Lee turret or progressive press

[Wendyj]

Looking to speed up process on 223-9mm and 45 colt. Which is best and what other accessories besides shell plates do I need to buy. Been loadin all these on single stage classic cast. Saw a lot of videos on the Dillon and it looked confusing and cost triple the price. If either press is no good please advise. The turret looks simple enough but still 4 strokes per round. I only want to spend once. Appears either one needs an upgraded powder dispenser if I read correctly.

[dallasb]

I have both a Lee turret and Dillon 550, the Lee gets very little usage after I bought the Dillon. Changovers arent as bad as it seems, but do keep in mind that it's about $60 per changeover kit not counting toolheads and dies. I never had an issue with the Dillon powder measure.

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[springer99]

If you'll be happy with a round output of around 150-175/hr, then the Lee Classic Cast Turret will do that fine. Purchase a few extra turrets, use your existing dies, and change-over just takes a few minutes at most. Make sure you get the Lee Auto-drum powder drop for the press, as you'll need that to handle the powder drops for .223. Yep, it's four pulls for one round but it's not as bad as it sounds.

If you want higher output, like 300-500/hr then your choice will end up being a Dillon 550/650 or Hornady LnL progressive. Either one of those will come with a suitable powder measure for pistol and rifle cartridges. Dillon vs. Hornady is a very personal choice and IMHO, neither one is better or worse than the other. Both will provide rock-solid performance and after-market service is great for both.

[jmorris]

Looking to speed up process on 223-9mm and 45 colt. Which is best...The turret looks simple enough but still 4 strokes per round.

Looks like you already know the answer to your question.

[tranders]

For the last two years I have been using a Lyman T MagII turret press with good results, but am ready to move on to a progressive for pistol rounds. I will continue using the turret for rifle,but 4 pulls per pistol round is getting monotonous.

[lordmorgul]

I’ve been using the Lee classic turret for about 9 years now for pistol and 223, 308, 30-30. I think it’s a great way to start out with a more automated process but with getting to check every stage along the way. It meets my shooting volume fine, but that’s the question to ask, not pull count but shoot count.


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Andrew - Lancaster, CA
NRA Life Member, SAF / CRPA / FPC member and supporter, USCCA Member

[LBussy]

Obviously the price of the turret is more attractive than a progressive. I have done all my reloading on a turret (sometimes still using it as a single stage) and I can't complain. Changing calibers is ridiculously easy, the additional turrets only cost around $10, and leave all of your dies set up and ready to go. I can switch calibers in just a couple minutes. This could be reduced to seconds if I kept multiple powder measures.

There is absolutely no doubt that a progressive will be faster, but a turret is fast enough for a lot of people, and a fine press. The four strokes are not all that bad and you rapidly develop a rhythm, breaching for new bullets and brass, which is not a lot slower than a progressive might be (without a shell feeder.) It also requires a little less force because you are performing one operation per stroke. Now if you have a physical limitation which makes the repetition hard or painful, then the progressive obviously shines.

I would recommend the Lee Classic Turret Press over the Value Turret Press, although it looks like the Value has a 2018 upgrade which might handle the spent primers better. That being the case I'm not sure which one I'd recommend. They are capable of very consistent ammo. The design, while "budget friendly," is not going to flex.

As far as an upgraded powder measure - the Lee requires a riser which is not expensive. It's just to get the measure up out of the way.

[Wendyj]

If I can run 100 or so an hour it's a lot quicker than single stage. I'll continue to use classic cast for hunting and bench shooting. I would like ballpark around $500.00 if I can use most of my dies I have. 5 hand guns and the 223.

[LBussy]

Originally Posted by Wendyj

If I can run 100 or so an hour it's a lot quicker than single stage. I'll continue to use classic cast for hunting and bench shooting. I would like ballpark around $500.00 if I can use most of my dies I have. 5 hand guns and the 223.

I don't think 100/hour is out of the ballpark at all, that's one every 36 seconds. I do more than that if you don't count setup and such.

[Wendyj]

I deprime and wet tumble and trim before so shouldn't be anything but reside expand and powder and seat and crimp. I love watching the Dillon work with brass drop and all but it's costly and every add on is expensive.

[lee n. field]

Originally Posted by Wendyj

Looking to speed up process on 223-9mm and 45 colt. Been loadin all these on single stage classic cast.

Classic Turret will speed things up considerably. You'll need a turret, and the same shell holder you've been using on the single stage. And (ideally) one of Lee's powder measures that integrates with their belling die (Pro Autodisk, or Autodrum).

Progressive will speed things up more, at the cost of complexity and fiddling.

Which is best and what other accessories besides shell plates do I need to buy. Saw a lot of videos on the Dillon and it looked confusing and cost triple the price. If either press is no good please advise. The turret looks simple enough but still 4 strokes per round. I only want to spend once. Appears either one needs an upgraded powder dispenser if I read correctly.

Depends on what you want and what your volume is. Turret is considerably faster than single stage, simple and reliable.

BTW, Lee has a new (brand new, as in introduced this month) progressive that looks pretty interesting. I'll probably be buying one, some month upcoming. Auto Breech Lock Pro. Reports I've seen so far are good.

[Real Gun]

I have the cast turret and now the new Pro4000 progressive and think the turret will be gradually phased out as I buy Pro4000 shell plates and more breech lock die adapters for cartridges I shoot enough to warrant the redundancy. There aren't that many cartidges I care to load more than 50 at a time, so the turret will maintain a place with its committed investment. Starting over though, I would skip the turret. The Pro4000 is slick.

[BBarn]

Originally Posted by Wendyj

I only want to spend once.

Lee products typically use a number of plastic parts, some of which tend to wear out or break and need to be purchased again and replaced. So if you only want to spend once, some of the other brands may be a better choice. Dillon and others offer much better warranties (often lifetime) as well.

[3Crows]

There are no plastic parts on my Lee Classic Cast Iron SS or on my Classic Cast Iron Turret. I removed the mechanism and manual index just because that is how I like to load, however, I think that part does have a plastic part intentionally.

3C

[std7mag]

Wendy,
I have the Lee Classic 4 hole turret press.
For the cartridges you said it will work fine. If you think about it your pulling the lever 4 times per round with a single stage. Just don't have auto advance. And there is no unscrewing the die, screwing the next one in.
Just set up once and done. Also as easy as a 1/4( actually 1/8) turn, lift turret plate, install next turret plate with different caliber and go.

You can do same for your 7mm Rem Mag. Just take advance rod out and manually advance.

[squirreljuice]

Wendy,

I also have the Lee Classic Turret and have been reloading on it for two years now. I really like it myself, and 4 strokes per round really isn't too bad. I like being able to easily stop and spot check things throughout the stages and I also like using it as a single stage from time to time if I'm only say decapping prior to tumbling or something like that. I can consistently crank out about 150 to 175 rounds of pistol per hour on it. You will definitely want to look into the Auto Drum for it though. The Auto Disk is great for pistol rounds with flake powders, but for rifle rounds or fine powders it really isn't all that great. Changing calibers is a breeze on it and I've put several thousand rounds through mine with no problems or breakages. The plastic indexing part really isn't a problem if you don't slam the ram down every stroke and keep it lubed with a little bit of graphite or some other dry lube.

[TruthTellers]

Originally Posted by springer99

If you'll be happy with a round output of around 150-175/hr, then the Lee Classic Cast Turret will do that fine. Purchase a few extra turrets, use your existing dies, and change-over just takes a few minutes at most. Make sure you get the Lee Auto-drum powder drop for the press, as you'll need that to handle the powder drops for .223. Yep, it's four pulls for one round but it's not as bad as it sounds.

If you want higher output, like 300-500/hr then your choice will end up being a Dillon 550/650 or Hornady LnL progressive. Either one of those will come with a suitable powder measure for pistol and rifle cartridges. Dillon vs. Hornady is a very personal choice and IMHO, neither one is better or worse than the other. Both will provide rock-solid performance and after-market service is great for both.

Eh, Idk if 150-175 is accurate of an output with the LCT. Maybe if he's slamming ammo together and not checking the powder drop every 20 rounds and not really paying attention to anything other than getting it done as fast as possible.

Idk, I have the Lee stand and no real room to reload, so I'm limited having to reach all over to get stuff and I check my powder charges. I'd say I average about 100 rds/hr.

[condor bravo]

I'll recommend the Dillon 550C which is manual advance rather than automatic like the 650. But there is some expense in changing calibers--a caliber conversion kit, a tool head (that holds the dies), and a powder die (that screws into the toolhead also) that the powder measure attaches to. Those parts cost around $88 total. Perhaps you have the Dillon Blue Press catalog. And the 550C costs around $480 for the standard features.

[ed308]

Dillon 550 or 650 would be my choice. I like the powder check die plus auto indexing on the 650. The 550 is only 4 stations and a manual index. Still a fast progressive press. Get a case feeder. Your arm with thank you. Plus you'll finish reloading sessions a lot faster.

[xandi]

You can always use the other arm to pull the handle...
How large of batch’s are you wanting to do? A larger batch less often might be better on the Dillion, for plinking loads

[snakeye]

The turret looks simple enough but still 4 strokes per round. I only want to spend once.

Wendyj

Even with a progressive press it still will take 4 pulls to produce a round, the only difference is you are producing other steps on other rounds at the same time which increases the production of rounds per hour.....

I can run 200-250 rounds an hour but I have been using my turret press a long time....but I also deprime and prime on a single stage press first.....and the Lee Classic Turret is a lot less complected to run.

[lordmorgul]

The sacrificial wear plastic parts on the Lee turret press spindle are easily replaced at less than a $1 and you can get several ahead of time, it’s a non-issue.


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Andrew - Lancaster, CA
NRA Life Member, SAF / CRPA / FPC member and supporter, USCCA Member

[Wendyj]

Will the upgraded powder chargers on the Lee throw Unique within .1-.2 grain. It's pretty much my go to powder in the 45 colt. I've been using a Hornady loc n load dispenser for loading 50 or so now. Scooping and trickling for 10--5 rounds. My Lee powder measure won't come close between charges.

[std7mag]

My spot checks using the Auto Disk and Unique for the 45 ACP are spot on.

Sometimes the disk "seeps" powder if it's a fine granular like Silhouette.

Don't know how much the Dillon is, but you can get turrets for the Lee for around $12-15.
Sometimes they go on sale cheaper.
Also i have 3 shops locally that have Lee parts if i need them. Only i shop around (within 50 miles) carrys anything for Dillon.

[LBussy]

Originally Posted by Wendyj

Will the upgraded powder chargers on the Lee throw Unique within .1-.2 grain. It's pretty much my go to powder in the 45 colt. I've been using a Hornady loc n load dispenser for loading 50 or so now. Scooping and trickling for 10--5 rounds. My Lee powder measure won't come close between charges.

I've not used Unique so I can't say but it's said it is a more difficult powder to throw. Others will likely chime in. However, if you feel or discover that the Lee powder throw is not for you, others will fit. The Lee Pro Auto Disk is lighter than some of the others I've seen. That may be a consideration since it's spinning on the turret.