the operation. Similarly, priming on a hand tool (what I usually do) is fine, but then I'd have to take the case out of the holder after the first pull of the lever, and that wouldn't be much use, would it? It would defeat 1/3 of the turret press.
Still it looks pretty good, especially with the powder measure.
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf0 -
jonk,what I like about the Lee Turret is the ease of changing calibers.You buy extra turrets and powder measures and just switch turrets and shell holders and you're set to go.
[8D] [8D]0 -
I have a Lyman turret style press, I have really only ever used one die it at a time. Never really got into the turret concept.
It is better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.0 -
Update for those who have responded: I contacted Lee and they said they are working on an automatic primer feeder for the turret press. It should be out in a month or so. So I'll hold off buying one until then, rather than have to upgrade something.
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf0 -
quote:Originally posted by jonk
Update for those who have responded: I contacted Lee and they said they are working on an automatic primer feeder for the turret press. It should be out in a month or so. So I'll hold off buying one until then, rather than have to upgrade something.
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf
Velly interlisting,Thank You.[:D]0
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