I took the plunge........ - Page 2

firechicken · July 13, 2007, 10:35 PM

Oh no!! 45 ACP and 9mm in the same tumbler??

You'll soon learn what cases you can and can't put in the tumbler together. Basically, if one can fit inside the other, don't put 'em in there together. I've loaded a couple hundred rounds of 45 ACP on my new Classis Turret now. Works great, and a big improvement over my single stage for handgun ammo. Will probably be better for rifle as well, especially 223. I timed myself the other day and got 3 rounds/minute without hurrying too much.

benedict1 · July 13, 2007, 10:40 PM

By now you know never tumble 9mm and .45 ACP together. After separating about 200 cases where the 9mm are stuck inside the others, some wedged in by the media, you will make a note to not do this again. Also, don't try to mix .40s in with the .45 either. Same deal.

rantingredneck · July 13, 2007, 11:26 PM

Yeah, I wish I knew that two hours ago

. Oh well, live and learn.

Cpl Nobbs · July 14, 2007, 10:56 AM

.30 carbine and almost anything.

a little trick to help with dust is to throw in a used fabric softener sheet (torn into shreds). helps keep the media cleaner too. and have you checked out the sticky about reloading tips up at the top?

**Mike Irwin** · July 14, 2007, 12:19 PM

You're going to really love that Lee Classic Turret.

It's the press Lee should have come out with 30 years ago.

The Safety Prime mechanism looks like a BOPOS (Bolt On Piece of S***), but it actually works pretty well.

One thing you MUST watch for, though, is the location of the "points" on the die lock ring in relation to the Safety Prime assembly.

It's possible to assemble everything so that when the turret head moves there isn't enough clearance between the point on the lock ring and the primer assembly, which, as I found out, can throw your turret out of time.

If that happens, and the turret won't index correctly, watch the video on the Lee site on how to readjust the timing. If you don't do it properly, you can damage the indexing mechanism and you'll be waiting for spare parts.

benedict1 · July 14, 2007, 12:35 PM

Quote:

One thing you MUST watch for, though, is the location of the "points" on the die lock ring in relation to the Safety Prime assembly.

Mike--what points on what die lock ring?? I use Lee dies. Are you guys using something else? I am confused. I have zero problems with the Safety Prime and in fact, have posted a little video I made last year to help people operate it smoothly--look here if interested--

http://tinyurl.com/lxapv

It is also on You Tube--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SufHZhIs-mc

UniversalFrost · July 14, 2007, 06:57 PM

firechicken you said it. I learned the hard way long ago.

I tumbled 45acp 40 sw and 9mm luger and I had a lot the had all 3 stacked on top of each other. I now sort religiously before tumbling.

also. redneck you will need small pistol primers for the 9mm luger. Also, franford arsenal crushed walnut (treated) from midway is excellent for cleaning and polishing. add a little flitz when the pretreated stuff wears out. make sure to get the 7lb bag and sort it in half for cleaning and then polishing. put each into the gallon ice cream containers and label them. I usually tumble for 30 min to 1 hour to clean range brass before sizing. Then after sizing I tumble in the polishing media for 2 -3 hours sometimes I throw in extra flitz or lyman paste for really tarnished brass.

rantingredneck · July 15, 2007, 01:22 AM

Loaded up my first .45ACP ammo tonight. I farted around adusting the dies and whatnot for about 45 minutes and then loaded 25 rounds in about 40 mins. Now that everything is set up right I think I could crank out 50 or more an hour once I get into a rhythm. First loads are mild.

I went with Speer 230Gr TMJ bullets, once fired CCI brass, Winchester Large Pistol primers, and 4.8 gr of Win 231. This is straight out of the Lee Modern Reloading tables and is the starting load.

Speer's data is more generous with a higher starting load than this and a higher never exceed load than the Lee manual. We'll see how these shoot tomorrow and then I'll work from there. I weighed every 5th powder charge and the Autodisk was throwing consistent charges from what I could tell. I know now that I want a digital scale though.

I checked all loads for OAL and they are consistently 1.26" which is out of the speer manual. Lee's minimum OAL is 1.19" so I'm over that.

Wish me luck

**Mike Irwin** · July 15, 2007, 05:03 PM

"Mike--what points on what die lock ring??"

I'm using Lee dies as well.

The locking rings are hexagonal in shape -- 6 flat faces, and 6 "points" where one face intersects another face.

What happened in my case is that when I locked the die down the locking ring was turned in such a manner that it protruded slightly over the edge of the turret.

When the turret went around, the point caught the small plastic "washer(?)" (the plastic thing with the funny shape) that's part of the priming system. It was enough to stall the turret's movement and knock the turret timing slightly off.

I repositioned the locking ring so that the point was within the boundary of the turret and also repositioned the black plastic washer so that there was more clearance. No problems since.

I also finally picked up the powder measure riser that allows the measure to clear the priming system.

I REALLY wish Lee mentioned that clearance issue somewhere in its documentation for the press. I had no idea I needed it until after I bought the priming system and tried reloading with it.

benedict1 · July 15, 2007, 05:29 PM

Aha. I never have had that problem but see that if you misinstalled the mounting bracket for the Safety Prime and had it positioned to far one way or the other, then it would be hit by the locking ring on one or more dies.

Did you follow these instructions to set up your press?

http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews2...ress/index.asp

If you will note how he puts the bracket on, and the metal washer, he is careful to provide clearance.

This article is the best thing I know about to help people set up the Classic Turret Press. I used it a year ago and have zero problems.

hikingman · July 15, 2007, 05:59 PM

Here's a small but sturdy set up that stores most components in closets and drawers (wife's idea) and is definitely portable. The press and powder stand remain bolted in place.

rantingredneck · July 15, 2007, 07:52 PM

I took my first loads to the range today. Shot several 5 shot groups rested from 25yds. Most were in the 3" range with some in the 3.5-4" range. Recoil was comparable to the Blazer Brass I am accustomed to shooting, but it shot much cleaner. No powder residue flying back at me. Best group of five was 3" with three shots clustered in an an inch and a half.

This morning I loaded up thirty rounds of 5.1gr Win231 with 230Gr. Speer TMJ. Recoil was a bit sharper, but groups were the same size. I'll probably just stick with the lighter load for plinking.

I'll be ordering some Speer JSP's soon and working up a hunting load for deer season.

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions guys. I'll continue to ask newb questions as I go.

**Mike Irwin** · July 16, 2007, 12:11 AM

"Did you follow these instructions to set up your press?"

Of course not. I blindfolded myself and put it together randomly while Yoko Ono read Ezra Pound poems through a loudspeaker 1 foot away from my ear.

actionflies · July 16, 2007, 02:38 AM

It does not take up much room.

benedict1 · July 16, 2007, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Of course not. I blindfolded myself and put it together randomly while Yoko Ono read Ezra Pound poems through a loudspeaker 1 foot away from my ear.

Mike, I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to sound that way. It's just that I have dealt with so many guys on various boards in the past year who didn't read the instructions and just sort of bolted the thing on. One even left out the black spacer washer and then bitched loud and long that the Safety Prime was junk, wouldn't work, etc. I just sort of reflexively ask now if someone has read the directions or used the surplusrifle.com article.

I hope your machine works as well for you as mine works for me, and for the hundreds of other guys who have them up and running on the various forums. It is a wonderful press and the Safety Prime is the best thing I have ever used.

Good shooting!

**Mike Irwin** · July 16, 2007, 10:47 AM

Benedict,

No problem, I was just trying to convey my "manliness" (WHO THE HELL NEEDS INSTRUCTIONS?? GIMMIE ANOTHER BEER!) at setting up the machine.

Actually I used Lee's 'instructions.' Good equipment, generally lousy instructions. I mean hell, let's face it, Lee doesn't even give any information on needing the stinking riser if you use the priming mechanism with the die mounted powder measure.

The tolerances are tight, and given the scenario I recounted above, if you have two things happening at once you can get things clashing. And, it was the oddly shaped metal washer (not the black plastic) that interfered with the points on the die.

I must admit that when I first got my safety primes I was quite dubious about how well they would work. Once I got one mounted and gave it a try, my suspicious seemed to be correct. It wouldn't reliably prime cases.

Then, for some reason, I decided to try using my thumb instead of my index finger to activate the system, and things immediately fell into place.

Now that I have my powder die riser and my crimp dies for all of my commonly loaded cartridges, I should be ready to roll.

I just have to figure out some way to store the tool heads.

benedict1 · July 16, 2007, 02:03 PM

The best way to store the turret heads is in the round Lee red plastic die containers. Bad news is that if you have the Deluxe Pistol Dies, they aren't round, they are flat!

You can buy the round ones from Kempf's Gun Shop pretty cheap and their shipping is low. The turret with your dies in it sits nicely in the bottom of the round die box and you can put the lid on top of them and they are dust free then. Again, Kempf's price is good on them.

If you load several calibers why not just get an auto disk riser for each turret head? Makes caliber change/powder measure switchover even faster.

I agree about the instructions; I have made the point repeatedly with folks at Lee. They are bringing out more videos for help and that is going to be nice. That is the reason why I constantly recommend that article from

http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews2...ress/index.asp

It is the best set of directions going. I like the pictures.

The thumb is the digit to work the Safety Prime trigger--watch my little video for the technique, if you haven't.

http://tinyurl.com/lxapv

What kind of beer? I'll send you a 6-pack.

July 14, 2007, 12:19 PM	#30
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 14, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,642	You're going to really love that Lee Classic Turret. It's the press Lee should have come out with 30 years ago. The Safety Prime mechanism looks like a BOPOS (Bolt On Piece of S***), but it actually works pretty well. One thing you MUST watch for, though, is the location of the "points" on the die lock ring in relation to the Safety Prime assembly. It's possible to assemble everything so that when the turret head moves there isn't enough clearance between the point on the lock ring and the primer assembly, which, as I found out, can throw your turret out of time. If that happens, and the turret won't index correctly, watch the video on the Lee site on how to readjust the timing. If you don't do it properly, you can damage the indexing mechanism and you'll be waiting for spare parts. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.

July 14, 2007, 06:57 PM	#32
UniversalFrost Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 2,300	firechicken you said it. I learned the hard way long ago. I tumbled 45acp 40 sw and 9mm luger and I had a lot the had all 3 stacked on top of each other. I now sort religiously before tumbling. also. redneck you will need small pistol primers for the 9mm luger. Also, franford arsenal crushed walnut (treated) from midway is excellent for cleaning and polishing. add a little flitz when the pretreated stuff wears out. make sure to get the 7lb bag and sort it in half for cleaning and then polishing. put each into the gallon ice cream containers and label them. I usually tumble for 30 min to 1 hour to clean range brass before sizing. Then after sizing I tumble in the polishing media for 2 -3 hours sometimes I throw in extra flitz or lyman paste for really tarnished brass. __________________ Lifetime member VFW and NRA "Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati" (when all else fails play dead) -Red Green

July 15, 2007, 01:22 AM	#33
rantingredneck Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,728	First loads Loaded up my first .45ACP ammo tonight. I farted around adusting the dies and whatnot for about 45 minutes and then loaded 25 rounds in about 40 mins. Now that everything is set up right I think I could crank out 50 or more an hour once I get into a rhythm. First loads are mild. I went with Speer 230Gr TMJ bullets, once fired CCI brass, Winchester Large Pistol primers, and 4.8 gr of Win 231. This is straight out of the Lee Modern Reloading tables and is the starting load. Speer's data is more generous with a higher starting load than this and a higher never exceed load than the Lee manual. We'll see how these shoot tomorrow and then I'll work from there. I weighed every 5th powder charge and the Autodisk was throwing consistent charges from what I could tell. I know now that I want a digital scale though. I checked all loads for OAL and they are consistently 1.26" which is out of the speer manual. Lee's minimum OAL is 1.19" so I'm over that. Wish me luck

July 15, 2007, 05:03 PM	#34
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 14, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,642	"Mike--what points on what die lock ring??" I'm using Lee dies as well. The locking rings are hexagonal in shape -- 6 flat faces, and 6 "points" where one face intersects another face. What happened in my case is that when I locked the die down the locking ring was turned in such a manner that it protruded slightly over the edge of the turret. When the turret went around, the point caught the small plastic "washer(?)" (the plastic thing with the funny shape) that's part of the priming system. It was enough to stall the turret's movement and knock the turret timing slightly off. I repositioned the locking ring so that the point was within the boundary of the turret and also repositioned the black plastic washer so that there was more clearance. No problems since. I also finally picked up the powder measure riser that allows the measure to clear the priming system. I REALLY wish Lee mentioned that clearance issue somewhere in its documentation for the press. I had no idea I needed it until after I bought the priming system and tried reloading with it. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.

July 16, 2007, 12:11 AM	#38
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 14, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,642	"Did you follow these instructions to set up your press?" Of course not. I blindfolded myself and put it together randomly while Yoko Ono read Ezra Pound poems through a loudspeaker 1 foot away from my ear. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.

July 13, 2007, 10:35 PM	#26
firechicken Senior Member Join Date: April 17, 2006 Location: Savannah, MO Posts: 224	Oh no!! 45 ACP and 9mm in the same tumbler?? You'll soon learn what cases you can and can't put in the tumbler together. Basically, if one can fit inside the other, don't put 'em in there together. I've loaded a couple hundred rounds of 45 ACP on my new Classis Turret now. Works great, and a big improvement over my single stage for handgun ammo. Will probably be better for rifle as well, especially 223. I timed myself the other day and got 3 rounds/minute without hurrying too much.

July 13, 2007, 10:40 PM	#27
benedict1 Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Location: Southern California Posts: 245	By now you know never tumble 9mm and .45 ACP together. After separating about 200 cases where the 9mm are stuck inside the others, some wedged in by the media, you will make a note to not do this again. Also, don't try to mix .40s in with the .45 either. Same deal.

July 13, 2007, 11:26 PM	#28
rantingredneck Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,728	Yeah, I wish I knew that two hours ago . Oh well, live and learn.

July 14, 2007, 10:56 AM	#29
Cpl Nobbs Member Join Date: February 1, 2007 Posts: 65	.30 carbine and almost anything. a little trick to help with dust is to throw in a used fabric softener sheet (torn into shreds). helps keep the media cleaner too. and have you checked out the sticky about reloading tips up at the top?

July 15, 2007, 05:29 PM	#35
benedict1 Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Location: Southern California Posts: 245	Aha. I never have had that problem but see that if you misinstalled the mounting bracket for the Safety Prime and had it positioned to far one way or the other, then it would be hit by the locking ring on one or more dies. Did you follow these instructions to set up your press? http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews2...ress/index.asp If you will note how he puts the bracket on, and the metal washer, he is careful to provide clearance. This article is the best thing I know about to help people set up the Classic Turret Press. I used it a year ago and have zero problems.

July 15, 2007, 05:59 PM	#36
hikingman Senior Member Join Date: August 8, 2004 Location: Alabama Posts: 302	Here's a small but sturdy set up that stores most components in closets and drawers (wife's idea) and is definitely portable. The press and powder stand remain bolted in place.

July 15, 2007, 07:52 PM	#37
rantingredneck Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,728	I took my first loads to the range today. Shot several 5 shot groups rested from 25yds. Most were in the 3" range with some in the 3.5-4" range. Recoil was comparable to the Blazer Brass I am accustomed to shooting, but it shot much cleaner. No powder residue flying back at me. Best group of five was 3" with three shots clustered in an an inch and a half. This morning I loaded up thirty rounds of 5.1gr Win231 with 230Gr. Speer TMJ. Recoil was a bit sharper, but groups were the same size. I'll probably just stick with the lighter load for plinking. I'll be ordering some Speer JSP's soon and working up a hunting load for deer season. Thanks for all the tips and suggestions guys. I'll continue to ask newb questions as I go.

July 16, 2007, 02:38 AM	#39
actionflies Member Join Date: June 5, 2007 Location: Aloha, Oregon Posts: 70	It does not take up much room.

July 16, 2007, 10:47 AM	#41
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 14, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,642	Benedict, No problem, I was just trying to convey my "manliness" (WHO THE HELL NEEDS INSTRUCTIONS?? GIMMIE ANOTHER BEER!) at setting up the machine. Actually I used Lee's 'instructions.' Good equipment, generally lousy instructions. I mean hell, let's face it, Lee doesn't even give any information on needing the stinking riser if you use the priming mechanism with the die mounted powder measure. The tolerances are tight, and given the scenario I recounted above, if you have two things happening at once you can get things clashing. And, it was the oddly shaped metal washer (not the black plastic) that interfered with the points on the die. I must admit that when I first got my safety primes I was quite dubious about how well they would work. Once I got one mounted and gave it a try, my suspicious seemed to be correct. It wouldn't reliably prime cases. Then, for some reason, I decided to try using my thumb instead of my index finger to activate the system, and things immediately fell into place. Now that I have my powder die riser and my crimp dies for all of my commonly loaded cartridges, I should be ready to roll. I just have to figure out some way to store the tool heads. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.

July 16, 2007, 02:03 PM	#42
benedict1 Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Location: Southern California Posts: 245	The best way to store the turret heads is in the round Lee red plastic die containers. Bad news is that if you have the Deluxe Pistol Dies, they aren't round, they are flat! You can buy the round ones from Kempf's Gun Shop pretty cheap and their shipping is low. The turret with your dies in it sits nicely in the bottom of the round die box and you can put the lid on top of them and they are dust free then. Again, Kempf's price is good on them. If you load several calibers why not just get an auto disk riser for each turret head? Makes caliber change/powder measure switchover even faster. I agree about the instructions; I have made the point repeatedly with folks at Lee. They are bringing out more videos for help and that is going to be nice. That is the reason why I constantly recommend that article from http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews2...ress/index.asp It is the best set of directions going. I like the pictures. The thumb is the digit to work the Safety Prime trigger--watch my little video for the technique, if you haven't. http://tinyurl.com/lxapv What kind of beer? I'll send you a 6-pack.