Varminterror, thanks for that. You've convinced me, and I appreciate your explanation.
So a turret press then? Is that the same as a progressive, or is it one form of a progressive press?
No, turret presses are not the same as progressive presses.
Turret presses have one station, one case holder, fixed to the ram, like a single stage press, however, at the top, they have a rotating turret which holds different dies. Some turret presses are auto indexing, some are manual only. This lets the reloader insert a case, size, prime, charge, seat, and crimp all without taking the cartridge from the press. The case stays in place, and the turret head rotates around to expose it to the different dies. The process goes like is: insert one case, pull the lever a bunch of times, one complete cartridge drops out. Repeat for the next single case. Only one cartridge moving through the process at a time, but it can go through each step quickly without resetting the dies in the press.
In a progressive press, there are multiple stations in the rotating base plate which hold multiple cartridges, while the turret head at the top stays fixed. The cases move around the press, exposing to each respective die. So this process goes like this: once all of the stations have been loaded, you insert the next case into the lead station, pull the lever, a loaded cartridge falls out, insert another case into the lead station, pull the lever, another loaded cartridge falls out, and so forth. There are multiple cartridges active in the press concurrently.
A step beyond - both turret presses and progressive presses can be operated as a single stage press.
The downside to a turret press is they still aren't as fast as a progressive press. The downside to a progressive press is they cost a lot more to set up for full automation so you don't have to spend a lot of time feeding cases, throwing charges, and feeding bullets. Well equipped, you can simply pull one lever and each station does its job on its own - but a guy typically has to get around $1,200-$1,500 into the gear to make that happen. For a turret press, bullet and case feeding typically isn't automated, and the press itself is much cheaper, so the whole set up can be had for a couple hundred bucks. If a guy is cooking along, a single stage might kick out 50-75 rounds an hour. A turret press can usually push out 100-250 an hour, while a progressive can kick out 400-600 per hour. Since a turret set up only costs about $50-100 more than an equivalent single stage, it's well worth it for that speed. The progressive press is an extra step up in terms of speed per dollar spent, so a guy needs to really know they need the volume before they commit to a progressive. I have two progressives on my bench for about 18yrs now, but I more often use one of my two turret presses for my reloading, and I use two Forster Co-ax's side by side for precision ammo (replaced a Redding T7 turret).
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