questions on ugrading to a turret

[Guest sneakboxer]

I have fell in love with hand loading with my Lee hand press. However i'm shooting more and building a black rifle and the hand press can't keep up. Progressives are cool but i'd like to keep the price down and they more than i need right now. I'm currently loading for 308, 357, and 40 with 223 up next.

The Redding T-7, Lyman T-mag2, and Lee 4-hole all look promising.

What are the pros and cons with a turret? The redding looks super tough but is the most expensive, and the Lee has fancy features but seems kinda cheap. I'm leaning hard on the redding but there are a lot of good reviews on the Lee.

What do you think?

Thank for the help,

[Jonnin]

turret is not much of an upgrade for a rifle. Take 223 for example, which is one of the things we shoot most of. It goes something like this:

1) put case on turret, deprime and size

2) remove from turret, trim the case

3) put it back on the turret, install primer if you can, if not

3b remove from turret, grind out primer crimp thingy from some cases...

4) powder/seat/crimp

with it coming off the press once, if not twice, the gain over a single stage is questionable. I do the deprime and size in bulk, then trim in bulk, then back to the press. I toss the crimped cases that wont take a primer in a pile for later as I go.

I use a lee turret and its awesome for simpler cases. For the 357 and 40 it will stay on the press from start to finish and 50 rounds will take like 15 min tops.

For the rifles, due to trimming, its still nice, just frustrating to have to pull it off and on so much.

[BigK]

I've read a LOT of reloading posts that mirror what Jonnin says.

I still wonder if charging, seating, & crimping without handling the cases b/w each step matches the speed of single-stage reloading, which seems like it has all the benefits of an assembly line.

Since I've never used s single- stage press OR reloaded for rifle, I can only go by what those that have done both say.

[glockster157]

As to turrets, find good used Lyman, I use a T-Mag(early one), you can use a Spar-t also but neither have the compound leverage of the T-mag II. I would have gotten that one but I could not find a used one.

As to stages of operation, I never start doing large batch loading until all my prep work is done. Of course I do have a Dillon 550B but I still use the turret for 06, 308, 45 Colt and calibers I don't have a Dillon setup for or I only load smaller lots. Anyways, for once fired military brass, I full length size, trim, chamfer, decrimp the primer pockets before I even think about loading. Turrets are faster than a single stage but not that much, but they are great if you are using three die sets for straight walled cases or you want to keep 2-3 different die sets screwed in and adjusted. Changing dies a lot in a single stage can get old if you do a lot of different calibers and operations. The drawback is usually you still need a single stage if you are going to do heavy work that requires a lot of leverage and you still only complete one operation with each pull of the handle. I still use a hand primer tool when I load on the turret and I still have to individually charge each case with powder. For 223 or pistol rounds there is really no substitute for a progressive. I might be able to do a 50-100 rounds an hour on a turret but I can do 500 rounds on a progressive in those smaller calibers with ball powder.

[lowery100]

I'v been using a Lee turret press since 1992. The only thing I've had to replace is the nylon bushing on the advance mechanism. They give you one extra and new ones are about a dollar. I load 9mm, 40, 45, 38/357, 223/5.56, 25-06. As said above, pistol is easy and relatively quick to load. Rifle is a little slower but the advantage to the turret press over a single stage is you can set up your dies and leave them alone.

[USMCJG]

Rifle is a little slower but the advantage to the turret press over a single stage is you can set up your dies and leave them alone.

This. UNLESS you use the Hornady Lock N Load system. I use a Redding single stage with the LnL setup and I can change dies in a second- literally. And I never have to reset my dies. It makes a single stage nearly as fast as a turret. If you have a single stage with a 1-1/8" thread and screw-in 7/8" adapter(like Redding, RCBS, Hornady, Lee Classic Cast, etc.) it is the way to go IMO. I'd recommend a quality single stage with LnL over a turret press. The Lee Classic Cast is by far the best value and is equal to, or better than, presses costing much more. JMO.

[Guest friesepferd]

Out of the presses I have owned, the Lee classic turrest was my favorite.

Some lee presses are better than others. Personally, if I was going to get a turret, I wouldnt waste my money on the more expensive ones.

[herr.baer]

I have a Lee 3 hole turret I have been using since the late 80's and it is still going. I use it more as a single stage though. I found that worked better for me. I always do batches of 100 and do one or two stages a night. You will find what works best for you after a few runs.

The nice part of a turret is to buy a die holder for each caliber. That way once they are set up, you just pop it out and drop in the next plate and shell holder and you are off and running.

Edited June 30, 2011 by herr.baer