Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

[Scotts556]

Considering trading My Hornady LNL classic for a Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press. Whats yall's opinion?? Will it be able to turn out precision ammo like my Hornady?

Thanks

Scott

 

[MaximumVelocity]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

I saw some reviews where the Lee 4 hole turret press uses a small plastic collar to trigger the rotation. According to the reviews, it wears out quite easily. I believe they package a spare but still. It was enough for me to say no.

 

[thespecialist]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

I use one for my handgun ammo and my 223 blasting ammo. It's not consistent enough for me to load any of my precision stuff though. I still load all that on my RCBS single stage.

The top plate on the press has some up/down play in it, all of them do. The plastic "gear" that turns the op-rod wears out pretty quickly if you beat/bang on the press, but I don't and have a couple thousand rounds through mine with no hiccups.

Keep the Hornady for your precision stuff, the Lee is great for plinking ammo though.

 

[Scotts556]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: thespecialist</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I use one for my handgun ammo and my 223 blasting ammo. It's not consistent enough for me to load any of my precision stuff though. I still load all that on my RCBS single stage.

The top plate on the press has some up/down play in it, all of them do. The plastic "gear" that turns the op-rod wears out pretty quickly if you beat/bang on the press, but I don't and have a couple thousand rounds through mine with no hiccups.

Keep the Hornady for your precision stuff, the Lee is great for plinking ammo though. </div></div>


How bad is not consistent enough??

 

[thespecialist]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

The top plate moves about 1/8" up every time the ram comes up. As long as I pay close attention to how fast I bring the ram up it's fairly consistent, usually within .003" measuring base to ogive. If you bang through the rounds, like I did when I first got it, I've seen OAL vary as much as .010"

I load small runs of hunting ammo on it, but I just don't get the consistency from the Lee that I do from my single stage RCBS.

 

[flounderv2]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

The disc powder measure that comes with it is not consistent at all for precision ammo. I use a scale for every one of my precision charges and mainly use the powder dispenser for AR plinking ammo.

 

[Shootinsurveyor]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

Just be conscious of how fast and how hard you work the ram and you can have great consistency. I use mine for 308 and it loads at least as well as my ability which is a inch at 100yds. I also use the pro auto disk and I happened to just use one of the settings and that load with no development shoot fine for me and I can load pretty fast running semi progressive.

 

[DPRoberts]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MaximumVelocity</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I saw some reviews where the Lee 4 hole turret press uses a small plastic collar to trigger the rotation. According to the reviews, it wears out quite easily. I believe they package a spare but still. It was enough for me to say no. </div></div>
I have one and little plastic sliding collar is definitly the weak link in the system but it's a moot point to me since I removed my operating rod and rotate it by hand. I just use mine as a single stage with multiple stations, since I prefer to reload in stages. I resize/deprime all at once, then do my brass prep, then prime in a batch, then finally charge and seat at the same time by rotating the turret by hand.

I think this press can and does produce good ammo. Everything I've ever loaded on it has outperformed FGMM. No doubt you can produce more consistent ammo on a single stage, weighing individual charges, but my high volume 308 load I crank out using the lee turret and autodisk measure is solid .75moa ammo (same as FGMM in my 700p with me driving it).

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: flounderv2</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The disc powder measure that comes with it is not consistent at all for precision ammo. I use a scale for every one of my precision charges and mainly use the powder dispenser for AR plinking ammo. </div></div>
I agree that measuring individual charges with a beam balance is the most accurate way to load but my auto disk is pretty damn accurate and crazy fast. Just out of curiosity I threw 10 consecutive charges each of my varget 223 and 308 loads checking them with my rcbs 502 and got these results:
223: 21.8, 21.7, 21.7, 21.8, 21.8, 21.7, 21.8, 21.7, 21.8, 21.9, 21.8, 21.7
308: 44, 44, 44, 44, 44, 43.7 ,43.9 ,43.9 ,44, 44.1

As with any meter, consistency of stroke is king, but I trust this measure to throw to about .2 grains accuracy. I don't doubt the 43.7 was my fault.

Basically if I was shooting comps I'd probably use a single stage and measure my charges by hand, but for producing practice ammo the Lee kit is worth using for the time savings.

 

[MaximumVelocity]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

And honestly......I almost bought the Lee Turret press based on that alone. Pulling the operating rod and rotating by hand without having to switch dies all the time. However, I decided to pick up a single stage instead.

 

[GSPKurt]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: thespecialist</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I use one for my handgun ammo and my 223 blasting ammo. It's not consistent enough for me to load any of my precision stuff though. I still load all that on my RCBS single stage.

The top plate on the press has some up/down play in it, all of them do. The plastic "gear" that turns the op-rod wears out pretty quickly if you beat/bang on the press, but I don't and have a couple thousand rounds through mine with no hiccups.

Keep the Hornady for your precision stuff, the Lee is great for plinking ammo though. </div></div>

I, too, have one and a RCBS Rockchucker and a Hornady LnL progressive. thespecialist has hit the nail on the head. Not precise enough. That's why I got the Rockchucker.

 

[flounderv2]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: DPRoberts</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MaximumVelocity</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

The disc powder measure that comes with it is not consistent at all for precision ammo. I use a scale for every one of my precision charges and mainly use the powder dispenser for AR plinking ammo. </div></div>
I agree that measuring individual charges with a beam balance is the most accurate way to load but my auto disk is pretty damn accurate and crazy fast. Just out of curiosity I threw 10 consecutive charges each of my varget 223 and 308 loads checking them with my rcbs 502 and got these results:
223: 21.8, 21.7, 21.7, 21.8, 21.8, 21.7, 21.8, 21.7, 21.8, 21.9, 21.8, 21.7
308: 44, 44, 44, 44, 44, 43.7 ,43.9 ,43.9 ,44, 44.1

As with any meter, consistency of stroke is king, but I trust this measure to throw to about .2 grains accuracy. I don't doubt the 43.7 was my fault.

Basically if I was shooting comps I'd probably use a single stage and measure my charges by hand, but for producing practice ammo the Lee kit is worth using for the time savings. </div></div>

Ive gotten completely different results. Honestly I cant see how you can get that type of accuracy with a powder that has the dimensions such as varget. With a much more fine powder yes but Ive been over 1 grain off with the disk measure using varget. Same with 4831SC.

 

[DamnDave]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

I use the LCT for all my handgun ammo. Works like a charm for me.

 

[carlo1776]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

I use the 4 hole Turret for all my pistol loads. The best feature is being able to leave the dies set up for every cal. by buying additional plates. My RCBS single stage is mount right next to it for all my rifle loads though.

 

[DPRoberts]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: flounderv2</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: DPRoberts</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MaximumVelocity</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

The disc powder measure that comes with it is not consistent at all for precision ammo. I use a scale for every one of my precision charges and mainly use the powder dispenser for AR plinking ammo. </div></div>
I agree that measuring individual charges with a beam balance is the most accurate way to load but my auto disk is pretty damn accurate and crazy fast. Just out of curiosity I threw 10 consecutive charges each of my varget 223 and 308 loads checking them with my rcbs 502 and got these results:
223: 21.8, 21.7, 21.7, 21.8, 21.8, 21.7, 21.8, 21.7, 21.8, 21.9, 21.8, 21.7
308: 44, 44, 44, 44, 44, 43.7 ,43.9 ,43.9 ,44, 44.1

As with any meter, consistency of stroke is king, but I trust this measure to throw to about .2 grains accuracy. I don't doubt the 43.7 was my fault.

Basically if I was shooting comps I'd probably use a single stage and measure my charges by hand, but for producing practice ammo the Lee kit is worth using for the time savings. </div></div>

Ive gotten completely different results. Honestly I cant see how you can get that type of accuracy with a powder that has the dimensions such as varget. With a much more fine powder yes but Ive been over 1 grain off with the disk measure using varget. Same with 4831SC.
</div></div>
I was pretty surprised with the accuracy especially, as you said, with a stick powder like Varget. It should and does throw in a jumbled mess, but I guess my technique results in a consistent jumble throw to throw. I just make sure my throw feels consistent between loads and dump any that don't feel right. One thing that is a must for me using the autodisk with varget is to throw and dump the first few charges when I start loading, either after I load the hopper or have left it sitting with powder in it. The first loading generally gives a light charge and if you leave the hopper sitting loaded it'll throw a heavy charge because the powder has had a chance to settle with bumping the table and whatnot.

Something else worth mentioning that should work against me but doesn't, is that I don't use the double stack disks. I throw 3 times with the 1.09 disk (which is 14.6gr) for my 44gr charge with no problems.

 

[bobk538447]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

It's been my only press for the last 20 odd years but I finally broke down to buy a used Dillon XL 650. I removed the rod on the Lee that indexes the turret and use the press as a single stage. The auto disk is fine for pistol but I use a powder throw for my precision rifle and measure the powder for each round. I've used the double disks but the plastic on the hopper is cheap and over the years cracked.

I have noticed variations in my OAL of the round after seating the bullets. This could be due to the flex, the way that I pushed up the ram, or variations in the bullets but I just don’t know. I have gotten my money’s worth out of it. Occasionally, I have to hammer the pin in that holds the ram.

 

[Spooky]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

Go to Lowe's and get a box of assorted springs from the hardware/bolt section or use a 1911 recoil spring, place appropriate size over the operating rod to push the turret up against the top just before the brass is worked by the die. I use a Co-Ax for most LR loading, but have reloaded 223's that were superbly accurate on an old 3-holer with this method.

 

[thespecialist]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Spooky</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Go to Lowe's and get a box of assorted springs from the hardware/bolt section or use a 1911 recoil spring, place appropriate size over the operating rod to push the turret up against the top just before the brass is worked by the die. I use a Co-Ax for most LR loading, but have reloaded 223's that were superbly accurate on an old 3-holer with this method. </div></div>

May have to try that myself. I can see how that would help out a lot with the consistency issues with the LEE.

 

[bobk538447]

Re: Lee Classic Cast 4 Hole Turret Press?

Spooky, thanks!