JoelSteinbach
Member
No choice, the Redding t-7
Turret Press choice.............
- Thread starter viking499
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LeonCarr
Member
The Redding T-7 is the king. I bought mine from MidwayUSA after reading 32 5-Star reviews on its performance.
My grandchildren will be loading on the T-7. It is a beast. Buy one.
Just my .02,
LeonCarr
My grandchildren will be loading on the T-7. It is a beast. Buy one.
Just my .02,
LeonCarr
RustyFN
Member
Don't know if it's a big advantage but the advantage is instead of loading 50 to 70 RPH on a single stage press you will be loading around 200 RPH on the Lee classic turret. Not sure what the production rate is on the other turrets. I would be interested to hear from JoelSteinbach and LeonCarr on the expected production rate of the T7 turret to compare auto indexing with manual indexing.
JoelSteinbach
Member
My production on my T7 for 6PPC & 308 ronds is aprox 80-100 rounds per hour, and on 41 magnum about 150 rounds per hour, I use a pair of dillons for most of my hand gun,M16 and M14 where i am looking for quantity I find the T7 more convenient than a rock chucker, The T7 allows me to have all of my possible combinations of dies set up for the caliber being loaded. ie different seating dies depending on the bullett being used
RustyFN
Member
Thanks for the reply Joel. The 150 RPH is a decent rate, I didn't think it would be that fast. Is that priming on the press or off?
JoelSteinbach
Member
I deprime and clean my brass, I prime on the T7, for some calibers, 41 mag 375 win, 45-70. My serious targetcrounds are all hand primed.
UltimateReloader
Member
Some thoughts:
1- The Hornady lock-n-load classic can move almost as fast as a turret if you perform each operation separately
2. The Lee classic cast turret is a great value
3. The Redding T-7 is at the top of the quality rating, and the optional slide bar priming system is best-in-class in my opinion. The only thing it doesn't have is auto-index, which you don't really need.
Here's a video of loading 44 mag with a case-activated powder measure on the Redding T-7:
http://ultimatereloader.com/?p=463
Hope that's helpful.
1- The Hornady lock-n-load classic can move almost as fast as a turret if you perform each operation separately
2. The Lee classic cast turret is a great value
3. The Redding T-7 is at the top of the quality rating, and the optional slide bar priming system is best-in-class in my opinion. The only thing it doesn't have is auto-index, which you don't really need.
Here's a video of loading 44 mag with a case-activated powder measure on the Redding T-7:
http://ultimatereloader.com/?p=463
Hope that's helpful.
SteelyNirvana
Member
Anyone else own a CH press, as seen in post #22?
They look like there very stout and well made, would like to hear some more user feedback if anyone else owns one.
They look like there very stout and well made, would like to hear some more user feedback if anyone else owns one.
I love my Lee classic cast turret press. It is an excellent auto-indexing turret press. You can also remove the indexing rod (takes 2 seconds) and it becomes a very handy 4 station single stage press that you can rotate by hand. For the price, you cant beat the usefulness of this press...
snuffy
Member
Neither. The Lee classic turret is better.
I never saw a RCBS turret in operation. But thanks to ultimate reloader, we can see the Redding work. It would drive me nuts having to wrap my hand, wrist, and arm around that turret to index it. To say nothing about the stress that would induce, NOT ergonomic. Also, I can change primer size on the lee turret, in 10 seconds. And change the shell holder and primer arm in the same timeframe.
I realize the OP did NOT ask about the Lee turret. But I'm not the first to mention it. Actually it's not a turret in the classic sense. Not like the Lyman, Redding, RCBS, or others. But what else would you call it?
How the CH-444 ever got mentioned is a mystery. It's a dinosaur, an antique from days gone by. Yes, you COULD load up all 4 stations, then one pull of the handle would do 4 operations at once. Then you'd have to move 4 shells before you could do that again. Then there's the off-center loads on that platform that has the shell holders on it. If you DON'T have the sizer in back between the 2 posts, you'll quickly wear out those "bronze bushings" from the side stress of sizing. It also doe not have a compound leverage system, just a simple toggle lever. It must take a lot of pulling to load rifle shells. NOT a good choice!
LeonCarr
Member
As far as production rate goes on the Redding T-7, 200 rounds per hour is easy to obtain. I enjoy loading on the T-7 more than I do on the Dillon 550. Easier to check every step in the process, less maintenance, easier to adjust powder measure and dies. The T-7 in my opinion is the best combination of speed and precision.
Buy one already
.
Just my .02,
LeonCarr
Buy one already
.Just my .02,
LeonCarr
rfwobbly
Member
Advantage
Oh, there is a big advantage. So much so that IMHO you'll be selling your other press within weeks, or it will be gathering dust... big time.
Oh, there is a big advantage. So much so that IMHO you'll be selling your other press within weeks, or it will be gathering dust... big time.
Jesse Heywood
Member
I bought the RCBS turret last fall and have regretted the decision ever since. It does work, but I had to do a lot of work to get it there.
One major design flaw is the single bolt through the head. To keep the head from rocking, I bought some .003 machine shims. I have three heads, one works good without shims.
A manufacturing flaw is the pivot bolt hole through the base. It is drilled completely through, aligned with the primer slots in the ram. This makes a nice trap for primers, where they can get smashed. Fortunately I have didn't detonate any. My fix involved machining aluminum plugs for the holes. If the holes were bored from each side and not through, there would not be a problem.
Other issues were due to the lack of quality in manufacture. Most parts had to be deburred to fit when assembled. Some parts had mismatched holes, which required light reaming to assemble. Most threaded holes had rough threads and needed cleanup.
The primer catcher is a piece of junk. Two halves of warped molded plastic with a spot of glue to hold together. A sheet metal replacement is my plan for that.
The priming device is another issue. I have mine working, but it takes a lot of work to keep it adjusted. The groove cut in the base for this makes an excellent powder trap, as do the holes for the primer catcher.
I bought the press because of their reputation. In years past, they made good equipment. Now they are relying on their service department. Not my idea of how to operate a company.
One major design flaw is the single bolt through the head. To keep the head from rocking, I bought some .003 machine shims. I have three heads, one works good without shims.
A manufacturing flaw is the pivot bolt hole through the base. It is drilled completely through, aligned with the primer slots in the ram. This makes a nice trap for primers, where they can get smashed. Fortunately I have didn't detonate any. My fix involved machining aluminum plugs for the holes. If the holes were bored from each side and not through, there would not be a problem.
Other issues were due to the lack of quality in manufacture. Most parts had to be deburred to fit when assembled. Some parts had mismatched holes, which required light reaming to assemble. Most threaded holes had rough threads and needed cleanup.
The primer catcher is a piece of junk. Two halves of warped molded plastic with a spot of glue to hold together. A sheet metal replacement is my plan for that.
The priming device is another issue. I have mine working, but it takes a lot of work to keep it adjusted. The groove cut in the base for this makes an excellent powder trap, as do the holes for the primer catcher.
I bought the press because of their reputation. In years past, they made good equipment. Now they are relying on their service department. Not my idea of how to operate a company.
kodiakshooter
Member
For fast switching of individually weighed rounds try the Forester. It is the only single stage I use. Switching dies is just slide one out and another in. Really nice alignment mechanism (floating) too.
Kevin Rohrer
Member
I mentioned it because it is an excellently made, useful, turret-type reloader. It's higher quality than any green or red & silver press, and far more useful due to having 4-stations instead of one.
And yes, if you are *stupid* and don't use the station between the pillars to FL resize, you may eventually have a problem. The press is nice because you can do pistol cartridges w/o the single-stage problem of changing dies between operations; once set in the 444, load. And the fact that there is no compound linkage is irrelevant if you aren't swaging. I have had no problems FL resizing .308 and 22/250 cases, and don't expect any with larger ones.
Just because something isn't mass produced doesn't make it a dinosaur.
Joemyxplyx
Member
Ultimate Reloader wrote
1. Primer size change is as awkward as my Hornady AP LnL. The Lee Classic Cast Turret takes a matter of seconds to change primer sizes.
2. Using the Hornady LnL powder measure w/case activated powder is just like my Hornady AP LnL - expensive and slow to change. For the price of the LnL powder measure and CAPD, you could buy 3 Lee Pro AutoDisk powder measures and keep them set up on interchangeable turrets.
3. The Redding T-7 holds enough dies to run 2 different calibers without unscrewing dies and putting different ones in the turret. For $10/each, Lee turrets can be set up so one can be snapped out and another installed in seconds with the dies already setup with a dedicated powder measure installed.
My son does this all the time because he loads 45 long colt for rifle and 44 Mag for pistols for CASS. (don't ask -he got a deal on the .44 Rugers, he wanted .45's) If he has to load 110 rounds of .45 and 110 rounds of 44 Mag the night before a match, he can do it easily in a couple of hours with a Lee CC. If I had to do this regularly on the LnL, I'd pull out the Lee CC turret and quit using the LnL
I've got the Hornady LnL set up to run 5-600 rounds of .38 Special in an hour or two for my CASS shooting.
The Redding T-7 is as slow or slower to change calibers than the Hornady LnL and slower than the Lee Classic Cast Turret to produce ammo. An answer for which there isn't a question. Well made, slow and expensive. What's to like?
I watched the UR video of the Redding T-7. My thoughts were that the Redding T-7 combines the worst features of a single stage and a progressive.
1. Primer size change is as awkward as my Hornady AP LnL. The Lee Classic Cast Turret takes a matter of seconds to change primer sizes.
2. Using the Hornady LnL powder measure w/case activated powder is just like my Hornady AP LnL - expensive and slow to change. For the price of the LnL powder measure and CAPD, you could buy 3 Lee Pro AutoDisk powder measures and keep them set up on interchangeable turrets.
3. The Redding T-7 holds enough dies to run 2 different calibers without unscrewing dies and putting different ones in the turret. For $10/each, Lee turrets can be set up so one can be snapped out and another installed in seconds with the dies already setup with a dedicated powder measure installed.
My son does this all the time because he loads 45 long colt for rifle and 44 Mag for pistols for CASS. (don't ask -he got a deal on the .44 Rugers, he wanted .45's) If he has to load 110 rounds of .45 and 110 rounds of 44 Mag the night before a match, he can do it easily in a couple of hours with a Lee CC. If I had to do this regularly on the LnL, I'd pull out the Lee CC turret and quit using the LnL
I've got the Hornady LnL set up to run 5-600 rounds of .38 Special in an hour or two for my CASS shooting.
The Redding T-7 is as slow or slower to change calibers than the Hornady LnL and slower than the Lee Classic Cast Turret to produce ammo. An answer for which there isn't a question. Well made, slow and expensive. What's to like?
ranger335v
Member
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I wonder what you think getting a turret would provide that your single stage doesn't.
I started with a six station cast iron turret; I just KNEW would be "faster" to load on. It wasn't! I still have it but it's religated to occasional use for pistol ammo but mostly it just sits with an assortment of dedicated dies; a universal decapper, three Lyman M expanders and two Lee rifle collet crimpers.
Don't care who made what turret press, if the head can be spun by hand it has to have slack in the attachment and tightening a center pivot bolt just makes it harder to index precisely.
Only Lee has a free turning head mounting system that's held by the rim, not the center. Their design firmly limits head lifting so it won't vary under the normal varying pressures of resizing and seating. It's also the only one with automatic head advancing for a little real help in loading speed. The Lee turret heads are inexpensive enough to have them for every die set and they can be swapped/exchanged in seconds without tools.
I started with a six station cast iron turret; I just KNEW would be "faster" to load on. It wasn't! I still have it but it's religated to occasional use for pistol ammo but mostly it just sits with an assortment of dedicated dies; a universal decapper, three Lyman M expanders and two Lee rifle collet crimpers.
Don't care who made what turret press, if the head can be spun by hand it has to have slack in the attachment and tightening a center pivot bolt just makes it harder to index precisely.
Only Lee has a free turning head mounting system that's held by the rim, not the center. Their design firmly limits head lifting so it won't vary under the normal varying pressures of resizing and seating. It's also the only one with automatic head advancing for a little real help in loading speed. The Lee turret heads are inexpensive enough to have them for every die set and they can be swapped/exchanged in seconds without tools.
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RustyFN
Member
200 rounds per hour. Very easy to do on the Lee classic turret. After watching the video of the T7 I'm not so sure about the other turrets.
Rollis R. Karvellis
Member
Considering that I hate Lee, I still have to stand up for the little cheap C press that they make. You may not be able to do monster magnume rounds with it, it will do most commen calibers with out any problems. I use mine for a universal depriming die. I have also used it to make some 9mm just for the fun of it.
GW Staar
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- Feb 26, 2009
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- 3,706
After watching the T7 video, I'm glad I bought a progressive instead. All that effort for one round. On a progressive, the same effort loads 5 rounds or more.
If I had a T7 (quality is not a question), I would use it in batches. Size a hundred, index, expand a hundred, index....etc. That way the advantage over my rockchucker is not having to change dies, with the added ability to use a powder measure on-press. Another advantage of using it batch-wise is the powder measure stays put for a hundred rounds, which would make it more likely to drop uniform loads.
I do like the Lee Classic Turret. Its turret design is better. But I wouldn't use the auto index. Again, I'd rather do it in batches. That said, Lee's auto-index beats the lever on the back of the T7 for ease of use.
Watching the video showed me that indexing each time not only appeared to be a lot of work, but it seems to me that errors could easily creep in. Why lose the one advantage of a one station press, which advantage is the ability to easily check each powder drop. Oh, and BTW, indexing each time will probably spill powder out of short cases...not a problem doing batches.
If I had a T7 (quality is not a question), I would use it in batches. Size a hundred, index, expand a hundred, index....etc. That way the advantage over my rockchucker is not having to change dies, with the added ability to use a powder measure on-press. Another advantage of using it batch-wise is the powder measure stays put for a hundred rounds, which would make it more likely to drop uniform loads.
I do like the Lee Classic Turret. Its turret design is better. But I wouldn't use the auto index. Again, I'd rather do it in batches. That said, Lee's auto-index beats the lever on the back of the T7 for ease of use.
Watching the video showed me that indexing each time not only appeared to be a lot of work, but it seems to me that errors could easily creep in. Why lose the one advantage of a one station press, which advantage is the ability to easily check each powder drop. Oh, and BTW, indexing each time will probably spill powder out of short cases...not a problem doing batches.
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GW Staar
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The autoindex means that every ram stroke automatically indexes the turret. Therefore you don't have to reach back and grab a lever (like on the t7 vid) and rotate it every time you want to index.
Keep in mind that the Lee has 4 stations to the T7's 7 stations. In the vid he had to rotate the turret back to the beginning because he had another caliber's dies on the rest of the stations. That's a pain IMO. With 4 stations, you'd rotate through to the beginning if you size, expand, charge, seat, crimp in separate operations. (Seems to me in the vid he seated and crimped in one, so he only used 3 stations out of 7.
I agree with another post, that having another turret already loaded with dies, and easily changed to, is preferable to having 7 stations loaded with two sets of dies...if you index on each ram stroke...auto or not.
P.S. I've always liked and used RCBS products for the most part. I've never been impressed with their Turret Press...the exception to the rule.
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