Lee Classic Turret questions

[warnerwh]

Earlier this year I decided to get back into shooting. Sold my Xl650 years ago when I got married and we bought a house together. I knew no matter what I'd need a single stage and bought the Lee Classic Cast to get going.

I also bought the Safety Primer and Pro Auto Disk. I'd like to use them both on the Turret press. The Safety prime mounts to the Classic Cast with two screws into holes tapped for it. My question is the pictures I see of the Classic Turret show the Safety Prime mounted to a single bolt. I don't see how the mount that came with my Safety prime could work. Let me know what I'm missing please.

The Classic Turret is what I told my wife I want for Xmas. The next question will it resize 30-06 easily? I may actually sell my single stage if it will. After using the Dillon with the shell feeder I think I got spoiled. A single stage is too slow.

This year I took my daughter to shoot with me and it turns out she loves it more than either one of us imagined. She can go through the ammo too. My wife and I are both laid off so I don't want to spend more than necessary. Otherwise I'd just buy a nice progressive and keep the Classic Cast too.

When this press gets here I'd like to start using it and want to be prepared. Any other input is appreciated too. Thanks

 

[delta5]

The mount with the two screws is for the single stage presses. You should have another mount that the safety prime drops into that bolts to the mounting bolt.

 

[warnerwh]

Thanks. I discovered you have to buy a bracket separately for the Classic Turret. Apparently I need a powder riser too. How do you like your press?

 

[RandyP]

After the initial normal tweaking, mine has been flawless for several thousand rounds now. I really like it. I too also have the Lee single stage on the bench.

One tip, keep the primer arm clean, it tends to get some gunk on it after many rounds and then you have issues as it rotates into the ram.

 

[editingfx]

the fix for RandyP's comment:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=487686
post #23

The primer arm thing annoyed me to no end until I doped this out.

 

[RustyFN]

warnerwh if you like the safety prime and pro auto disk on the single stage then you will love it on the classic turret. I have been loading on a CT for close to four years problem free. I think it's a great press for people that don't need the output of a progressive.

 

[The Bushmaster]

If you already have the Lee Classic CAST single stage press. It is advisable to keep it. Especially if you buy the Lee classic turret. My suggestion is to get the Classic CAST Turret. I have both the classic CAST and the aluminum based Classic. The Classic Turret has a heighth problem when it comes to the longer rifle cases. The Classic CAST does not...

My Classic Turret has been relegated to the closet. And both the Cast single stage and Cast turret are mounted on my bench.

 

[snuffy]

If you already have the Lee Classic CAST single stage press. It is advisable to keep it. Especially if you buy the Lee classic turret. My suggestion is to get the Classic CAST Turret. I have both the classic CAST and the aluminum based Classic. The Classic Turret has a heighth problem when it comes to the longer rifle cases. The Classic CAST does not...

My Classic Turret has been relegated to the closet. And both the Cast single stage and Cast turret are mounted on my bench.

Correction; there's the old DELUXE turret, it's a cast ALUMINUM base, it can be either 3 hole or 4 hole turrets. Then there's the classic turret, NO CAST in that name. The classic cast is a single stage. There was apparently some confusion when lee first introduced the updated classic turret, Cabella's called it the classic cast turret. The lee came out with the classic cast single stage, Cabellas had to edit "cast" out of the turret designation.

This is the classic turret;



http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1259951822.4028=/html/catalog/turretpress.html#ClassicTurretPress

Here's what lee simply calls the lee turret. It's available as or in a kit called the deluxe turret kit.



http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1259951822.4028=/html/catalog/turretpress.html

 

[The Bushmaster]

Snuffy...Which one would YOU get...

 

[snuffy]

Snuffy...Which one would YOU get...

Ummmm, which one did I get? Well both! But not at the same time. I first bought the lee turret, the old cast aluminum one. It worked okay, just hated the primers going everywhere EXCEPT in the base where they were supposed to go.

I then bought a 650 dillon, sold the lee turret to a friend, along with 7 turrets. The 650 is a great machine, but it's a PITA to do load work-ups on. Also a caliber conversion is costly.

So now I have a lee classic turret for load work-ups and some new calibers that I don't shoot enough to justify buying a caliber conversion for the 650. I definitely advise to buy the lee classic turret. Along with it, buy the pro auto disk measure, the double disk kit, the rifle powder die, the riser, and the lee safety prime, both sizes. Set up like that, you can easily do 150-200/hour.

 

[The Bushmaster]

I use the Classic CAST single stage for decapping/resizing and priming both handgun and rifle. I use it for reloading all rifle cartridges. The Classic (corrected) Turret is use for powder charging with a Lee Auto disk, seating and crimping.

I don't load as much as 150 per hour, but I do get some quality ammunition and I'm not in that big of a hurry anyway...

 

[warnerwh]

It's interesting that the priming arm has been a problem for some people. On my Classic Cast I've had no issues but I've only loaded 7 or 800 rounds. I hope the Classic Turret doesn't have a reason why this issue is more prevalent. Fortunately it looks like the tie works but if I have the problem I'm going to figure out how to make it work properly. Things like that will continue to bother me so whatever it takes it will work right like it does on my single stage.

 

[Landric]

My Classic Turret came with the mounting bracket for the safety prime, you shouldn't need to buy any additional part.

Its a great press, but I also have, and find uses for, a Classic Cast. I suggest you keep the single stage even once you have the turret.

 

[warnerwh]

Thanks for that info as I've got everything in my cart at Midway. I'll email to make sure it's in there just in case. The Classic Cast I don't really need much as almost all my shooting is and has been with a handgun. And it just dawned on me I'm going to surprise my wife with a laptop for Xmas and the money will help.

 

[billsnogo]

Correction; there's the old DELUXE turret, it's a cast ALUMINUM base, it can be either 3 hole or 4 hole turrets. Then there's the classic turret, NO CAST in that name. The classic cast is a single stage. There was apparently some confusion when lee first introduced the updated classic turret, Cabella's called it the classic cast turret. The lee came out with the classic cast single stage, Cabellas had to edit "cast" out of the turret designation.

This is the classic turret;



http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1259951822.4028=/html/catalog/turretpress.html#ClassicTurretPress

Here's what lee simply calls the lee turret. It's available as or in a kit called the deluxe turret kit.



http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1259951822.4028=/html/catalog/turretpress.html

So which of the two is the one that has problems with primers and longer rifle cases?

 

[RandyP]

The Lee Deluxe Turret does not have the VERY nice clear plastic tube to catch the spent primers thru the hollow ram. I have the feature on both my 50th Anniv single stage and my Classic turret. IMHO it is a REALLY handy thing indeed
.

 

[Jumping Frog]

You can get the Lee Pro-1000 progressive press setup for a caliber cheaper than you can get a Lee Classic Cast Turret.

 

[delta5]

Here is a picture of my Lee Classic Cast turret press, with all the accessories..




And here is a link to a video of it in action...

http://www.leeprecision.com/html/HelpVideos/videos/Turret%20Press/loading%20on%20turret-1.wmv

This is a pretty slick setup for the money. I can reload anything I want with it and it turns out decent results. I will eventually buy a single stage press like the Lee Challenger or the Reloader for my bench. You cant go wrong with this turret press IMO..

 

[hddeluxe]

I can't say enough good things about my Classic Turret. It does everything well, and is easy to maintain and switching calibers is quick with extra turrets. Couple that with the great Lee support and it is hard to beat.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Billsnogo...The bottom one has the problem with the longer rifle cases, but neither have a problem with priming if you have them set up right or go to a stand alone priming system like the Lee Auto Prime II.

 

[delta5]

If you are going to reload mostly pistol and small rifle shells like .223, the Pro-1000 will suffice. If you want to reload longer shells like 30-06 and 8mm mauser, you need the classic cast turret press. It is a bit taller. The auto-index feature wont work with the long calibers though, you have remove the indexing rod and turn the turret by hand.

 

[billsnogo]

Billsnogo...The bottom one has the problem with the longer rifle cases, but neither have a problem with priming if you have them set up right or go to a stand alone priming system like the Lee Auto Prime II.

Thank you, that is exactly what I needed to know. I was not sure which to get, now I know

 

[snuffy]

You can get the Lee Pro-1000 progressive press setup for a caliber cheaper than you can get a Lee Classic Cast Turret.

Wrong! At least not from midway.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=283657
Pro 1000, 10mm auto, $159.99

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=814175

$94.99
Notice it says classic turret, not classic CAST turret. The classic turret doe not come as a kit, so you'd need to add a set of dies.

Bill, the bottom one, the cast aluminum has the shorter ram travel, and the problem with spent primers going all over the place. The ram is thicker and has a hole through the center where the primers go to be caught in a plastic tube. You could direct the tube into a trash can also.

 

[StretchNM]

Snuffy, I also thought the Classic Turret didn;t come as a Kit, but I learned different on another forum. It comes as a Kit from at least two sellers: Cabela's and KempfGunShop.com.

I didn;t save the Cabela's link, but it can be found easily enough. The Kempf Kit is lower-cost, I believe, and comes with a set of dies (if you get the Kit for pistol calibers it also comes with ammo boxes).

Kempf's Kit:
https://kempfgunshop.com//index.php...n=com_virtuemart&Itemid=41&vmcchk=1&Itemid=41
Now, if you pll down the drop-down list and don;t see your caliber (30-06 Warner?), don;t fret that. Contact Kempf. I am confident they'll make sure you get what you need. They put those Kits together, so they can sub in dies that you need.

WarnerWH: the press to get is the Classic Turret, the key word distinguishing the two being "Classic" (as opposed to the "Deluxe" Turret)

 

[gspn]

You will have no problems re-sizing 30-06. I've done 100 rounds of 7 mm mag in the last week and it couldn't have gone any smoother. It's a great little press.