Classic Turret press misalignment

[john127]

I've had my Classic Turret Press since they were 1st offered & have been pretty happy with it. A few years ago I noticed that the brass cases were hitting the sizer die instead of going in smoothly like they're supposed to. After looking more closely to what was going on I noticed that there was a slight misalignment between the ram & the die position on the turret.

Has anyone else experienced this or noticed the same thing?

I was thinking the cause might be poorly the machined aluminum turrets but I have several of them & they all produce the same problem.

Does anyone know if there's some way to adjust the press to keep this from happening?

[Sparky45]

Yeah John, I'm seeing the same thing and I've narrowed it down to the detent ball on the top of the press. When I notice the misalignment I have to manually complete the rotation cycle. Does Lee make replacement tops for the LCT?

[john127]

Yeah, that kind of misalignment takes place on my Classic Turret press occasionally too, but the misalignment I'm referring to is not the rotational kind but the radial kind. That is when the turret normally locks into place by the ball detent, there is a slight radial misalignment where if not manually corrected the brass case will hit the rim of the sizing die & get damaged.

When the case hits the die, I'll move it slightly forward & watch it go in but its not centered. Its kind of like it gets forced to comply with the misalignment between the shell holder & the die.

This is more noticeable with the sizer die probably because of the more precise fit, but I'm sure the other dies get it too, its just that they're more forgiving.

[Horseman]

You might try loosening the bolts that hold the turret "head" on, then run a case into the size die then re-tighten the four bolts. I don't have a LCT anymore so don't remember exactly how that's all put together. I know the top has four bolts, but can't recall how the "legs" are installed. May want to loosen them a bit also if possible.

[carload9]

I had this one time:

http://youtu.be/Dymueti9EFA

[john127]

An amazing setup carload. How'd you get the primer loader to work so smoothly?

[john127]

I think I may have tried that some time ago Horseman but I'll give it a shot again to see if it helps. Thanks for the tip.

[daboone]

It did that for me with M1 Carbine cases with the shell holders 7 or 7B. The 7B was better but not perfect. The problem disappeared with the RCBS shellholder.

[john127]

I gave your suggestion a try Horseman & it seemed to work. No more radial misalignment. Thanks for the tip.

I've also noticed that daboone. That some RCBS shell holders seem to function better on this press than do Lees.

[Hawkmoon]

I just went through the same issue. Mine is the original Turret Press, not the cast-iron Classic. It's a simple fix, and there's a video on the Lee web site that explains it.

After many years of use, a few weeks ago I began to notice that when the turret rotated it didn't advance quite far enough to align with the ram and lock in place. I had to give the turret a nudge every time I pulled the handle. The solution is to remove the turret, pull the indexer rod out of the press, and turn the square nut on the top just a tiny bit in the direction you need the turret to advance. I hit it perfectly with my first adjustment.

Problem solved.