Turret Press Question

[gibekim]

I just ordered my first turret press (Redding T-7). I have been loading with a single stage (Redding Big Boss II) and decided it was time to pump up the volume.
Does anyone have any input as to whether or not to dispense the powder on the press? I am concerned that the vibration from the press operation will progressively compact the powder in the reservoir leading to increased charges as you continue to load.

I have a Redding 10X and an RCBS Uniflow. Both have baffles in the reservoir and both can be mounted to a flow thru expander die.

What are your experiences and recommendations? Thanks for your advice.

 

[Jesse Heywood]

I've been using the Uniflow with a baffle on a RCBS turret. No problems with powder compaction. I get consistent results with some of the more difficult powders, including 800-X. I would guess that if compaction were an issue two baffles could be used.

 

[ess45]

No problem with 3BR and Lee Pro Auto-disk.

Change the spring to a lighter weight. Makes indexing smoother and easy. Could not tell you the spring type, I just found it in my parts bin.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I am concerned that the vibration from the press operation will progressively compact the powder in the reservoir leading to increased charges as you continue to load.

Actually, I have found the vibration will aid in throwing uniform charge weights.

 

[rayatphonix]

Gibekim, I have had a T7 for years and use it for all my pistol rounds. I've never even thought of dropping powder on the press. What benefits do you see in doing that? I use an old Redding drop mounted on the wall for powder.

I confess I use my T7 more like a batch press. I love the fact that I don't have to change dies, but simply rotate the head when I'm ready to start the next process.

 

[rfwobbly]

I highly suggest the independent powder measure mount sold by RCBS or Lyman, then building your own free-standing powder measure "station". (If you use a Redding measure, then they have their own stand.) That way you 1) keep all 7 stations on the turret open for reloading, 2) the powder measure can be moved to the background when not measuring powder, 3) emptying the measure is as simple as picking it up and turning it over.

 

[Zotto]

All of my T7 turret heads that are setup for handgun calibers have a Hornady case activated powder drop installed. I have never had a problem with uniform charges. I also have a Hornady bullet seating die installed on those turrets. Less handling of the brass makes the process a lot faster.

 

[KansasSasquatch]

I think by not mounting the powder measure on the press you lose some of the speed advantage of having a turret press rather than a single stage. The way I see it, if you're not going to mount the powder measure on the press you might as well get some good die lock rings (think Hornady) and just do everything in a batch process. Plenty of people run turrets and progressives with press mounted powder measures without heaving the measure "creep" up on them.

 

[gibekim]

I'll try both ways

There seems to be an evenly divided consensus as to whether or not drop powder from a turret press. I'm going to try both ways and see what happens. Hopefully I will be successful dropping powder this way as it will decrease the cartridge handling and increase output.

Keeping my fingers crossed

 

[Jesse Heywood]

Using the Hornady lock rings makes emptying the measure so much easier.

 

[CMD-Ky]

I have the T-7. I use a RCBS Uniflow with a Hornady case activated linkage and powder through. Weighing every tenth charge shows very slight variation.

 

[deepskyridge]

Redding T7

I have a T7 and use it for rifle reloading. I use a dillon 550 for pistol rounds.

I use a RCBS Chargemaster to throw powder for the rifle loads.

This works really good.

Gary

 

[ranger335v]

The only turret press that seems to be "faster" than a single stage is Lee's and that only because they have an automatic head indexing feature between pulls. I suppose mounting a powder measure on a turret press is good enough for handgun or plinking ammo.

 

[joecil]

I use the Lee Classic Turret and use the Lee Pro Powder measure for the pistols but switch to the Lee Perfect Powder measure for stick powders which I use with my 45-70 and run the press without the indexing rod or prime with the hand primer so I don't have it in the way. Perfect Adapters makes a piece to mount on the Lee Expander/Powder die for it since the PPM is designed to be a bench mounted dispenser. http://store.gun-guides.com/Perfect...re.gun-guides.com/Perfect-Adapters-_c_12.html

 

[Zotto]

With the Hornady case activated powder die and the Hornady bullet seating die installed on a T7 turret I can load 100 rounds in 30 minutes. That includes loading the primer tube and loading(reloading) the tube that feeds the bullet seating die. No where close to a progressive, but not bad.

 

[PO2Hammer]

I use the 10X on my T-7 when I make auto pistol ammo. I check the weights every 10th charge or so and it never seem to change. The charges are the same as when the 10X is bench mounted.
With either method you need to flush a dozen or so charges through the measure before you weigh to see where it's really at.