Redding T7 vs Lyman All American 8

[Frulk]

No pin on the T7. Huge bolt that holds head in place.

 

[PWC]

How huge is huge? Quantify please.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Oh yes the bolt is thick. Here is the turret. The hole will give you an idea. Snatched pic from google. Ops this not a T-7. It's the Lyman one.

 

[gifbohane]

Make me guess......one half inch. I only took it apart once.......................you could contact Redding.

 

[PWC]

Thanks Coalcraker....

Now, another question, I understand a 4 hole for rifle....deprime, size / prime, seat, crimp, or for pistol; deprime, size/prime/bell, seat and crimp.

With an 8 holer, do you set up 2 different calibers in one head?

Remember, I'm a single stage guy and that seems to make sense.

 

[markr6754]

Now, another question, I understand a 4 hole for rifle....deprime, size / prime, seat, crimp, or for pistol; deprime, size/prime/bell, seat and crimp.
With an 8 holer, do you set up 2 different calibers in one head?
Remember, I'm a single stage guy and that seems to make sense.

One can get quite eclectic with die setups on an 8 station turret.
Mine is 300 Blk FL Size, 300 BLK Seat, 300 Blk Crimp, Hornady Universal Decapping Die, 223 Rem FL Size, 223 REM Seat, 9mm Expander, 9mm Crimp
Yeah...it doesn't make sense...except to me.
My 2nd turret is still in the box.
I was doing all of my rifle loading on the Lyman 8, I may go back to it. I picked up the Frankford Arsenal Universal Seating Die, and I may go back to doing all of my rifle on the turret. I could do 300 Blk FL Sizing, 223 Rem FL Sizing, 6mm ARC FL sizing, 224 Valkyrie FL Sizing, 6.8 REM SPC FL Sizing, FA Universal Seating, Hornady Universal Decapping Die, Hornady LNL Swaging Die. I can do all of my crimping on another press. Yeah...I like that.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

 

[Skgreen]

Any and all opinions are welcome

Turret Press. Don't have one and don't plan on getting one, but since you asked,,,

Offhand, it doesn't appear either one has a distinct advantage regarding Caliber or Quantity of ammo one can produce.

My RockChucker Supreme has a Priming system like the Redding. Meh,,,,
Couldn't tell ya about the Lymans Priming system, but it appears to be similar.

Doesn't matter if you Prime off Press,,,

IMHO, there's nothing ~wrong~ with the Redding, but for me, the Lyman appears to be a better bang for the buck as it's all but certain I couldn't shoot the difference between the ammo made by one over the other. )

YMMV

 

[Docendo Discimus]

Thanks for all the replies. I have been reading some reviews and it sounds like the priming system on the Lyman is a hit or miss affair. I like to prime on the press so I am leaning toward the T7.

 

[markr6754]

Thanks for all the replies. I have been reading some reviews and it sounds like the priming system on the Lyman is a hit or miss affair. I like to prime on the press so I am leaning toward the T7.

I gotta say, if priming on the press is a must, then you're making the right choice. My Lyman 8 is awesome...as I use it. Priming is mostly miss...even when my primer bar did work I didn't like the mechanics. When I do prime on press (not often) it's on my Hornady LNL. Otherwise, if I'm priming hundreds of cases I use my Frankford Arsenal Perfect Prime hand primer.

 

[Frulk]

I have the T7 primer system but don’t use it because I find filling the primer tubes tedious. I deprime and prime on a Lee Single Stage with the Safety Prime System. Dump 100 primers in the tray. Shake and you’re off and running in a few seconds.

 

[markr6754]

I have the T7 primer system but don’t use it because I find filling the primer tubes tedious. I deprime and prime on a Lee Single Stage with the Safety Prime System. Dump 100 primers in the tray. Shake and you’re off and running in a few seconds.

Don't know how good the T7 priming system is, but I picked up the Hornady 1911 Auto Primer Tube Filler...it works like a champ. It's designed for the larger LNL AP Press primer tubes...but I just used shrink tubing to make a bridge connection to other priming tubes...my Hornady LNL Single Stage and my Lyman AA 8 turret (when I tried priming with it).

 

[CQB45ACP]

I have the T7 primer system but don’t use it because I find filling the primer tubes tedious. I deprime and prime on a Lee Single Stage with the Safety Prime System. Dump 100 primers in the tray. Shake and you’re off and running in a few seconds.

Me too

OP do this!

 

[Frulk]

Some general pics of the discussion. Again, I don't care for tube reloading systems. So I reload with the Lee Safety prime on a single stage. Of the tens of thousands of rounds I've primed over the years 100% were done on this humble press



Also, not using the tubes frees up the front of the press for access...not that the tubes necessarily impede anything but its less to get in the way. I use a Little Dandy for all pistol cases to drop the powder. The movement of the Turret head settles the powder in the column and ensures there are no voids. Both in the original Little Dandy tube and the replacement Pyrex hopper it's easy to see if the powder dropped with each turn of the rotor. This T7 is used for .327, 44 Mag and .45 Colt. Because I shoot so much .327FM I was considering the Lyman8 due to the flexibility of the 8-hole design.
I could get set it up with two Little Dandys for different drops depending on what I'm going for and still retain a 3-4 die set up for a couple of different calibers. Course I could do the same with a T7.



This is the T7 I have dedicated to .357 Mag. It's parked off the main bench and when I need to do a run I clamp it to the main bench and swap out the other one. The Little Dandy on it has the OEM hopper.



Gratuitous picture I've shown a number of times on THR of the covers my mother-in-law sewed for the T7's with patches I picked up in Ireland.



Overall I'm exceedingly pleased with the T7's. It's hard to quantify until you actually use one but they just exude quality while using them. They feel substantial, solid and smooth while in use. As I mentioned earlier in the thread I handled a Lyman8 and liked what I saw. Would love to put one on the bench and run it through a production run regardless of primer system as I wouldn't use it anyway.

 

[Docendo Discimus]

Some general pics of the discussion. Again, I don't care for tube reloading systems. So I reload with the Lee Safety prime on a single stage. Of the tens of thousands of rounds I've primed over the years 100% were done on this humble press

View attachment 1091992

Also, not using the tubes frees up the front of the press for access...not that the tubes necessarily impede anything but its less to get in the way. I use a Little Dandy for all pistol cases to drop the powder. The movement of the Turret head settles the powder in the column and ensures there are no voids. Both in the original Little Dandy tube and the replacement Pyrex hopper it's easy to see if the powder dropped with each turn of the rotor. This T7 is used for .327, 44 Mag and .45 Colt. Because I shoot so much .327FM I was considering the Lyman8 due to the flexibility of the 8-hole design.
I could get set it up with two Little Dandys for different drops depending on what I'm going for and still retain a 3-4 die set up for a couple of different calibers. Course I could do the same with a T7.

View attachment 1091993

This is the T7 I have dedicated to .357 Mag. It's parked off the main bench and when I need to do a run I clamp it to the main bench and swap out the other one. The Little Dandy on it has the OEM hopper.

View attachment 1091994

Gratuitous picture I've shown a number of times on THR of the covers my mother-in-law sewed for the T7's with patches I picked up in Ireland.

View attachment 1091995

Overall I'm exceedingly pleased with the T7's. It's hard to quantify until you actually use one but they just exude quality while using them. They feel substantial, solid and smooth while in use. As I mentioned earlier in the thread I handled a Lyman8 and liked what I saw. Would love to put one on the bench and run it through a production run regardless of primer system as I wouldn't use it anyway.

That's a really nice setup!

 

[Otto]

That price for that T-7 is way high. Maybe because it is being sold by a third party named Gritr...who seems to be taking advantage of buyers who don't shop well

A quick search show the Redding T-7 available at several common vendors for much less.
Bruno: $356
Graf & Son: $358
Mid-South Shooters: $360
Midway: $380
Brownell's: $380

Titan Reloading has it priced at $350, but they are currently Our-of-Stock
That is a good price on the Lyman turret...which commonly goes for $280

The Redding T-7 was selling for $249 w/ free shipping (no tax) at Brownells 4 years ago.
I knew then I'd never see it that cheap again, but I passed on the deal.

 

[Frulk]

That was about the time I picked up the two I have at Cabelas. One was an open box special for around $219 or $229 before tax and one was a special order (if I remember right because our Cabelas had never gotten them back in stock that I’ve seen) that somebody didn’t want after the fact and I picked it up for about that price as well.

 

[rdinga]

I would be very interested to comparing run out on the finished product from both presses. My T7 compared very well to my Forester Coax.

 

[murray brook]

I would be very interested to comparing run out on the finished product from both presses. My T7 compared very well to my Forester Coax.

In my 40+ yrs of loading I have found that dies are much more responsible for straight ammo than are the press they are loaded on. JME

 

[CQB45ACP]

That was about the time I picked up the two I have at Cabelas. One was an open box special for around $219 or $229 before tax and one was a special order (if I remember right because our Cabelas had never gotten them back in stock that I’ve seen) that somebody didn’t want after the fact and I picked it up for about that price as well.

I wish I had two. I know the replacement turrets are cheaper but I don’t want to risk goobering up my set up to change calibers so I’d rather just have a separate press for 45 & 9mm ready to go on separate benches.
Right now I use the T-7 for 45acp only and a Lee breech lock single stage for 9mm. 45 is my primary caliber by orders of magnitude so I don’t want to monkey around with the T-7.

 

[JPM80]

My AA8 was my first turret & it was perfect for 9mm & 38 special! Also had a T-7 as well!

 

[Docendo Discimus]

My AA8 was my first turret & it was perfect for 9mm & 38 special! Also had a T-7 as well!

Did you prefer one over the other?

 

[JPM80]

I’d lean towards the T7….. I had to shim linkeages on my AA8 to make it not so sloppy. But if I was going to buy another Turret press it would surely be a Redding T7.

 

[JPM80]

Did you prefer one over the other?

I’ve since switched to a Dillion 550 which is much better than Both in my Personal opinion. The Dillion is a much tighter and way less sloppier than the Redding & Lyman.

 

[Fxwizard14]

Have both the T-7 and the Lyman All American 8. I fine myself using my Redding T-7 far more often because it for me at least is just a smoother press. If I chose one over the other it would be the T-7. I load on every type of press and I like the smoothness of the T-7. If you factor in and make it all about price that is no way to determine which press is better. But that said the press you find yourself more comfortable with is the best.