Lee Classic Turret and RCBS Rotary Case Cleaner

[skipper]

I originally stated that the picture of Rick's progressive press was what persuaded me to go lay out some cash. Well, that's not the whole story - not quite. At around that same time I sent my boys a video of me decapping some of those 600 cases I was reloading with my Rock Chucker. My younger son is an avid reloader so I figured he might enjoy the visual. My oldest boy, a sheriff's deputy and not a reloader, said "well that's going to take a while"'. So it was actually a combination of factors that pushed me over the edge, so to speak. I just wanted to be fair laying the blame here.

I have my press all setup for 9MM. So now I have turned my attention to 45 ACP. I really love the fact that I can simply change turrets and load another caliber without having to adjust dies all over again. While this press CANNOT compete with a progressive in terms of quantity, it IS just what I was looking for. In an hour I can easily turn out a hundred rounds of 9MM and then just by swapping turrets (ten seconds max) I can spend the next hour turning out a hundred 357 magnum or any other caliber. I may just buy one of these presses for my son who reloads. He has a birthday coming up soon.

I don't quite have $500 tied up in this press. That figure I quoted was for the press, tumbler and other goodies in my original picture. So cost wise you can get one of these presses for around $110. Then the dies, primer and powder dispensers are going to cost you a little more. But, in the end I'm happy with the way this turned out. I think a progressive press is in my future, but it will probably be a shotshell press. I go through a lot more shotgun shells than I do any other calibers combined. I love to bird hunt. I always will. Where I live duck, goose, and dove hunting prevail in the Katy Prairie - Eagle Lake area. Throw in an occasional Sand Hill Crane for good measures. That's not even mentioning the skeet and trap shooting I do in the off season. So, if anyone has any recommendations for a shotshell press that can load lead and steel shot in 2 3/4", 3", and 3 1/2" magnum shells send me a shout. I'm all ears. I prefer something a bit better than the Lee Loads All though. I'm currently considering the RCBS Grand whoever the MEC 650N is in the running.

Now the RCBS Case Tumbler was a lot more expensive than the press. That thing was $200 where I bought it. I think you can get it cheaper online at Midway USA or elsewhere. I am convinced that the case tumbler is the way to go. I wanted to thank Bill K and Triggerfingers for offering suggestions of where I could buy other media that will not end up stuck in the case neck. Bill was even gracious enough to send me a sample package. My advice for tumbling in wet media is to put all your available cases, regardless of caliber, into the drum so you won't have to do quite as many loads. You can sort them out later. I haven't yet followed that advice, but I'm going to give it a try real soon. I don't want to have to run that thing numerous times for different size cases. It is an involved process, but the results will leave you amazed. Plan on spending a good amount of time with buckets and hoses after you turn the thing off. Never, I repeat NEVER open the drum without a catch bucket under it. And when the salesman tells you that you need a big magnet to help separating pins/media from the cases, take his advice!! A regular case/media separator pan combo like you would use for dry media works well also.

I'm going to put this review to rest now. Getting long in the tooth. Enjoy!

[Rick in Oregon]

Most handloaders go through a long progression of presses and equipment over the years. I'm no exception. But for you Skipper, I see a Dillon RL550C progressive in your future. Caliber changeover in less than 30 seconds, 500 rnds/hr.

Once you drink the "blue koolaid", you'll never look back, that I promise.

[Rick in Oregon]

As we're talking handguns and handgun ammo here, I thought I'd throw out a couple of pics taken yesterday after about two hours at the bench with my Dillon RL550.

Every pull of the press handle, a fresh cartridge is plopped into the bin:



And just over two hours later, I've got 750 loaded 9mm rounds, loaded with two styles of 124gr bullets:



A single stage press rules for producing high quality, accurate target or rat rounds, but for loading bulk handgun ammo, nothing beats a good progressive press!

Anybody considering a progressive press should do their homework, consider all available brands and models before spending your cash. I did, and in the end there was no real competition....Dillon won in every category, especially their customer service; absolutely excellent.

[skipper]

I wanted to give you an update on the Lee Classic Turret Press. Again, I have ordered a couple more accessories. As pointed out in the picture, I finally got my Safety Primer Feed (newest version) in the mail. Then I bought the Lee TAPER Crimp die. Not to be confused with the Factory Crimp Die. I did get a Factory Crimp Die, but for 357 Magnum cannelured bullets. And, finally, I just couldn't work around the Riser Tube. All it does is lift the powder dispenser about an inch or better so that it clears the Primer Tray on its way around the merry go round.

LeeClassicTurretComplete.jpg (88.38 KiB) Viewed 2627 times

Would I recommend this press now. So, my opinion has changed slightly. If I was recommending a press to a beginner I would definitely recommend they start with a single stage press. There is so much to be learned about reloading that I think some might be overwhelmed by all the things you have to watch out for with a turret or progressive press. It's better to learn the basics first and then spread your wings.

Now for someone with some years of experience under their belt I would ask them a question. How much, realistically, do you reload? Seriously!!! If you just need to turn out 100 or so rounds per week or less the Lee Classic Turret Press is a value hard to beat. However, BIG however, if you are competing or do a lot of shooting where you need to turn out more than that consistently and your time is limited, a progressive press is the ticket. The turret press can turn out a lot of ammo, but it takes 4 strokes per round. Once in full production, a progressive press drops a loaded round with every pull of the handle. The only potential drawback is that there is a lot more complexity to operating a progressive press. With a progressive press the expense of getting everything set up means that you're going to have to reload a lot of ammunition for it to pay for itself. You decide.