Why a turret press?

[roysha]

In another thread there was a discussion comparing the Lyman to the Redding turret press. That reminded me of a question I have had for a long time. Not wanting to hijack that thread I started this one.
I'm not sure how to ask it to make myself clear but hopefully you folks will understand. What is the purpose of having a turret press? What, if any, advantage or perceived advantage is there in their use? Or, perhaps another way to ask is, how does one use a turret press compared to a single station press? I understand the concept of multi-station presses such as the CH 333 which one would use somewhat like a shotshell press, but I can't figure any way that a turret press would be advantageous over a comparable quality single station press.
Just curious.

[BigAlofPa.]

Production is greatly increased.

[Omega]

My main reason for using a turret press, the Lee Classic Turret Press, is because I can set my dies and change calibers with a simple change of the turret. I still use it as a single stage because of how I process my brass and reload, but it is convenient to me to have the ability to resize my brass without having to mess with the dies as often. If you use the same bullet, even the seating die can be left as is, but will have to be adjusted if you change out.

[OS OK]

You can start and finish a case to a completed round without removing the case from the shell holder. It's convenient, especially when doing load workups. Once you get the hang of it you can work fairly fast too. There's a lot of angles to consider over a single stage. You can leave your dies set up and swap turrets.
I have several presses but I enjoy working on the turret.

[mdi]

Basically, a turret press is a single stage press with movable dies mainly on a round plate (turret). Instead of unscrewing a die from the press and installing another one, the turret is indexed and the die for the next step is in place...

[trapper9260]

You are able to set all the dies the way you want them and just reload with out have to change dies.It make it alot faster to reload when you have the data that works for the gun you load.I do have a single stage and use that to resize and deprime my brass.

[BigAlofPa.]

My son is just starting to reload. He likes using my single stage press's. I like the turret. I do use one of my single stage ones as a dedicated decapping press.

[dragon813gt]

I find a turret that doesn’t automatically advance, or perform multiple functions at once, to be pointless. This is just IMO and I know lots of people don’t agree w/ it. Ones that don’t auto advance basically store setup dies until you want to use them. And you will see increased speeds over a single stage. But they’re slower than one that auto advances or a Dillon 550 where multiple functions are being performed at once.

In the case of the OP’s question one advantage is you can have dies setup for multiple cartridges on one turret. So dies wouldn’t need to be changed out if you wanted to switch. I have turrets setup for a LCT which is literally a ten second change at most. And it auto advances.

Everyone has their preferences. And everyone has different needs. It’s one of the reasons there are so many different press designs. I bought a Pacific Super Mag for the novelty of it. And as slight investment.

[wasa]

I started out with a single stage, and moved to a turret press (Lee) 2 years ago and wish I had done so years earlier. As others say, it is much faster, and for me, with a single stage, once I added powder I had to finish off those 50 or 100 rounds. With a turret, you get a finished cartridge each time so if you want to load 17, 33, or 42 rounds you can easily do it.

The turret really shines for straight walled pistol cartridges (I use it for 38 spc, 357 mag, 45 ACP, and 45 Colt), as well as collet neck sizing rifle (303 British, 243 Win). No case lubrication required on those, so my process is size, prime, powder, bullet, and crimp (I check/trim the rifle brass before this process).

For my lever action (300 Sav) and semi rifles (7.62x54R), I use the single stage to full length resize, then I trim. Then, into the turret for prime, powder, bullet, and crimp.

Before, I felt I had to reload in 50, 100, or 150 round batches (I have 50 round trays). Now, I can reload for 15 min, 30 min, or whatever and stop when I want after any completed round.

[roysha]

You can start and finish a case to a completed round without removing the case from the shell holder. It's convenient, especially when doing load workups. Once you get the hang of it you can work fairly fast too. There's a lot of angles to consider over a single stage. You can leave your dies set up and swap turrets.
I have several presses but I enjoy working on the turret.

So you have the powder measure and all the dies mounted in the turret and twist the turret for each stroke of the lever?
Swapping the turrets makes a great deal of sense, since this is what I do with my DL-366 shotshell loader.
Also I can see a bit of an advantage when working up test loads in not having to change dies, although the HOR L-N-L makes even that quite quick, but when running a couple hundred cases of a specific, known load, I don't see much gain.
All my rifle loading is done on an old Schissel H-press, although I do have a CH CHampion and an RCBS RockChucker for things that are difficult to do in the H-type press, and my handgun loading is with HOR Projectors, each of which is dedicated to a specific handgun and load. I have 7 of them and 3 more waiting for a new centerfire handgun. Yes, these are the old Projectors which I prefer to the newer L-N-L progressive.
As I said before, I really don't care one way or another, just curious

[Kenstone]

Differences of turret over single stage...

one piece flow
handle the case only once per finished round
not moving cases in/out of loading blocks
no load blocks
powder drop thru the flaring die
powder measure on press not hand operated on the bench
rotating dies fun to watch (kidding, attempt at humor)

[Loudy13]

All my rifle calibers set up and stay that way..pop off the turret and replace with another one. I have 6 full turrets can you tell I hate resetting dies

[Gaseous Maximus]

As others have said, I also have started using a turret, (Lee), for the convenience of die set up.

[Poygan]

I use the Lee with the four hole turrets. I use the first two dies to full length size and then flair the case. I hand prime everything so I remove the case after the first two steps are completed. After priming, I charge each case with powder and then seat the bullet to the desired depth with the third die and then use the fourth die to crimp the case. I rarely use my Rock Chucker anymore.

[mdi]

Regardless on which type of press I use (single stage, turret, Co-Ax) I check/double check every adjustment and there are many times whey need a little "tweeking". I never drop a turret in a press or die in a Cop-Ax without checking/measuring. It certainly would be foolish not to check...

When using my turret, I don't use it "semi-progressive", I find it more pleasing and better to batch load. I very often process a case(s) up to the point of charging and bag up a hundred or so. When I find a load I want to try, or just need some ammo, all I have to do is charge, seat, crimp...

[Livin_cincy]

Using a Turret Press for Die Storage defeats the intended purpose.
The intention is to make a completed round each time you load the shell holder.
So you do not remove the case & use load blocks between each die operation.

A self indexing Lee Turret press is excellent for producing volumes of handgun cartridges. You can watch YouTube's of one doing 4-5 rounds per minute with a case ejector. This press has the same leverage system Lee's 50 BMG press. So pulling the press lever arm is not work and no more pulls than a single stage press.

Yes, the turret and die move on the Lee design... Just like on a Forester Co-Ax so don't worry about it. We now have three (3) single stage presses on the market that have floating die and or shell holders. So it is not a poor design or a flaw.

The New Lyman Brass Smith and the Redding T-7 have manual indexing. Many Lee Users prefer to manually index their turret press. So this is not a flaw in design... It is a preference.

A Dillon 550 is a variant of a turret. It is brilliant. Dillon has people in both camps of the 550 vs 650 preference. The 650 when fully accessorized will leave a 550 press 650 or more rounds per hour behind. Both are great for their intended purpose.

[mdi]

Using a Turret Press for Die Storage defeats the intended purpose.
The intention is to make a completed round each time you load the shell holder.
So you do not remove the case & use load blocks between each die operation.

I disagree. This is true of a progressive press but not necessarily a turret press. I have used a Lee turret for over 25 years and never used it "semi-progressive". I know 3 or maybe 4 others that don't use their turret semi-progressive. A turret really shines when batch loading and who knows the mind of the first turret press designer? If one really timed a load when using a turret as a semi-progressive vs batch loading I would think (pretty sure) that a semi-progressive reloader spends way more time in front of their press then one who batch loads...

[alamogunr]

I have been looking at the Redding T-7 for awhile now. Just waiting until a good deal comes along. I can't say for sure how I will use it since I have no experience with a turret. I suspect that once I have it set up I will use it as mdi has explained. I anticipate that I will acquire at least one additional turret.

I have a Dillon 550B and only load handgun rounds on it. I have gone so far as to try to use only small primer .45 ACP brass so I don't have to change the primer set up. I don't intend to try to load large revolver(.45 Colt, .475 Linebaugh, etc) on a progressive press.

Someday I'll have to go thru the agony of changing primer sizes to use up my stash of large primer .45ACP. When that happens, I'll load a ton for my sons and tell them if they lose the brass not to worry about it.

[kungfustyle]

It's great to prime, flare, charge, seat and crimp and put the loaded round into the ammo box. Do 5, 10, 20, 50. You can go and take a break and come back an be right back up to speed. And if you make a mistake you don't finish with a few rounds short, all the steps are right there ready to go.

[dragon813gt]

If one really timed a load when using a turret as a semi-progressive vs batch loading I would think (pretty sure) that a semi-progressive reloader spends way more time in front of their press then one who batch loads...

You’d have to actually time it. Loading a case from start to finish in one pass will be faster. Simply for the fact that you’re inserting and removing the case holder one time. W/ batch loading this number increased to two and possibly more depending on the process. The less you have to handle the case the faster you can load a case.

Batch may loading may mean less time in front of a press per session. But that doesn’t mean total time is reduced. Someone loading 100 in one pass may be there for an hour. Where a batch loader may process 100 cases in thirty minutes. He will then spend another half an hour finishing the loading in a separate session.

Neither way of doing it is wrong. But single pass reloading from start to finish is going to be quicker. It’s why the larger progressives have more stations.