Turret presses (Redding or Lyman)

[Mousehouse]

I am looking at adding another press to my loading bench. Was thinking about getting a turret press. I like the Lyman because it has 8 positions compared to the Redding with only 7.

Who has one? What are the pros and cons of a turret press?

[abunaitoo]

Never used a Redding, but all their stuff is good.
I have the Lyman.
Has to do somethings to it to keep the handle from falling down.
Other than that, no problems with it.
Don't know if the Redding handle fall down like the Lyman.

[JMax]

I had an old Lyman Star T and own a Redding T7 with a roller handle and three tool heads. Key is had and have plus Redding in made in the US.

[1hole]

Both Lyman and Redding presses are good. They have slightly different characteristics but it's not a "better" or "worse" thing because they both work well; only the user can decide which is better for him.

I have an old Lyman turret (Spar-T) and consider it just a funny looking single stage with awkward provision for die storage. It will do common loading tasks quite well ... but I have no desire for another turret. But, if I did, I'd get Lee's Classic Cast Turret because, with it's Auto-Index feature, it's a slow progressive. It handles spent primers very well and Lee's quick/easy change tool heads are inexpensive enough to actually buy several.

So, perhaps you would tell us why you want a turret; what do you want that your present single stage press doesn't do?

[Baltimoreed]

I have 2 Lyman T-2 presses. Love them. I run one for .45lc only and the other is for .38-.455/.450 british and anything else. With my mods they are as fast as my Dillon 550b I think. Don’t do rifle ammo on them but I do prime on the press and did have to tinker with the priming system to get it 100%. Mostly just remove burrs and cut chamfers on sharp corners to keep the primers from flipping where the spring loaded primer cup can hang up on the shell holder and when it pops free the primer flips.

[Mousehouse]

So, perhaps you would tell us why you want a turret; what do you want that your present single stage press doesn't do?

1hole,

I have used single stage and progressives. What I do currently is deprime, size, prime and throw the primed brass in a box to be loaded later. Looking at the turret presses I could setup two maybe three calibers on one turret.

I got rid of my Dillon progressive because it was collecting dust. I currently have a Pacific single stage that I learned on when I was 10 years old and a little Lee progressive I use for 9mm.

Just thought I would look at the turret type presses since I have never owned one.

[pworley1]

I have never used the Redding but I have been pleased with the other Redding equipment I have. I do have 4 of the Lyman turret presses so you could say that I like them.

[JeffG]

Consider the RCBS turret too. I have one and load 5 calibers on it. It does a great job.

[Baltimoreed]

I’ve always said that reloading is a mindset, the actions of reloading a fired piece of brass is the same no matter how you do it, a hand tool, single hole press, manual index or auto index turret, they all do the same things to reload a piece of brass. The mindset is ‘do you move the work to the press [die] or the press [die] to the work.’ Do each step 50x changing dies each step or use a turret and start with a piece of fired brass and end up with a load by simply moving the turret and working the ram and not touching the brass. I prefer the latter for my handgun cartridges but use a single stage for my rifles. But before too long I will start doing 300blkout on my spare Dillon 550.

[1hole]

1hole, I have used single stage and progressives. What I do currently is deprime, size, prime and throw the primed brass in a box to be loaded later.

Okay, I also batch load because I find it plenty quick and have found I'm more consistent (more accurate) when I do everything in a repeated rythum rather than rotating a turret to process each round before starting another one.

A turret MUST have some slop or it can't turn and I don't like slop. Manually turning a snug head and making sure it has locked in perfect alignment before pulling the lever is NOT a rapid thing. Therefore, for some 30 years, I have often wrenched my Lyman's turret tight and worked it as a single stage. If you do get a turret, it means you will have to experiment to find your own operational "sweet" spot.

Looking at the turret presses I could setup two maybe three calibers on one turret.

Well, I think turrets promise more than they can deliver. If you only want to install 7 or 8 dies in one head and leave them there you might like it. But, if you want more tool heads, both the Lyman and Redding turrets are costly and (moderately) slow to exchange. To me, all of that quickly took the hopeful glow off my old turret!

Just thought I would look at the turret type presses since I have never owned one.

Loading is about as much a tinkering hobby as a cost saver for many of us so I'd never tell anyone not to try something they have a hankering for. BUT, in my opinion, the only functional step up from your old Pacific's simple toggle link lever is the definite advantage of twin compound links used by all currently made presses.

If you go to a new single stage, the only difference I believe you will find between ANY current Single Stage steel presses is the user features they offer; the sale price or web hype really doesn't matter. I am too old to be a brand freak, I know they all work fine; take reasonably good care of any press, use it properly and ANY of them will far outlive it's owner - you know, like your fine old Pacific!

Purely personal, IF I had to replace my old Lyman turret (OR my old much bigger green RC 2) next week there would soon be a red Lee Classic S.S. on my bench. It's big, massively strong, handles spent primers well and has the most user friendly lever (widely adjustable) of all which, IMHO, makes it the best big S.S. press available at any price.

That's my "no B.S." press spiel. You really can't go wrong with any of them so take your choice and have fun at your bench!

[oger]

The T-7 is the best but they do cost more.

[1hole]

The T-7 is the best but they do cost more.

Not meaning to argue but in what ways/why do you say the T-7 is the "best", I mean what does it do better than the big Lyman?

[threett1]

Love my T7. Solid and dependable.

[oger]

The T-7 turret fit and general fit of everything that matters is better. The linkage is still loose as a goose just like the Lyman but I really don't like the way the Lyman turret fits and moves on the Lyman even after I tried to adjust the turret to body fit.

[fn1889m]

I picked up a Lyman TMag2 on sale (closeout to make way for the new model). It has six stations. It is set up for one caliber at a time. What I like about it is that it lets me load to completion either a few or a lot of cartridges, without changing dies. As soon as powder goes into the shell I seat a bullet. I also pick up a separate crimp die so each case goes from sizing to load to seat to crimp in one continuance sequence. I only use it for pistol reloading.

I like the press. It works fine. There is some play in the handle and linkage but not in the ram. It’s a solid press. But I am sure the Redding T7 is fine as well. I do not see any benefit of 8 over 7 over 6 holes/spaces in the turret. I have never filled 6 spaces.

I also have a RCBS Rockchucker Supreme, which is bomb proof. The turret press is not as solid. But it does not need to be. I think of it as a tinkerer’s press. It’s fun to use. But I am not a high volume reloader. I like to tinker with reloading.

[kungfustyle]

I have the T-7. Solid, but there is a little play in the turret while resizing rifle rounds. That play is inherent in all turret presses. So, I use the turret for 223 and pistol ammo and the Rock Chucker Supreme for longer rifle rounds.

[jmorris]

The Redding at least has a support on the opposite side of the ram (rear under the turret) that it can contact to keep it from tilting as much from where it should be.

I have a Lyman around here somewhere. Turrets only do one thing for me and that’s keeping all dies in one place. I just keep them in their box and use them in a co-ax instead.

It allows to go from one die to another quickly and no need to buy extra turrets to hold all of them.

[1hole]

I didn't mention the CoAx only because the question was turrets but I believe Bonanza/Foster's CoAx IS the answer! But, let's think about the real time required for die swapping.

It takes me maybe 3 seconds to rotate my Lyman turret to a new die and twice that for changing in a Co-Ax. I need about 10-12 seconds to exchange a die in a "quick change" collet (Lee/Hornady) and (gasp!) I need nearly a whole minute to swap dies when they are hand tight in my single stage press. Thus, to me, even with a 3 or 4 die handgun set, the method of die swapping time in a typical loading session is trivial.

Presses; as Popeye once said, we all makes our choice and pays the price.

[pjh421]

I normally use a 650 for handguns but when tweaking loads because you want to try a new powder or something and just need five of this or ten of that the progressives can be cumbersome. It's nice to have something set up for small batches. I bought a T-7 and its nice; I wouldn't get rid of it. I bought a PW P-200 and while its convenient, I don't care for the linkage. I'll have to look back there to see if there's room for thicker links with pressed in bearings. That one might have to go down the road. I started out with a Spar-T and liked it but wound up selling it as a result of being married to an irresponsible woman. I've thought about buying another (press that is...) but 75 bucks for a Spar-T from ebay doesn't set well. I found an old Herters 234 in excellent condition and I'm having a machinist friend make two extra turrets. This will provide 30 die stations (six on the original and twelve each on the new turrets).

If I were in your shoes I might go with the Lyman 8 station. It costs less than the T-7 and it will probably do the job just fine.

[Mousehouse]

Thanks for all the information guys. I haven't decided if I was to try a turret or get back into the progressive game. Need to decide how much loading I am wanting to do and what calibers. If I can't decide I might as well buy a turret and a progressive.