Lee turent press autoprime

• May 18, 2018

• #1

J

johnsopi

Member

Feb 8, 2018

88

Just got a Lee turrent press does any one find the primering system hard to use/pia. Is there better way.I had a Dillon 550 30yrs ago but lent it to a"friend"
Wish I had it back.

 

• May 18, 2018

• #2

Muleskinner

Ultimate Member

Apr 6, 2013

5,910

East of the Mississippi West of the Atlantic..

I have used it on my turret. it's cumbersome. I have also used both the old and new versions of the lee hand priming tool. The old one was more reliable but they don't make it or parts for it any more. I recently bought the RCBS bench primer and it works great. The only drawback to it is the tubes only hold about 100 primers and it takes a couple minutes to refill the tube. If you only reload a few hundred it's not bad, but if you reload in bulk like I do you find yourself filling them often I bought a few extra. https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/4...afbd76e5906de198695&utm_term=4585238366685510

 

• May 18, 2018

• #3

M

Major03

Ultimate Member

Jan 23, 2013

1,779

Northern Maryland, Baltimore County

I'd hand prime with an RCBS hand primer.

Some friend. I think you need to get a hold of him and get your 550 back.

 

• May 18, 2018

• #4

O

onedash

Ultimate Member

Feb 24, 2016

1,029

Calvert County

I hand prime all my brass first. Old and New Lee.

 

• May 18, 2018

• #5

LGood48

Ultimate Member

Feb 3, 2011

6,043

Cecil County

Have the Lee Safety Prime and never use it. Prime off press with the Lyman EZ Prime system.

 

• May 18, 2018

• #6

erwos

The Hebrew Hammer

MDS Supporter

Mar 25, 2009

13,884

Rockville, MD

I also prime off press with the RCBS bench priming tool. You really need to step it up to a 650 or a LnL (or get lucky with a LM) if you want to do ultra-high-volume.

 

• May 18, 2018

• #7

jimbobborg

Oddball caliber fan

Aug 2, 2010

17,119

Northern Virginia

I've used the Lee turret press for too long and the primer system is wonky at best. I've gotten to the point where I bought a Dillon 550 for my semiautomatic pistol reloading. I get a LOT of high primers using the Lee press, especially after pressing a lot of rounds out. I've had to do a lot of tweaking of dies because some of the rounds locked up my pistol. If you're doing low volume amounts, the Lee is okay. But any more than a few hundred a month and you'll wish you bought the Dillon instead.

 

• May 18, 2018

• #8

T

T48

Member

Mar 5, 2018

57

Anne Arundel Co.

I purchased a Lee Loadmasters press several years ago. The primer system never worked properly. I called the factory several times and could never get the press to work properly. It had a lot of plastic parts where they should have been manufactured out of metal. The shell plates had a lot of play when installed. I came across a Dillion 550 and the Lee Loadmasters has never been used since. There is no press like the Dillion progressive presses and that 550 b is the best press I own. Anything that breaks or something goes wrong Dillion will replace the problem for free. They really have a no BS guarantee nd they back up everything they sell.

 

• May 18, 2018

• #9

K

KYtoMD

Member

Mar 23, 2017

59

MD

johnsopi said:

Just got a Lee turrent press does any one find the primering system hard to use/pia. Is there better way.I had a Dillon 550 30yrs ago but lent it to a"friend"
Wish I had it back.

Click to expand...

You have to adjust the Safety Prime system a bit in order to get it to work well. Once you get the hang of it you shouldn't have major issues. I typically only have 1 dropped primer out of 100 now.

One thing I recommend is to put a small washer between the top of the turret and the plastic mount for the Safety Prime. This will raise it slightly and allow for smoother interaction with the priming arm.

This video has some good tips/tricks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwqOpknjsZI

 

• May 19, 2018

• #10

J

johnsopi

Member

Feb 8, 2018

88

Thanks for the tips. So using a benchprimer you would deprime/ resize ,prime continue. Or deprime/ resize all m.t brass them tumble clean casing, then prime and continue

 

• May 20, 2018

• #11

LGood48

Ultimate Member

Feb 3, 2011

6,043

Cecil County

johnsopi said:

Thanks for the tips. So using a benchprimer you would deprime/ resize ,prime continue. Or deprime/ resize all m.t brass them tumble clean casing, then prime and continue

Click to expand...

This is the way I do it. Resize/deprime then tumble to remove lube. Prime off press and reload when I get the urge.

 

• May 20, 2018

• #12

BigDaddy

Ultimate Member

Feb 7, 2014

2,235

I used to have a Lee Turret and the Safety primer, I think. I was never able to load the last 2 or 3 primers in the system. If I am not using a Dillon, I will resize and prime using the RCBS hand tool and then tumble so I don't have media stuck in the primer hole.

 

• May 28, 2018

• #13

Neutron

Ultimate Member

MDS Supporter

Nov 20, 2014

1,538

severna park

I use the Lee Turret Press and safety primer and it works well for me. I usually load 50 rounds at a time and have maybe one hiccup per batch. No big deal for me. I also use the Auto Drum powder measure and that thing is amazingly accurate. I'm very happy with this set-up.

 

• May 28, 2018

• #14

Petar

Member

Nov 18, 2010

532

I use the Lee safety primer and it works fine. Takes a little practice and patience

 

• May 30, 2018

• #15

R

ras_oscar

Ultimate Member

Apr 23, 2014

1,667

I have use lee safety prime for all my handgun rounds, with no hiccups at all. Yes, I can not load the last 3 primers, but that's a small quirk IMHO. I usually reload several hundred in a session.