New to reloading but felt the RCBS RC, RCII was the right way to go. But I've just discovered the Lee Classic Turret and as I'm only interested in loading .45 ACP anyway, it seems to make a bit more sense to me. Excuse my ignorance, but with a single stage such as the RC presses, don't you have to do one die for all brass, then re-setup a new die (with I assume some adjustments), the do all the brass for the new step/die, then repeat, etc?

I think I will not likely shoot more than 500-1000 rds a month. Which makes the most sense to you?

You are correct in your assumption. Get the Lee. It will become even handier when you begin to setup for additional calibers (all handloaders have a tendency to expand).

. . . I think I will not likely shoot more than 500-1000 rds a month. Which makes the most sense to you?
I think due to the current primer shortage, you will rethink doing all that shooting. When the primer shortage is over, I think you will be glad you bought that turret press.:D

That's a fact. I've just started back into shooting, right at the precise time NOTHING is available. I waited 3 months for the gun, only to run nearly out of ammo. The one thing I've found I can do--get free lead from the public range and cast bullets. Other than that and 2000 empties, I'm as out of the game as everyone else.

I think due to the current primer shortage, you will rethink doing all that shooting. When the primer shortage is over, I think you will be glad you bought that turret press.:D

There is also the classic cast o frame press from Lee but the turret is the way to go for pistol. I use the old version because i like the shorter stroke for pistol ammo while still having an extended handle.

In my opinion, turret presses are only useful for hand gun cartridges. In turret presses, the low cost of Lee's heads is the ony way to go. It makes it much more sense to get the extra heads for extra cartridges and keep them set right for a quick swap.

Lee's auto-index system makes them into a near progressive at reasonable cost for the lower volume shooter who is short on time.

Once set, there is no reason any reloader should have to fiddle with "reseting" any die. Adjust it once for a given press, lock the die ring and you can remove and replace any of them plenty accurately enough for the most precise reloading work. We need NOT wrench dies in and out of a press, hand tight is plenty tight!

My RC II is an ok press but it's vastly over build for any hand gun cartridge and, like any single stage, it's sorta slow too.

You can't go wrong with the Lee Precision Classic Turret.

Okay, this is good news, then. I will generally find handloading time in small increments...a few hours at a time will be unusual, and more often I'll expect I'll have an hour to a session. It seemed to me the turret process, in producing a complete round per cycle, would be more practical or less subject to 'mixups'. I'm thinking I don't want any 'mixups'. ;)

Plan right now is to hand-prime at my leisure as a separate operation, but that's because I've gotten the idea that's a preferred way to do it for many handloaders (references to difficult-to-control press pressure, etc). With the Classic Turret, is it just a waste of time to use the hand-held 'auto primer' tools?

Questions questions questions. I bought a bunch of once-fired brass that has been decapped and it appears to be polished a bit. But, the primer pockets are quite dirty. I've been cleaning them up using an RCBS brush chucked up in a hand drill. Besides being noisy, it's a slow process. Will a vibratory cleaner actually get those pockets bright and shiny if I process them long enough?

Forget bright and shiny. If the carbon buildup in the primer pocket is bothersome, take the point of a slightly dull ice pick or small straight bit screwdriver, give it a quick twist then get the next one. By just taking the hard carbon out of the lower corner of the pocket, primers will seat squarely to the bottom. Once you get a primer seated, they apprear as shiny as I ever wanted.

I have aTurret Press but use the Lee hand held Auto Prime. I have two, one for Large Pistol and one for Small Pistol. Lee has a new priming attachment for the Turret Press but I love the Auto Prime.

I use the Safety Prime on my turret press for handgun calibers. Its fast and efficient enough and I dont have to decap adn size separately then prime, then reinsert to charge the case, then seat a bullet and then crimp.

I use the Hand Priming tool for rifle ammo tho.

I have both presses and find I only ever use the Rock Chucker to load .375 H&H - which only requires 2 dies. I guess I feel the need to justify still having it. The Rock Chucker is a great press, but the Lee Turret is well made and is so much easier and faster. I load at least 7 calibers (8 if you consider I use the .357 dies for .38 special), and switching turrets is so much faster than doing it one die at a time.

........................................

Plan right now is to hand-prime at my leisure as a separate operation, but that's because I've gotten the idea that's a preferred way to do it for many handloaders (references to difficult-to-control press pressure, etc). With the Classic Turret, is it just a waste of time to use the hand-held 'auto primer' tools?

I would use the Lee Auto prime (hand primer). Both of my presses (Breechlock and Classic Cast) will prime on the press, but it's slower (without an auto-feed) AND you don;t have that intimate feel when the primer is seated as you do with the Auto Prime. Don;t worry about speed, it;s very fast - as fast as you can slip a case in, squeeze the handle, pull out the case, and slip another in. When priming on the Lee presses which prime at the bottom of the stroke (handle up, shell holder down), it's hard (for me) to tell when the primer is fully seated. Powering the primer into the pocket (which, by the way, is possible even with the hand-held Auto Prime) can crush the underside of the primer and you can;t see that once the primer is in.

Questions questions questions. I bought a bunch of once-fired brass that has been decapped and it appears to be polished a bit. But, the primer pockets are quite dirty. I've been cleaning them up using an RCBS brush chucked up in a hand drill. Besides being noisy, it's a slow process. Will a vibratory cleaner actually get those pockets bright and shiny if I process them long enough?

If you get a Lee primer pocket cleaning tool, it will get most all of the carbon residue out. A quick couple of twists is all it takes. It has a large cleaning bit on one side and small on the other. The tumbler will do the rest. After 3 hours in the tumbler, they don;t come out looking "shiny and new" in the pocket, but they're very clean.

I've read where some of the more experienced guys rarely clean the pockets and don;t have any issues. I do it because I'm anal and I believe there is the possibility that a round or two will have a primer not fully seated OR crushed a little [on the underside of primer - pocket side] because of some carbon buildup.

I think you'll do good with all Lee products (except for a powder trickler if you need one - the RCBS heavyweight trickler is better than my Lyman and seemingly better than the others I've handled). Lee's products are not cheap, just low-priced.

"..a powder trickler if you need one - the RCBS heavyweight trickler is better than my Lyman and seemingly better than the others I've handled). "

Good point but the Redding trickler is (I think) the heaviest, most stable store bought trickler.

I didn't think my RCBS trickler was steady enough, in fact none of the commerical ones suit me really. So I made my own, it's about three pounds. The base is a lathe turned piece of 2" cast iron pipe cap fitting filled with lead. A section of thin walled 1.25"x4" brass drain pipe is the powder reseviour. The trickle tube is a .25" diameter x 5" long section of chromed car radio antenna with a one inch knob to turn it. I love that thing, it makes accurate trickling simple!

I've noticed all the tricklers have threads on the inside of the delivery tube. I don;t know if they're necessary, but certainly the antenna doesn;t have threads. How does that work out? Is there any rapid dumping of several granules of powder at once? I'd like to try to make one like that.

I haven;t handled the Redding so I really can;t say, but what I like about the RCBS, aside from its weight, is that you can fill in and cap the bottom for more weight if you want.

I think the internal screw is based on the "Archemedes screw" principle, oringinally used to transport water through a long pipe. Nice idea, just turn the rod and powder is slowly dispensed for accurate weighing.

Well...I never throw stuff away.....my bench has an old Lyman
Spartan press which I use with Lee dies since it is not compound....and a Rock Chucker, which I use with long cases....and a Lee Classic turret....primarily for pistol ammo....each one has its strong points...last week I convinced a new loader to try the Lee breach lock system....it just seems to make a lot of sense....love the Lee dies too....hate constantly replacing decapping pins on my RCBS, Redding, and Lyman dies...I too use the Lee hand held priming tool....love the feel....now...if I could just get momma to buy me one of those Sinclair heirloom jobs that use the Lee holders.