3 hole vs 4 hole auto advance

[lrrice]

I have a three hole (no advance) turret that I bought so it would use the same turrets as my p1k. I'm wanting to start reloading 25 acp and there is no shell plate available. So my question to those who have used the auto advance would it be worth my time to find the parts to make my three hole advance or buy a four hole with advance(seems like there would be an extra empty pull of the lever) or forget it and just batch load them on what I already have?

[cj8281]

I don't think Lee made a 3 hole with the automatic advance. I maybe wrong and that would not surprise me but I have not seen one. For loading 9mm I seat and crimp in two different steps as my seating die was deforming the nose of the bullet so I was not getting a true consistent seating depth. So for me, I would go with the 4 hole. There is a conversion kit available for converting the older Value Turret to a 4 hole Turret with auto advance. I believe on some of the old ones you also have to replace the ram.

Just curious, how much did you pay for the press?

[Ranch Dog]

My turret started life as a three-hole with the Auto Index, and I later changed it to four. Here is a picture of it on MidwayUSA. You probably have this image, I found it on another forum, but here are the three-hole parts.

lee_3hole_autoindex_parts.JPG

Weird to run across another that might be reloading the 25 Auto, I love you man! So, let me look for the parts, but don't get your hopes up because I think I swapped it all out to a four-hole in 1999 and that was a long time ago. My search brought up many others looking for these parts.

For the 25 Auto, Lee has made special runs of shell plates for the Load-Master, Carbide Factory Crimp Dies, and Case Length Gauges/Trimmers. I just looked, and all they have left are the trimmers. I've not seen a run of shell plates for the Pro 1000.

I just moved my 25 Auto from a four-hole turret to the Load-Master but other than the setup runs, have not had the need to run ammunition yet.

[lrrice]

I just got a little Beretta for a ridiculously cheap price. The thing is a hoot to shoot and has already cost me more in ammo than I paid for it. So I'm gonna have to reload for it.
It's even got me dreaming of converting a 10-22 to 25 acp.

Finding components is hard, finding molds is expensive and p1k shell plates are (as far as I know) non existant. So I was thinking the Auto advance might be the ticket so I didn't have to fumble with the dinky little shells over and over.

I found some 3 holers with auto advance but the idiots on fleabay keep runninh the prices up higher than a new classic cast turret (which is on my wish list and maybe i am just trying to justify buying one).

I believe Lee discontinued all the 3 hole advance parts years ago. If you find your old parts I would be willing to buy them or trade for if you want.

[Ranch Dog]

My memory is short, so I promptly forgot to look yesterday, but your reply took me out to my room. Sorry, no luck. I have two "Lee" storage boxes and went through both. In that, you have the Pro 1000, why not call Lee and ask about a custom shell plate? You could weigh that cost against that of the new press. A case feeder would be the gain.

My 25 Auto is the Taurus 25PLY, love that pistol. Shoot it as much as any of my handguns if not more, but it has hundreds of kills that the others don't. I use it to run my raccoon traps.

I was searching for a commercial cast bullet for a fellow and did run across the Rimrock 25 ACP 55-grain FP. It's a nice looking bullet and is about as cheap as it gets.

Back to the filling the fouth hole on a turret. Lee still lists the 25 ACP FCD as a special order, $30.

[Skinnedknuckles]

This thread reminded me I had some parts from a used press purchase I thought were from a 3-hole to 4-hole conversion. I dug around in my parts bin and found the parts shown in the picture attached. If you want them, you can have them for the price of a small USPS "if it fits, it ships" box. Since I've never worked with a 3-hole press I don't know if it is everything you need. It is an aluminum clamp instead of the plastic part seen in RanchDog's picture. The metal and plastic parts that seem to be the heart of the advance mechanism (different from the 4-hole design) are there even though they don't show in the picture.

[Ranch Dog]

Thanks for offering the parts up Skinnedknuckles!

[Macd]

While on the topic of filling and using the four holes I thought I would chime in.
I deprime on my single and clean the brass. I usually prime off the press. If I am loading for revolver, three stages are used, expand/charge, seat bullet and crimp. If for semi only two, charge and seat. Makes for a lot of wasted pulls but still faster the doing it on the single stage.

[Ranch Dog]

While on the topic of filling and using the four holes I thought I would chime in.
I deprime on my single and clean the brass. I usually prime off the press. If I am loading for revolver, three stages are used, expand/charge, seat bullet and crimp. If for semi only two, charge and seat. Makes for a lot of wasted pulls but still faster the doing it on the single stage.

All my turret holes are occupied, but during load development, I might find myself working with just a single or two positions such as seating and crimping. I simply remove the index rod and rotate the turret back and forth between the two positions rather than sequencing the turret through all of them.

Therein lies the beauty of a turret press, a lot of flexibility.

[GasGuzzler]

I've wondered about getting three more universal primer removal dies and run all four on the turret with an auto-eject to make it really fast.