As retirement comes closer, I will probably start shooting my handguns everyday since I'm paid up at Frisco Gun Club for another year.

I probably have enough factory rounds rat holed to last forever but....

so for speeds sake without going to a Dillon what would be a good choice press?

I've been using two of them for decades,they have always loaded very accurate ammo for me. I take out the auto index rod,if I want a progressive press,I'll buy a Dillon.

I like the lee turret. It works good.

I have one on my bench right beside the RockChucker. It is a good press for the money, but if you are wanting EXACT tolerances you're better off with the RCBS turret. The Lee turret plate has just enough vertical play in it to make it a little variable when seating bullets and resizing. Is it a problem? Not really. I load for several calibers with it and have been pleased. But there ARE better alternatives ..... for more money, of course.

All in all would I recommend it? Yes. As long as you understand that there will be very minor variations. But unless you're shooting 1000 yard matches it's not enough to make a difference.

You won't be unhappy with the Lee. Keep it clean and add a drop or two of oil every now and then and it will do you good.

I've got the lee classic turret and haven't had any problems. There's another lee turret, I think it's aluminum, the cast iron one is much better in my opinion.

When loading for my 9mm I can do about 100 rnds/hr.

They're very good. Is it a Dillon? No, but it's about a quarter the cost, and switching calibers takes about 30 seconds.

Been using mine for years, never had an issue with any variances. Makes consistent, accurate ammunition. Every time.

I've been using LEE stuff for decades dating back to my first .222 hand loader that shot plenty of game.
I don't use their powder measure and scale but if you follow the instructions, they also work fine.
I have a Rock Chucker right beside the LEE on the bench and use the LEE most of the time as the on-press primer system is much easier and faster.

When you are chasing that last 1 percent of accuracy, you may OR may not achieve it with other brands.

The targets don't know the difference.
Even the fancy stuff has a learning curve so be diligent.

Another Lee Turret fan, have used one for a very long time. I started with the original 3 hole turret and then converted it to a 4 hole when they became available. Later, went ahead and bought the Classic Cast Turret. I also have the Challenger single stage and three Load Masters.

I have the cast iron version and really like it. Every turret press will have some play in it - there is no way for the turret to turn otherwise. Turrets that rotate around a single point will tilt as pressure is applied. The Lee turret is captured around its circumference, so the travel is straight up and to the same point every time. As mentioned, the turrets are cheap - buy one for each caliber and leave your dies set. I haven't had a problem with the plastic bushing on the index rod - I think people that do are short-stroking the ram and putting it in a bind.

Jeff

I have 8 presses on my bench and my Classic cast gets used 4 days a week on average. Really a great design, just wish it had 1 more station for my neck sizing dies.
I got the bench prime last year. This is by far the best way I have found to prime any cartridge. Works well and consistently. The Lee drum measure is one of the best on the press measures I have found, once you get it set it just throws the same charge all day.

I agree with you. When they introduced the Classic Cast I was hoping it would have five stations. Still like it but a five holer would offer a lot of utility.


I bought two of the Auto Drums and don't like them. As a lifetime Lee guy that has worked with the VMD of a powder and the cc of a charge, I think the setup is very haphazard. I also keep records of the sample charges in a run of ammo, usually check it every 5th drop, and the Auto Drum sits behind the basic Auto Disk from my records. The Pro Auto Disk is better and the Perfect Powder Measure the best as far as the accuracy of the charge.

From my recorded tests with rifle powders the Auto Drum typically has an SD of .2 grains and an ES of up to .5 grains. The Perfect Powder Measure mounted on a GunGuide's Adapter on top of a Powder Through Expander or Large/Small Rifle Charging die will have half that. From side by side testing an SD of .1 grain and an ES of .2 grains. The PPM does require manual activation. Switching to pistol powders the charges are smaller but so is the powder shapes and SD & ES of the Auto Drum remains the same. With pistols, my recorded results are that the Pro Auto Disk cuts the numbers in half just like the PPM did with rifle powders.

What helps the Auto Drum get closer on the extreme spread of the charges is not to use the first 10 ccs of powder. The measure has a very long chamber and feed. To be exact, the Auto Drum housing contains 8.39cc of capacity and it needs to be as packed as the powder is in the hopper. In comparison the PPM houses 3.27cc.

Finally, I really had a problem with the Auto Drum crushing cases. It depends on the cases but as an example the long 38-55 Win (Starline Long) case crushes immediately. I have experienced damage from this product with every type of case. The spring is too stiff, no doubt about that.

I'm running five presses; a Challenger, Classic Turret, and three Load-Masters, actively loading 28 different cartridges.

Interesting you have trouble with the drum measure. Mine lives on my 300BO turret. I will say that if it has sat for a while I will have to make about 10 throws to settle in.
I have only used mine with 4227 ??

That's probably a really good powder for it and it will be fine with cycling the powder through it. You're load is probably about 1.5cc so as long as you dump 8 cycles back into the hopper, you should be good to go. Don't load the case that you used to cycle that powder as it will set the shoulder back on the cartridge. That spring is hell on annealed bottleneck cartridges even with one cycle.

I'm a real Lee fan and feel they should have stuck with a metered rod. I know they say you can count the faucets of the key to adjust the load, which kind of works, but with a metered rod you would have a starting point for moving this thing across applications. My intent was to use it on my Turret press for all my rifle applications and I bought two to keep one for short cartridge applications and then the other for long. So, I had hoped to have a drum set for each application especially after I saw how hard they are to adjust. What I saw immediately is that large drums were going to be costly because of how they are boxed. The box of spares contains two small and two large drums which really doesn't make sense and the large drums have the plugs that make them small drums. The set should be four large drums and they could be either. I needed eight large drums that means I would need to buy four boxes of the spares.

With all the lack of utility not built into this product, I don't think Mr. Lee would have ever released it. One good thing that came from this product is that they went from a single length of rifle charging die (short) to both the long and short. They day the longs were in stock, I bought nine. I've needed them for a long time!

I have the PPM and auto disk also.
If my autodisk has been sitting a while the first charge will be a bit large but it settles quickly. Very reliable and consistent. Wish someone would build a aluminum adjustable charge bar for AD