Comparing Lee's Value Turret Press to their Classic Turret press 

I totally skipped over the clearance issue in the video. Your comment is excellent so I pinned it to the top. Thanks!

The problem is that the turret starts turning before the 30-06 seating die clears the seated bullet, so for me it’s not working with the 30-06. Still my favorite press I own though

@@RealMrSmit yep, so you need the classic which will work

@@sofloemir I have the classic turret( I should have stated this in my comment), it’s the seating die that doesn’t clear the 30-06 cartridge before the turret turns. Maybe it would work if I’d screw the die out slightly and turn the adjuster in more as is was a matter of a 16th of an inch or so, but enough to jam the press up. So I use my classic turret only to load 223 and some handgun calibers and use my classic cast for 30-06 and up.

@@sofloemir so I actually tested again and I can get the seating die to work but it’s the factory crimp die that jams up the press. Now I could take the cartridge out of the shellholder before the turret indexes, but that’s not my habit.

Thanks for checking in Joe, glad they are still working for you and standing the test of time.

It is really an under appreciated press!

I'm glad you found it useful.

I have both and I go to the classic 100% That said, I have tested the Value press and it is very capable of making great ammo.

Roosted Films - I jumping into reloading too & am going Lee classic turret press. I love these videos

Thanks man!

If you use Lee presses and you prime on the press the new primer levers are a giant leap forward. I have yet to drop a primer with the new versions. Thanks for the nice comments.

Thanks for the comment! Truth is, it isnt as robust as the Classic but I really dont have a bad thing to say about it. It does a great job. For $80-90 dollars its a lot of press.

I leave it set up for pistol mostly. It will do more but the mechanics and leverage of it seem to favor the smaller cartridges. For me its just a feel thing.

Thanks! 👍

Glad this was useful for you. If I was taking the plunge I would go with the classic also. However for the money, the value press is hard to beat and it works great.

I agree, if I was buying, I would get the LCT. That said, I dont have anything bad to say about the Value press. I have used it to load rifle rounds and it makes very consistent and concentric rounds.

Its a great press and my go to for pistol loading.

@@TreeTopFlier yes that’s exactly what I use it for. Mostly 9mm. I use an RCBS turret press for my rifle loading.

Nice tip!

I thought about this myself, why make a competing press? I am going to guess that the profit margin is way higher on the Value press than the Classic. It may actually make a lot of sense on their end but Im not sure it makes a lot of sense for the consumer. That said, it runs great, they both do!

The Reloading Press gs434

Awesome that you started reloading after watching that series. I had to remove those videos because they violated RU-vid terms of service. They are still available at Gunstreamer.com, TheReloadersNetwork.com and UGETube.com under the same handle TreeTopFlier. I cant even link to them because that is what they call "meta data". I can afford other presses but I really like the Lee Classic Turret. I like that it auto advances unlike the Redding T7 etc. and it is fast enough that I can make several hundred rounds in a short time and still just make one at a time. I'm not a high volume shooter so it meets my needs.

@@TreeTopFlier after 11 months of owning the lee value turret I honestly love it ! and it definitely takes a beating. only thing I kinda regret is not buying more turrets before the scare started cant find any for under 50$ lol

Its a really great press for the money. I have experimented with it and it is capable of producing really concentric ammo.

You're welcome!

It's a great little press and I actually prefer it for hand gun cartridges. If you think you would like to step up to rifle cartridges I would get the LCT

Hi Willie. I am currently charging $69 plus shipping. I got hit with a run before I went on vacation a while back so I am completely out right now. Need to get back into the shop. Thanks for the great comment.

I have come full circle. I got the Lee presses because they were economical. I assumed that it was a compromise and you would get better results from the high end, more expensive gear. As my skills progressed I have found that all the things you can quantify in terms of consistency are well withing the range of high quality on the Lee press. The only thing that I think you benefit substantially from in a high precision O frame press is consistent shoulder setback resizing options.

Right! at $24 its hardly worth the postage. Lee should have recalled them IMO.

Glad you enjoyed it

I know what you mean but I often run big cast presses in the same spot on the bench. You can feel the difference in the linkage. It isn't much and it doesn't hurt anything but for some people it might be an irritant. I just try to show my observations. But your right, I do have flex in the bench.

I created the stand for several reasons. I never liked the weight of the powder measure riding the lee turret press. Its smoother without it. I wanted more consistent throws and dispensing is more accurate with some powders. I used a lot of H110 powder and it leaks from the autodrum pretty bad. I watched his video and his methodology was sound. The only thing I thought was a weak point is he was moving the handle way too fast in his demonstration in both situations. He was speeding way too fast through the drop portion of the rotation. Not sure all the powder was making it out of the metering chamber before he shut it off. Yes I know he did it the same but still.... And yes it could be assumed that the movement of the turret would compress the powder and give a heavier load. Consistency of handling is key.

​@@TreeTopFlier Yes, he did move way too fast, was kinda ridiculous! And the classic turret press uses the auto index which is pretty smooth. And I also agree, the Auto Drum does add some weight. I have been loading .223 using Winchester 748 also I'm not leaking, but will be using the H110 soon with a different caliber. Your system is very cool.

You need an actual powder through die. Lee makes a large and small version for this die. The medium cartridge sizes like the 223 use the smaller one. leeprecision.com/short-charging-die.html

Just looking at the book win mag max is about 3.5".... The value press has about 3.5" clearance and the LCT is close to 4" Those should handle most mag cartridges.

Not sure exactly what your asking but. The powder measure is mounted in stands I designed and built. They use the press mounting hardware to mount to the bench so they do not take up any room. Check instagram for #TTFpowderstand or the video in the pinned comment if you want to know more.

@@TreeTopFlier oh now I see....it's the powder stand. Thanks!

I've seen what you're talking about years ago, dont remember where. I wana say someone made a kit for it, not sure if its still a thing???

@@TreeTopFlier I contacted Lee support, but then I saw there is a kit, so I'll buy that if support doesn't sent the "reverse shaft", but I read somewhere they would. Thnx

I like both handles. Never used the old turret press.

To really take advantage of the function of the press, it can be useful to preform most of the functions on the press. I like to prime on press, and the new lee safety prime levers are awesome. The lee autodrum powder measure is also very good. The Lee modern reloading is a good book as a starting point. The lee powder scale is functional but a little too fiddly IMO. I like having a mechanical scale but if I was buying my first it would be the Lyman electronic micro 1500 scale. The kit is not a bad idea. But you can shop the press and the three items I mentioned purchased individually and save some coin. You may want to check out my minimalist reloading series if your just getting started.

The Kit is not too bad after all. I actually watch your videos and got started on reloading with your minimalist series. I have the handpress right now and some dies. I only use the scooper. Good thing theres load data for the scooper that came with the dies i bought. Now I’m looking to reload more in a much faster rate. Currently I am loading with the handpress at about 40 rounds/hr. I do not want to take all day anymore haha. Thanks for the tips! Really great content as well.

@@johnpaulsasotona9083 Oh thats great. I would still get an electronic scale, the Lee beam scale is OK. I like to use both scales to validate each other. The thing with the dippers is as long as your using the powder that is called for your ok. But they wont work for many other pistol powders. Stay safe.

I bought the Lee Classic kit and use none of the kits extra bits!

I have to be honest. I have loaded perfect rounds on the Value turret press. There is so much hype about quality, cost and presses. Overtime I have come to believe that presses all do the same thing. As long as the angles are square (90deg) and aligned, Its hard to tell one press from another. Most of your Col variation is in the bullet ogive. Your die push pin has an inverted cone that fits the bullet, so variations in depth are usually because of variance in how the die fits the bullet. Since the die push pin stays the same, variance is mostly caused by irregularity in the bullet. All this assuming the ram stops in a repeatable position, which is usually the case. The other variable attributed to the press is concentricity. But again, as long as the press runs square, the source of concentricity is more about the die and even the brass itself. There are things that make a great press. Access, Leverage, smoothness, are all things that can be attributed to a quality press. So to answer your question. I think both presses are capable of making great ammo. I think the Classic is more pleasurable to use, since it feels tighter and smoother but those are things that do not effect quality of ammo.

@@TreeTopFlier Great explanation, thank you, I have a challenger and loadmaster and auto breech lock pro, I still want a turret and was thinking about if there was any real advantage or quality in ammo produced over the older classic cast, but you convinced me the classic cast is worth the extra money just on feel alone,

Sorry Im not making these anymore. I made hundreds of them in my garage but it got to be too much. The final nail in the coffin was the Biden administration requiring tax id information for PayPal and other payment services. I have no problem paying taxes but I am not in a situation where I can itemize so I would eat all costs as profit. I have no desire to start a business at this time to keep from paying taxes on costs. Thanks for your interest though. I have a video on the channel I left of so people could figure out their own version.

Thanks for sharing that with everyone.

I agree with you. I only load pistol ammo and prefer the shorter stroke on the Value press. I took off the custom handle it came with and put a Lee classic turret press handle and wood knob on it.

"have to" I would say never. Your rounds will work just fine if you clean or not. If you are shooting for accuracy reducing irregularities is a key to accuracy, so most folks are going to uniform the primer pocket so cleaning would be a part of that.

@@TreeTopFlier oh perfect, thanks for the advice

I usually decap on a small press then clean the brass. I tend to load hand gun cartridges on the Value and medium size high volume on cartridges on the classic. I use the on press priming on the value press and it works fine for me. I still drop a primer now and then but its acceptable to me. Thanks for the comment.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I loaded up some 223 on the Value press after I did this video and they were near perfect concentric and the overall length was +- .002 or so. There are a lot of factors that go into getting a uniform round but I proved to myself that this press was capable of doing its part.

They supposedly changed the ram so the primer tube fits to the bottom like the classic after 2018. Is yours like that or did the plate just give enough clearance?

I've got the new style value press I believe (ordered it direct from Lee around 2 months ago) and the tube still attaches on the back side of the ram. It wasn't a huge issue for me before because the desk it's mounted to isn't that thick, but if I ran the entire stroke it would interfere some. The bench plate didn't really push the press out further on it's own, but it made it so that I didn't need to index the press on the edge of the desk to make it square - the bench plate's holes keep the press square to the plate, and then the plate automatically squares itself up on the mount. So I was able to mount the press a bit further forward with it than without it.

I prefer just the ball handle also.

Here in Poland difference is bigger 564 zł to 750 zł so Value Turret is about 25% cheaper. Still I'm not sure if it's worth to buy cheaper one when you buy press for a looong time, maybe whole life.

I know, crazy right? I was looking for a little $40 C press from Lee.... holy smokes those babies are expensive! Crazy times.

@@TreeTopFlier decided to bite the bullet on a load master from titan they have it the cheapest. seems well reviewed and supported if youre interested but its a little heavy on the wallet

The die in the video is the lee 9mm powder through/expander die, it comes in most of the Lee kits. For rifle you would use a Lee small or large rifle charge die.

The mount bolt pattern is different and not symmetrical. It does fit the Lee bench plate so it may be a pattern they used already or planned for.

Great to know, thank you very much. I mount my presses to aluminum plates that I bolt to my bench using T-nuts. I'll just make another mounting plate for this press. Thanks again for the detailed explanation of the new press.

The 90496 was an early version of both of these presses. the base was aluminum instead of steel. Its obsolete now

It has about 3/8" less than the LCT. It is probably right at the limit for 300 win mag.

From the web site "Large enough to handle monster belted magnum rifle cases"

with the bullet on top and not yet seated?

I put the largest case I have (7.5 X 55 Swiss) with a 170 gr spire point resting on top in the shell holder and still had about 1/2" clearance to the seating die. Best I can report.

If I only had one it would be the classic. That said I enjoy loading pistol rounds on the value press. It's very ergonomic for me.

You think so?

No, this ran its course. I couldnt continue this as a hobby because of new paypal rules from the administration. And I really couldnt continue to build these in my garage. I would need to move to a shop and start create an actual business. So, hundreds later, I scrapped the whole thing. It was always a labor of love. Sorry, it really is an awesome accessory.