Lee turret or progressive press

The turret looks simple enough but still 4 strokes per round. I only want to spend once.
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Wendyj

Even with a progressive press it still will take 4 pulls to produce a round, the only difference is you are producing other steps on other rounds at the same time which increases the production of rounds per hour.....

I can run 200-250 rounds an hour but I have been using my turret press a long time....but I also deprime and prime on a single stage press first.....and the Lee Classic Turret is a lot less complected to run.
 
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The sacrificial wear plastic parts on the Lee turret press spindle are easily replaced at less than a $1 and you can get several ahead of time, it’s a non-issue.


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Andrew - Lancaster, CA
NRA Life Member, SAF / CRPA / FPC member and supporter, USCCA Member
 
Will the upgraded powder chargers on the Lee throw Unique within .1-.2 grain. It's pretty much my go to powder in the 45 colt. I've been using a Hornady loc n load dispenser for loading 50 or so now. Scooping and trickling for 10--5 rounds. My Lee powder measure won't come close between charges.
 
My spot checks using the Auto Disk and Unique for the 45 ACP are spot on.

Sometimes the disk "seeps" powder if it's a fine granular like Silhouette.

Don't know how much the Dillon is, but you can get turrets for the Lee for around $12-15.
Sometimes they go on sale cheaper.
Also i have 3 shops locally that have Lee parts if i need them. Only i shop around (within 50 miles) carrys anything for Dillon.
 
Wendyj said:
Will the upgraded powder chargers on the Lee throw Unique within .1-.2 grain. It's pretty much my go to powder in the 45 colt. I've been using a Hornady loc n load dispenser for loading 50 or so now. Scooping and trickling for 10--5 rounds. My Lee powder measure won't come close between charges.
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I've not used Unique so I can't say but it's said it is a more difficult powder to throw. Others will likely chime in. However, if you feel or discover that the Lee powder throw is not for you, others will fit. The Lee Pro Auto Disk is lighter than some of the others I've seen. That may be a consideration since it's spinning on the turret.
 
I went from a Lyman turret to the Dillon 550B for pistol. Still use the turret for rifle but I don't shoot much .223. I'm not sorry. I dry tumble then load. A loaded round each stroke after the initial 4. I load 9mm, 45 and .38 on it. I have a powder measure on each tool head so not much wasted time on caliber changes. You could speed stuff up with a 650 and bullet and case feeders. As for rifle, I like to clean the primer pockets and trim them after sizing so it would be a lot slower for rifle than for pistol.
I have not had the best of luck with Lee stuff. I tried a turret years ago and could not get it to index, Lee .45 die did not size small enough to grip the bullet. No lock rings, just jam nuts or friction, hand primer broke at the slot that holds the shell holder, lead pot dripped, had to return it. The scoops are great tho and I've also started using a Lee taper crimp die that also sizes the case if there is a bulge. Apparently Lee has improved over the years. I'd recommend you consider using a taper crimp in a separate operation on ammo for autos. I do still use the Lee hand primer for loading some test loads. (I now have 2 of them as well as an RCBS hand primer).
My 2 cents for what it's worth.
 
Wendyj said:
Looking to speed up process on 223-9mm and 45 colt. Which is best and what other accessories besides shell plates do I need to buy. Been loadin all these on single stage classic cast. Saw a lot of videos on the Dillon and it looked confusing and cost triple the price. If either press is no good please advise. The turret looks simple enough but still 4 strokes per round. I only want to spend once. Appears either one needs an upgraded powder dispenser if I read correctly.
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You have several options to consider. I was lucky a couple years ago and purchased the Lee Loadmaster for my handgun calibers. Walmart had them for $239 each, so I picked one up in .357, one in 9mm and one in 45 acp, as my paychecks allowed. Changing calibers can be done, but I’d say it would realistically take 20-30 minutes to do so, so I just bought 3 presses and leave them set up. I see if you buy from Lee today they are up to $392 each. I’d check Amazon, Walmart.com and Jet.com as each can offer substantial savings if they have the caliber you want. The presses do a respectable job, and I can produce ammo that will do less than an 1” in my 45 at 25 yards. Loading at a medium to slow pace, these presses turn out 100 rounds in about 20 minutes. They come with dies, shell plates, etc and are completely ready to go, except you have to buy the bullet loading funnel.

I also own a Lee 4 Hole Classic Turret Press. It is the press I recommend to all new reloaders. It will do all pistol calibers and most rifle ones as well. I load my 380 acp to 45-70 rounds on it. I also load my 50 Beowulf on it. You can remove the auto-index rod and make it a single station press if you want or need to. When I’m trying to make very precise ammo, I remove the Lee powder measure, and drop and measure every round with a RCBS scale. Again I’d look to purchase at the online stores listed above. With the auto index installed, I do about 100 rounds an hour.

Lastly you might look at the new Lee AUTO BREECH LOCK PRO For $150, plus dies. I don’t have any experience with it, but the videos on Lee’s web site look interesting. Good luck.



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If you have the cash , obviously the Dillon is the way to go . How ever like you I load for multiple calibers and by the time I have everything I need/want to run a 650 I'm in the $1,200 range . This is why I went to the Lee classic turret press . Again like you I was loading my 9mm and 45acp on a single stage and that got old fast .

I've not actually timed my self but would have to say I can't load much more then 100 an hour on the Lee classic turret press . Now that's giving an honest guess , Meaning nothing set up and ready before I start . I also hand prime my cases because I couldn't get the priming system to work but I did not try very hard to make it work . If I were depriming and priming all in the same 4 strokes I bet I could get closer to the 150rds per hour area .

Either way the lee classic turret press has at least doubled my output to time spent loading . Would I like to double that again , yes BUUUUUT do I want to speed up my loading even more for $1k+ more or do I want one more great gun or 2 more pretty good ones instead ? I've chose more guns as of late to include a new Ruger GP-100 ;).

I tend to use that logic on everything though . Any time something comes up I want not need that cost $500 or more . I think do I want that or a new gun ? Meaning hmm do I want new golf clubs or a new GP-100 , well we know the answer to that one don't we :cool: . I just put new grips on the golf clubs , at least they feel new lol :D

I would like ballpark around $500.00 if I can use most of my dies I have. 5 hand guns and the 223.
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As for the dies , you should be able to use most of what you have . One exception would be the powder drop dies . I bought a nice RCBS die set and quickly realized it did not come with the expander/powder drop die . I ultimately returned the RCBS set and just went with the Lee 4 die sets for all my straight walled cartridges . They are made for the 4 hole turret press really and is all I've found I needed .
 
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Another vote for the Lee Classic Turret press. its on heck of a nice press, especially for someone that wants to reload several calibers/ swap out quickly, and make enough ammo in one sitting for a normal range trip.
I regularly turn out 180 rounds an hour for straight walled pistol cartridges, and can get up to 200+ per hour if I really get ' heads down ' on it.
In 10 years I have had exactly one plastic ratchet break, and it was user error that caused it. i think a new ratchet was less than a dollar, and it was installed in less than 5 minutes. I have well over 100,000 rounds through the LCT and consider it one of the best values/ quality/ performance/ durability/ for the price presses you can buy.
 
Lee turret at Midway is 116.00 and extra plates is 13.00 you can not go wrong with it. Good Luck
 
LBussy said:
I've not used Unique so I can't say but it's said it is a more difficult powder to throw. Others will likely chime in. However, if you feel or discover that the Lee powder throw is not for you, others will fit. The Lee Pro Auto Disk is lighter than some of the others I've seen. That may be a consideration since it's spinning on the turret.
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With the Lee Auto Drum and the scales I'm using to measure (Frankford Arsenal DS-750, Hornady LNL beam scale) I'll usually get +/- .1 grains for the majority of the charges, occasionally a +/- .2 throw for the few that come outside of that.

For .45 Colt, that's perfectly fine to me, it's a large case. For .32 caliber or 9mm, I'd be wary of doing max charges.

From what I read the Turret is what I need. Which powder charger? Lee lists 3.
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Lee Auto Drum. Much easier to work with for new reloaders.
 
I loaded about 2000 rounds of 9 mm over the winter on a single stage. Not much fun but kept idle days busy. The Lee perfect powder measure threw Titegroup no issues. The 45 is probably one I shoot the most in handgun and carbine. Load 357 also but have enough stockpiled for a few years. 223 is a pain on single stage. They go quick out of AR. Took me a lot of time this morning just prepping what I shot yesterday.
 
I have both the Lee pro auto disc and auto drum . Although the Pro auto disc works well with the added charging bar . It only allows for charges of 20gr or lower . I recommend the Auto drum , It's a little easier to adjust and has a large enough insert cavity to charge larger cartridges that hold 20+gr of powder .

As for Unique powder in the Auto drum . I don't use that powder but my buddy just started reloading and uses it . He also uses the auto drum and it appears the auto drum throws it just fine . I helped him set up his press and checked it's consistency . It was throwing +/- .1gr pretty consistent and that was using check weights to be sure we were getting true results . Now that was limited to about 50 throws before I stopped and called it good . I've not worked his press or with Unique since . At the time it seemed GTG .

FWIW that was throwing 5.0gr for 115gr PLRN 9mm . I have no experience throwing any larger or smaller charges of unique in the auto drum .
 
I've been loading on both a Loadmaster and a Lee Value Turret for around four years now and am selling them both and then buying the Lee Classic Cast Turret. I like the turret because it gives you better control over quality checking each round and is pretty much bullet proof in its operation. I'm also keeping my Lyman Crusher for a single stage for loading more precise ammo for long range shooting. But back to the turret, I feel it just is easier to monitor the process while providing a pretty decent amount of ammo output. For plinking I load .223 and 7.62x39 and do all brass prep off the press, and for pistol/revolver I deprime, clean, and prime off the press with the Turret press.
 
I loaded everything for years on a single stage. Made the mistake of buying a 9mm
so I purchased a Lee Classic Turret press. This press is fast enough to keep up with my ammo needs and once the dies are set up in the Turret, changeover is quick and easy.
A while back I purchased a Lee Pro 1000 progressive. A bit of a learning curve trying to get the bugs out but now it cranks out the 9mm quicker than the Turret press.
Change over to a different cartridge is more complicated so I plan on leaving it in 9mm mode.
If I were to keep one, it would be the Lee Classic Turret press due to its simple design that just works well.


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The Lee classic turret is still the one to beat for a first press, and for most a second press over the single stage that they started on and then realize it is slower than molasses.

Those dillons look so awesome and the numbers sound so good, it is easy to daydream about spitting out ammo by the thousands. Until realism hits and you calculate a 650 set up to go as it really needs to be with a couple three caliber conversions and case feeder is around 1500 bucks, and a 550 is pushing close to 4 digits.
Make no mistake, those blue presses are as close to turn-key as it gets in reloading presses if you option them out, they are awesome, especially the 650. I have one with the full boat set up. But you won't sit there grinning while running it, too many things to watch, the LCT is fun though, I really enjoy running it, even with 4 pulls per round.

The new Lee breech lock pro looks interesting, it also looks like one should wait for the classic version of it because the first one comes off looking pretty flimsy in the linkage handle area, just like their first turrets. Maybe inline Dan will make some cool things for it that help in that area.
 
Lee autodisk works great for me with Accurate No 2 (40 s&w & 9mm), Accurate no 5 (40s&w & 9mm, Accurate LT-32 (5.56 & 308 Win), and H4895 (308 Win & 30-30).

I recommend buying the double disk kit and buy the updated pro powder measure that is round not the old box shaped one (if you’re getting it used just know it breaks easily).

Also if you’re chasing the last 0.1 gr in your loads buy the micrometer disk kit. This is especially good for small dense powders because the disk kits do not have a very small step amount of CC for pistol powders, for instance there are only two disk options for me for 9mm Accurate no 5 because it’s either minimum load or maximum. For rifles with higher volume you get a lot of options with the double disk kit so you can use two different sizes to get what you want.


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Andrew - Lancaster, CA
NRA Life Member, SAF / CRPA / FPC member and supporter, USCCA Member
 
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