Lee Classic Turret ?

[Sport45]

The Lee Classic Turret press is pure crap. The pot metal frame is painted red and they didn't use 3/4" bolts to hold the turret down. On top of that would you believe there's so much slop in the turret clearance that it actually turns when you try to spin it?

Seriously, the LCT is a great press for the money. Mine has never given me a lick of trouble. I've used it many times to push the shoulders back on surplus '06 brass almost a quarter inch to form 7.7x58 for my Arisaka. I load all my rifle rounds and most magnum handgun ammunition on it. The thing does everything I need it to do.

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by CrustyFN

I would add in a few of the plastic ratchets. They are cheap to get when ordering other items. If you order the alone then the shipping will cost more than the ratchet.

You do get one spare square ratchet with the press. I put mine on the indexing rod, way up at the top. It is out of the way and won't be lost when I ever need it.

The square ratchet is designed to break if the turret rotation gets jammed up. (Like a fuse protects the electrical wiring in your house). Better to break a 50 cent plastic piece than a $6.00 indexing arm.

But you can go YEARS without breaking one if you don't jam up the turret or try to hand-rotate it backwards.

If you do need to rotate it backwards, just make sure the ratchet is not engaged with the notches (which you can't see because they are inside the indexing arm). You just make sure the most recent movement of the ram was UP, not down and your square ratchet should last years.

Up disengages the ratchet. The notches are on the "ceiling" of the indexing arm and when the ram moves down, the ratchet drags on the indexing arm and is pressed up into the notches. Simple, but a little hard to describe in text.

The Lee Classic Turret is the best currently made autoindexing turret in the world, bar none. Of course, the only other autoindexing turret is its own (inferior) predecessor, the Lee Deluxe Turret. If you only need 4 die stations consider it.

Lost Sheep

[dickttx]

I would disagree on the need for risers. I started out using one, then went to two. I did not like the way the measure swung around as the turret was turned.
I finally did away with the riser, just screwing the measure directly into the die. As the turret cycles the powder measure does just kiss the primer magazine as it goes by, but if you keep it screwed in tightly it will not interfere with the primer magazine.
I found that the PAD does not need to be helped along by thumping, etc. I always pour the powder in the measure and just start to reload. I remove the case after the first powder drop and weigh the charge. I always find it to be spot on. So is the second thru the fifth, the tenth, twentieth, fortieth, sixtieth, etc. Can't remember the last time I had a charge I had to pour back in the measure.
Today I set up my new Lock n Load with the Lee dies and PAD. Same results. And the measure doesn't move on the LnL.

P. S. I hope I like the LnL as much as I do my LCT. The only reason I bought it was to cut down the number of strokes for an old shoulder.

[flashhole]

I don't use a powder measure on the LCT. I use a Lee funnel with their Powder Through Expanding Die and Dipper Cup the charges and pour them through the funnel. Not quite as fast but there is never a screwup.

[rebs]

what holds the turret in the press ?

[dickttx]

Lugs on the press and the turret.

[tkglazie]

Lee ingenuity.

Its a mechanical slot/tab fit. Picture the way a gas cap attaches to a modern car (slot/tab vs threaded connection)

Your question actually gets to the root of the reason why the LCT is the bees knees. Unlike old fashioned turrets that were center-mounted (and thus deflected from the center when force was applied to the dies) the LCT is designed so that the force acts on the perimeter of the turret, thus reducing deflection significantly.

[ScottRiqui]

It really is a pretty slick setup. The hub in which the turret rides is 7/8" thick, and it's affixed to the base by three 5/8" rods. As tkglazie mentioned, the dies are positioned close to the edge of the turret, which also puts them close to the "meaty" hub.

When a die is "in position" and being used, the lugs on the turret and hub are fully engaged, so the ram doesn't push the turret up out of the hub. But all you have to do to remove the turret is position it in-between stations, causing the lugs on the turret to align with the notches in the hub. This allows the turret to be lifted up out of the hub.

[rebs]

The more I read these posts the more my mind is made up to buy one. It sounds like a very well thought out design

Thank you guys for all the information, I appreciate it

[Mike Irwin]

I don't like mine.

I LOVE it.

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

[Rustle in the Bushes]

It was my first and only, and Im definitely not as experience as most of these folks.

I did the research though and Im glad I didnt start with a single stage. Thats bloody painful.

Ive never time myself minutes/round but I can go pretty darn fast with that thing(and safe, too)

[Sport45]

Originally Posted by ScottRiqui

When a die is "in position" and being used, the lugs on the turret and hub are fully engaged, so the ram doesn't push the turret up out of the hub. But all you have to do to remove the turret is position it in-between stations, causing the lugs on the turret to align with the notches in the hub. This allows the turret to be lifted up out of the hub.

Yeah, similar in function to the interrupted threads used to lock the breech in place on an artillery piece. Lee just left off the taper so the thing wouldn't lock in any one place.