Lee progressive press and autodisk powder dispenser

[severnsider]

Good morning. I'm hoping to speed up production of .38/.357 rounds (been having far too much fun shooting these) and think it's time to move on to a progressive press. I'm quite happy with all the Lee items that I use, and so I'm considering the Lee "Classic" Turret Press (although is the "Value" press also satisfactory?).
However, when it comes to the powder dispenser I'm at a loss to know which one to buy. Auto-Disk? PRO Auto-Disk? Auto-Drum?
I gather that the dispenser is pushed into the top of the expander die and is operated when a case is pushed up into the die.
I thus have two questions for anyone who might be using these combinations:
1. Recommendation for press/powder measure combination (this will only be used for pistol rounds), and
2. Does the fitment of the powder measure affect operation of the expander die? I ask simply because I recently heard that in order to get the powder measure to operate properly, cases had to be flared more than necessary.
Any advice would be welcome, thanks!

[DesG]

I’ve been using the lee progressive press since the eighties and swear by it for pistol rounds. It’s currently set up for 38spl and is only a 2min job to adjust for 357. I’ve also got spare turrets for 45acp and 9millie. (from the old days when us naughty children were allowed pistols).
You do not need the flare the case mouth any wider than it takes to fit in a bullet. The powder is dumped when the case is fully within the flaring die.
Be aware that the turret presses are a halfway house between single stage and progressive. The turret indexes on each lever pull but it still takes 3 or 4 pulls for each round (depending on dies in use).
The progressive press dumps a loaded round with each lever pull. The only operator input is putting a bullet onto each charged case as it comes round, although there is a gadget that does that for you as well. You do need to pay attention to what you’re doing as it is easy to cock it up if one operation goes wrong.
The kit comes with dedicated dies and powder hopper/dispenser.
Kranks have the complete progressive press advertised for about £250 which might seem expensive but really does churn out 400 bullets an hour with no effort. I think my record for 9mm was around 600 but that’s going some and with an assistant refilling the case tubes.
Feel free to message me if you need help. If all else fails I’m only an hour from you if you fancy a trip into deepest Wales.

[severnsider]

I’ve been using the lee progressive press since the eighties and swear by it for pistol rounds. It’s currently set up for 38spl and is only a 2min job to adjust for 357. I’ve also got spare turrets for 45acp and 9millie. (from the old days when us naughty children were allowed pistols).
You do not need the flare the case mouth any wider than it takes to fit in a bullet. The powder is dumped when the case is fully within the flaring die.
Be aware that the turret presses are a halfway house between single stage and progressive. The turret indexes on each lever pull but it still takes 3 or 4 pulls for each round (depending on dies in use).
The progressive press dumps a loaded round with each lever pull. The only operator input is putting a bullet onto each charged case as it comes round, although there is a gadget that does that for you as well. You do need to pay attention to what you’re doing as it is easy to cock it up if one operation goes wrong.
The kit comes with dedicated dies and powder hopper/dispenser.
Kranks have the complete progressive press advertised for about £250 which might seem expensive but really does churn out 400 bullets an hour with no effort. I think my record for 9mm was around 600 but that’s going some and with an assistant refilling the case tubes.
Feel free to message me if you need help. If all else fails I’m only an hour from you if you fancy a trip into deepest Wales.

Thanks for the information, Des. I'm not convinced that I'm going to need a progressive, but take your point about the differences between those and the turret press. I'll look at the Krank site; I was going to visit SGC in Newport during the week as they were also advertising some reduced prices.
Do you use the Auto-Disk or Auto-Drum powder dispenser?
I'll certainly message you if I come unstuck - thanks for the offer. Probably seen you at Rogiet?

[DesG]

Auto disc works well for me and quite a few club members on the turret press. I haven’t tried the auto drum on a press.

I haven’t been to Rogiet yet which is surprising when my sister lives at Haresfield. I’m based at Tondu ttsc.

[severnsider]

Auto disc works well for me and quite a few club members on the turret press. I haven’t tried the auto drum on a press.

I haven’t been to Rogiet yet which is surprising when my sister lives at Haresfield. I’m based at Tondu ttsc.

OK, thanks. The progressive kit is also available at SGC for a little less than at Kranks. However it's only a three-hole plate. More questions then! Since I also use the crimp die, I wonder whether (if I de-prime and clean the cases separately) I can use the expander, bullet seater and crimp dies in the 3-hole PRO-1000 progressive? That would make it an attractive option otherwise I'll have to be running them all through the crimp die afterwards as a separate operation.

[DesG]

The progessive is a three hole system. 1st stage resize and deprive, 2nd stage reprime (on the up stroke) case flare and powder dump, 3rd stage bullet seat, crimp. The case flaring tool is a through die which fits the auto disc system. The crimp die will put a tight crimp on if you want it, but I only taper crimp sufficiently to hold the bullet in place. The cases last longer that way. It all makes sense when you see it working.
Although the turret press is a four hole system, I don’t know anyone that uses more than three for pistol carts.