Hello! New to the forum and new to reloading. I'm trying to decide on a press and have narrows it down to either the Lee classic turret or the Lee Loadmaster. I'll be starting out loading 9mm in pistol, about 200-300 rds/mo and .32 in rifle, around 100/mo. And eventually getting into some .223 as well. Which press do y'all recommend ? Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you.
Lee Classic Turret or Lee Loadmaster
- Thread starter natitude
- Start date
Lost Sheep
New member
Welcome to the forum. Thanks for asking our advice.
Aw, c'mon THEWELSHMN, an answer without the reasoning behind it is next to worthless.
Natitude, the choice between those two presses to load the quantities you cite leads me to the Classic Turret.
Caliber swaps are easier (if you buy three turret disks and install the dies in each one, swapping calibers is less than a minute and requires no tools and no re-setting of die adjustment.
The Lee Classic Turret (superior to the Lee Deluxe Turret on a number of points) is less expensive and easier to keep operating smoothly than any progressive. Though, a properly adjusted progressive is a marvel to behold in operation.
Keep in mind that once you discover the monetary savings and the self-perpetuating quality of 1) emptying your cartridges at targets and 2 refilling them at home rather than replenishing at the retailers, you may find yourself shooting a lot more than you have in the past. A progressive may look a lot more attractive in a couple months.
What led you to settle on those two presses in particular?
Lost Sheep
Aw, c'mon THEWELSHMN, an answer without the reasoning behind it is next to worthless.
Natitude, the choice between those two presses to load the quantities you cite leads me to the Classic Turret.
Caliber swaps are easier (if you buy three turret disks and install the dies in each one, swapping calibers is less than a minute and requires no tools and no re-setting of die adjustment.
The Lee Classic Turret (superior to the Lee Deluxe Turret on a number of points) is less expensive and easier to keep operating smoothly than any progressive. Though, a properly adjusted progressive is a marvel to behold in operation.
Keep in mind that once you discover the monetary savings and the self-perpetuating quality of 1) emptying your cartridges at targets and 2 refilling them at home rather than replenishing at the retailers, you may find yourself shooting a lot more than you have in the past. A progressive may look a lot more attractive in a couple months.
What led you to settle on those two presses in particular?
Lost Sheep
I have both and like them both. I started with the LCT, then bought the Lee Classic Cast and now have added the Loadmaster. As a new reloader, I would recommend you start with the LCT. You can very easily take out the indexing rod and operate it as a single stage till you get comfortable with what is going on. Put the indexing rod back in and you can efficiently crank out rounds to meet your requirements of 200-300 rounds a month. Caliber changes are very easy and relatively quick. Knowing what I know now, jumping into reloading with a progressive would have been a mistake. I don't regret any of my purchases or the order I did them in. Just my 2 cents.
Lost Sheep
New member
I started loading on a single stage in 1975 or so. Then got two Lee Pro-1000 presses. I never got used to monitoring multiple simultaneous operations, and in 2012 I decided to upgrade to the best money could buy that fit my needs and temperament. I did a lot of research and settled on the best auto-indexing 4-station turret press in current production. (Of course, there are only two 4-station auto-indexing turrets in current production and the other is the somewhat inferior Lee Deluxe Turret).
Having some loading experience behind me helped me develop the judgement necessary to discern what was best for me. There is no substitute for experience. You KNOW where good judgement comes from? Experience. You know where EXPERIENCE comres from? Bad judgement. The wise man learns from his mistakes (as I did, but that was before the intenet). The TRULY wise man learns from the mistakes of others.
But only you have the ability to judge what your temperament is and your tolerance for complicated machinery.
To help us help you please give us more information.
You obviously have thought through reloading, but we do not know how much, so this is the first piece of advice I give to novice reloaders. YOu have a head start, but I have no idea how far.
Steep yourself in the lore of reloading. Think through the process. Read some manuals (Almost all loading manuals have their early chapters devoted to describing the process). ABC's of Reloading has no loading recipes, but is REALLY GOOD. Check one out at your local library or buy one (about $17 from Amazon, or any good gun store that carries reloading supplies). Lyman's manual is very good, too.
In the meantime,
How much do you shoot? Of rifle, pistol, shotgun? What calibers/gauges? Answer: 9mm in pistol, 200-300 rds/mo and .32 in rifle, around 100/mo. And .223 how much?
What kind of experience (both shooting and life) do you have? Are you mechanically inclined; have a big workshop where you could leave your stuff set up; limited in workspace; have grandkids or other small children around? You get the idea.
What part of the country do you live in?
How much room do you have for reloading?
Do you expect to leave your loading gear set up all the time or will you put it away after each loading session?
What kind of budget do you have?
What are your shooting/reloading goals (ultimate long-range accuracy, saving money, becoming independent of your retailers,, etc)
Lost Sheep
Having some loading experience behind me helped me develop the judgement necessary to discern what was best for me. There is no substitute for experience. You KNOW where good judgement comes from? Experience. You know where EXPERIENCE comres from? Bad judgement. The wise man learns from his mistakes (as I did, but that was before the intenet). The TRULY wise man learns from the mistakes of others.
But only you have the ability to judge what your temperament is and your tolerance for complicated machinery.
To help us help you please give us more information.
You obviously have thought through reloading, but we do not know how much, so this is the first piece of advice I give to novice reloaders. YOu have a head start, but I have no idea how far.
Steep yourself in the lore of reloading. Think through the process. Read some manuals (Almost all loading manuals have their early chapters devoted to describing the process). ABC's of Reloading has no loading recipes, but is REALLY GOOD. Check one out at your local library or buy one (about $17 from Amazon, or any good gun store that carries reloading supplies). Lyman's manual is very good, too.
In the meantime,
How much do you shoot? Of rifle, pistol, shotgun? What calibers/gauges? Answer: 9mm in pistol, 200-300 rds/mo and .32 in rifle, around 100/mo. And .223 how much?
What kind of experience (both shooting and life) do you have? Are you mechanically inclined; have a big workshop where you could leave your stuff set up; limited in workspace; have grandkids or other small children around? You get the idea.
What part of the country do you live in?
How much room do you have for reloading?
Do you expect to leave your loading gear set up all the time or will you put it away after each loading session?
What kind of budget do you have?
What are your shooting/reloading goals (ultimate long-range accuracy, saving money, becoming independent of your retailers,, etc)
Lost Sheep
Smoke & Recoil
New member
Lee Classic Cast Turret, and, you can use it as a single stage.
Also, there are less spare parts to have on hand just in case.
Also, there are less spare parts to have on hand just in case.
Thanks for the advice. I'm looking at those two because of price. I know... Pay once, cry once. If I had the funds I would've already ordered a Hornady lnl, but I don't have that kind of funds (3 sweet lil' girls and a amazing wife to spoil). My thought process is start with a Lee classic turret now and down the road get a Hornady progressive. I know Lee, for the most part, is thought of as inferior to Hornady, Dillon, etc. . In same breath I've read a ton of comments of happy Lee owners that have kept them for years and added to the collection with nicer progressives in time.
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Lost Sheep,
I actually am reading "The ABC's of Reloading" as we speak. I shoot pistol only now. I'm about to join a local gun club and will be able to shoot my .32 Winchester Special as well. I shoot, now, about 200 rounds a month. But know that'll go up after I join the club. I have 15 yrs. experience as a fabricator.. So I like to build/work on things.
I already have a space in my garage with a workbench that I built. And it will become my reloading area that will stay up permanently.
I live in Virginia and my goals are a mix. Plinking, saving money, long range(rifle), accuracy both rifle and pistol. And I'm playing with idea of idpa.
As far as budget, It's on the low end as far as reloading world is considered. I have three little girls and my awesome wife to spoil. Down the road... I hope to be able to put more into it, just won't be right now.
I hope this helps and thank you for taking the time to answer.
Natitude
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StripesDude
New member
Don't let the press snobs dissuade you. Lee makes a good product.
I'd go for the progressive right off the bat. You can produce 500 an hour easy with a Loadmaster. And as far as being troublesome - I'm convinced people who can't get it to work properly aren't mechanically inclined. I've not had an issue with mine that wasn't caused by something stupid that I did.
I'd go for the progressive right off the bat. You can produce 500 an hour easy with a Loadmaster. And as far as being troublesome - I'm convinced people who can't get it to work properly aren't mechanically inclined. I've not had an issue with mine that wasn't caused by something stupid that I did.
Lost Sheep
New member
Multiple calibers points to the Classic Turret.natitude said:
Permanent setup points to progressive as does your experience with things mechanical.
IDPA screams progressive.
Long range accuracy suggests against progressive (easier to do individual careful cartridge crafting on a single stage). While the Classic Turret can serve exactly as a single stage, I lean towards trusting a single casting as providing better alignment. All turret presses are assemblies of some sort. The only assembly press I would trust for crafting long range ammunition to the most exacting standards is the Forster Co-Ax.
One timeline that suggests itself to me for your situation. (Permanent setup, young family, with attendant budget restrictions, your mechanical abilities and shooting needs)
Purchase now: Classic Turret, Dies, FIrst-class balance beam scale, and the usual other accessories.
If long-range rifle work presents with a higher priority than your entry into IDPA; As money allows, add accessories that allow critical measurement of your ammo for the long-range accuracy work. If those measurements show improvement is warranted, a single stage press. Forster Co-Ax or one of the better, beefier one-piece presses, Lee Classic Cast, Redding Big Boss, RCBS RockChucker, Hornady LNL Single Stage, etc.
If IDPA presents with a higher priority than 500 yard+ rifle work, then Hornady LNL, Lee Loadmaster (though the Lee Pro-1000 comes in at a very attractive price, so might deserve a look) or, the REALLY nice offerings from Dillon. The Dillon Square Deal is around $500 with dies is auto-indexing, compact and since it is a Dillon is excellent. The Dillon 550 can use your same dies (though you may want to go with Dillon dies anyway) and though it is manually advanced, is no slouch. The big dog is the 650. It will set you back the price of a beater car or a decent (production) 1911 pistol, but will not disappoint. The Hornady Progressive LnL competes directly with the 650 and the choice of one over the other is not over the quality of the press or its production, but usually a matter of preference over one or another of the peripherals (primer handling, for instance).
So, I see (by Valentine's day) the Classic Turret from Kempf's gun shop, an RCBS 510 scale, array of Lee dies for all your calibers a good set of calipers capable of reading 0.001" (if you don't already have a pair you can devote to your reloading toolbox), a logbook for recording what you have loaded and observing ammo performance, cloth cover to keep dust off of your press and an adjustable height stool and (for the scale) a shelf mounted separate from your workbench (to isolate vibration) in good light and near eye level.
In three months, you will have identified and added small tools you need in addition to the initial purchase.
In 6 months, you will be looking at catalogs of new presses. If you have played your cards right, by next Valentine's day your wife will present you with either another child
or the progressive press of your dreams
.Lost Sheep
Multiple calibers points to the Classic Turret.
Permanent setup points to progressive as does your experience with things mechanical.
IDPA screams progressive.
Long range accuracy suggests against progressive (easier to do individual careful cartridge crafting on a single stage). While the Classic Turret can serve exactly as a single stage, I lean towards trusting a single casting as providing better alignment. All turret presses are assemblies of some sort. The only assembly press I would trust for crafting long range ammunition to the most exacting standards is the Forster Co-Ax.
One timeline that suggests itself to me for your situation. (Permanent setup, young family, with attendant budget restrictions, your mechanical abilities and shooting needs)
Purchase now: Classic Turret, Dies, FIrst-class balance beam scale, and the usual other accessories.
If long-range rifle work presents with a higher priority than your entry into IDPA; As money allows, add accessories that allow critical measurement of your ammo for the long-range accuracy work. If those measurements show improvement is warranted, a single stage press. Forster Co-Ax or one of the better, beefier one-piece presses, Lee Classic Cast, Redding Big Boss, RCBS RockChucker, Hornady LNL Single Stage, etc.
If IDPA presents with a higher priority than 500 yard+ rifle work, then Hornady LNL, Lee Loadmaster (though the Lee Pro-1000 comes in at a very attractive price, so might deserve a look) or, the REALLY nice offerings from Dillon. The Dillon Square Deal is around $500 with dies is auto-indexing, compact and since it is a Dillon is excellent. The Dillon 550 can use your same dies (though you may want to go with Dillon dies anyway) and though it is manually advanced, is no slouch. The big dog is the 650. It will set you back the price of a beater car or a decent (production) 1911 pistol, but will not disappoint. The Hornady Progressive LnL competes directly with the 650 and the choice of one over the other is not over the quality of the press or its production, but usually a matter of preference over one or another of the peripherals (primer handling, for instance).
So, I see (by Valentine's day) the Classic Turret from Kempf's gun shop, an RCBS 510 scale, array of Lee dies for all your calibers a good set of calipers capable of reading 0.001" (if you don't already have a pair you can devote to your reloading toolbox), a logbook for recording what you have loaded and observing ammo performance, cloth cover to keep dust off of your press and an adjustable height stool and (for the scale) a shelf mounted separate from your workbench (to isolate vibration) in good light and near eye level.
In three months, you will have identified and added small tools you need in addition to the initial purchase.
In 6 months, you will be looking at catalogs of new presses. If you have played your cards right, by next Valentine's day your wife will present you with either another child
Lost Sheep
Awesome info! Thanks for taking the time to reply, definitely helped and makes me more than confident in choosing the classic turret. And thanks for the recommendations on the accessories... I was all ready to purchase a digital scale, but will get the rcbs one instead.
As for next valentines.... I'm (and I'm sure my wife) shooting for the progressive press. [emoji16]
Thanks again!
Natitude
I've got the Lee Classic Turret. Loading the numbers you mention would be a breeze.
Mine in action.
https://vimeo.com/152897762
Mine in action.
https://vimeo.com/152897762
Lost Sheep
New member
Natitude, the powder measure Reloader2 is using in his video (what you called the "powder drum" I guess) is a Lee Auto-Disk, standard model. Lee also makes a a Pro Auto Disk that has a few enhancements (larger hopper, the ability to shut off powder flow, teflon-coated base and an "elastomer wiper" that is supposed to reduce powder leakage).
Lost Sheep
edit: Sorry Reloader2, I did not meant to step in front of you for the auto-disk answer. I just opened the thread and jumped right in.
second edit: I just recalled that Lee recently introduced their "Auto-Drum" powder measure which is a step up from the Auto-Disk design on a number of points. I have not tried one, but it is getting some good reviews from those who have started using it.
Lost Sheep
edit: Sorry Reloader2, I did not meant to step in front of you for the auto-disk answer. I just opened the thread and jumped right in.
second edit: I just recalled that Lee recently introduced their "Auto-Drum" powder measure which is a step up from the Auto-Disk design on a number of points. I have not tried one, but it is getting some good reviews from those who have started using it.
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Lost sheep,
Thanks. Wasn't sure if that was it or not. Still have a lot to learn[emoji51] I think the auto drum is the one that comes with the classic turret kit now.
Reloader2,
Thank you and I like the video. Can't wait to get one of those presses on my bench!
Smoke & Recoil
New member
@ nititude,
Hey bub, don't get confused as to why the guy in the video is removing
the cartridge for a moment, he's only skipping a process for some reason.
Normally, you'd cycle the cartridge completely through.
Hey bub, don't get confused as to why the guy in the video is removing
the cartridge for a moment, he's only skipping a process for some reason.
Normally, you'd cycle the cartridge completely through.