Lee Classic Turret

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
I have had this press ever since it came out. The last few weeks I have been working on loads for 2 of my AR's. I have been getting horrible groups out of both uppers. So I took the same loads and ran them through my Savage bolt action in 223 with a 1-9 twist barrel. This thing shoots amazing groups with just about everything I feed it. Well the groups were about the same as the 2 uppers.

So I took a few of my pet loads for the bolt action and shot them through the uppers. They did a LOT better. So I am chasing down what the difference on why the loads I have been testing and the pet loads. Well I loaded the pet loads on my RCBS chucker press. And all of these I have been testing were loaded on the LEE.

So something is up with the LEE press. So I started to load a few shells real slow to see what might be the issue. I think I may have found it. The ram is not in line with the turret holes. It is off a few degrees or so. When you run the shell up into the die, you can see the case is tipped to one side as it goes into the die. So I must be bending the neck of the bullets! I am going to try some loads done on the RCBS next.

This sucks. I have shot a couple hundred rounds in the last month trying to figure a load. I am thinking I should be able to loosen the bolts on the top and maybe adjust the head from there. Anyone else think that this may be part of my accuracy issue? And has anyone seen this before? If I were not down to eye level with the ram I might not have seen this.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Do you have a case spinner to see if the ammo is straight? Sounds like it would fail.

It is not cheap, but my Redding T-7 has been a really good press. Unfortunately you can
darn near buy three of the Lee Classic Turrets for the money on one Redding T7. If you
are on a tight budget, that probably isn't on the option list.

Hope you can sort it out.

Bill
 
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Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Yep I have seen that, a couple of times. One was a Rock Chucker and the problem turned out to be the shell holder when made was milled on a bit of an angle. Used a different shell holder, same die, same brass and all was good. The other time was a Redding T7, didn't much matter what dies or shell holder or anything all 7 holes are off set from the ram. It is now an expensive decapping press because Redding told me to pound sand.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Many of the classic turret press ram heads had a machining defect where the shellholder recess wasn't cut deep enough and the shellholder would be off center.

Like Bill asked, do you have a concentricity gauge? It's important to check neck/body concentricity and bullet concentricity at every single point in the reloading process, from fired case to finished cartridge. That way you know what you're starting with and exactly what each process is doing or not doing for you.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
I may or may not be admitting to having the same problem with an original LEE turret press (or any press I've used), but I watch the base of the case in the shell-holder and let the case center itself as it enters the die, both resizing and seating. I never saw it as a problem but may not have experienced the severity of it as described in the original post. I've done this with every press I've owned or used.

It could even be a piece of junk in the slot the shell-holder goes into if it's bad enough to make such a difference. I've removed the shell-holder spring on one occasion because it held the shell-holder too far out to let the case self-center.
 

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
I do not have a concentricity gauge. I am going to take a closer look later to see if the head can be adjusted to line it up. It may just be twisted a little.
 

JonB

Halcyon member
On all my Lee classic Presses, the retention spring in the Ram, that retains the shell holder will cock the shell holder and the case that's in it, so as a long rifle case/bullet will enter the seater and make it appear that the press/Ram is misaligned. I don't use Lee's Seater's for Rifle, I use Bonanza BR seaters, anyway, the case and shell holder straighten out as the BR Seater is engaged. I have used the Red Neck concentricity test, and my naked eye doesn't see any problem in the assembled round.
 

JonB

Halcyon member
Yes.
I got a pretty/polished/flat slab of marble (6"x12") at a jobsite long ago, when my Boss was "let go" (AKA: fired)
He had this Bass fishing Tournament trophy/plaque/executive pen holder on his desk ....well it was that neat slab of marble with a brass plate with his name engraved on it on one side and a gold pen on a chain on the other side. He left most of his stuff behind after being let go. As "Second-in-Command", I scored most of his stuff.
anyway, it works great as a concentricity tester.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Mine's pink granite, salvaged from a counter installer's scrap heap.

If you want perfect alignment with the convenience of a bench-mounted press, the Forster Co-Ax is the tool to buy. There's good reason they cost over $300.
 

Rick H

Well-Known Member
I must be missing something here...I float the shell holder on my presses...Lyman Spar T, Redding Boss, Lee Classic and Lee standard turret. If the retaining clip is too tight (set screw in the Lyman) I loosen it. The case self centers in the die.
 

Gary

SE Kansas
Wilson Bullet Seating and Neck sizing dies for all my "precision" stuff, plus I use the Hornady Concentricity gauge.
 
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Ian

Notorious member
Hard to beat Wilson. For a traditional press, Forster seems to be the next best. I tend to run my Lee Turret/Classic Turret shellholders with the open end about my eight o'clock position, which gives the best "float" to the case base and corrects the typical indexing misalignments of the presses. Floating the shellholder with reduced spring tension helps on the Lee presses also as Rick H. mentioned. If the opening of the shellholder is toward me, it gives a lot less wiggle room left/right. I had to take a Dremel to both of my Lee Classic Turret ram adapters to deepen the shellholder recess and allow the shellholder to actually slide in far enough to be truly concentric with the ram.
 
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