Advice on upgrading from single stage to turret press

[Dudedog]

I hate Amazon for that, and like to support small gun friendly businesses and try to.
It sounded like the OP might be on a tight budget so it is up to him/her to decide if the $ saved are worth it or not.
I buy from Amazon and donate the $ saved to a Pro 2nd Amendment orgs In my case CRPA.
I can order on Amazon smile and have Amazon give the smile kickback to them as well.
(The brass at Amazon would puke if they new this)
Don't know if there are any in other States but all you people who do use Amazon go to Smile and see if there is a pro 2nd Amendment org you can have Amazon kick back to.

 

[Whiterook808]

brownell's regularly has free shipping offers and I find this includes Hawaii. I am pretty sure this would also include Alaska. They ship good ole USPS, so the cost is the same anywhere in the US.

 

[bhhacker]

Not trying to tell you what to do or how to think but going from a single stage to a turret is not much of an upgrade and as mentioned you still have the same number of pulls of the handle for each round made.

I have a set of 9mm RCBS dies and the case mouth expansion die (on mine at least) isn't a powder thru device. The Lee expansion die has a way of allowing you to attach a powder measure to the die and lets the powder fall through to the case below but then you have to use Lee powder measures.

Too bad about the cost to ship to Alaska. Reminds me of horses, a free horse or a million dollar race horse both cost the same to feed or shoe and if they happen to die inside their stall, it cost the same amount of money to remove from the barn. Once had to help the owner of the farm that we kept our horses at cut a fairly large hole in the side of the barn and set up an elaborate rig to drag the animal outside. Took most of the day and then he still had a large hole in the wall to repair. My point: Seems the shipping cost on a $100.00 or $600.00 press are almost the same.

I'm wrong. I have lee dies and it has a Powder through expander. I hear what you're saying with presses and shipping. Earlier on in my reloading career, a friend and I ordered a hornady LNL press that we could never get running right (operator error im sure) so I'm a little intimidated trying to go that route by myself again. This turret might be what the Dr ordered

 

[hdwhit]

bhhacker wrote:
I have been ruining my hands trying to reload 9mm with a single stage...

Please explain.

 

[hdwhit]

bhhacker wrote:
My 9mm dies ar rbs and includes a powder through die.

I have a set of RCBS dies that I purchased in the last three years and it does not have a "powder through" expander. The "powder through" expander is characteristic of Lee dies.

 

[rskent]

If I had to do it over I would have skipped the LCT, and went straight to the Hornady AP. I still have the LCT, but I only load odd-ball stuff on it.
As it is I run a lot of my loads through the AP twice. But that’s still easier than the LCT. Everything I use the LCT for, I could just as easy use a single stage.
I am thinking of changing it out for a single stage Hornady. And dumping my two dedicated Lee singles. Trading three presses for one.
Then I could just put all of my dies in quick change bushings. Still in the thinking stages.

 

[CraigC]

For me, the RCBS turret is a big time saver over a single stage, with none of the drawbacks of a full blown progressive. It's great for doing load development, small batches and cartridges I don't shoot quite as much. The turret heads have six positions so I'm able to keep two or three die sets in each head, ready to go. For those I shoot all the time, I have two Dillon 650's. Sounds to me like a progressive might be a good choice for you. However, factory ammo is so cheap and plentiful, I can't justify reloading the 9mm.

 

[mljdeckard]

I am at this stage too. I have been doing my learner's pennance with a RCBS single stage and a Lee hand press, and it's starting to feel like when I give my kids menial labor to "build their character". I am looking at the LCT and the comparable RCBS, because they have commonly accepted turret rings that can be swapped out and keep my die setups. I prefer Lee die sets, and I use four, because I like the factory crimp die. I lile the idea of decapping and priming separately, just so that I don't have to deal with a priming contraption on top of everything else in the turret setup.

 

[Strat Rider]

However, factory ammo is so cheap and plentiful, I can't justify reloading the 9mm.

I started with a LCT and am glad that I skipped the single stage as I could use this as a single if I wanted to - and have all 4 dies available at once.
Because I shop wisely and buy in bulk when the price is right, I am loading 9mm for .08/ round which is half price of anything I've seen elsewhere.
Even .22 cal selling for .06 per round.

 

[ray15]

I lile the idea of decapping and priming separately, just so that I don't have to deal with a priming contraption on top of everything else in the turret setup.

Just get a primer tray a stick 'em in the LCT's priming arm with your fingers. It's just as fast as the contraption and you end up with no primers on the floor. Plus you can see what you're doing.