lee turret or second single stage ?

I purchased a LCT in Dec of 2015, and I like it a lot. I also have a Pacific single stage that I have used since the mid 70's. I do pistol shells on the Lee, and rifle on the Pacific.

I deprime, clean and then prime hulls off the press, then use a preset turret for the caliber I'm loading. Works for me. It's not perfect, but neither am I.

Have a blessed day,

Leon
 
I've used the Classic Turret press for around 10 years and like it a lot. I've recently started shooting more and am experimenting with pre-processing brass on a single stage (decap/size) then sit in the LazyBoy and hand prime (Lee AutoPrime). I like that it breaks up the process somewhat. Problem with this is it will leave an empty hole in the LCT that I have to skip.

If I like doing it this way, I may look for a used 3 hole Lee press.
 
If I like doing it this way, I may look for a used 3 hole Lee press.

Could be mistaken, but I was thinking Lee offered 3 hole turret for the LCT. Again, could be wrong, but was thinking that for some reason..........
 
A self indexing turret press will speed up loading (especially handgun ammo) more than a second single stage press.
I modified a 4 hole turret to "sequentially load" processed .223 brass. This included a powder drop/"neck snugger die", powder level check, bullet seater , and crimp dies. Put a sized, trimmed, and primed case in the shellholder and 4 pulls later, a loaded round is removed.
 
I've had a Lee 3 hole turret since they came out,
And it gets used just as often as the Dillons or anything else.
--Odd Ball Calibers, once the dies are set up in the turret, caliber changes are seconds away.
--Specialty Tools, universal depriming dies, bullet pullers, crimpers, sizers are all just two seconds away by changing the turret to what you need.
--Small batch loading, same deal, new turret with dies, and you are off to the races.
--The press has good leverage, adjustable handle, reasonable height and all around knocks it out of the park for guys wanting to speed things up without jumping off into something like $1,000 worth of Dillon for auto indexing progressive.
--Not as accurate as a 'Rock Chucker' (what is?),
But will speed up your loading/changes and is crazy useful.
.
In my opinion, a Rock Chucker & Lee Turret are perfectly matched for a serious home reloader.
 
The selling point to any turret press to me is quick change out. The LCT works for my loading style. I load .380/9mm/.38spcl/.357/.44mag/.45acp/.223/.243/30-30/30-06.

Sometimes all of those in one sitting. Index in on some calibers, out on others. Each turret has its own powder measure and I have a separate safety primer for each size primer.

This is an old pic, I have added more turrets and a couple of single stages for case prep(decap and flare) but this just shows the possibility for quick change out and loading multiple calibers.

IMG_20160309_201045265.jpg
 
saruger , nice set up that's almost a exact copy of mine except I use a pro auto disc powder drop on my turrets 380/38/357/44, it is nice to just pull one disc and just drop in another....I still use my single stage for 30-30 and 300 savage..
 
With a single stage and not rushing, i can get two boxes of 9mm in one hour. . . . so if a turret would let me get a box of 9mm loaded in half the time, that would be a big plus.

I don't think you will double your output without rushing. It takes me about 20 minutes to make a box. I don't waste time, but I go slow enough to pay attention; it sounds like you are kind of in the same category.

But I started with the LCT and never regretted it. It is easy to make moderate quantities and still see everything that is going on. The ease and speed of caliber changes is a very nice bonus, as mentioned.
 
Living in the Past

Could be mistaken, but I was thinking Lee offered 3 hole turret for the LCT. Again, could be wrong, but was thinking that for some reason..........
You are living in the past, my friend. The original Lee turret was a 3-hole (and the Lee Pro-1000 still is), but the LCT was changed to a 4-hole turret many years ago. For a long time they offered conversion parts to change the older 3-hole press to the current 4-hole design, but I think those are all gone now. Nothing available to covert one back to the 3-hole unless you can find some old dude with the parts squired away.

I think the perfect combination is starting with a good single stage and getting really settled with your batch processes, then add an LCT to the bench. I still use my 40 year old Rock Chucker for many things, and I would not have a bench without that type of iron single stage press; it is perfect for all rifle loading, bullet pulling, and any specialty work. But I generally turn to my LCT for any handgun loading where I am only doing a few boxes at a time. For the really high volume stuff, such as .38 Spl target loads and .40 S&W, I crank all those out with my Lee Pro-1000.
 
Just have to agree with the many other folks here that recommend getting the Classic Turret.
I bought one around Christmas of last year and have loaded well over 10,000 rounds on it already. It works really well and if you take your time and test each powder you wish to use with the disks you can get a good idea (+/-.02 gr) idea of what hole will do what with what powder. I have a list for all the powders I use BUT so far I only load pistols on it.
For me, it was worth every penny and a couple more too boot. Takes 5 minutes at most to switch out powders/disks and start up again.
 
I did what the guy above did, only with turrets.
Just a piece of pine board & a hole saw.
Keep turrets set up with the dies,
Odd ball dies, tool dies, dies set up for a specific firearm (like neck sizing dies), ect.
Comes in real handy with a couple shelf brackets you are off to the races!
 
The more calibres you load for, the more the Lee turret press makes sense, because you set your dies up for a particular calibre ONCE on the turret and then just swap them in or out. You can take out the auto indexing rod if you prefer a single-stage workflow - for any particular calibre, all you need do is rotate the die you are using under the tool head and you are ready to go for that operation.

I started off with an RCBS Partner Press (which served me well as a beginner), but once I was up to two calibres and almost certainly going to get another, I bought the Lee turret press. Now the RCBS sits unused execept for when a new calibre arrives and the turret has not yet been bought, and it may yet move up to my holiday house to go in the workshop there.
 
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