Lee Value Turret vs Classic Cast Turret

J

jetinteriorguy

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I picked up a Value turret super cheap and it seems like a pretty decent setup. It makes me curious why so many people always recommend the Classic cast over the Value Turret. If anyone has experience with both I would be interested in reasons why the Classic Cast seems to be the recommended one of the two. Thanks.
 
The LCT will handle longer cartridges, has a cast iron base (vs pot metal) and infinitely more convenient spent primer disposal. There may be more differences, but those are the ones that convinced me to buy the LCT.
 
I have both side by side on my bench. I use the classic more often. They function the same and both work well for me. The classic just feels heavier and of better quality. It seems to exert more leverage for tough de-priming issues.

With the classic you will spend more time loading and less time sweeping the floor in your reloading room picking up spent primers. :)
 
I haven't used a Classic Cast Lee, but 14 years ago I got an "old style" turret press. I have reloaded several thousand rounds of ammo from 9mm up through 7.62x54, 303 British, and 30-06 (with a whole bunch of .44 Magnums and 30-06). I have used the press to size many, many bullets and even once I sized some jacketed bullets down .004" as an experiment (and I thought I'd break the press, but nope, came through with flying colors!:eek:). I've never noticed any flexing or felt the press was on the verge of breaking. Can't remember a single problem that I can blame on my press...:D

Some feel the cast base is stronger than the cast aluminum base on the old style, and mebbe it is, but the old style isn't lacking or weak as my experience shows me it's plenty strong enough...
 
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Most of this has been covered before, but here are my observations which (I think, I hope) cover all the bases in one post

Lee Turrets Compared

The Lee Classic Turret and the Lee Deluxe Turret operate in exactly the same manner. (Except for some older, now discontinued models of the Deluxe which have 3 die stations - and, no, the 4-hole turrets do not interchange with the 3-hole turrets.)

Same speed, many of the same parts and same operating mode and technique.

But there are differences.

Evolution: The Classic Turret is the newer design of the two.

Durability: The Classic Turret's base is cast iron, the Deluxe is cast aluminum. Iron wears better than the softer metal, aluminum.

Ease of use: The Deluxe has a 1" smaller vertical opening than the Classic Turret. Though either is capable of taking rifle cartridges, the Classic Turret will take longer ones and if you have big hands is the clear winner

Spent Primer Handling: The Deluxe drops primers out of a slot in the ram to fall into a cavity inside the press base. But only about 90% succeed in their intended journey. The Classic drops primers down the center of the hollow ram and into a clear plastic tube which can contain a few hundred primers or be directed into a receptacle of your choice. The difference in the behavior of the debris (products of combustion) from the spent primers is even more striking. With the Deluxe, you wind up with primer detritus all over and have to dismount the press and sweep up the pile of spent primers every several hundred rounds.

More on Durability: The Deluxe's ram is smaller in diameter than the Classic's ram. This gives the Classic Turret a much greater bearing surface for the ram to be guided as it moves up and down. The Classic press will last much longer because of the increased surface area and because iron is tougher than aluminum.

Even more on Durability: The last I heard, the Deluxe's linkage is aluminum and stampings. The Classic's linkage is more robust.

There is an optional roller handle, which is said to be easier to use, so an upgrade over the standard, stock handle. I believe the same handle is available for both presses.

In summary:

The Deluxe is aluminum, spills spent primers and has a 1" smaller (shorter) opening (which you may find important when loading long cartridges or long bullets, especially if you have large hands).
I think that's about it.

Lost Sheep
 
Great info guys, thanks a lot. Since I plan to deprime and prime off the press looks like I'll just use this one until it either wears out or breaks. It does seem to work quite smoothly. For $20.00 I'll definitely get my money's worth.
 
One more thing to think about - the press stroke on the Classic is significantly longer than on the Deluxe. For that reason, I like the Deluxe for most pistol calibers as you will find that extra stroke motion really adds up with four strokes per bullet. The extra leverage that comes with the extra stroke of the Classic can be helpful in larger pistol cartridges and the stroke is necessary if you want to load rifle bullets.

If I was only reloading 9mm/.45acp/.38/.357 I would only have the Deluxe. I added the Classic for .223 and .35 Remington, and it is great for them, but I hate using it for 9mm.
 
jetinteriorguy said:
Great info guys, thanks a lot. Since I plan to deprime and prime off the press looks like I'll just use this one until it either wears out or breaks. It does seem to work quite smoothly. For $20.00 I'll definitely get my money's worth.
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Hell if you decide to switch I'll buy it off you!

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
At that price, I would live with the disadvantages!! Yes, the modern 4-hole classic cast turret is better, but yeah... $20... run with it.
 
Great info guys, thanks a lot. Since I plan to deprime and prime off the press looks like I'll just use this one until it either wears out or breaks. It does seem to work quite smoothly. For $20.00 I'll definitely get my money's worth.
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If you don't abuse it, it will last your reloading lifetime...
 
I'll most likely use it for 9mm and my .41 Mag so should work great. I load my .223 on my Crusher using a smaller single stage for powder dispensing. I load all my .38/.357 on the load master. I'm probably going to switch the 9mm from the Loadmaster over to the Turret since I seem to have the most issues with 9mm on the Loadmaster. I have lots of options now between the Loadmaster, Lyman Crusher, Lee Value Turret, Lee C-Press, and an RCBS Partner press. I just need a bigger bench. :rolleyes:
 
Sounds like a terrific plan you have there. When I started looking for a press this spring to load start Pistol calibers with I started looking at turret presses until I came across a Pro 1000 that was complete for a can't pass it up price.

I've got so little invested in it that if I struggle with it I'll look for a turret and still have all the dies, powder measure and extra turrets to use with it.
 
Just thought I'd give a quick report on the Lee Value turret. I really like this thing. I've loaded a couple hundred rounds with it and it works extremely good. I like the simplicity of it and how much more forgiving it is to use compared to the Loadmaster. The Loadmaster works great on .38/.357 but for me I just had issues on 9mm whereas the Turret works great, it's definitely a keeper. Honestly, if I had it to do over knowing how well the turret works, I would have just bought one of these and just skipped the Loadmaster. Although when I'm on my game and everything is working smoothly you can really crank out the ammo on the Loadmaster. But I've also had more issues with ammo from it, a squib and some low loads but I feel the quality of my loads will be better from the turret and I don't mind the extra effort required to get the better quality.
 
Glad you like it , I bought the value turret as I knew I would only be loading handgun ammo . I have easily loaded several thousand rounds on mine 380/38/357/44 and have had zero problems . The best thing you can add is a light so you can see in the case after you drop your powder . I have plates loaded with dies and a lee pro auto disc mounted on every turret plate , it makes it nice to just pull the plate and drop another in and ready to go .
 
Are you using the auto-index? I disabled mine 5 days after I got my press and hand index now. I like it better than auto-indexing...
 
Yep I use my auto index, I put alignment marks on my plates to coincide with the one on my turret tower so if I over rotate on my index I know instantly .
 
I use the auto index and it works great. I had to buy the indexing rod because it was missing and I also got four of the little square things as well. I do need to get a couple more of the turrets, one for .223 and one for .41 mag. I'm just going to keep doing the .38/.357 on the Loadmaster since it works real well on these. Heck, I may eventually just buy more turret presses to have dedicated setups for each caliber since they aren't very expensive.
 
My turret press has indents and spring loaded balls to "locate" the turret after it indexes. I feel the ball enter the indent and stop there, no need to watch or mark the turret, it should find it's own "resting/stopping place"...
 
I was planning on decapping and priming off the press but changed my mind. Too much of a pain, so I ordered the safety prime, large priming arm, mounting bracket and an extra turret so now I'll be all ready to go. I'll be all set for 9mm and .41 mag.
 
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