Lee Classic Turret Press owners?

[Lost Sheep]

My LCT came with a spare.

So did mine. I slid the spare onto the indexing rod, up just below the turret head. It sits there, out of the way, ready for duty and immune from loss.

Lost Sheep

 

[berettaprofessor]

My LCT came with a spare

So did mine. And since it was unlabeled in the box and I couldn't see the part on the press, I tossed it thinking it was just a bit of stray trash in the packing.

 

[ssyoumans]

Both on pistol!
I pull the rod and resize and deprime about 500 cases at a time. I them hand prime them with an old Lee Auto Prime. I then put the rod back in and skip the first die and use the next 3 to drop powder/flair end of case, seat, and crimp.

The darn on press priming cup & primer always seems to hang on the shell holder when flipping into the upright position, flinging the primer across the room. I've cleaned and polished all of the surfaces but that feature just causes more delays than it is worth. Holds true for just about any caliber, small or large primer. So, I've had to resort to off press priming.

 

[OilyPablo]

So did mine. And since it was unlabeled in the box and I couldn't see the part on the press, I tossed it thinking it was just a bit of stray trash in the packing.

I ALMOST did exactly that. Mine actually fell on the floor or rather I thought I saw something fall so I searched around and found a small square piece of plastic. Well this might be for something so I saved it...only later that day did I find the true meaning.

 

[tcoz]

The darn on press priming cup & primer always seems to hang on the shell holder when flipping into the upright position, flinging the primer across the room. I've cleaned and polished all of the surfaces but that feature just causes more delays than it is worth. Holds true for just about any caliber, small or large primer. So, I've had to resort to off press priming.

Mine does the same thing now and then for no apparent reason. Like you, I've also cleaned and polished it as well as the rod that it sits on down in the ram. Graphite helps somewhat then I just get ticked off and flip the damn thing back and forth about ten times and it straightens itself out for a while. The LCT has a mind of its own sometimes but I still love it.

 

[drband]

Mine does the same thing now and then for no apparent reason. Like you, I've also cleaned and polished it as well as the rod that it sits on down in the ram. Graphite helps somewhat then I just get ticked off and flip the damn thing back and forth about ten times and it straightens itself out for a while. The LCT has a mind of its own sometimes but I still love it.

I've noticed this also.

I found that cleaning out the primer cup (depress the cup and blow it out with a compressor) and making sure the primer arm stays gunk free takes care of the problem. The residue from the old primers can work its way in there and it's quite gritty. There's no way to avoid it if you decapp on press.

 

[Lost Sheep]

That little black plastic thingy will last a long long time if you don't turn the turret with the index rod inserted while the ram is at the bottom of it's stroke.
(edited for focus)

Or any time the most recent movement of the ram was downward.

If the most recent movement was downward, the square ratchet is up against the ceiling of the indexing arm and engaged with the notches there. Turning the turret, if it binds up will break the square ratchet.

Still, better a 50 cent ratchet than a $6.00 indexing arm.

Lost Sheep

 

[RandyP]

I just wanted to add MY reality that after looking at all the options out there - and lordie knows there are many with many colors - The Lee Classic 4-hole auto-indexing turret remains the PEREFCT match to my realistic ammo needs, hobby desires and budget, rifle and pistol.

I often am proud to recommend it to anyone looking to get into reloading below the need level of a progressive.

 

[68lemans462]

I disable auto indexing when loading rifle ammo. auto-index is awesome for loading pistol ammo

 

[lckdnldd]

Thanks to everyone who participated so far. It was an eye opener for me.

 

[Berserker]

I use it as single stage press or I let it index. Depends what steps I do seperate which I do in a row.

I think the auto indexer is fine, when I want function.

I figure why buy a single stage press, I can just use it as single stage. Sometimes I load powder from RCBS sometimes I use the discs. If I am loading heavy loads I use powder measure, want to crank out some 38s I use the index.

What I like about using it as a single stage press is I can leave turrets set up for the calibers.

 

[RealGun]

Here's my turret with all the Inline Fabrications accessories. Yes, I use indexing and everything else too, but only load handgun ammo so far.

Lower tier boxes are the new cartridge ejector. Upper tier boxes hold bullets and cases and will swing out of the way. Flexible lighting line is visible but there is also LED lighting mounted on the uprights near the shellholder.

I have the ergo handle and high mount.

Picture shows use of RCBS Cowboy die set for 45 Colt.

I decap and prime on the press.

 

[Potatohead]

Both ways, depending upon the task.

I do not remove the index rod, I simply change the position of the handle since I think that is potentially less problematic.

this

 

[lckdnldd]

Nice setup RealGun.

 

[JohnMc]

wait what?!?! expand upon this please.

Sorry, greyling, I missed your post until today.
Which part did you want me to expand upon?
I'm guessing it's the "5 of them" bit. It's only the square nuts that go on the threaded end of the indexing rod, which Lee was out of when I ordered the replacement indexing rod. I found a bag of 5 at Lowes, in the specialty fasteners drawer area, for about $1.35 or so.

 

[surveyor]

For the poll question, do I use the index feature, yes.

But I use it on pistol ammo only, rifle it is removed and I manually turn the turret.

On rifle, I'll decap and size, and do brass prep as one process,
Then I'll feed it prepped brass, and either prime on or off press.
Charge powder on press with a charge die/funnel, and seat.

Pistol, it is index rod and all operations on press.

It is a good feature to have on the press.

 

[Dudedog]

To set the record straight I said the plastic piece broke, to be correct I should have siad I broke it.

User error......

 

[ddc]

...I never would have thought the percentage of people who use the indexing function would be as high as it is...

And I never thought the percentage of people who disable it would be as high as it is! LOL!

(Actually I do understand why people would want to use it in single stage mode for batch processing but to never use index mode???
That seems strange to me but one thing I've learned about reloaders is that EVERYBODY has their own individual process and technique and what works for me might drive you crazy.)

 

[jmorris]

Mine was used, never had the auto index part, would not have missed it though. I don't use my turret presses the same as I use my progressives, I do more "batch" style and just use the turret instead of adjusting dies.

 

[Potatohead]

One of the things that I really like about the LCT design is that the indexing feature is not required to be an ON/OFF feature ... meaning, that simply by short stroking I can easily bypass the indexing feature.

That is the key to the handle-position-change that I perform (Post#6) when I am going to be doing a lot of repetitions without engaging the indexing mechanism.

Im with GB again.

 

[lckdnldd]

I hear ya ddc. I started handloading again in early 2014 after a 30 year hiatus. The process I use now lends itself better to using the press without the index rod but it may change at some point. As of now I load only handgun cartridges. The impression I got from reading many of the loading forums seemed as if more people removed the index rod. It seems I was mistaken. That is why I started the poll. Learn something new everyday I suppose.

 

[tcoz]

For loading pistol ammo, I can't think of any reason not to use the indexing rod since there isn't any case prep to speak of. Rifle is a different story entirely.

 

[RealGun]

I started handloading again in early 2014 after a 30 year hiatus. The process I use now lends itself better to using the press without the index rod but it may change at some point. As of now I load only handgun cartridges.

If you do want to use indexing at some point, consider the case ejector from InlIne Fabrications, an add-on which reverses the twist (replaces the index rod) to enable the index rod mounted poker to operate in the direction of the ramp and bin. You would have to exchange the turret positions of the number 1 and 3 dies to get the set in reverse order.

 

[lckdnldd]

This poll will end this weekend (Sunday). Thanks to all of those who have participated so far.

 

[SSN Vet]

The only time I disable the auto-index is when I'm doing some odd ball stuff, as I have a dedicated turret set up for the following tasks.

1. Flaring a batch of cases for loading cast
2. De-priming a batch of cases with the universal de-priming die, on the rare occasion I want to tumble after I've de-primed, or am batch trimming a large lot of brass.
3. Lubing cast bullets.

I'm essentially running the press as a single stage at that point.