Category: Guns

Lee’s Classic Turret Press and the S&W Shield: Range Results

By Joe Berk

Check out that photo above.  It’s a flat dark earth Smith and Wesson M&P 9 Shield, with ammo reloaded using the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit.  Yep, this is a “two-fer” blog:  A first look at the Shield, and an evaluation of the first loads prepped with the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit.

I initially tried two loads in the Shield:

      • 124-grain plated roundnose Rainier bullets and 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5 powder.
      • 124-grain plated roundnose Rainier bullets and 5.6 grains of Accurate No. 5 powder.

I wanted to start low and work up, partly because that’s good reloading practice and partly because the Shield was new to me and I didn’t know how it would work and what it would like.  The first reduced load (5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5 and a 124-grain plated bullet) wouldn’t cycle the Shield’s action.   I fired 50 rounds this way, one at a time.  I’d have to pull the slide back and release it after each shot.  For the Shield portion of the evaluation, I knew I needed to bump up the load.  For the ammo portion of the evaluation, every load fed and fired flawlessly.  The Lee turret press had done its job.

Bumping up to the 5.6 grains of Accurate No. 5 (still with the 124-grain plated bullet), the Shield’s action cycled but a couple of times the slide closed after the last round in the magazine fired.   I fired 50 rounds in this test, loading 5 rounds in the Shield’s magazine each time.  The Shield was pushing the slide back far enough to strip off a new round, but on two magazine loadings the slide did not go far enough  back to engage the slide stop after the last round. I needed to bump the charge a scosh more.  For the ammo eval, every load fed, fired, and ejected flawlessly.  Again, the Lee turret press had done its job.

The Lee Classic Turret Press, a phenomenal value and a great reloading setup.

At this point, I knew I needed to go a little higher on the powder charge with the 124-grain plated bullet, and I knew the Lee Classic Turret Press was making good ammo.  Everything fed and there were no jams.

The first rounds loaded to an overall cartridge length of 1.610 inches. I later moved that back to 1.140 inches.

I loaded the above 9mm ammo to an overall length of 1.160 inches, which is longer than I usually load 9mm.  The Lee manual has the cartridge overall length with a plated 124-grain Rainier bullet at 1.169 inches.  The cartridges would go in the Shield’s magazine and they fed fine when shooting, but when loading them in the magazine, the first cartridge tended to go horizontal instead of being angled up as others were loaded on top of it.  That hung up the magazine while cartridges were being loaded into it.  In the past, I had normally loaded 9mm at around 1.120 to 1.130 inches overall length.  I decided that for my next load I would go up to 5.8 grains of Accurate No. 5, and I would seat the bullets for an overall cartridge length of 1.140 inches.  I went home and in 20 minutes I had loaded another 50 rounds.  That Lee Classic Turret is fast.

50 rounds of custom-crafted 9mm ammo created on the Lee Classic Turret Press.

The popup ads keep us going…please click on them!

When I returned to the West End Gun Club, I set up a target at 50 feet, took out the Shield, and loaded the first magazine.  Loading to a cartridge overall length of 1.140 made it easier to load the magazine.  So far, so good.

Next, I fired 20 rounds to assess the ammo’s functionality.  Everything worked perfectly.  Every round fed, every round ejected, and life was good.  The Shield’s bright fixed sights were printing a bit to the left, so I held to the right on a fresh target and rattled off 30 rounds.

Thirty rounds at 50 feet from the Shield. Not too shabby for a belly gun.

The Shield’s recoil was not at all uncomfortable; it was way better than a .38 snubnose revolver.  The Shield is a very light pistol (19.0 ounces).  That’s lighter than the S&W Model 60 (23.2 ounces) or a Compact 1911 (33.4 ounces).  Those weights for the 1911 and the Model 60 may not sound like a lot, but (trust me on this) it’s enough to weigh on you at the end of the day.  I guess the Shield’s light weight is the big advantage of a Tupperware gun.  I like it, and I like the fact that the gun is pleasant to shoot.

A few days later, I was on an indoor range and I set up the Alco target that has four mini-silhouettes on a single sheet.  I ran it out to 21 feet and put 50 rounds on target (dividing them roughly between the four targets), all shot offhand while standing.  The load was the same as the one mentioned above.  That’s 5.8 grains of Accurate No. 5 and a 124-grain plated Rainier roundnose bullet at an overall cartridge length of 1.140 inches, and for these, I used mixed brass.

The quad mini-silhouette from Alco Target in Monrovia, California, and 50 rounds fired standing at 7 yards.

I also tried two different powder-coated bullets with Accurate No. 5.  One was the 147-grain Boudreau flat nosed bullet with 4.8 grains of Accurate No. 5.  This is an accurate load in the Shield (even more so than the plated bullet load mentioned above), but it leaded the bore.  The other was the Boudreau 124-grain round nose bullet with 5.4 grains of Accurate No. 5; it, too, leaded the bore.  The plated bullets did not lead the bore at all so I think they are a better load.    I loaded more 147-grain powder coated bullets with a lighter charge to see if that would eliminate the bore leading, but they did not and I had cycling issues.  4.8 grains of Accurate No. 5 is what this 147-grain powder coated bullet wants.

The Shield with 124-grain powder coated roundnose bullets. These leaded the bore.
147-grain powder coated bullets. These, too, leaded the bore. They are accurate, though.
Another Alco quad mini-silhouette with 5-shot groups fired standing at 7 yards, this time with the 147-grain powder coated Boudreau bullet and 4.8 grains of Accurate No. 5.

Let’s talk about the Shield a bit.  My Shield is the first iteration (not the Shield 2.0, as that model is not sold in California).  The Shield has a 3 1/8-inch barrel.

The Shield’s 8-round magazine. The left arrow points to the spacer. It can slide up, as indicated by the right arrow.

The Shield’s magazine could be better.  It has a plastic spacer at the bottom, and that spacer rides up when loading the magazine.  Conceivably, it could interfere with seating the magazine in the gun.  In my opinion it is a poor design.  The collar slides down as easy as it slides up, so that’s good.  You get two mags with the Shield.  The one you see above holds 8 rounds and it has a grip extender that feels just right to me.  There’s another one that doesn’t have the grip extender and it holds 7 rounds.  I haven’t done anything with that one, other than checking to make sure it was in the box when I bought the gun.

The Shield’s sights are the best I’ve ever used.  They are bright and easy to see.  The sights let in light from the sides, and that design just flat works.  It’s the first gun I have ever shot with these sights.  They are better than my SIG P226s’s Tritium sights, and those sights are good.  The photo below isn’t enhanced; it’s what the Smith’s sights actually look like.

The Shield’s sights. They are the best I’ve ever used.

The Shield’s trigger, in a word, is terrible.  There are other triggers available for the Shield, but I will leave this one alone.  The trigger got a little better with use and a couple of cleanings (I’ve put about 600 rounds through the Shield so far).  The Shield is a striker-fired gun and the trigger is not what I would consider good, but it’s better than it was initially.  Compared to a good 1911 like the Springfield, it’s awful.  But, it’s good enough to get rounds on target (as you can see above).

The Shield’s slide release, out of the box, was super stiff and essentially unusable.  I could release the slide with two thumbs, but not with one.  I found it best to pull the slide back and let it go to release the slide.  This aspect of the design (or its execution) is poor, and requiring two hands to release the slide is not good for a defensive weapon.  A close examination of the slide stop showed that it was rough where it interfaced with the slide, so I judiciously worked it over with 600-grit sandpaper, and it releases more easily now.  I can release it with one thumb with no magazine in the gun, but it still takes two thumbs and a lot of effort with the mag inserted and that’s bad.  It’s surprising that Smith and Wesson would let this happen.

A SIG P226, the Smith and Wesson Shield, and a Springfield Armory 1911, all chambered in 9mm. Flat dark earth is the new black.

I had the SIG and my 1911 with me when I shot the Shield.  The Shield doesn’t look that much smaller in a group photo, but it is flatter and it will carry concealed better.  In subsequent blogs, I’ll explore different loads prepared on the Lee Classic Turret press fired in all three of the guns above.  I fired a few rounds through the Springfield, and they worked just fine; the same is true for the SIG P226.  Interestingly, the lighter loads that wouldn’t work in the Shield did work in the Springfield.  It’s counterintuitive, but compact handguns are tougher to make work well than are full size handguns. That’s because the recoil spring in a compact handgun has to be much stiffer than one in a full size gun.

The Shield’s sear deactivation lever.  You have to push it down to remove the slide and barrel.

To takedown the Shield, you do not simply unlock the slide takedown lever. There’s a sear deactivation release in the magazine well (identified with a red arrow in the photo above), and you have to push that down before you can turn the slide takedown lever for disassembly.  You can’t do it with your finger; you need a small screwdriver or a thin pen.  With the SIG, you just turn the slide takedown lever with the slide back.

Cleaning the Shield is a breeze.  You make sure the gun is unloaded, release the mag, lower the sear deactivation lever, rotate the slide takedown lever, and the gun comes apart.  The slide comes off the frame, and the spring subassembly and barrel come out.  That’s it.  Five parts (the magazine, the receiver, the barrel, the spring subassembly, and the slide.

The plated ammo I loaded on the Lee turret press didn’t lead at all.  Zero.  Zip.  Nada.  The powder coated bullets did, which surprised me.  All were accurate.

The bottom line?  Let me put it this way: I like the Shield; I love the Lee Classic Turret Press kit.  The Shield will get better with more shooting and I want to try more loads in it, but that 5.8-grains of Accurate No.5 and 124-grain plated Rainier roundnose load is a winner.  The Lee Classic Turret press and all its accessories were good to go right from the beginning.  Its design and quality are excellent.

The Lee Classic Turret Press…what can I say?  It’s awesome.  It’s fast, easy to use, inexpensive, and it makes great ammo.  I say it’s the best bang for the buck in the reloading world.  As an engineer I’m impressed; as a consumer and reloader I am delighted.  I have already fired several hundred rounds loaded on the Lee Classic Turret Press in my Shield, the Springfield, and the SIG and once I settled on a load, every one of them fed, fired, extracted, and ejected perfectly in three different handguns.  I had a box of 1000 124-grain plated 9mm bullets a few days ago; I like the Lee turret press so much they’re all gone now (they were either sent downrange or they’ve been loaded and labeled and they’re waiting their turn to go downrange).  I love reloading and shooting; I love it even more now that I’m loading with my Lee turret press.

A word of caution here…these loads performed acceptably in my guns.  Your firearms may vary and you need to develop your own loads.  Always start low and work up in any load development program.

Never miss an ExNotes blog:

More Tales of the Gun!

More information on Lee reloading gear.

Our earlier blogs on Lee equipment:

Lee Safety Prime
Lee Auto-Drum Powder Measure
Lee Classic Turret Press Kit
Lee Bench Plate
Lee’s Modern Reloading Manual
Lee Safety Powder Scale
Lee Classic Turret Kit Unpacking
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 1
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 2
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 3
Lee .357 Magnum Dies

Lee Safety Prime Installation

By Joe Berk

We’re just about there setting up and using the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit.  We explained in prior blogs how to set up everything except for the safety prime, and that’s what we’re going to focus on here.  The safety prime can be purchased separately; when you purchase the Classic Turret Press Kit it is in included.  You literally get everything you need to start reloading with the Classic Turret Press Kit except the dies and the brass, bullets, primers, and powder.  I chose a set of 9mm dies because it was my intent to load 9mm only on my classic turret press, but I like the press so much I’m going to buy additional turrets so facilitate changing from one cartridge to another.  I really like the Classic Turret Press Kit

Help us bring more stories to you:  Please click on the popup ads!

But I digress; back to today’s focus, and that’s on the Lee safety prime.  It arrives packaged nicely, as has been the case with everything from Lee.

The Lee Safety Prime packaging. This carton arrives inside the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit box.
Inside the Lee Safety Prime box.

The Lee safety prime kit includes a primer two primer feed mounts, two primer trays, two primer feed chutes, and two primer triggers.  The primer tray, feed chute, and trigger are provided as assembled units.  One is for large primers, the other for small primers.  They are marked accordingly.  The two primer feed mounts you see in the photo below are included because the safety prime can be used on different types of presses.  We’re installing this on a classic turret press, so we will only need one of the two brackets (the one on the left side of the photo below).

Mounts for the single stage Lee press and the turret press, and primer trays, feed chutes, and triggers for small and large primers.

When we prepared the blog on installing the classic turret press, I showed but did not explain the two primer arms that Lee provides with the turret press.  There’s one for large primers (either rifle or handgun) and one for small primers (either rifle or handgun.   These mount easily; you simply drop them into the slot on the ram, they fall into place, and they pivot on an axle in the ram.

Primer arms for large and small primers. These are included in the turret press hardware.

There’s an axle inside the press ram, as shown in the photo below.  It’s the attach point for the primer arm.   The primer arm drops into the ram when there’s no shellholder in the ram (if the shellholder is in place, you cannot insert the primer arm, so you need to remove the shellholder to install the primer arm).

The axle for mounting the primer arm.
Inserting the primer arm into the ram. The slot shown by the red arrow mounts over the axle shown in the photo above.

Once the primer arm is installed, reinstall the shellholder.

The primer arm mounted on the ram.

As the ram is lowered, in the last inch or so of its travel the primer arm contacts the press base and the arm rotates to place the primer directly below the cartridge case.  When the press is lowered completely, the press arm seats the primer into the cartridge case in the shellholder.  We’ll show and discuss this further below.

The next step is to mount the safety prime components on the classic turret press.   There’s a 1/2-inch bolt and washer securing the top of press; it needs to be removed to install the safety prime mounting bracket.

The 1/2-inch turret head mounting bolt has to removed to install the safety prime mount.
The turret head mounting bolt and its washer.

The 1/2-inch bolt and its washer are then installed in the safety prime mounting bracket, and the mounting bracket is installed on the press.

The bolt and washer on the safety prime mount.

Next, we’ll show the safety prime tray, feed chute, and trigger.  As mentioned above, as delivered from Lee the primer tray (the big triangular affair with the Lee name and appropriate warnings), the feed chute, and the trigger are already assembled.  The primer tray is a press fit into the feed chute; you can leave them assembled as shown below.  Note that the feed chute has slot near where it meets the primer tray; this area interfaces with the safety prime we mounted on the press.

The small primer tray, feed chute, and trigger. The tab the arrows point to slips into the safety prime mount.

The feed chute fits into a loose joint on the safety prime mount.  There’s a lot of relative motion between these two items, and that’s okay.  Lee cleverly designed this loose joint so that it has six degrees of freedom.  This very clever design allows the safety prime trigger to move up, down, left, and right, and it can rotate.   We’ll see why that’s important in a bit.

The feed chute coupled to the safety prime mount.

The Lee safety prime primer tray is a clamshell arrangement with a lock and an on-off switch.  In the open position, it allows the primer tray to open so you can load primers into the tray.  In the lock position, the tray is locked closed and it blocks primer entry into the tray.  In the on position, it allows primers to feed into the feed chute.

The primer tray has a switch that locks, opens, and allows the primers to flow from the tray to the feed chute.

When you want to load primers in the primer tray, you can do either remove the primer tray from the feed chute, or you can remove the entire primer tray, feed chute, and primer trigger from the press.  To open the primer tray, place the lock in the open position, and open the tray’s clamshell.

The safety prime primer tray in the open condition.

Put the primers into the tray.    You’ll notice that some face up, and some face down.

Primers loaded into the safety prime primer tray.

Once the primers are in the tray, and with the tray open, gently jiggle the primer tray back and forth.  Don’t get too aggressive here or you’ll jiggle primers out of the tray.  Just go easy, and after a few seconds, all the primers will face up.  The jiggling allows the ridges in the tray to turn all the primers face up.

After gently jiggling the primer tray left to right the primers will all face up.

Once the primers are all face up, close the tray clamshell and put the lock in the lock position.  This will prevent primers from leaving the tray until you want them to.

The safety prime primer tray closed and locked. The primer tray is shown removed from the feed chute, but it doesn’t need to be to load primers into the tray.

With the tray mounted on the feed chute, insert the primer tray, feed chute, and trigger assembly into the safety prime mount on the turret press.

A loaded primer tray, feed chute, and trigger mounted on the safety prime mount.

At this point, move the primer tray lock to the open position, and the primers will fill the feed chute.  The entire affair can be moved around (within a limited range) to allow the safety prime trigger to find where it wants to be.

The interface between the safety prime mount and the primer tray, feed chute, and trigger allows for left to right, up and down, and rotational movement.

Here’s a macro shot of the forward end of the trigger.  It includes guides (one on each side) that allow moving the trigger to make contact with the primer arm and correctly position itself.

The trigger base includes two ramps that guide the trigger over the primer arm.
A macro shot of the trigger over the primer arm. The trigger’s ramps guide the primer arm into position.

Here’s how this works.   I positioned the sizing die directly above the ram, with the ram in the lowered position.  I raised the ram a small amount and placed a 9mm cartridge case (one that I’ve already fired) in the shellholder.  I then fully raised the ram, driving the fired case into the sizing die and decapper.  I heard a satisfying “tink” as the primer fell into the primer catch tube.

The spent primer tube hangs beneath the turret press ram. You can remove the red cap at the bottom to dump the spent primers. This is the cleanest spent primer collection approach I’ve ever used.

With the press in the fully-raised position, I pushed the primer trigger forward into the primer arm.  That allowed the trigger to align with the primer arm.  I then pushed down on the trigger.  That’s the required motion on the trigger:  Forward and then rotate downward, which places a fresh primer from the feed chute in the primer arm.  I then allowed the trigger to swing away from the primer arm.

Pushing the trigger forward to mate with the primer arm and then down deposits a single primer into the primer arm. It’s a very clever approach.

Voila!  When the trigger was allowed to move away from the primer arm, there was a CCI 500 small pistol primer waiting to be seated.  The safety prime moving away from this primer is a very important safety feature.  If the primer in the primer arm fires when it is seated, the prior rotation of the safety prime trigger (and the rest of the safety prime assembly)  keeps the other primers away from the one being seated, and prevents the other primers from sypathetically igniting.

And there you go!

I then lowered the ram with a freshly sized case.  As the ram moved down, the primer arm contacted the press base and began to rotate into the ram.

Lowering the ram rotates the primer arm into position.

When the ram approached the last part of its travel, the primer arm positioned the primer directly beneath the deprimed and resized case.  As I moved the lever up for to complete the stroke, I could feel the primer being seated.

Fully lowering the ram seats the primer into the case that was deprimed on the upstroke.
A freshly primed case.

Wow, this was cool stuff.  I had already adjusted the Lee auto-drum powder measure to throw the correct charge of Accurate No. 5 powder (see our earlier blog).   Now all I needed to do was to adjust the bullet seating die and the factory crimp die.

Adjusting the bullet seating die involved positioning the turret so the case was directly beneath the die.  I wanted to seat the bullet to the desired cartridge overall length, but I didn’t want to crimp the bullet with the bullet seating die.   That involved running the die all the way into the turret so that it contacted the shellholder, and then backing it out enough so the crimping feature in the die did not contact the cartridge case mouth.   Then, the next step was to adjust the bullet seater (the knob on top of the bullet seating die) so that it achieved the desired cartridge overall length (in this case, I was shooting for 1.160 inches).  The Lee Modern Reloading manual recommend 1.169 inches, but I didn’t want the cartridge to be that long.  I made the adjustment by putting a bullet in the case mouth and repeatingly running the ram up, screwing in the bullet seater a little bit at a time between each stroke until it seated the bullet to a cartridge overall length of 1.160 inches.   All this is explained in more detail in our earlier blog on using Lee’s Deluxe 4-die set.

The 9mm Luger cartridge dimensions as shown in the Lee Modern Reloading manual.
A 124-grain plated roundnose bullet started in a 9mm case.
The bullet seating die. The red arrow points to the bullet seater. Screw it in to seat the bullet deeper, screw it out to not seat the bullet as deep.
Right on the money, at the desired cartridge overall length of 1.160 inches.

Now that I had the bullet seating die adjusted, the last step was to adjust the crimping die.  That’s also explained in detail in our earlier blog on using Lee’s Deluxe 4-die set.  What his entailed was raising the ram fully and then screwing the factory crimp die into the turret until it contacted the shell holder.  I then adjusted the crimp by screwing in the crimping feature in the crimping die.  Lee recommends a case mouth dimension of 0.381 inches; I wanted a case mouth outside diameter of 0.378 inches.   I wanted a stronger crimp.

The Lee factory crimp die. The red arrow points to the crimp adjustment. Screw it in for a stronger crimp, screw it out for a less aggressive criimp.
A cartridge mouth outside diameter of 0.378 inches.

At this point, I was ready to start loading.  I found it easy to do with the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit.  After loading powder into the auto-drum powder measure and primers into the safety prime primer tray, and positioning the sizing die directly over the ram, I got into a rhythm.  The sequence goes like this:

      1. Place a fired 9mm cartridge case in the shellholder.
      2. Raise the ram to resize and decap the case.
      3. Push the safety prime trigger down and into the priming arm.
      4. Lower the ram (this advances the turret to place the expander die over the ram) and seat the primer.
      5. Raise the ram to charge and flare the case.
      6. Lower the ram (this advances the turret to place the seating die over the ram) and place a bullet in the case mouth.
      7. Raise the ram to seat the bullet.
      8. Lower the ram (this advances the turret to place the crimping die over the ram).
      9. Raise the ram to crimp the bullet.
      10. Lower the ram (this starts the sequence again by advancing the turret to place the sizing die over the ram).
      11. Remove the reloaded cartridge and place it in the ammo box.

After the first few rounds, it was time for a fit check, also known as the plunk test.  I shoot a lot of 9mm; it is one of my favorite cartridges.  I have three 9mm handguns:  A SIG P226, a Springfield Armory 1911, and a Smith and Wesson M&P Shield.  Of these, the Springfield has the tightest chamber, so I use its barrel (after taking it out of the gun) for the the plunk test.  If my reloaded 9mm rounds pass the plunk test in my Springfield barrel, they will feed and chamber in anything.

Three glorious 9mm pistols: A SIG P226, a Smith and Wesson Shield, and a Springfield Armory 1911.
The Springfield Armory 1911 barrel.
I left the barrel dirty for a more stringent plunk test.

The plunk test is straightforward and highly technical.  I drop a 9mm round into the chamber, and if it drops in easily with a nice plunk, it passes the first part of the plunk test.

Plunk! Easy chambering in a dirty barrel with gravity feed. So far, so good.

The second part of the plunk test involves turning the barrel down, and if the round falls from the chamber with a nice plunk, it passes the second part of the test.

Plunk! Yep, a slight downward tilt and the reloaded 9mm round dropped right out. The Lee factory crimp die works wonderfully well.

If the first few rounds pass the plunk test, I’ll then proceed to reload the rest of the ammo.  That’s what I did here, and while I had the barrel out of the Springfield, I randomly selected a few more rounds and similarly plunk tested them.  They were good to go.

You know, I still do the plunk test on all of my 9mm ammo because old habits die hard.  Before I started using Lee’s Deluxe 4-Die set, I would occasionally experience plunk test failures, and what that meant is the rounds would most likely jam when I was on the range.  With Lee’s factory crimp die, that just doesn’t happen.   With Lee’s dies and this turret press, I suspect plunk test failures and jams will be a thing of the past.  You probably realize by now I really like my Lee dies.  And I absolutely love my Lee Classic Turret Press Kit.

After finishing the plunk test, we were off to the races.  I loaded one box of 9mm ammo, which took less than 20 minutes.   You can load high quality ammo quickly with the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit.

The first 50 rounds reloaded on my Lee Classic Turret Press. Life is good.

Next up…range firing the ammo you see above in a new S&W Shield, a SIG P226, and a Springfield Armory 1911.  That blog will post in a few more days.

Stay tuned!

One of the best places to buy Lee reloading gear is on Amazon.

Never miss an ExNotes blog:

Here are links to our earlier blogs on Lee reloading equipment:

Lee Auto-Drum Powder Measure
Lee Classic Turret Press Kit
Lee Bench Plate
Lee’s Modern Reloading Manual
Lee Safety Powder Scale
Lee Classic Turret Kit Unpacking
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 1
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 2
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 3
Lee .357 Magnum Dies

Installing Lee’s Auto-Drum Powder Measure

By Joe Berk

After mounting the Lee Classic Turret Press, the next step is to install the auto-drum powder measure on the expander die.  This blog focuses on doing so.  The auto-drum powder measure is a well-engineered device.  As I installed and adjusted the Lee auto-drum, I was impressed with its design and build quality.

The Lee auto-drum powder measure in its carton. As always, the packaging and the included instructions are excellent.

The auto-drum powder measure includes the bottle, the bottle top, two adjustment keys, two quick change drums, the auto-drum tightening screw, and the body.

Lee auto-drum powder measure components.

Keep us afloat…please click on the popup ads!

In addition to the above, Lee’s Classic Turret Press Kit includes a powder measure riser.  It’s used to raise the auto-drum powder measure so it clears the safety primer feed when the turret rotates.  We’ll cover installation of the Lee safety primer feed in the next blog.

Lee’s Powder Measure Riser as packaged from the factory.
Lee’s powder measure riser includes the body, the tube, and an o-ring.

The photo below shows the auto-drum body.  It’s a die-cast part what includes the auto-drum (the black cylindrical subassembly inside the silver die casting).   As the Lee turret press ram is raised, the cartridge case pushes a cylinder in the riser up.  The upward movement of that cylinder actuates a lever (the black piece on the auto-drum, which rotates the drum).    There’s a cavity in the drum that fills with powder when it is aligned with the bottle.  When the drum rotates, the cavity holding powder rotates to align with the expander die, and a fixed amount of powder drops through the expander die into the brass cartridge case below.  It’s a clever approach.

Lee’s auto-drum powder measure body.

The central part of the auto-drum consists of three molded black plastic subassemblies.  These are the screw subassembly, the cover, and the drum.  You unscrew the screw (shown on the left in the photo below) and the drum can be removed from the auto-drum body.

Lee’s auto-drum body disassembled, showing from left to right the screw subassembly, the body, and the drum.

The drum is where the powder amount is defined.  There’s a cavity shown by the red arrow in the photo below.  The amount of powder the drum drops can be adjusted by making changes in the volume of this cavity.

A macro shot of the drum. The cavity indicated by the arrow is what determines the powder volume.

There’s a threaded adjustor in the drum that is 0pposite the cavity.   The top of this threaded adjustor is the bottom of the drum’s cavity.  Screwing it in reduces the powder volume; screwing it out increases the powder volume.

The screw indicated by the red arrow moves in or out to adjust powder volume.

Lee provides two hex keys for making the powder volume adjustments.

The auto-drum hex key used for adjusting powder volume.
The hex key inserted in the powder drum adjustment screw.

There’s a place in the drum body to store the key, or you can simply leave it in the threaded adjustor (which is what I do).

As mentioned in an earlier blog, I decided to use Accurate No. 5 propellant for my 9mm reloads.  It’s one of several propellants listed in Lee’s Modern Reloading manual for use with the 124-grain plated bullet, and it’s a powder on I had on hand.

You go to war with the army you have. I had Accurate No. 5.  I usually prefer Unique for 9mm, but I use that powder for other cartridges and I didn’t want to use it up. Accurate No. 5 seems to be in stock everywhere these days and I had some on hand, so it was my choice.  As you’ll see in a later blog, that was a good move.
Lee’s Modern Reloading book (see our earlier review) had 9mm loads for a plated 124-grain bullet using Accurate No. 5.

I loaded two loads for my initial 9mm evaluations.  One was with 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5; the other was with 5.6 grains of Accurate No. 5.

The Lee safety powder scale, part of the classic turret press kit, adjusted to 5.2 grains.

After zeroing my Lee safety powder scale, I set it at 5.2 grains.  I used the Lee dipper to add powder to the scale until the beam balanced.  The Lee powder dipper (provided with the Lee 9mm dies) makes a good powder trickler.

Using the Lee dipper to add exactly 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5 to the scale.

Once I had 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5 in the Lee safety scale (indicated by the balance beam), I transferred that amount to the Lee drum.

Right on the money.

Initially, the powder was well below the surface of the drum.   The idea here is to use the auto-drum key to screw in the adjuster until the surface of the powder in the drum cavity is approximately flush with the surface of the drum.  This is to get the drum adjustment close to the desired powder amount (in this case, 5.2 grains).  This is a coarse adjustment.  We’ll dial in the adjustment once the auto-drum is reassembled.

After pouring 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5 in the auto drum powder cavity, I used the adjustment screw to bring the powder charger level with the drum surface.

After accomplishing the above, I poured the powder into the powder bottle and I reassembled the auto-drum into the auto-drum powder measure.

Next, I removed the fitting and its o-ring from the expander die.

The Lee powder through expander die. I removed the fitting indicated by the red arrow so I could install the auto-drum powder measure.
I kept the o-ring with the expander die fitting. The riser, which installs in the expander die, includes its own o-ring.

After removing the expander die fitting, I replaced it with the Lee auto-drum riser.

The riser is included in the Lee classic turret press kit.
The riser includes three pieces: The riser body, an o-ring, and the cylinder.
The riser installed in the expander die.

After installing the riser, I then threaded the auto-drum powder measure into the expander die as shown below.

The auto-drum powder measure screws into the riser above the expander die.  The black thumbwheel tightens the auto-drum powder measure in the riser.
The auto-drum powder measure installed on the riser and the expander die. With each upward press stroke, the cartridge case pushed the riser cylinder up, which pushes the auto-drum’s lever, which rotates the drum and drops the powder through the die into the cartridge case. Clever, indeed.

The Lee auto-drum powder bottle and its cap are what hold the powder.  The cap is a red molded plastic piece with an on-off valve at its base.  The  cap’s valve is closed after adding powder to the bottle or removing the bottle from the auto-drum powder measure.   It is opened after the bottle is installed in the auto-drum powder measure.  When closed, it prevents powder from spilling out of the bottle when the bottle is removed from the powder measure.

The auto-drum powder measure bottle cap and its open-close valve (the black drum at the cap’s base). The valve rotates to open or close.

After adding powder to the bottle, threading the bottle top onto the bottle, and closing the cap’s valve, we can invert the bottle and place it on top of the auto-drum powder measure.   There’s a raised rib on the bottle cap valve and a groove in the auto-drum die casting to align the bottle with the auto-drum powder measure.

Accurate No. 5 powder in the auto-drum powder measure bottle.
The auto-drum powder measure bottle with its cap installed.
The auto-drum powder measure bottle cap valve has a raised rib that fits into the auto-drum body. This axially aligns the bottle with the body.
The body notch that accepts the bottle cap valve rib.
The auto-drum powder measure installed on the expander die. The arrows show where the bottle fits into the auto-drum body.

At this point, I placed an empty cartridge case (with a spent primer) in the shellholder and fully raised the ram to run the cartridge case into the expander die.  This expanded the case mouth and actuated the auto-disk powder measure to dispense approximately 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5 powder into the case.   When I lowered the ram, I could see the case with powder in it.  Note that I used a cartridge case with a spent primer only because I was setting up the auto-drum powder measure on the press.  Ordinarily, in the normal operation of this press, the cartridge case would have a new primer in it.

A cartridge case that has been expanded and charged with powder.

Remember that my initial adjustment was a crude one, accomplished by screwing in the auto-drum adjustor to bring the powder level approximately level with the auto-drum’s surface.  The next step is to dial in the auto-drum cavity adjustment such that the auto-drum dispenses exactly 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5.  To do this, I took the powder in the case (shown above), poured it into the Lee safety scale pan, and checked the weight on the safety scale.

Pouring the cartridge case contents into the Lee safety scale pan.

I found that I was a little bit under 5.2 grains of powder.  I expected this, as I couldn’t get the auto-drum cavity completely full of powder for the coarse adjustment described above.  I made an adjustment to increase the amount of powder dispensed by turning out (i.e., unscrewing) the auto-drum cavity adjustor by a quarter of a turn.

The initial charge was a bit light, as will typically be the case when dialing in the auto-drum powder measure. I increased the volume by turning the volume adjustment out with the hex key.

After an attempt or two at adjusting the auto-drum, I had the dispensed powder amount exactly where I wanted it:  5.2 grains.

Bingo! 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5.

I am impressed with the Lee auto-drum powder measure.  I like the fact that it automatically dispenses powder with each stroke of the press handle if there is a cartridge case going into the expander die, and I like that it can be infinitely adjusted.  Older designs used fixed (i.e., non-adjustable) cavities that dispensed fixed power amounts.  The infinite adjustment feature of this powder dispensing device is a better approach.  I also like that the cartridge case remains directly in front of you after the press is lowered (unlike a progressive reloader, in which the cartridge case may be on the other side of the press when it is charged).  With the Lee classic turret press kit and its included auto-drum powder measure, you can see that each case has been charged with powder and that you have not inadvertently double-charged the case.   And, if anything is not as it should be, you can easily remove the cartridge from the shellholder, correct the problem, and continue.  On a progressive press, this is much more difficult to do.

This brings us to where I want to be in today’s blog.  So far, our blogs described mounting the bench plate, installing the press, intalling and adjusting the first two dies (the resizing die and the expander die), and adjusting the Lee auto-drum powder measure to dispense precisely the amount of powder required.  Tomorrow, we’re going to cover installing the Lee primer feed and making final adjustments to the bullet seating and factory crimp dies.  Stay tuned.

One of the best places to buy Lee equipment is on Amazon.

Never miss an ExNotes blog:

Here are links to our earlier blogs on Lee reloading equipment:

Lee Classic Turret Press Kit
Lee Bench Plate
Lee’s Modern Reloading Manual
Lee Safety Powder Scale
Lee Classic Turret Kit Unpacking
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 1
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 2
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 3
Lee .357 Magnum Dies

Lee’s Bench Plate

By Joe Berk

Our story on the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit continues.  There’s a lot in the kit, and we’re presenting articles on each item (links for our earlier Classic Turret Press Kit, its contents, and other Lee-related blogs are included at the end of this blog).   Today’s blog focuses on the Lee bench plate.  The bench plate allows quick installation and removal of any Lee press, and its price is $39.  The bench plate idea is a good one.  I own a couple of Lee progressive reloaders and I don’t have extensive real estate on my loading bench.  The Lee bench plate is the answer.

Here’s what you get in the Lee bench plate kit.

The Lee bench plate includes the lower plate, two Z-bars, four Phillips head screws, three panhead bolts with washers and nuts, and the upper plate.

The smaller upper plate bolts to the press base (the red casting that forms the base of any Lee reloading press).  The larger lower plate bolts to your reloading bench.  The two zinc plated pieces are Z-bars that screw into the lower plate and capture the upper plate bolted to the press.   The upper plate has several holes that allow it to be attched to any Lee press.  You can buy extra upper plates if you have other presses. It makes it easier to change presses on your bench.

The Lee bench plate includes everything you’ll need except the bolts required to attach the lower plate to your reloading bench (that makes sense because Lee doesn’t know the thickness of your reloading bench).  You have to drill four holes through your bench to attach the lower plate.  Here’s what the lower plate looks like installed on my reloading bench.

The lower plate attached bo my reloading bench.

After attaching the lower plate to your reloading bench, the next step is to attach the upper plate to the reloading press.  I installed the upper plate on my Lee Classic Turret Press using the three panhead bolts, nuts, and washers Lee includes.  Note that the press is inverted in the photo immediately below.

The upper plate attached to the press. The red arrow indicates the nub that prevents the press and upper plate from backing out. The press is upside down in this photo.

It’s not immediately apparent in the Lee instructions how to orient the upper plate (i.e., which side faces up).  It should be installed such that the flat base of the plate is at the bottom, and the two lips on either side extend up.  This will be more clear in the photos below.

Once the upper plate is attached to the press, the press and plate are set on the lower plate and the Z-bars can be secured to the lower plate with the four Phllips head screws Lee provides.  The Z-bars capture the upper plate, securing the press to the lower plate and the reloading bench.

There are nubs at the end of the upper plate lips that catch the end of the Z-clamps (denoted by the red arrow), so then the Z-clamps are tightened, the little nub prevents the whole affair (upper plate and reloading press) from backing out.
A macro shot showing the upper plate nub captured by the Z-bar.

Here’s the press mounted on the bench with the Lee bench plate.  It’s a clever approach.

Lee turret press attached to the reloading bench with the Lee bench plate kit (right side).
Lee turret press attached to the reloading bench with the Lee bench plate kit (left side).

If you have other Lee presses or reloading gear, you can purchase additional upper plates (Lee calls this part the steel base block) directly from Lee.  Lee includes the mounting hardware (the panhead bolts, nuts, and washers) with each additional upper plate.  Lee lists the other equipment items compatible with the bench plate in their instructions:

    • Classic Turret Press
    • Load-Master
    • Breech Lock Reloader Press
    • Breech Lock Challenger
    • Classic Cast
    • Breech Lock Classic Cast
    • Pro 6000 Six Pack Progressive
    • Red Base Pro 1000
    • Red Base 4 Hole Value Turret Press
    • Year 2018+ Pro 1000 Press
    • Year 2018+ 4 Hole Value Turret Press
    • Auto Breech Lock Pro Press
    • Automatic Processing Press & Automatic Case Primer
    • Auto Bench Prime

If you don’t want to purchase additional upper plates, you can make your own upper plate from 3/4-inch plywood.   Lee includes a drawing in their instructions showing the dimensions of a plywood upper plate.  That’s a nice touch.  Lee also offers information on plywood bases for, as they describe it, “other color” presses.  That’s a nice touch, too.

The key question in all of this is:  Do you need the Lee bench plate?  If you use one press only, the answer may be no. You could just mount your press directly to the bench and not use the plate at all.  But if you own other Lee reloading gear (or another “other color” press), you might want to consider the Lee bench plate.  Or, if you want to get your press out of the way to use your bench for other purposes (such as cleaning a gun), it makes sense.  The bench plate greatly eases removing the Lee press for installing other equipment or to clear the bench.   It’s a good idea and good value for the money.  It makes sense for me.

Help us out, folks:  Hit those popup ads!

Never miss an ExNotes blog:

Check out our other Lee reloading equipment blog posts:

Lee Modern Reloading Manual
Lee Safety Powder Scale
Lee Classic Turret Kit Unpacking
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 1
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 2
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 3
Lee .357 Magnum Dies

Three Rapid Fire .38 Loads

By Joe Berk

Today I took the Model 60 to the range.  All shooting was at the standard full size B21 police target and the distance 7 yards.  I shot double action as fast as I could to see if I could keep them on the target.  I did, as you’ll see below.

Please click on the popup ads…it’s what keeps the blog alive!

The first load was with the 158 grain Hursman cast bullet (a truncated conical bullet with a flat point) and 2.7 grains of Bullseye.  I loaded this ammo on my Star reloader with the bullet seater backed out to account for the longer 158 grain bullet.  The Star did a nice job on these cartridges.

Here’s 50 rounds, shooting double action rapid fire (really rapid fire, as fast as I could while still hanging on to the front sight).

I was pleased with that target and the load.  The load was light and easy to shoot.  The Star can’t easily be adjusted for powder charge and I have it set up for wadcutter ammo, so all I changed was the bullet seating die.  I didn’t even adjust the crimp; I just backed out the seater.

Next up was the same bullet (the 158 grain Hursman cast bullet), loaded with 5.4 grains of Accurate No. 5.  I loaded this with the single stage RCBS Rockchucker.

The load was noticeably hotter than the first load, but not so much that it became unmanageable.  Here’s 50 rounds of the above ammo on the B21.  The brown areas that appear to be bullet holes are not holes on this target; that’s the sun shining through previous holes behind the target.

One shot went out of the 5X ring at 11:00.  Eh, you can’t win them all.  The guy in that target wouldn’t know the difference.

Then I shot another 50 rounds, this time wadcutter ammo.   This was with the Gardner 148 grain powder coated double ended wadcutter bullet and 2.7 grains of Bullseye.  I loaded this ammo on the Star.

These had three shots out of the x-ring, but I was really flying, doing my best to imitiate Ed McGivern.  You know, you can make a double action revolver cycle faster than a semi-auto pistol.  Ed McGivern could, anyway.

I had a good day at the West End Gun Club, but that’s stating the obvious.  I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad day at the West End Gun Club, and I’ve been going there for close to 40 years.  Here are the take-aways from today’s range session:

      • I found it was easy to shoot really, really fast with the Model 60 and still keep all shots on the target.
      • At this distance, all of the loads grouped about the same.  I’d have to go out to 50 feet, I think, to see an accuracy difference.
      • The one most pleasant to shoot was the 158 grain Hursman bullet with 2.7 grains of Bullseye, and at this distance, it was accurate.  It’s a nice load.  That load had less recoil than the same load with the 148 grain wadcutter bullet.   I think that’s because the 148 grain wadcutter bullet has more bearing area so the pressure is probably higher.  After returning from the range, I loaded the remainder of my Hursman cast bullets with this load.
      • The gun shoots to point of aim with all three loads.
      • The Model 60 is a wonderful handgun and shooting a snubnose .38 is fun.  The keyboard commandos can wax eloquent about the need for 20-round magazines in the latest Wunder 9; five shots from a Model 60 does it for me.

As if the day weren’t perfect enough, someone left 250+ pieces of once-fired 9mm brass on the range.  I ordinarily would not use range brass and Lord knows I have plenty of 9mm cases, but this was pristine stuff and I could see that it had never been reloaded.  It’s in my blood, I guess; I can’t leave good brass laying on the ground (it was in my tumbler 10 minutes after I got home).

There are three outfits that I recommend you consider if you’re reloading .38 ammo and if you want your handgun to perform well.  The first is TJ’s Custom Gunworks.  TJ did the action job and polishing on my Model 60, and his work is beyond stellar.  The next is Lance Shively’s TriggerShims.com.  If you want to assure your cylinder gap is what it’s supposed to be to assure smooth cycling and minimize misfires, Lance’s shims will do the trick and they are inexpensive.  The next is Lee Precision reloading gear.  I am migrating to near-complete use of Lee equipment, and I used a Lee Deluxe 4-die set when loading the .38 ammo on a single stage press.  I recently acquired a Lee four turret press as part of a Lee Precision package deal.  I’ve always been completely satisfied with the gear I’m using from Lee.  Watch for a near-term blog on the four turret press kit.   I’m eager to get it into service, and when I do, you’ll read about it here.

Two more things:  Here’s a link for the B21 targets you see above (they’re different and they’re fun to shoot).  And, I frequently get compliments on the Altamont grips my Model 60 wears.  They make the gun much more comfortable to shoot and they don’t print if you’re carrying concealed.  If you want a set of Altamont grips, a good place to get them is on Amazon.

Never miss an ExNotes blog:

Lee’s Modern Reloading Manual

By Joe Berk

Lee’s Classic Turret Press Kit includes their Modern Reloading manual.   It’s written by the late Richard Lee (the founder of Lee Precision), it’s the second edition, and Lee’s retail price is $40.98.   By way of comparison, on Hornady’s site their reloading manual is $59.99, on Sierra’s site their reloading manual is $39.99, on the Lyman site their reloading manual is $34.98, and on the Speer site you get the load data for free (it’s published on their site).   You can also purchase the Lee manual on Amazon; oddly, the price on Amazon is higher than it is on the Lee website.

The Lee reloading manual is comparable in heft and contents to other big reloading manuals.  It’s a hardcover book with 692 pages and several chapters on various reloading topics, including basic instructions and more in-depth discussions of advanced reloading topics.  Richard Lee wrote the first parts covering various topics including the company’s history, Lee’s reloading equipment, primers and primer sensitivity (this was extremely interesting), how to reload, reloading for best accuracy, rifle reloading, handgun relaoding, measuring powder, powder safety, pressure issues, matching bullet metal to chamber pressure, hardness testing, bullet casting and sizing, shotgun reloading, and muzzle loading.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading Lee’s articles.  They are written in a folksy, technical, and easy to follow manner. It’s like having a conversation with one of my shooting buddies.  That, all by itself, is a good reason to buy the Lee reloading manual.

A load table inside the Lee reloading manual showing some of the date it contains that other reloading manuals do not. This includes the starting charge volume, the Lee dipper number, the Lee Auto-Disk number, and the 1 Grain Factors.

The load data tables start on Page 161 and continue to Page 686 (the load tables comprise most of the book).  These are interesting and they include several bits of data not found in other reloading manuals.  There’s the usual dimensioned cartridge drawings, starting load and max loads, the pressure, and the velocities, and then there’s more.  These additional pieces of information not usually found in other reloading manuals are:

    • Useful Case Capacity.  On each of the load table cartridge drawings, Lee includes the useful case volume in cubic centimeters.  Why this is useful will be apparent when you read the next bulleted statement.
    • Volume cc.  This table entry, immediately to the right of the starting load, shows the volume occupied by the starting charge.  You can compare this to the useful case capacity info (see above) included in the cartridge drawing to get an idea of how full the cartridge case will be at the starting charge.  Usually, a cartridge will perform better if the case is full or nearly full.  I’ve not seen this information in other reloading manuals.  I think it’s a good thing to know when selecting which powder to use.
    • Lee Dipper.  Lee manufactures different size powder dippers.  The powder dipper is basically a yellow plastic spoon used to scoop a known volume of powder.  Some reloaders use this approach rather than using a powder dispenser or a scale, but others do.  Dippers are included with Lee dies, and you can also buy a set of different sized dippers separately. It’s not the powder measurement and dispensing approach I used, but I found the data interesting.  I’ve never seen this data in other load manuals.
    • Auto-Disk.   Lee makes an Auto-Disk Powder Measure.  It’s a device that uses a sliding disk with different volume chambers (or cavities) in it to control the volume of powder dispensed by their Auto-Disk Powder Measure.  These cavities are denoted by decimal numbers.  The Lee reloading manual tables identify the appropriate Auto-Disk to use with charges included in the table.  I’ve never seen this data in other manuals.
    • 1 Grain Factor.  This is another bit of data not included in any other reloading manual I’ve ever seen.   The 1 Grain Factor can be used to show velocity reduction if the maximum powder charge is decreased by one grain.  You take the maximum velocity, multiply it by the 1 Grain Factor, and it will show the decrease in velocity that will be realized by reducing the powder charge 1 grain.  There’s a similar 1 Grain Factor included that can be used to calculate pressure reduction for a 1 grain powder reduction   The 1 Grain Factors are not included for every cartridge (they are included for the hotter magnum cartridges such as .44 Magnum and 7mm Remington Magnum).
A Lee dipper included with a set of Lee reloading dies. The dipper is a powder scoop. You can also buy the dippers separately.
An earlier Lee Auto-Disk Powder dispenser. This powder dispensing approach used disks (see lower arrow) installed in the dispenser (see upper arrow). The disks contained different cavities that dispensed different powder volumes.
A Lee Auto-Disk powder disk, as seen from below. The cylindrical openings collect different volumes of powder from the Auto-Disk hopper. Selecting different openings will dispense different charges.
Lee Auto-Disk powder disk as seen from above. The volume designator for each cavity is identified on the disk top. The Lee reloading manual shows which opening to use for a selected powder charge. No other reloading manual contains this information.

The Lee manual breaks with typical reloading manuals on the order in which loads are shown.  In other manuals, the cartridge sequence is organized by bullet diameter, and then within each bullet diameter category, by cartridge maximum velocity. There is a table of contents in the Lee manual (it’s on Pages 159-160) showing all the cartridges included in the Lee manual and where their load data appears.

If you are a reloader who enjoys getting into the more technical aspects of load development (and what reloader isn’t?) I believe you will thoroughly enjoy Lee’s Modern Reloading.  I think it’s a first-class work as good as or better than the manuals from Lyman, Sierra, Hornady, and other reloading manual publishers.  It’s money well spent, and when you purchase Lee’s Classic Turret Press Kit, you basically get it for free.

Keep us going…please click on the popup ads!

Never miss an ExNotes blog:

Read our blogs on other Lee reloading gear:

TJ’s Latest Custom Handguns

By Joe Berk

I had lunch with good buddy TJ (of TJ’s Custom Gunworks) recently and he showed me an LAR Grizzly .45 Winchester Magnum handgun he recently completed.  It’s wild.  It’s the one you see in the photo above and in the additional photos below.   Here’s TJ’s description:

The Path of Bushido, a custom L.A.R. Grizzly .45 Winchester Magnum (it’s a supersized 1911). This handgun is Duracoated with Skulls of Death and Kanji characters depicting the seven Samurai virtues of the Bushido. This magnum features the typical 1911 match action, trigger, and reliability work, as well as barrel and bushing clearance reduction. The gun also has melted edges, a speckled Duracoat finish, a Bullet-guide rod, and Millett target sights with orange DayGlo on the front.

The photos can only begin to the do justice to this stunning handgun (trust me, I’ve seen it in person).  And that .45 Win Mag cartridge…think of it as the illegitimate offspring of the already-powerful .45 ACP cartridge (my favorite, by the way) and the .44 Magnum.  It’s a very impressive hand cannon.

One of the things I like best about TJ’s latest creation is the Millett sights.  In my opinion, there are none better.  I have these on both my Rock Island Compact 1911 and my bright stainless Colt 1911, and TJ is the pistolsmith who installed them on both guns.

If you were wondering about the Bushido emblems on the Grizzly, here’s an explanation:

I asked TJ what the Grizzly looked like before he worked his magic, and TJ shared this photo with me:

At the end of our visit, I asked TJ what else he’s been up to lately.  Take a look.  These are magnificent.  This first one is a SIG P239 with black camo treatment, a jeweled hammer, a rounded trigger, and lots of internal smoothing and reliability enhancement.

This next one is compact Colt Agent 1911 with Tiger Duracoat and a matching a matching TJ’s knife.

This is another compact 1911 (a Colt Defender) with a camo surface treatment and all the internal reliability action work.  It’s not easy to get a compact 1911 to perform, but TJ sure did it on mine.  I’ve put thousands of rounds through my TJ-customized Rock Island Compact.  TJ took what was a relatively unreliable gun and turned it into a masterpiece.

Here’s a TJ-modded Ruger Match Champion revolver, with jeweled bits, recontoured trigger, and an action job.

One last photo…this is a SIG P220 grip in which TJ custom inlayed the US government insignia.  TJ does a lot of work for senior government folks here and abroad.  It’s cool stuff.

I’ve had six handguns and a rifle customized by TJ, and every one of them is a stellar example of his craftsmanship.  These include my Model 59, a bright stainless Colt 1911, my MacManus Colt 1911, the Rock Island Compact, a Model 60 Smith and Wesson snubbie, a Ruger Mini 14, and my new Colt Python.   In addition to my guns, folks who follow the ExNotes blog took my advice and had TJ work on their guns, like Marty with his custom Colt Combat Commander, Bob with his Beretta 92, and others who are not listed here.  You might have noticed that TJ advertises here on ExNotes.  If you want to reach the folks who follow the blog, you might consider doing so, too.   You can contact us at info@ExhaustNotes.us and you can reach TJ by clicking on the link below.

Lee Classic Turret Press Kit Part 2: The Lee Safety Powder Scale

By Joe Berk

This is the next installment of our Lee Classic Turret Press Kit series, and this article focuses on Lee’s Safety Powder Scale.  It’s the scale you see in the above photo and in the photos that follow.  I haven’t assembled the turret press yet (that’s coming).  Before I get to that, I’m doing this blog on the Lee scale, and then others on the Lee reloading manual and the Lee bench plate.  These will be followed by blogs on the Lee turret press, the powder dispenser, the priming tool, and the 9mm dies I’ll use with this equipment.

My new Lee Safety Powder Scale. I used a .223 caliber 62-grain Hornady full metal jacket bullet to check my zero and the scale’s accuracy.  Yep.  It’s good.
Packaging

The box you see below was inside the Classic Turret Press Kit, and the Turret Press Kit’s box was inside a bigger box.   It’s a box in a box (you know, Russian doll packaging, like I mentioned in the first blog on the Turret Press Kit). The Lee packaging is good.  Everything arrived undamaged.

The Lee Safety Powder Scale box. It’s well packaged.
What’s inside the Lee Safety Powder Scale box. You get the scale base, the balance beam, and the pan.
Lee Safety Scale Components

As mentioned in the photo above, there are three components in the Lee Safety Scale.  These are the scale base (that’s the cast red frame in the photo below), the beam (I call it a balance beam; it’s the black subassembly in the photo below), and the pan (that’s where the material to be weighed is placed).  The pan has an attached hook on it (it’s the bar extending up in the photo below) that hooks onto the right end of the beam.

The Lee base, balance beam, and pan.

The red base has a machined groove on the piece that extends up on the right side.  The beam is placed over this, and it balances on a knife edge in this groove. There are magnets in the base to dampen the beam’s movement as it balances.   The photo below shows the scale with everything in place.

The assembled Lee Safety Powder scale.  The left arrow points to the index mark (the beam should point to it when weighing), the bottom arrow points to the 10-grain poise (more on it below), the center top arrow points to the 10-grain increments and markings on the balance beam, and the right arrow points to the 1-grain/.01-grain poise.

The magnetic beam dampers in the scale base work.  When weighing powder charges with the Lee scale, the beam balanced in just a couple of oscillations.

The Lee balance beam is a molded phenolic subassembly with two poises.  “Poise” an engineering term for the movable weights that balance the beam.  It’s a term Lee uses in their documentation.

When I was Director of Engineering at Aerojet (we designed and manufactured munitions…big stuff, 2000-pound bombs, anti-armor munitions, and other things I can’t tell you about), we used plastic on as many parts as possible (rather than metal) because plastic was less expensive, it does not not corrode, it can be molded to exact dimensions, and moving parts are less likely to jam.  Lee makes some of these same points in their literature.  My point here is this: Don’t dismiss the Lee balance beam because it is a phenolic part.  From an engineering perspective, it is the right choice.  As Richard Lee (Lee Precision Products founder) stated in his excellent reloading manual, Modern Reloading:

Lee Safety Scale has a phenolic beam.  Like a glass thermometer, if it is not broken it is still accurate.

Incidentally, the next blog in this series will be on Lee’s Modern Reloading book.  I’m reading it now and it’s good.

The Lee pan is a one-piece subassembly that consists of an arm (the pan hangs from it on the right side of the beam) and the pan.  The pan can be a bit difficult to get under a powder dispenser because the arm gets in the way.   That’s not a big deal, and when I was weighing .357 Magnum charges with the Lee scale (so I could adjust my powder dispenser to drop the correct charge), it didn’t affect my ability to catch and weigh the powder.

The arm on the Lee pan interfered with getting the pan directly underneath the powder dispenser, but it was a minor inconvenience.  That’s 8.0 grains of Unique you see above.
Measurement Range

The Lee scale can measure up to 110 grains.  That’s good news and bad news.  Most of us use powder scales for measuring powder, and if that’s your purpose, the Lee scale is the right tool.  The 110-grain measurement range gives superior sensitivity for detecting slight weight differences.  Other balance beam reloading scales can weigh up to 510 grains, but they do so with the same range of motion as the Lee scale, and that means they don’t provide the same sensitivity.

Sometimes we wish to weigh bullets (competitive bench rest shooters and cast bullet shooters might want to sort bullets by weight).  On the Lee scale, you can only weigh bullets that are 110 grains or less.  I’m what I would call a serious reloader, and in the last 50 years, I might have weighed bullets maybe a half dozen times.  I’m happy to lose the ability to weigh bullets in exhange for the increased sensitivity I’ll get when weighing powder charges with the Lee scale.  Your mileage may vary.

The bottom line is this:  For weighing powder, the Lee scale does a superior job within its measurement range, and that range is adequate for any thing I shoot (that includes .22 Hornet, .416 Rigby, .458 Win Mag, and many handgun and rifle cartridges in between).  For weighing bullets over 110 grains, you would be better served with scales offering a greater range than the Lee scale, but you give up accuracy with those scales.  Do you really need the increased weight range?  Most of us do not.

Zeroing the Scale

Like all scales, the Lee Safety Scale requires zeroing before use.  Lee incorporates a threaded brass  weight (in the form of a wheel) in the balance beam to move the beam up or down on its pivot in the base.

The Lee balance beam.  The black arrow on the right is used for zeroing the scale, which is explained below.  The red arrow points to the 10-grain poise.

The idea is you set the both poises to zero (see below).  To set the 10-grain poise to zero, you roll it all the way to the right, and it comes to rest on the zero marker.  The balance beam has ridges that will position the 10-grain poise ball bearing in 10-grain increments, starting at 0 and going up to 100 grains.  To set the 1-grain poise to zero, you slide it all the way to the right, and lock the poise in the zero position with a little locking button on the bottom of the poise.

The 1-grain poise in the 0 position. The lower left red arrow points to the poise locking button (you push it in to lock the poise in place). The lower right arrow points to the 0 grains reading. The upper red arrow points to a protuberance that can be used as a little handle to move the poise. The “.1 grain” marking denotes the Vernier lines and windows used for reading tenths of a grain.

When the two poises are set to zero (as explained above), the brass wheel in the balance beam can be rotated to zero the scale.  As the brass wheel is rotated, it moves to either the left or right along its threaded shaft depending on which way the wheel is turned.  The idea is to turn the wheel until the balance beam is aligned with the index mark on the scale base as shown below.

The balance beam’s brass wheel. It’s used for zeroing the scale.
The lower black arrow points to the 10-grain poise. It’s a captured ball bearing that can be moved in 10-grain increments. In this photo, it’s in the 0 grains position. The right arrow points to the 1-grain poise.   The left black arrow points to the balance beam aligned with the base index mark.
Using the Lee Safety Scale

Using the scale after it has been zeroed when setting up a powder dispenser involves setting the desired powder charge with the 10-grain and 1-grain poises, and then adjusting the dispenser to provide an amount of powder that matches the scale adjustment.  It’s fairly straightforward, although using the 1-grain poise with its Vernier tenth-grain readings may be new to some people.

Or, you may have an item you wish to weigh.   Reading the scale is the same in either case.  It involves setting the 10-grain poise in the appropriate notch, and then moving the 1-grain poise to the appropriate place.

After I had zeroed the scale, I wanted to check its accuracy.  I weighed a .224-inch diameter, 62-grain Hornady jacketed boattail bullet to do this.  I put the bullet in the pan, moved the 10-grain poise to the 60-grain position, and then moved the 1-grain poise laterally along the balance beam until the beam was aligned with the base index mark.

A 62-grain Hornady bullet in the Lee scale pan.
The balance beam is balanced, with the pointed aligned to the base index marrk. The 10-grain poise is in the 60-grain notch.

Using the 1-grain poise is a bit tricky.  In the photo below you can see that the poise shows 2 grains in the lower window.  The Vernier windows on top of the 1-grain poise show that the 0 and .9 grain windows are aligned with visible lines, and a window is just a bit aligned with the .1 grain windows above and below the 0 and 9 windows.   Like I said, interpreting the Vernier approach is a bit complicated, but the Lee instructions contain several photos explaining how to do it.  What you see below for this measurement is interpreted to mean that the weight in tenths of a grain around the 2 grains in the lower window is somewhere between 1.9, 2.0, and 2.1 grains, and I interpolated that as 0.0 grains away from 2.0 grains.   Stated differently, the measured bullet weight is 62.0 grains, which is exactly what it is supposed to be.

The Lee 1-grain poise.  This sliding weight (or poise) is used for reading grains and tenths of a grain. Grains are read in the window denoted by the right arrow. Tenths of a grain are interpolated with a Vernier-based set of lines and windows denoted by the left arrow.

As a check, I also measured the bullet’s weight with the RCBS scale I’ve been using for the last 50 years, and it returned the same weight:  62.0 grains.

Cost

Lee did their usual outstanding job here:  The Lee Safety Scale price is significantly lower than the competition.  The Lee scale lists for $46.98 on the Lee website (interestingly, they also list factory second scales for $31.32).   You can also purchase the Lee scale from Amazon and other retail outlets, and Lee tells you on their website that their retailers typically have lower prices than Lee advertises.

The nearest competitor to the Lee scale is the RCBS M500 mechanical scale, and that lists for $125.99 on the RCBS website.  From a cost perspective, Lee is the clear winner here.

Documentation

The Lee scale includes a single-sheet, two-page instruction sheet.  It’s good, and it provides all the information you need to set up and use the Lee scale.  As mentioned above, the Lee instructions include information on using the Vernier feature on the 1-grain poise.

The Bottom Line

The Lee Safety Scale is accurate, inexpensive (less than half the cost of competitor products), and well built.  Reading the Vernier scale to get tenths of a grain takes a little bit of study and practice, but once you get it, you’ll find it quick and easy to use.  This is a good scale, it will serve any reloader well, and it should last a lifetime (and then some).

Help us out!  Please click on the popup ads!  And check out what else is available from Lee Precision.

Never miss an ExNotes blog:

Read our blogs on unveiling the Lee Classic Turret Kit and the Lee Deluxe 4-die sets:

The Wayback Machine: Eleanor II

By Joe Berk

You’ll recall a recent blog where I waxed eloquent about Eleanor, my Ruger RSM .416 Rigby rifle.   In that blog, I talked about reduced loads using 350-grain cast Montana bullets and 5744 and Trail Boss propellant.  It was fun…the Trail Boss loads had milder recoil and “good enough” (but not stellar) accuracy.  Take a look at these 50-yard targets:

The above target on the left was with 30.0 grains of Trail Boss; the one on the right was with 34.0 grains of Trail Boss.  I could feel a tiny bit more recoil with the 34.0-grain load, but both were light loads with modest recoil.   Weirdly, the point of impact shifted sharply to the right with the lighter load, but it moved back to the center with the 34.0-grain load (and it was slightly higher).  The Trail Boss loads shot okay, but they weren’t running in the same league as the load I had shot the prior week with 5744 propellant and the same Montana Bullet Works 350-grain bullet, as you can see from the 50-yard targets below.

I could see what I was getting with the Trail Boss and I could see that it wasn’t grouping nearly as well as the 5744 loads at 50 yards, so that stopped my testing with Trail Boss (that, and the fact that I had used up all my Trail Boss cartridges).

I was curious:  How would Eleanor do at 100 yards?  I still had some of the 5744 loads left, so I posted a couple of 100-yard targets and let Eleanor have her way.  I first fired a 3-shot group and after looking through my spotting scope, I was surprised to see how well they grouped.

I thought maybe that target was a random success, and I didn’t want to ruin it by throwing more shots at it.  So I fired another 3-shot group at the second target, and then another three at that same target.  That’s the one you see below.

Before all you keyboard commandos start telling me that these results are nothing special, allow me to point out that these are 100-yard groups using  open sights on an elephant rifle.   I’m calling it good to go.  Like I said earlier, when the elephants become an invasive species here in So Cal, I’m ready.   The load is 45.0 grains of 5744 (it’s the load the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook specified as the accuracy load, and they were right), the 350-grain Montana Bullet Works .416 bullet sized to .417 and crimped in the cannelure, Hornady brass, and a CCI-200 primer.  I didn’t weigh each charge; I just adjusted my RCBS powder dispenser and cranked them out.  If you were wondering, I use Lyman dies for this cartridge.

A bit more about Eleanor:  The rifle is a Ruger 77 that the good folks from New Hampshire call an Express or RSM model (I think RSM stood for Ruger Safari Magnum).  They made them in 375 H&H, 416 Rigby, and 458 Lott (kind of a magnum .458 Magnum).  Ruger also made a similar one in a few of the standard calibers (7mm Mag, 30 06, and 300 Win Mag, and maybe one or two others).  These rifles were a bit pricey when Ruger sold them in the late 1990s/early 2000s, but evidently not pricey enough.  They were too expensive to manufacture, so Ruger stopped making them.  When you see these rifles come up for sale today (which doesn’t happen very often), they command a premium.  I wish I had bought one in 30 06 when they were first offered; to me, that would be the perfect rifle.

The rear sight on a Ruger RSM rifle is of the African “Express” style.  The elevation adjustment consists of a fixed and two flip-up blades, and they all have a very shallow V.  I guess the idea of that shallow V is that it lets you see more in case an elephant is charging.  The sight has two flip up blades behind the fixed blade; as range increases, you flip up the second blade, and if it is an even longer shot, you go for the third blade.  I got lucky, for me, the fixed rear sight blade is perfect with this load.  I made a minor adjustment for windage, and the elevation is spot on with a 6:00 hold at both 50 yards and 100 yards.

Incidentally, that rib the rear sight sits on?  It’s not a separate piece.  It and the barrel were turned and milled from one solid piece of steel.  It’s one of the reasons these rifles were too expensive to manufacture.

The front sight is the typical brass bead (you can sort of see it in the featured photo at the top of this blog), which I usually don’t like, but with these results I can’t complain.  I’ve shot better groups with two or three other open sight rifles using jacketed bullets at 100 yards; this is the best any cast bullet has ever done for me.

Popups:  Click on them to keep us going!

Want to see the first installment of the Eleanor story?  It’s right here.

Check out our other guns and reloading articles here.

Tough to get to a gunstore to buy targets?  Range fees for targets too high? Do what I do and order them online.  They’re delivered right to your door and they’re less expensive, too.

Need a calipers for measuring your group size?  This is a great place to find great calipers at a great price.

Want to check out Montana Bullets?   Here’s a link to their website.  Tell them Joe sent you.  Trust me on this:  These are best cast bullets I’ve ever used.

Never miss an ExNotes blog! Subscribe for free!

Lee Classic Turret Press Kit 1: Unpacking

By Joe Berk

We’re writing a series of blogs on the Lee Precision Classic Turret Press Kit, and this first one focuses on unpacking and taking an initial look at the kit. I think the YouTube kids call this a “reveal.”  I’ll just call it unboxing and seeing what’s in the box.  I thought I could do a single blog on the Classic Turret Press Kit, but there’s too much included in the kit and too much that’s new to me to handle in one blog.  We’re going to instead do a series of blogs:  One on each item that’s included with the kit, a blog on setting the press and dies up, a blog on reloading with the Lee equipment, and a blog on how the ammo reloaded with the Classic Turret Press Kit performs.   There’s a lot here.  You’ll get a feel for just how much in this initial blog on the Classic Turret Press Kit.

Here’s the picture on Lee’s website for the kit, which Lee advertises for $380.

The photo above shows everything set up, but the photo doesn’t do justice to the excitement associated with getting this kit, taking everything out of the box, and opening it.  Nor does it convey what I expect to be the satisfaction I’ll experience with using the Lee equipment.  That will be the subject of future blogs.  Think of this first blog as Christmas morning. That’s what opening and unpacking the Lee kit felt like to me.

ExNotes blog readers will recall that good buddy Jose left a comment on one of our Lee Deluxe 4-die set blogs.   Jose told us about his Lee turret press.  He wrote a guest blog or two for us here on ExNotes and he is a Ruger No. 1 aficionado, which means he stands tall with me.  After reading Jose’s comments, I had to check out the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit myself, and after poking around on Lee’s site a bit and seeing what the Lee kit included, I knew I wanted one.  I specifically wanted to set it up for 9mm using Lee’s Deluxe 4-die set.  I’ve been using older 9mm dies from various die makers, and my reloads would sometimes jam.  With my old dies, the crimps were inconsistent, and I knew from my experience with Lee’s .357 and .44 Magnum Deluxe dies I wouldn’t have that problem with Lee equipment.  I have the Lee Deluxe handgun die sets in 38 Special/357 Magnum, 44 Special/44 Magnum, .45 Colt, and .30 Carbine, and the ammo I reload with those dies is exceptional (better than anything I loaded with other manufacturers’ dies).  I use Lee dies for several rifle cartridges, and I have more than a few other bits of Lee equipment.  I’ve been pleased with all of it.

Lee advertises that their Classic Turret Press Kit includes everything needed to start making ammo, except for the dies and, of course, the components (brass, powder, primers, and bullets).   I have plenty of components, and the thought of wringing out the Lee gear, writing about it, and testing the ammo in a couple of my favorite 9mm handguns checked all the boxes for me.  This will be a fun project and I want to share the excitement with you.

I placed my order with Lee for the Classic Turret Press Kit, the Bench Plate Kit (something I saw on their website that appealed to me), and the 9mm dies.  It all arrived a few days later, well packed in a single box.  I was impressed with how fast it arrived (it shipped during the holiday season) and the packaging.  The Lee folks have done this before; it’s first class customer service.

This is the right time of year to open a box full of goodies and examine the contents.  I was a kid on Christmas morning.  This was fun!

When I opened the outer container, I saw my 9mm Deluxe 4-die set and the Lee bench plate.

As I mentioned above, I’m a firm believer in Lee’s Deluxe dies.  I can’t wait to put these to work making 9mm ammunition for my SIG P226 Scorpion and Springfield Armory 1911.

The idea behind the Lee Bench Plate is that it’s a quick detach/attach mount for a Lee press. It’s not included with the Classic Turret Press Kit (it’s priced at $39 on Lee’s website), but I like the idea of being able to quickly remove the press from my reloading bench.  You’ll get a complete report on setting up and using the Bench Plate in a future ExNotes blog.

After unpacking the 9mm dies and the bench plate, I pulled out the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit.  This was like one of those Russian dolls.  I was peeling the onion and enjoying it.

When I opened the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit, I found the Lee Safety Primer Feed, a tube of Lee Resizing Lube, and the Lee Case Conditioning Kit.

The Lee Safety Primer Feed (shown in the two photos below) is a device I have not used before.  I’ll explain how it works in a future blog.  I have three other Lee priming devices and I’ve been using them for decades with no problems.  The Lee Safety Primer Feed sells for $30.

Lee includes their Case Conditioning Kit (see the photo below) with the Classic Turret Press Kit.  The Case Conditioning Kit consists of a primer pocket cleaner, a case cutter and locking stud, and a chamfer to bevel the case mouth after it has been trimmed.  I have not used these tools from Lee before; it will be interesting to see how they perform.  I have other equipment that performs these tasks, but I had to buy those items separately.  With the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit, it’s all included. The Case Conditioning Kit lists for $12.98 on the Lee site.

I won’t need the Lee Resizing Lube shown below because my new Lee 9mm dies include a carbide resizer (which negates the need for case lubrication).  Not having to lube the cases is a good thing.  On rifle cases, though, lube is necessary, so I’ll put the lube to good use on those.   The price for Lee’s Resizing Lube is $5.98.

The Lee Classic Turret Press Kit includes Lee’s Modern Reloading manual (a sizeable book, comparable to the manuals from Hornady, Speer, Sierra, and other reloading component companies), and a Hodgdon reloading pamphlet.  I’m looking forward to reviewing the Lee manual.  I’ve been reloading a long time, but I still learn something new every time I pick up a reloading manual.  If you were to buy the Lee Modern Reloading manual separately, it sells for $40.98.  Lee also includes the Hodgdon Data Manual with the Classic Turret Press Kit.  I’ve seen the pamphlets from Hodgdon before; I’ll take a look at this one and share my impressions in a subsequent blog.

Next out of the box was Lee’s Auto-Drum Powder Measure.  I’ve used an older Lee version of this device.  I’m not familiar with how the new one works, but I’m looking forward to finding out.  The Auto-Drum Powder Measure is infinitely adjustable.  That’s a good thing.  The older version used a charging plate with discrete increments; infinite adjustment is a much better way to go.  The Auto-Drum Powder Measure automatically charges the case with with each stroke of the press.  If purchased separately, the Auto-Drum Powder Measure sells for $55.00.

Lee includes a Powder Measure Riser in the Classic Turret Press Kit (see the photo below).  This is used with the Auto-Drum Powder Measure to position the powder dispenser above the priming mechanism (it allows adequate clearance).   The Powder Measure Riser sells for $9.98 on the Lee site.

There’s a balance beam scale (the Lee Safety Powder Scale) in the Classic Turret Kit.   This is a standard reloading scale.  The Safety Powder Scale is $46.98 on the Lee site.  You might wonder:  Why use a simple mechanical scale when there are digital scales and digital powder dispensers?  The reasons are simplicity, reliability, and cost.  I have friends that use digital scales, and they report inaccuracies induced by nearby metal objects (have any of those on your reloading bench?), slow operation, and of course, much greater expense.  For me a simple balance beam scale works best; it’s what I’ve been using for 50 years.   The Lee Safety Powder Scale is new to me, and I’ll report how it works.

At this point, I had one more box to open, and it contained the Classic Turret Press.  Lee lists the Classic Turret Press at $220.  Like everything else in the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit, the Classic Turret Press was well packaged.

The Classic Turret Press is massive.   It’s beefy, it’s heavy, and it looks to be well built. What you see below is the press, along with the operating handle, a spent primer catch tube (a nice touch), the four position turret head, and the hardware required to assemble it.

So there you have it:  The Lee Classic Turret Press Kit.  You might have noticed that I listed the cost for each item above separately, along with a link to the appropriate Lee page.  I thought it would be interesting to sum the prices and compare the total to Lee’s Classic Turret Press Kit price:

At Lee’s price of $380 for the Classic Turret Press Kit, it’s a good deal compared to buying the items separately.  But Lee goes a step further.  They recognize that retailers often sell the individual items and the Classic Turret Press Kit at lower prices, and Lee states on their site that you can find lower prices by visiting a Lee retailer.  One of the best places to find lower prices is Amazon.  I encourage you to explore Lee’s website, and to take a look at Lee gear on Amazon.

This project is going to be fun, folks.  Keep an eye on the ExhaustNotes blog as we put the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit through its paces.

Like what you see here? Don’t forget to help us by clicking on the popup ads!

There are many more shooting and reloading stories on Tales of the Gun.  Hope on over and take a look.

In the spirit of complete disclosure:  Lee liked our blogs on the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum Deluxe 4-die sets and they asked us to similarly review the Classic Turret Press Kit.  Lee provided the kit to us at no charge.  But rest assured: That won’t color our judgment or what we report.  You will get the complete story, warts and all.