Turret Press choice.............

Status
Not open for further replies.
V

viking499

Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2007
Messages
3,824
Redding, RCBS, Lyman, ...............

Looking to add a second press. If I upgrade from a single stage to a turret(not buying a progressive, buddy already has one), what do you recommend and what do I look for?
 
I'm going to spring for the Redding T-7 press. I am going to be using it for handgun since it can hold two calibers on one turret head. I chose it because I want full control over the process (hand priming, manually throwing/weighing each powder charge, etc).
 
Though I have a Redding T-7 I think the Lee, RCBS, Lyman, etc are fine choices. If you want very high quality then get the Redding. All the rest will do the job fine though.
 
It's too bad there aren't very many stores that stock things anymore. It'd be nice if you could see them side by side and compare.
 
I've had a turrent, a Lyman Tmag, I no longer own it. I never found any advantage really over a regular single press other than the ability to have several dies set up at the same time. If you think you'll turn the turrent for a full reload of one cartridge with out moving it out of the press, think again. What you'll do is batch process just like on a regular press, it's faster than turning the turrent or so I found, YMMV.

For a turrent press to rotate the head, there had to be some clearance built in or the head could not rotate. That clearance will allow the head to flex out of alignment when you apply the pressure of sizing a case.

Later after the Tmag, I got the Bonanza (Forster). It is as fast or faster die changing than the Tmag plus you can use as many dies as you have. It take longer to get the dies out of the cabinet than to change and you never have to "reset" a die because the lock ring is never moved. Just pop in a sizer die, do your sizing. Pop in seater, do the seating. If you happen to miss a case just pop the sizer back in 2 seconds later you're sizing again.

If I just had to have a turrent, it would be the Redding T7, it is just flat out made better than the other turrents out there.

But I rather have a Forster. http://www.forsterproducts.com/store.asp?pid=24822

Jimmy K

PS: I have no experience with any of the Lee Turrents, I know nothing about them, so nothing I said applies to them.
 
Last edited:
I have a regular Lee Turret (alum) that I have been loading on since 1995. Great press. Mine is still set up with the old style 3 hole turrets and I have a number of them already set up with differnt caliber dies ready to load... Over the years with it I have loaded ammo for every rifle and pistol I have owned from 9mm to .300 Weatherby. Past 5-6yrs I have mostly turned out large amounts of 9mm, .38spl/357MAG, .45ACP and .223 rem with it (samller amounts of hunting rifle stuff). I've never broken anything on the press and never had any problems with the ammo. On average I load 300rnds a week with it.... occasionally when there's a big match or shooting outing comming up much, much more and it shows no signs of wearing out.

Last year I got my brother into reloading and for Christmas I bought him a new Lee deluxe turret press kit ($110.00 from Midway USA). His is the same press as mine but set up for the newer 4 hole turrets (useless to me) and his has auto index... I loaded a few hundred .40S&W on it to try it out and found it a bit faster than the way I "batch load" with my turret (no auto index).

I recently had the oportunity to examine a Lee Classic Turret (cast iron) and I have no doubts that this will be my next and last press. Everything works the same - it's just built stronger and out of better materials. The only thing that's holding me back is the fact that my current press is still 100%....

I would recommend either of the Lee Turrets.
Will
 
I've had a turret, a Lyman Tmag, I no longer own it. I never found any advantage really over a regular single press other than the ability to have several dies set up at the same time. If you think you'll turn the turret for a full reload of one cartridge with out moving it out of the press, think again. What you'll do is batch process just like on a regular press, it's faster than turning the turret or so I found, YMMV.

For a turret press to rotate the head, there had to be some clearance built in or the head could not rotate. That clearance will allow the head to flex out of alignment when you apply the pressure of sizing a case.

Later after the Tmag, I got the Bonanza (Forster). It is as fast or faster die changing than the Tmag plus you can use as many dies as you have. It take longer to get the dies out of the cabinet than to change and you never have to "reset" a die because the lock ring is never moved. Just pop in a sizer die, do your sizing. Pop in seater, do the seating. If you happen to miss a case just pop the sizer back in 2 seconds later you're sizing again.

If I just had to have a turret, it would be the Redding T7, it is just flat out made better than the other turrets out there.
Click to expand...

What I think Jim is also saying is that a turret type press is better used as either a stand-alone press, or as an accessory to a progressive press. I agree, as an accessory to a single-stage press it offers no real advantage.

I use a 30yo Lyman turret (pre-Tmag) to great effect as an accessory to my Dillon 550. With it I can leave my Universal Decapper Die set up for ready use ALL the time. (No one wants to go to the cabinet to retrieve a UDD for a single use.) I then have plenty of space to accept the rifle dies which I use too rarely to buy the caliber change kit for the Dillon.

I believe Jim is right. The T7 is the best turret and one should arrive at my address within the next year. The clear advantage it holds over my present Lyman is the way it cleanly handles spent primers and primer smut.

The quick change die idea Jim mentions only works if you are using the Hornady or RCBS lock rings that stay set in place. If you had only Lee o-ring style rings then you'd need to purchase additional lock rings.

All the best.
 
Last edited:
I've had the T-7 for 4 or 5 years now. Great press, I thought I would buy separate priming system, but I'm still priming on the press, works well.
 
I have the Redding T7 that I love. As others have said, you still have to batch process like a single stage. It is still slow, however retooling between stages is faster than a single stage because you have all the dies you need loaded in the press already. If you're just looking to do things faster, you need to look into a progressive press.
 
For a turrent press to rotate the head, there had to be some clearance built in or the head could not rotate. That clearance will allow the head to flex out of alignment when you apply the pressure of sizing a case.
Click to expand...

That's probably why Lee designed their turret to be supported around the outside instead of a bolt throught the middle. The turret on my Lee classic turret press doesn't flex. I don't load calibers that large but I know people that load 30-06 in the auto index mode. I don't have experience with the other turrets but would think they would also be a quality press. Not sure but I would think the Lee classic turret would be faster than the rest being as it is the only one with auto indexing.
 
For a turrent press to rotate the head, there had to be some clearance built in or the head could not rotate. That clearance will allow the head to flex out of alignment when you apply the pressure of sizing a case.
Click to expand...
That's not true at all.
The top surfaces of the T-7 are precision ground cast iron as is the mating surface of the turret head. It's like any other machine tool, like a vertical mill or engine lathe, beefy, precision ground parts moving against each other don't flex just because they move.
As others have said, you still have to batch process like a single stage.
Click to expand...
The nice thing about a turret is you can fully prep your brass in one step, resize/reprime then flip the turret and flair. Much faster than taking the brass out between each die and putting it back in.
You can also mount your powder measure after your expander die and charge them before putting them back in the loading block.
Many advantages other than just keeping the dies mounted.
 
I always thougt for bench rest loads you need one at a time, until I purchased my Redding T7, It saves me a lot of time and is as precision as any single stage press that I have ever worked with
 
JoelSteinbach said:
I always thougt for bench rest loads you need one at a time, until I purchased my Redding T7, It saves me a lot of time and is as precision as any single stage press that I have ever worked with
Click to expand...
Last I knew the 1,000 yard record was set using ammo loaded on a T7.
 
I have a Lee 3 hole & a 4 hole turret.
I also have two Dillions that I don't use much anymore. ( since the kids are gone)
I use the Lee 4 hole for almost everything--gets the job done ( I'm in no rush these days)
 
Lee Classic Cast Turret. I've had mine since shortly after they came out and after 20,000+ rounds I haven't had a problem. I've timed myself with 45ACP and I can do 50 rounds in 10 minutes. That's 300 rounds/hour if I didn't need a break. I do all pistol rounds and .223 for the AR's on the press.

With the Lee powder measure and this press, I've never had a bad round...when I started with a single stage, I had several squib pistol rounds since it didn't have the "flow" of the turret. Plus I can inspect every case for powder as it turns round 'n' round.

I have the single stage for the batch stuff and rifle loads.
 
If there is no big advantage to the turret over the single stage, should I just get another single stage and add the hornady bushing to it?
 
Why not get a CH '444', 4-station, semi-progressive press. It's all steel and the shellholder rides on bronze bushings, so it's perfectly quiet and smooth as glass. It's also compact and sets on top of my bench so it's out of the way.

You can easily load rifle and pistol (up to 200-rounds an hour). Mine has their optional auto primer and a Lyman 55 powder measure attached to it. $265 is the base price and certainly worth it.

www.ch4d.com

http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv29/KevinRohrer/Reloading/IMG_0200.jpg
 
Viking I don't know that there is no advantage to it. I can reload far faster with my turret than I could on the single stages I have used. The advantage of a turret, in the Lee at least, is that it serves both functions.

If I am diligent to the task I can turn out about 200/rds an hour, that is if I am going through the whole cycle at one time. If I do some prep work and spread it out, then it gets even faster. I have gotten to the point where I have developed a routine I am happy with for the most part, with the exception of one thing. I cannot decide if I like priming in my press and I think I am going to try hand priming to see if it sits better with me and my system, that however is a small thing and strictly a personal preference.
 
I'm far faster with a turret press and auto disk powder drop than a single stage. but I can't compete with the 200/hr guys. I've been very happy with the lee turrets I have. auto index has worked fine for me as long as I remeber to lube the turret and replace the wear parts. I load my precision stuff on a single stage, but I don't know that that's actually necessary. the lee classic cast is better than the standard turrets and gets my vote. add the safety prime system and autodisk and you're off to the races. (assuming you're loading handgun rounds for casual shooting)
 
So, if I was down to choosing between the RCBS turret and Redding turret, you would choose.........
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

jell-dog
  • Locked
  • Poll
Which Turret Press?
2 3
Replies
61
Views
6K
boom boom
boom boom
jski
  • Locked
Turret presses vs single stage presses?
2 3
Replies
62
Views
6K
loose noose
loose noose
6
  • Locked
Turret Presses??
2
Replies
28
Views
2K
dragon813gt
D
B
  • Locked
advantages of a turret press?
Replies
7
Views
2K
Smythe77
S
C
  • Locked
Which Turret Press??
2
Replies
45
Views
2K
kennedy
K
Back
Top