Which Turret Press??

codefour - you said you're not a Lee fan, but their Classic turret is the one press that I think is actually just as good as any other turret press.
It's made of cast iron with steel linkage.
Their progressives are... (trying to find a High-road way of saying junk)
I'm not trying to start a war with those that like Lee.

And they're a LOT cheaper.

Sorry, not enough experience with the presses you mentioned to be able to answer your questions..

I hafta vote for lee as well. For the $ spent the quality is awesome and I love mine!

I am with Hondo on the Lee Classic turret. I hand prime using a Lee primer. Spend the extra money on extra turrets and dies for Dad.

Best turret press for the money is probably the Lee Classic Cast Turret.
Its design also makes the most sense; you are pushing against a fully
supported ring, instead of a pivot bolt like all the other turrets.
It uses the safety prime system, which is dead simple to load and use.
Extra turrets are $12, easy enough to have one for each caliber.

I'm also looking long and hard at a Redding T-7 though. Beautiful press,
looks to be bullet-proof, but kinda pricey. Plus you have to buy the
priming assembly seperately for $60+ I'm not sure how much extra
turrets are worth, but not cheap, I wouldn't think.

codefour, deflection, a lot of that comes from the claim department, I have a turret, I have no reservations about using it for case forming, it has to be 45 years old + or – a few, there are tools that can be used to measure deflection and strain, those in the claims department do not have have access to the tools.

F. Guffey

I'm also a Lee Classic Turret Press fan, I've been using one for the past 6 years. It's also the only one on the market that has an auto-index feature.

Since you don't want to buy Lee the Redding turret press is a good choice too. It will cost you more though... (well over $400 instead of just over $100)

I've been using the T-7 for about 6 months. It's a fine piece of machinery. I upgraded from a single stage. The advantages that I see are: 1. It's rock solid. I don't think that deflection is a problem with this press (I've had no runout problems) 2. you can set up seven stations on this press. 3. It's faster than a ss press. The disadvantages are: 1. It is expensive, about $250 at Midway and the extra turrets are pretty pricey too. I haven't set up the priming system yet because I prime on another press so I can't speak to that. I batch load so I'm not worried about high output. If you want high output from a turret the Lee indexed turret would be faster but if you're looking for a trurret that is as solid as the Rock Chucker, You'll like the Redding

Redding T-7. Solid cast iron, no flex in this beast. I've been priming on mine since I bought it. Planned on buying a separate priming system, but no need, primes on the downstroke smoothly.
It's a real Cadillac.

I've owned Dillon and RCBS presses. Both high quality presses. The Lee Classic Turret that so many people raved about made me take a chance. They were right it has to do as good as a job as any and faster too. It is strong enough I'm sure when I get to it I'll have no problem loading 30-06 cartridges. I was amazed how good of a press it is. For 100 bucks it's a bargain.

+1 on the Lee Classic Turret Press -- don't get the Deluxe Kit, Classic is build stronger.

Kempf Gun Shop sells a kit with the Lee Classic Press (the one you want), complete with everything you need.

https://kempfgunshop.com//index.php...n=com_virtuemart&Itemid=41&vmcchk=1&Itemid=41

Worth every penny!

Another vote for the Classic Turret. I owned a Reddng Model 25 Turret (the forerunner to the T-7). It was a nice press but I like the Lee press much better. In fact, I have two of them. One stays on the bench and the other is part of a portable reloading setup I take to the range for load development. The turrets are interchangable between the presses so once the dies are set I can switch between the two in about 10 seconds. The Classic Turret is an excellent design and an excellent value. I purchased both of mine at Factory Sales for $89 each. FWIW - I also have the Lee Classic Cast Single Stage, another excellent value. You can buy one of each for a lot less money than a single Redding, RCBS or Lyman turret press.

If your Dad is a single stage die hard and you wanted to give him a real treat look at the Redding Ultramag. IMO it is the best press on the market today. Some will argue for Forster, had one of them too, sold it, the Ultramag is my favorte.

"I have a turret,..it has to be 45 years old + or – a few, there are tools that can be used to measure deflection ..., those in the claims department do not have have access to the tools."

I'm in the 'claims department'.

I too have a 45+ year old iron/steel turret, I DO have the gage/tools to measure deflection and it's so bad it's laffable! Any centrally secured turret plate MUST have some slop or it couldn't possibly rotate. Those who suppose their T-7, etc., is 'rigid' and does not deflect must not have actually gaged it under load. Anyone can make quality ammo on a turret press, they do not automatically produce any 'runout', that comes from dies and bad cases, but it's a little more demanding to use a turret well than a single stage.

Lee's Classic Cast turret is different, it's retained at the outer edge by a steel ring and steel rods. After the initial slack is taken up, the force of FL sizing has little effect. And only the auto-indexing Lee turret's actually add any speed to the process.

It sounds like your father is quite happy with what he has, why bother with changing his methods?

Mass production - Redding.

I have a Lyman T mag I am happy with, although I wouldn't mind the auto index feature of the LCT.

Another vote for the Lee Classic Cast. One of the easiest presses to upgrade to from a single stage and have great success. Can use some minor tuning, but once that's done, the press is a significant upgrade from any other turret press on the market. It can't be beat for the price.

He is your Dad...get him the Redding T-7.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

Ranger335V,

"I'm in the 'claims department'." I know, if we were my neighbors I would come to your house (if invited) and use your tools to measure deflection, as when checking head space three different ways, I am not limited to talking about deflection, I am convinced anyone that reloads and is familiar with the practice of using precision tools (withing .001 thousands)can use tools on their work bench to measure deflection.

My turret, not your turret: My turret can not be be rotated (change stations) if operated correctly, to rotate the turret the operator of the press must have one large wrench, to secure the turret, the operator must use a large wrench to secure the turret, on the back side the turret there is a support pillar, inside the pillar is a spring and detente ball, on the bottom of the turret there are 6 detentes for indexing. What I could have had was a turret with 12 stations, in promotional literature the manufacture demonstrated methods for checking deflection. At that time there were 'c' 'O' 'U' presses, my strongest press is a 'U' with two rams.

F. Guffey

"I know, if we were my neighbors I would come to your house (if invited) and use your tools to measure deflection...I am not limited to talking about deflection"

I'm sure you're a very nice fellow who knows just about everything and could 'help me' a lot but visiting probably wouldn't be necessary. I was talking about deflection because that was the issue.

My (Lyman) turret can't be rotated when it's locked down either; in fact, I don't think that's unusual is it? But that just makes it a funny looking, bolted together single stage press with die storage, so perhaps you might agree that a fellow sorta loses a bit of the 'benefit' of a turret if it's locked down with a wrench? And, so far as I know, ALL conventional turrets have both spring loaded detents and a back-side support column. So....???

You can 'talk' about anything you wish - and not that the 12 station turret you could have had, wrenches, detents, dual ram press, etc., isn't fascinating - but does all that really have anything to do with helping CODE4 make a decision for his father?

vote here for the Less Classic Turret. If your pop is more brand conscious, you can spent twice as much with RCBS for the same functionality & durability, I guess.

I have BOTH the Lee Classic Turret and a RCBS RockchuckerII. The LCT is a VERY good and solid press. I still use the RC some but the LCT gets most of the jobs. I've had very good luck with the priming attachments,Pro Powder Measure, ETC., and the used primer collection system is the best I've ever used.

I'm a 'new' reloader, and the LCT works just fine, although I have nothing to compare it with. It's easy to set up and use, plus there is a ton of videos on you tube for reference.

I had a couple hours before the Bears game came on the tube, so I reloaded 150 rounds of .380 and 150 rounds of 9mm on my Lee Classic turret. Two hobby hours well spent = 300 rounds of RandyFactory ammo. And that includes switching die filled turrets, adjusting the Pro powder measure adjustable charge bar for the 9mm and then installing the micro-disk for the .380.

For me Lee gear works great, costs little, fits my realistic ammo needs and budget perfectly.

I've been using the rcbs turret for about a year now and really like it. At first I was hand priming, but eventually set up the priming function on the press and I like it. It is a solid piece of equipment It has 6 stations on the turret head so depending on what operations you are performing you could set up two different cartridges. I bought multiple turret heads and they switch out very easily.

I don't know how much value my opinion has, since the only turret press I've used is the Lee Classic Cast turret press, but I can say that after upgrading to it from my 35 year old rockchucker, I'm happy with the decision. The press is quite solidly built, cast iron with steel linkage. As far as deflection, the design of the press puts one of the support posts for the turret right at the point of the highest pressure thereby eliminating deflection of the turret head. So far it's working just fine for me. btw, I still have and use the Rockchucker as well.