RCBS Turret - Opinions

[Historian]

I know that I am opening a can of worms here but could I please get some OBJECTIVE (please) opinions about the RCBS Turret Press?

Thanks,
Historian

 

[Wil Terry]

IT IS A FINE PRESS that works very well indeed in direct proportion to the brainpower of it's owner.

 

[flashhole]

I will wear the target and let people throw darts at me. I prefer the Lee Classic Turret design that captures the turret in a machined receiver over the RCBS, Lyman and Redding designs that put a pressure point on one side of the turret. Others on this forum and other forums talk about things that are important to the trueness of the ram to the case to the die and its affect on accuracy. Over the years I have convinced myself I am in that camp and the Lee design does an excellet job in this regard. The Lee press has enough freedom of movement in the turret assembly to help square all the interfacing parts. Now the Forster guys will chime in and waxe eloquently about the virtures of the Co-Ax design. I had one. Didn't care for the ergonomics (or the price). You can get 3 Lee presses for the price of one Forster and not compromise the quality or accuracy of the ammo you make.

 

[Shmackey]

If I wanted a turret press and wanted to move up from the Lee, I would get the Redding.

 

[Historian]

Thanks guys. I am still going to continue to load rifle rounds on my rockchucker using the Forster Competition seating die. I'm going to use the turret for pistol only. It just seems a lot quicker and easier to load them on a turret without going to the expense of buying a true progressive.

Historian

 

[snuffy]

If I wanted a turret press and wanted to move up from the Lee, I would get the Redding.

Yeah? But that would be moving down, except for the price!

All the old standards are "C" type presses, open in front that can lead to the casting deflecting due to pressure provided by the compound linkage of the ram. Then, the turret has to be loose enough to turn, so it can move/deflect as well.

I don't, would never, have a RCBS turret. But I do have and love my lee classic turret.

Sorry, I didn't start it, but couldn't help but pile on!

 

[jfdavis58]

Objectivity is above the offered pay-grade---you can only get so much for free...

I actually own a copy of the press you mention. Works pretty good. It's a heavy tough beast that does what it is told to do. I haven't noticed any especially curved cartridges or slewed trajectories from the ammo it produces.

Are there better machines? Maybe. Nothing mentioned so far would make a serious cut. I can give you a couple examples that do, but I doubt you'd (or anyone else here about) be willing to foot the bill.

 

[ranger335v]

I haven't used the RCBS Turret, no one I know has one; maybe there's a message in that? I do know a couple of guys who have Lee's Classic Turret and, IF I were to be interested in another turret press that's what I would have.

 

[dickttx]

My first press was a Lyman Turret, about 1969. Can't remember the model, but it used only Lyman shell holders (Spar T maybe.) For good or bad, it had a lot of spring in it. When I started wanting to do heavier duty things, like case forming, etc. I sold it and got a CH CHampion "O" press. Very heavy duty and I still have it.
I could never see that the turret offered any real advantage over the single stage so far as time or speed was concerned. You still had to screw all your dies in the turret, just all at one time, rather than one at a time in the single stage. I presume the turrets are not readily changed out, so that you could keep the dies in the turrets.
Last December I bought a Lee Classic Turret and the related primer system and Pro Disk Powder Measure. This system, using the auto index feature, DOES provide considerable advantages in speed. A very good system.

 

[LOLBELL]

I have a Lee and RCBS Turret along with a Rock Chucker. The RCBS is by far my favorite. I keep two pistol calibers on it, 44 mag and 41 mag. It does away with setting up dies every time you change a caliber or a step in a caliber. I load long action rifle on the R/C and keep 22-250 dies in the Lee turret. I don't think any of the three have loaded any bad ammo (that was the presses fault). I use the turrets like a single stage, but, I don't have to change dies with each step in the process, just rotate the turret plate.

 

[steve4102]

I have an RCBS Turret press. I load rifle and pistol on it and it works great. I also have an RCBS RockChucker single stage. The ammo produced on the Turret press is every bit as precise and accurate and the RockChucker ammo.

I have several Turret heads all set up for different cartridges. A few of these heads had a lot of slop in them when tightened down all the way. I bought some .001 Arbor shims to place between the head and the washer and all is well.

 

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I owned a Lyman turret once upon a time I'd picked up at a gunshow. I bought a Lee Classic turret and loaded 200 rounds of 9MM on it. Cleaned, spray painted and sold my Lyman the next day.

Technology and speed wise, the Lee's only comparison to the other turrets on the market is both are named turret and both load ammo. In all aspects of reloading, especially pistol, the Lee Classic Turret is superior to the other, significantly older design turret presses.

Just my .02,

Dave

 

[Lost Sheep]

I know that I am opening a can of worms here but could I please get some OBJECTIVE (please) opinions about the RCBS Turret Press?

Thanks,
Historian

Historian,

Thanks for asking our advice. I hope my observations are useful to you. The presses on my bench are, RCBS RockChucker and Lee Classic Turret. I don't have any personal knowledge of the RCBS Turret, but do like RCBS in general.

What I do have to contribute to this thread and to your question is some general observations about the general design of the RCBS (and others) vs the only other turret design on the market.

I think that contribution may be of use to you.

Let me talk about modes of operation first.

Batch mode.

You load a number (20, 50, 100) of cases one operation at a time. This requires you handle each case multiple times, taking it in and out of the press and storing it in a loading block or a bowl while you process the rest of the batch.

Continous Mode.

You load each case from start to finish (from just-fired to ready-to-fire) before moving on to the next case. This allows you to leave each case in the press, putting it in once and taking it out once.

Single stage presses practically require you to process in batch mode. Progressive presses operate best in continous mode, though can be operated in batch if you really want.

Turret presses can easily operate in either mode.

On a turret press, continuous mode is like this: Insert case process in die station 1, rotate turret head one station, process case in die station 2, process in die station 3, etc. remove case, insert next case, repeat until your entire batch of rounds is all done.

On a turret press, batch mode is like this: Insert case, process in die station, remove case, insert next case, process through die station, remove case, repeat until the batch is done, then rotate turret to next station and repeat, etc until your entire batch of rounds is all done.

Clearly, continuous mode is faster on any turret press than using the same turret press in batch mode because you do not have to handle each case so many times.

So much for the definition phase of my post. Now, here are my observations:

With most turret presses, you have to rotate the turret head by hand (most I have seen have a short lever to facilitate this movement). Lee is the ONLY turret press I know of that advances the turret head by itself (by an indexing rod actuated by movement of the ram).

The turret head on most presses is held in place in the center by a nut or a bolt and supported opposite the ram by a post on the backside of the press. In that way (supported in back and center) the turret is stabilized while the ram is moving up, at least. If the back of the turret is held down during the downstroke of the ram, your turret is good. Not as stiff as a single-stage, but good enough.

Again, the Lee Turret is unique among turrets. It is not retained by the center, but around the periphery. Lee Precision claims this makes the alignment of the die superior to the center-mounted turrets because center-mounted turrets rock back and forward as the cartridge case moves up and down. Peripherally mounted turrets move up and down in both front and back, maintaining alignment better.

Swapping turrets with most turret presses involves undoing the center mount with some kind of tool, but the Lee turrets are inserted like a breech lock or bayonet mount without use of any tool, but only a small twist and a lift.

Lee spare turrets are $10 to $13 each (depending on where you buy them). Other makers' spare turrets are a bit more expensive, up to $70 each.

The only drawbacks to the Lee I can think of is that it only has four die stations. If you need 5 or more stations, you are out of luck or will have to switch to a hybrid continuous/batch mode of operation. The other drawback is that the dies are so close together that it is very difficult to get a wrench on the lock rings that keep the dies from losing their setting.

If I have sold you on the Lee Turret, remember that there are two models, the Classic Turret (do not confuse this one with the Lee Classic Cast, which is a single stage press) and The Deluxe Turret (which is the older design of the two, cast aluminum, has a smaller vertical opening than the Classic Turret and does not handle spent primers as well).

Your RCBS Turret may have better leverage than the Lee Turrets, but I don't know for sure.

Good Luck.

Lost Sheep

 

[45ACPUSER]

The RCBS turret press was way too much flex in head. As does the Lyman.
The Redding T7 is the best one on the market.

 

[BADUNAME37]

I used to own an RCBS Progressive Press. Once all set up, and once the brass is prepped to load, I could crank out a round every six seconds which equates to 600 rounds an hour.

I no longer have one, but have a fairly new Rock Chucker which suits me just fine as I no longer shoot 500 rounds almost every evening.

If I needed to crank out 600 pistol cartridges an hour, I would have no problem buying the RCBS Progressive or even the PiggyBack for my existing Rock Chucker.