Lee Classic Turret Series: Indexing Ratchet
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- This little piece of plastic seems to cause some folks lots of frustration. It's designed to break and is the weakest link in the press BY DESIGN. Cheaper to fix the least costly component than to make everything out of steel (and raise the press' price) and have pieces grinding each other down over time.
The ratchet is $.25/ea and you should purchase them in bulk as the shipping charge will be considerably higher than the cost of LOTS of these ratchets. As Murphy's Law would have it, if you have extras of the ratchets, you'll never need them. You'll only need them when you don't have any extra.
The press can still operate in single stage mode with a missing or damaged ratchet, it just can't operate in indexing mode without it. The little square should face up towards the turret.
Careful were you buy these, as some places will charge $1.00/ea or more.
Very late to comment, but this is some of the best "in the trenches" info! I've had my CTP for over a decade, and with infrequent use I'm still on original ratchet. I have a bunch of spares, as well as a spare housing. Possibly the reason I have yet to replace it ;-). I also use a bit of dry lube on the index shaft. Thank you Re Loader. Cheers!
Awesome info! New reloaded and these little tidbits are really helpful. Lee sent these parts out to me free to replace mine. Just paid shipping.
Just replaced mine after 13,000 rds loaded. Took a while to figure out why it wasn't indexing. Luckily we have UA-cam; thanks for sharing.
@13k rounds, you definitely got your value's worth from that one!
Couldn't find the second one that came with the turret , so had to order. Bought 4 :)
The part is adequately engineered if the press is used properly. Prior to attempting to rotate the turret manually, the operator must raise the ram sufficiently for the ratchet mechanism to clear the spiral portion of the auto index rod. Breakage of the square ratchet insert is usually the result of not raising the ram before manually rotating the turret.
Well over 11k rounds and still on first ratchet.. always raise RAM before removing turret. I also lightly lube the rod, even though Lee says it doesn't need it..
4,000 rounds of 308 and mine is trashed. On to the next one.
Such a cheap part.
You can get more rounds out of your square if you don't manually index the press. Good Luck!
'Can't be that old... it's not that tall one that I have. (Bought in '06) That's one of the "new" classic's, no?
circa 2010
@@ReLoadersBench -Fair. I suppose 13 years, (as of last night, at least.) can be considered, 'old'. -Happy New Year!
I have the Lee Classic Turret Press and have loaded thousands of rounds on it with zero problems. Mine still has the original ratchet in place. I have bought a spare ratchet to keep on hand and it is still on hand. I had heard or read that it would be a problem with this press. Maybe I have just been lucky? Thanks for sharing.
I am having problems with my ratchet and can’t find another one know where . Where did you find it.
@@jackgarrison8033 it is a lee product, you can order it, or you can 3d print it.
Ebay
Have a older classic . The primers are trapped under the press. Probably about 13 year's old. With about 80-90k rounds put through it. Have only replace the index rod once. And have went through about 4 of the square things.
I replaced mine with a metal index ratchet. Been problem free.
I broke and needed to replace my indexing ratchet only when I didn't have a spare. Have plenty of spares now but haven't needed one in many years. Murphy's Law.
That plastic square broke the first time I pulled the lever, out of the box.
I did away with the auto indexing. I just turn the turret by hand.
Depending on what I'm doing, I will run the press w/o the indexing rod at times as well. Simply an amazing press for what it can do and how it can do it.
@@ReLoadersBench Yes, it's a fine machine. So easy to switch calibers on.
@@cosmiccharlie8294 - Agreed. Easiest caliber change of ANY press, hands down. Most underrated press on the planet IMO ;-)
May be worth having one made from aluminium or brass to last longer, a little side project maybe... Also, using some oil between the 4 hole turret and 4 hole turret ring to extend the life of the square ratchet as mentioned on the Lee website: leeprecision.com/square-ratchet.html
Right? I'm surprised someone isn't making them.
@@Heavy-CThe funny thing is that I bought spares, and years later haven't needed them. Just be sure to keep things lubed up and the handle is in a position (ratchet not engaged) so the 4 hole Turret can rorate freely and things will continue to work flawlessly.
Do you have to order the piece on line ? My press is ha ibg same issues
If you go to Lee (link below) for this replacement part (TF3567) and put 1 (one) in your cart, it is FREE (zero cost), but you will have to pay shipping (which used to be $5, don't know what it is today, but probably more. My advice would be to add 5 (the additional 4 are $.75 cents each) so that you have a few on hand. You can also search online by the part number I listed and find them elsewhere, but probably at a higher cost.
Lee LCT ratchet replacement part: leeprecision.com/square-ratchet
@Re Loader thanks place where I bought the press closed here and I had never had any issues up till this week with the press
"The little square should face up towards the turret. " thats not what lee says to do
Oh well, after working just fine for thousands of rounds, I guess I'll have to turn it upside down then and now see how long it will last. Now I can stop losing sleep over this ;-)
@@ReLoadersBench funny enough i might try what you did, because i had to change the sqaure ratchet today and it still didnt index at all ! so hopfuly if i try it your way it might work
@@geezerp1982 I've also found (this might also be incorrect according to Lee) that the SINGLE best way to extend the life of the nylon ratchet is to remove the tool head ONLY when the ram is almost all the way up (shell holder not touching the dies). Removing the tool head with the ram down puts too much pressure on the indexing rod. YMMV. Can't even remember how many years it's been since I replaced the ratched...may 4.5 years ago when I made this video.
Where do you purchase this part from?
Good information, but far too much dead time. This could easily have been a 3 minute video, and you would have QUADRUPLED your viewership. Common problem with UA-cam videos. Thanks for making it anyway.