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Lee Classic Turret Press

DJK Frank 16

DJK Frank 16

Senior Member
Supporting Member
9,358
133
Hardin County
I took the plunge over the weekend and equipped my shop with a reloader.

Got the bench all cleaned up and and organized the night before, as well as hung a shelf for supplies.


bench_prep.JPG

Here is all of the equipment on the shelf and bench after initial install.


reloading_bench1.JPG


Ended up with a Lee Classic 4 hole Turret Press kit.


Lee_Classic_turret_installed.JPG

Frankford Arsenal case tumbler after tumbling some 9mm brass.

frankford_arsenal_case_tumbler.JPG

Here are the once fired 9mm brass fresh out of the tumbler and ready for some case prep.

case_tumbling9mm.JPG

First two loads out of the press. 9mm Luger. Both of these are within spec, the one on the left has a little more crimp, and the one on the right as a little larger overall length. Was still fine tuning the dies at this point.

1st_loads_9mm-8-26-12.JPG


Some 45ACP fresh out of the tumbler this morning, ready for some case prep after work today!


cleaned_brass_45ACP.JPG


Also ended up with an RCBS scale, CCI primers, and Alliant Unique powder.
 
DJK Frank 16

DJK Frank 16

Senior Member
Supporting Member
9,358
133
Hardin County
Thanks fellas! Got to test and tune my first batch of 9mm Luger tonight. I bet I measured and weighed those bad boys 10 times... just a weird feeling getting ready to fire those first reloads for the first time. Everything went well, first batch was very accurate.
 
DJK Frank 16

DJK Frank 16

Senior Member
Supporting Member
9,358
133
Hardin County
hickslawns said:
Awesome! Might need a lesson or two from you!
Click to expand...

Sounds good! And thanks for offering up those books, my wife had a wedding over the weekend that she was in so me and the boy were home all weekend hanging out. I ended up finding some online versions of the ABC's of reloading and a few others. Knocked them out this past weekend and then decided to get the equipment purchased.

Even with components pretty high right now, I still like the prices that I can reload rounds for, especially if I already have the brass.
 
M

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
You did well with the Lee turret press. I recommend that you get a sperate turret for each caliber so you won't have to change out the dies once you have them adjusted. Over the years my son and I have problay sold over 2,000 Lee turret press.
Myself I have had Dillon presses for over 20 yrs. I now have 4 differant Dillon presses setup and beside of them sits my Lee turret press. Anytime I have a new gun to load for I setup the Lee turret press as I have about 12 differant die heads already setup and all I have to do is adjust the powder measure and load. Then if I need a large production run I setup a Dillon press and that may take 30-60 minutes.
With the Lee turret press I can have a loaded round in the gun and shooting in about 5 minutes.
Enjoy you new reloading hobby.
Frank
 
Last edited:
DJK Frank 16

DJK Frank 16

Senior Member
Supporting Member
9,358
133
Hardin County
Got the dies all fine tuned to my liking and locked down. Ran through 250 rounds of 9mm Luger last night. Really loving this press so far.

250rounds_9mm_8-28-12.JPG


These rounds were loaded with the following:

Hornady 115 grain FMJ bullets
5.7 grains of Alliant Unique Powder
CCI No. 500 Small Pistol Primers
Overall Length right at 1.147"
Mixed Winchester and Federal once fired brass


Waiting on my 45ACP bullets to arrive in the mail hopefully soon, this reloading bug has bit me HARD!
 
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