Turret press - or not?

[sclg]

Hi,
I've been using a simple Lee O style press for a good few years and I'm wondering if moving to a turret press would be worthwhile.
I can see the obvious advantages but can also see some areas where it might not help and wondered what others thought.

I load .357, 44-40, 45-70 and .308.
I don't see much advantage for .308 because I'd want to clean the case and check the length after resizing and then I use a Targetmaster for powder filling.
44-40 also needs lube before sizing and surely that should be cleaned off before dropping the powder in??
The other two calibres, being straight wall cases, would be much simpler and there I can see the advantages of the turret approach.

What does the team think - are these genuine worries or am I missing something?
Thanks

[Furiouspilgrim]

I love my turret press. It’s the Lee Classic 4 hole auto index version.

I still load my rifle rounds on a single stage press, but all my Pistol stuff and quite often the other prep work is done on the turret. You can take the index rod out and use it the same as a single stage press but you have four dies ready to go.

I’ve got my dies set in individual turret tops, so switching calibres is a 10 second affair.

I’ve bought, but yet to fit, the upgrade to reverse the index and automatically push out the loaded round which speeds up reloading. Even without it I can do 200 Pistol rounds an hour without going mad.

[Blackstuff]

I love my turret press. It’s the Lee Classic 4 hole auto index version.

I still load my rifle rounds on a single stage press, but all my Pistol stuff and quite often the other prep work is done on the turret. You can take the index rod out and use it the same as a single stage press but you have four dies ready to go.

I'm no reloading expert, (or even an experienced reloader for that matter) but I love this feature. Until recently I did all of my case prep and reloading on the same press so being able to just flick the dies round to the one I need is great.

I’ve got my dies set in individual turret tops, so switching calibres is a 10 second affair.

Same here

I just use mine for mass banging out rounds but I clean and prep all my cases before they go on the press so only use 3 stations on it (powder, bullet seating and crimp). I've never used it to say, take a dirty case, de-prime it, re-prime it, powder, seat then crimp, which I suppose is perhaps how it should be done with a turret?

[dromia]

I love turret presses and have two Redding T-7s I load everything on them once I have a load combination in the bank. As well as the pistol/rifle calibres I shoot 44-40, 38-40, 32-20 I load all my rifle ammunition on them, 6.5 x 55, 7 x 57, 30-06, 303, 45-70, 22 Hornet, 218 Bee, .222, 6mm Musgrave, 30-40 Krag etc etc the cases don't need trimming every time so not an issue 'till they do. I just lube every case with my finger as it goes into the shellholder and then wipe it off with a cloth as it goes into the ammunition box. I use Lee Prodisk and the new Auto drum powder measures, any mechanically activated powder measure will give very consistent loads as the mechanical function smooths out any variation in operation and gives far superior consistency to a hand operated thrower.

The Reddings have an excellent priming system along with a faultless spent primer disposal method out through the ram, down a tube and into the receptacle of your choice, however much as I love them they price has shot through the roof. The good news is that Lyman are doing a pretty good copy of the T7 but with eight die stations and should be under the £300 mark, I have one on order but the wholesaler just has kits in at present.

Anyway turrets are an excellent option which I use for up to batches of 500 rounds, once I start getting beyond that then feeding my progressive becomes viable, I still prefer the turrets as you are doing only one step at a time it is far easier to ensue everything is going well, progressives need a higher state of alertness because there is so much happening at every pull of the handle.

Die plate switching is over rated in my experience as I always reset my dies every time I use a press just to ensure they haven't drifted off from the last time I used them and I think this is good practice, the convenience of die plate switching can soon be off set when A batch of ammunition is out of speck due to a wayward die, trust me the do loosen off.

[redcat]

Check out the Lyman T-Mag II - a six station model - on sale at Hannam's for around half original price and including priming attachment.

Redcat

[Andy632]

I've got 3 of em, Lyman T, which was my first, I leave it set up for .308 & .223, two Lee turrets, one progressive 1000set up for .357 loading and another older Lee Lee Precision (which was given to me; it just sits there waiting for any odds & sods reloading/pulling I may do. (It's the one with the mahoosive ram.)

[450 Martini]

I use a Australian Simplex turret press for most of my reloading. I purchased it second hand about 10 years ago for the princely sum of £20. It weighs a ton and has plenty of built in strength compared to the Aluminium Lee single stage Press I used to use.

[1066]

You've got no excuse - you need a turret. It's the ideal tool, when fitted with carbide dies and a disc measure for the .357 and other straight walled gallery rounds. Of course, although you can successfully load larger rifle rounds on the turret, I feel that a good single stage press is the proper tool for the job.

[dromia]

The Simplex is a copy of the old Lyman Tmag turret.

[sclg]

OK - you've convinced me! Lee classic ordered....