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Currently I prime separately and use an RCBS powder dropper prior to seating cases in the Lee. Would it be worth putting the Lee powder dropper on the turret and use it that way like it was intended? A buddy of mine said to not use it that way but I'm second guessing his input now. He did say that the primer unit Lee uses sucks. I guess I'm wondering if I should add the component parts that will make my existing rotate when I crank the handle? Currently I manually turn with my hand. Just had to ask. I'll put my big boy pants on and buy another, but I was trying to avoid having to rebuy the dies. I have read you can't use Lee dies on the blue one. And that they barely seat on the red Hornady because the Lee dies are shorter.
 
I would use a Hornady AP if you're having concerns about the Lee one. I don't know about the dies being shorter, I have a set of Lee dies I use on my AP L-n-L and they have plenty of lenght to fit just fine.
 
I've used my Lee classic turret for years, still use it for calibers I don't shoot a lot of, much easier than changing over an readjusting the progressives. Yes, use the Lee powder drop, yes, put in the linkage so it autorotates with each pull of the handle. Some guys hate the primer dispenser on the classic turret, it's a bit fuggly, but it works for me. The worst thing is you'll occasionally drop a primer on the floor. It's a good little press, if you need to pump out a lot of ammo, get a progressive.
 
I've not used a classic turret, just the Loadmaster -- perhaps @Certaindeaf might have some wisdom for you.

1) Does your buddy use a Lee? Seems he is parroting a lot of the "Lee sucks" drivel that many state without any real-world experience to back it up.
2) I use Lee dies on my Dillon 650 without any problems.
3) I used their "Perfect Powder Measure" for years in my Loadmaster without any problems or double charges. I have read many who swear that it's one of *the* most accurate progressive press powder drops.
4) While I would occasionally laugh at the priming system in the way it would shake the primer tray, it worked consistently. Every single priming system I have used has its hiccups -- Hornady LnL AP, Lee Loadmaster and Dillon 650.

Take note of a Lee press -- there are plastic and cast aluminum parts. Those are really no big deal, but you have to remember, never force any operation on the press if it's giving you resistance. It's that simple. The same applies to other presses too. I've snapped the ram head off my Hornady LnL, and I've jammed the case feed on my Dillon more than a few times.

If I were on a budget, I'd go Lee all the way. If budget wasn't a limiting factor, I'd get Blue (Dillon).
I gave my Loadmaster away as a thank you to someone who got me out of a jam, and bought a Hornady LnL AP to replace it. I never really cared for the Hornady press, and have been much, much happier since buying a used 650.
 
I have been using Lee Turrets since I started many decades back. I prime by hand and use a powder measure to do the charging separately. I have always preferred to batch load. The thing I have always liked about the Lee is I just buy extra turrets and leave the dies in them set and ready to go.
 
Lee dies won't work on a Dillon Square Deal B. Nor will anyone else's because the SDB uses proprietary dies. Lee dies will work just fine on the 550, 650, 750 or 1050
I use them on my 650. Lee dies IMO are quite good and a great value
i started reloading on a Lee Turret press 40 years ago and loaded thousands of quality 44 mag and 45 ACP rounds on it. I still have it and occasionally use it ( I would stick with the RCBS powder measure) but Dillon presses are my primary reloaders these days.
The turret press was simple and solid and you can reload forever on it.
OTOH, the stay away from the Lee Pro 1000. It was a nightmare. Primer feed was utterly unreliable and the auto indexing didn't
 
Lee dies won't work on a Dillon Square Deal B. Nor will anyone else's because the SDB uses proprietary dies. Lee dies will work just fine on the 550, 650, 750 or 1050
I use them on my 650. Lee dies IMO are quite good and a great value
i started reloading on a Lee Turret press 40 years ago and loaded thousands of quality 44 mag and 45 ACP rounds on it. I still have it and occasionally use it ( I would stick with the RCBS powder measure) but Dillon presses are my primary reloaders these days.
The turret press was simple and solid and you can reload forever on it.
OTOH, the stay away from the Lee Pro 1000. It was a nightmare. Primer feed was utterly unreliable and the auto indexing didn't
I have never tried one myself but have heard so many say the same thing about the Lee progressive that I have often wondered why they still sell. I can't remember every hearing anyone who uses one say they recommend them. Always something along the lines of "I can make it work, or with a lot of tinkering...........":confused:
While I love most of Lee's stuff I have always told anyone who asked me to go more expensive if they want a progressive.
 
Lee had great ideas like their case collator, but they were so cheaply made that they'd break after minimal use. Lee Dies are great as are their bullet molds and I would recommend the turret press to anyone but the rest of their stuff? Hard pass.

As for progressive presses? Dillon Blue all the way !!
 
Lee had great ideas like their case collator, but they were so cheaply made that they'd break after minimal use. Lee Dies are great as are their bullet molds and I would recommend the turret press to anyone but the rest of their stuff? Hard pass.

As for progressive presses? Dillon Blue all the way !!
I can't remember who makes it now but there was a video of a fully automatic set up here a while back. Load it up and turn it on and its spitting out loaded rounds. Of course it was NOT cheap but damn it looked nice. Have long said if I win the lotto will have to buy another full auto. If I do may have to get one of those too so feeding it is easier :D
 
Probably a Dillon Super 1050 with an autodrive. The problem I have with my 650 and 1050 is keeping the primer feed full. You get cranking on them and soon as you hit that rhythm, the low primer warning goes off. However, 2 people working together can crank out a thousand rounds an hour with 1 person running the crank while the other keeps the powder, brass, bullet and primers topped off.
 
Currently I prime separately and use an RCBS powder dropper prior to seating cases in the Lee. Would it be worth putting the Lee powder dropper on the turret and use it that way like it was intended? A buddy of mine said to not use it that way but I'm second guessing his input now. He did say that the primer unit Lee uses sucks. I guess I'm wondering if I should add the component parts that will make my existing rotate when I crank the handle? Currently I manually turn with my hand. Just had to ask. I'll put my big boy pants on and buy another, but I was trying to avoid having to rebuy the dies. I have read you can't use Lee dies on the blue one. And that they barely seat on the red Hornady because the Lee dies are shorter.
The new Lee primer dispenser works very well and I think it'd be silly to not use the Lee powder measure mounted into the proper die and using the turret auto-advance mode.
I've been using mine for years and absolutely love it.
 
Lee had great ideas like their case collator, but they were so cheaply made that they'd break after minimal use. Lee Dies are great as are their bullet molds and I would recommend the turret press to anyone but the rest of their stuff? Hard pass.

As for progressive presses? Dillon Blue all the way !!
I have never tried one myself but have heard so many say the same thing about the Lee progressive that I have often wondered why they still sell. I can't remember every hearing anyone who uses one say they recommend them. Always something along the lines of "I can make it work, or with a lot of tinkering...........":confused:
While I love most of Lee's stuff I have always told anyone who asked me to go more expensive if they want a progressive.
OK then. For the record. I have and use, three different LEE M1000 machines. One each in .38 special/.357 Mag, 9mm, and .45 ACP. The Dillon is currently not being used as much. While the RCBS Rock Chucker still gets plenty of usage when loading (by the batch) rifle/bottleneck cartridges.

I have them set up so that if I needed to change the caliber of my loading secession.......I simply change out the press on the bench. Simple as that.

I've found that.......
Any progressive machine can/could be/will probably take more brain cells and problem-solving effort(s) to keep them running smoothly.

Yeah.....perhaps it's truly a case of, "To each his own" or "Different strokes for different folks".

Aloha, Mark

PS.....YES. I would recommend it (Lee M1000) for straight wall pistol cartridges where complex case prep is not involved. AND THEN.....NOT as a first press or to a first timer.
 
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I've used my Lee classic turret for years, still use it for calibers I don't shoot a lot of, much easier than changing over an readjusting the progressives. Yes, use the Lee powder drop, yes, put in the linkage so it autorotates with each pull of the handle. Some guys hate the primer dispenser on the classic turret, it's a bit fuggly, but it works for me. The worst thing is you'll occasionally drop a primer on the floor. It's a good little press, if you need to pump out a lot of ammo, get a progressive.
This.

Joe
 
OK then. For the record. I have and use, three different LEE M1000 machines. One each in .38 special/.357 Mag, 9mm, and .45 ACP. The Dillon is currently not being used as much. While the RCBS Rock Chucker still gets plenty of usage when loading (by the batch) rifle/bottleneck cartridges.

I have them set up so that if I needed to change the caliber of my loading secession.......I simply change out the press on the bench. Simple as that.

I've found that.......
Any progressive machine can/could be/will probably take more brain cells and problem-solving effort(s) to keep them running smoothly.

Yeah.....perhaps it's truly a case of, "To each his own" or "Different strokes for different folks".

Aloha, Mark
I have to say you are the first one I can remember saying you had one that works. I guess it makes sense since as far as I know they do still sell them. I could just never remember seeing anyone say they had one that worked like it was supposed to.
 
I've had my Lee classic turret press for seven years and I use it for all my pistol loading with 4 stations. I have extra turrets/dies and adjustable auto disc set ups for each caliber. The adjustable auto discs work very well and I believe that it's the same repetitive stroke of the handle that makes them consistent.
I prime all cases, rifle and pistol off press because I don't trust the press to accurately prime, just me and I have the time to do it 100% accurate.
Rifle loading is done on the Pro1000 with two stations, seating and crimp. I Dispense all charges for rifle loading, that way I know for a fact that there are no over/under or double charges.
Yeah I'm slow but I am accurate with my loads and I don't need to spit out thousands of rounds per hour on a red/blue progressive.
 
Convenience!!!

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Currently I prime separately and use an RCBS powder dropper prior to seating cases in the Lee. Would it be worth putting the Lee powder dropper on the turret and use it that way like it was intended? A buddy of mine said to not use it that way but I'm second guessing his input now. He did say that the primer unit Lee uses sucks. I guess I'm wondering if I should add the component parts that will make my existing rotate when I crank the handle? Currently I manually turn with my hand. Just had to ask. I'll put my big boy pants on and buy another, but I was trying to avoid having to rebuy the dies. I have read you can't use Lee dies on the blue one. And that they barely seat on the red Hornady because the Lee dies are shorter.
I have both a Lee three hole turret and the new Lee four hole turret press and enjoy loading on both. The new Lee on press priming system, I believe they call it the Gen. 3 works great once you adjust it to the press properly and keeping a good supply of primers in the hopper to get a good steady feed pressure is a must as well. I have two Lee old style round head hand primers set up for L and S primers but I have no issues priming on the four hole turret press.

You can use the various Lee powder droppers on the press if you have the Auto Disk Riser for the powder through expander die to actuate the powder dropper. I tend not to use the Lee powder through dies as I don't like the expanders for pistol cartridges using my cast lead bullets, instead I use Lyman or NOE two-step expanders so I drop powder using a powder drop die and my RCBS Little Dandy on my homemade powder stand over the press. I already had all the rotors I would ever need for both pistol and rifle cast loads, so no point in buying a bunch of powder droppers when I have to do is insert a powder through die for long or short cases.

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I spoiled my lazy self silly and bought the Hornady AP press with extra powder drops/lowers for each caliber set-up (40, 45, 9). Just reused the LEE dies. So the turret doesn't go untouched I'll keep loading large primer 10mm on it. :) Thanks and Merry Christmas, Hanakkah or other! Cheers!!
 

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