Hunting Washington Forum

Equipment & Gear => Guns and Ammo => Topic started by: Jekemi on February 17, 2011, 11:26:27 AM

Title: Lee Classis Turret press question for rifle reloading
Post by: Jekemi on February 17, 2011, 11:26:27 AM: I just got my Lee Classic Turret press. In addition to reloading .40 caliber for the Smith & Wesson M&P I want to reload .270 and .308 caliber. However the non-expanding, powder through die for rifle says it only works up to 30 calibers. In addition, the Lee Auto Powder Measure, even with the double disk says it will only throw 42 grains of powder. How do I use the Lee Auto Powder Measure with the Lee Classic Turret press for larger calibers and greater than 42 grains of powder?
Title: Re: Lee Classis Turret press question for rifle reloading
Post by: Jekemi on February 17, 2011, 11:38:24 AM: excuse me, that should be .303 British (.311 diameter).
Title: Re: Lee Classis Turret press question for rifle reloading
Post by: Lincoln4 on February 17, 2011, 11:42:42 AM: I have the same press and it's working great for .308, using the powder through die. .308 is the largest caliber I've reloaded, so don't know about that one.

You can purchase extra disks for the powder measure, and I have read you can use several disks. You just need longer screws and stack them three, four, or however many it takes. Seems like it would work to me. Good luck and let us know.
Title: Re: Lee Classis Turret press question for rifle reloading
Post by: luv2shoot on February 17, 2011, 12:24:31 PM: I put a uni flow on mine with the Hornady case activated powder drop set up. Now I can just dial in any charge without having to settle on the pre set disks. It works great..
Title: Re: Lee Classis Turret press question for rifle reloading
Post by: Jekemi on February 22, 2011, 06:43:07 PM: Love2shoot: what's a uni flow?
Title: Re: Lee Classis Turret press question for rifle reloading
Post by: uncoolperson on February 22, 2011, 07:00:37 PM: I use the double disk and got an expander dohicky.

for the powder thing I read somewhere about just running the shells through twice once at x volume and once at y (carefully!!!).
Title: Re: Lee Classis Turret press question for rifle reloading
Post by: Lincoln4 on February 23, 2011, 12:40:16 PM: Yeah, I guess that would work as well... Kinda seems like perfect opportunity to win a Darwin Award to me... :yike: I'd be the one to double or triple charge!
Title: Re: Lee Classis Turret press question for rifle reloading
Post by: Jekemi on March 06, 2011, 02:01:06 PM: Answering my own question: My Lee Pro Auto Disk powder measure arrived yesterday. I quickly set it up on the Lee Rifle Case Activated die along with the other dies for 7.62 X 54. I'm sure Lee doesn't approve of this but if you stack three disks, adding up to 3.90 CC's (two 1.57 disks and one .76 disks) equaling 53 grains of IMR 4350, it works just fine. The 7.62 X 54 case fits nicely in the Lee Rifle Case Activated powder through die. It correctly AND accurately measures out 53 grain of powder into the cartridge. So much for not being able to load any bullets above 30 caliber.
Title: Re: Lee Classis Turret press question for rifle reloading
Post by: timberghost72 on March 06, 2011, 04:58:18 PM: How do you like that turret press for pistol ammo? I have the single stage press but was looking at the turret press for pistol rounds. (takes a long time with a single stage) I am going to keep the single stage for rifle ammo.

Sorry for the :jacked:
Title: Re: Lee Classis Turret press question for rifle reloading
Post by: BlackRidge on March 07, 2011, 08:17:16 AM: Quote from: timberghost72 on March 06, 2011, 04:58:18 PM
How do you like that turret press for pistol ammo? I have the single stage press but was looking at the turret press for pistol rounds. (takes a long time with a single stage) I am going to keep the single stage for rifle ammo.

Sorry for the :jacked:

I'd go with a progressive rather than turret if you're looking to upgrade, save yourself some time/sanity

Single stage gives you much more control over the process, but takes forever. Turret styles will make things easier, but the can still be tedious. And progressives, while more expensive will help produce far more rounds with far less actual work on your part

:twocents:

My powder thru has never failed me, though I've only used it up to 300win/30-06
Title: Re: Lee Classis Turret press question for rifle reloading
Post by: cwuwildcat on March 07, 2011, 08:23:58 AM: Quote from: BlackRidge on March 07, 2011, 08:17:16 AM
Quote from: timberghost72 on March 06, 2011, 04:58:18 PM
How do you like that turret press for pistol ammo? I have the single stage press but was looking at the turret press for pistol rounds. (takes a long time with a single stage) I am going to keep the single stage for rifle ammo.

Sorry for the :jacked:

I'd go with a progressive rather than turret if you're looking to upgrade, save yourself some time/sanity

Single stage gives you much more control over the process, but takes forever. Turret styles will make things easier, but the can still be tedious. And progressives, while more expensive will help produce far more rounds with far less actual work on your part

:twocents:

My powder thru has never failed me, though I've only used it up to 300win/30-06

Forever's a relative term. For the calibers he's loading, I doubt he'll be mass producing bunch. Less than a hundred can be knocked out in a couple of hours with a turret, with the benefit of catching mistakes as they happen.
Title: Re: Lee Classis Turret press question for rifle reloading
Post by: Jekemi on March 07, 2011, 12:33:53 PM: I have no intention of buying a progressive press. I have a single stage press and now the Lee Classic Turret Press. The turret is simple to use and set up. It dramatically speeds up the reloading process especially with the powder measure and Lee Safety primer. I have used it for both pistol cartridges and rifle cartridges.

If I have a need for a 5 hole turret I will have to reconsider but I don't at this point. Redding has a very nice 7 hole turret press, but it is not indexed; you have to manually move the turret from one die to another. Besides, it is as expensive as the Lee top of the line Progressive Press. The Lee classic turret press is auto indexed; it moves the die through the reloading stages for you. Gavin Gear of UltimateReloader.com gave it high marks and I concur; it's well designed, rugged, and inexpensive to buy.

PS. I got my Classis Turret press for $84 from the Lee Factory site. Everything there is considerably cheaper than from either MidwayUSA or Cabela's.
Title: Re: Lee Classis Turret press question for rifle reloading
Post by: luv2shoot on March 07, 2011, 08:28:28 PM: A Uni flow is the RCBS powder hopper. Take a look at the Hornady progressive press set up at how the powder measure is hooked up. I basically did the same thing with the RCBS unit. I used the uni flow because it's a little smaller and doesn't weigh as much. I don't really think you would need more than 4 stations for handgun. 1) size & deprime 2) expand & charge 3)seat 4) crimp. If I get a good rythm I can easily load 150 an hour. That's with checking OAL and powder weight on a beam scale every 10 rounds. I like it so much better than the Pro Auto Disk. The Lee set up works but the Uni flow works so much better. You can dial in any charge to a 10th of a grain, depending on powder. Your not limited to pre set amounts based on cavity size. I believe I was going to have to use the double disk set to load for my 44. Figure the CAPD Hornady linkage cost about 60 bucks, the measure about 70, and I'd strongly suggest you go with Powder Funnel expander. It's 25 bucks and you use it for all your pistol calibers. The hornady expanders are nice but not like Powder Funnels brand. I also bought extra lower asembly's and put one for each caliber on it's own turret o all I have to do is move the meaure from turret to turret without adjusting each time for each caliber I load. It adds to the price of your set up but still way cheaper than a progressive. Lee is the only one that makes a true turret ( indexes on it's own ) the rest are die storage plates you index yourself. Sounds complicated but look at the Hornady progresive and you'll know exactly what I'm talkin about.