Triangle Tactical Podcast and Blog on Guns, Gear, and Competition Shooting
Since starting to reload using the Lee Turret Press, the most common questions I get asked is how fast it is.
My particular Lee Turret is the value model, and currently I don’t have the auto-index parts for it, so I manually turn the turret to each station. I’m using the Lee safety prime, and Lee auto-disk powder measure. Starting with clean brass I loaded 100 rounds of 9mm (115gr Berry’s plated bullets over Unique powder, range brass, and a CCI primer) in just over 22 minutes.
There you have it. Not super fast, but not too slow either.
Between refilling the primer tray (every 150 rounds or so) and the other issues, I get a fairly consistent 200-250 rounds per hour from my Classic Turret.
The real question here is where did you find enough powder to load 100 rounds?
I’ve been having good luck at Hill’s Sporting Goods in Raleigh for powder, if you’re local. Even got 2lbs or Titegroup this week…
My curiosity has been piqued. Going to load for a half-hour tonight to see what my current production rate is. I really like the Classic Turret — fast enough so I can sit down and produce enough for a match in an hour. And the ammo is good quality — I’ve had exactly two bad rounds in the last 2,000 (high primers), and I caught those before they left the press.
Local? Nah — I live in the mountains of Northern California (on the flank of a 14,179′ stratovolcano named Mt. Shasta). Very rural, no gunshops nearby. I’m on my last 1.5 pounds of N320. In what might appear to be a panic buy, I bought two pounds of WSH, figuring I could make it work if I had to.
Otherwise, I haven’t seen any pistol powder in months.
OK. Loaded for 20 minutes last night, counted 98 rounds. So my 200-250 rounds per hour estimate is low. More like 250-300.