Turret Presses

[StarMetal]

What are you fellow's opinions on the Lyman and Redding turret presses? I'm talking about the current new ones. Don't mention a Lee because I'm totally not interested in theirs. On the older ones what do you all think of the older Lyman All Americans? I read some reviews about the new Lyman turrets on Midways site from buyer and there were a few that said the older ones were better and the new is cheaply made. No bad reviews at all on the Redding. There were some negative reviews on the RCBS turret though. I'm concidering a turret press.

Joe

[jballs918]

whats so bad about the new lees. i was looking at one. maybe out a good idea.

[azrednek]

I can't comment directly. A friend lost his older Lyman turret, leaving it behind in a divorce and an out of state move. He decided to buy a used one exactly like he had off of Ebay rather than get a new one after fooling with a new Lee.

[9.3X62AL]

Joe--

I've used a "turret press" made by Ponsness-Warren since about 1998, and it has been flawless. The best $200 I ever spent on a reloading tool, bar none.

Instead of the turret head moving over a stationary ram, the shell holder is secured into a pivoting arm that moves into detent stops under the ten die holes in the stationary top turret. The top turret is removable if desired, and turret heads are available.

The pistol-sized machine I have is the P-200. There is also a five-station rifle machine that will take 375 H&H-length cartridges. They call their machines "semi-progressive". If you already have shell holders and dies for single stage reloading, you are in business--just add your powder measure to one of the die stations, and start making ammo.

www.reloaders.com

[StarMetal]

I use some of the Lee products like some of their reloading dies and bullet moulds, but sorry, can't stomach their reloading presses.

Joe

[azrednek]

The Lee presses are a good place to start reloading if bought in a kit, especially if money is tight. It will reload ammo but once you have been spoiled by another press there is no looking back.

[StarMetal]

AZredneck,

I'm not a beginning reloader, been reloading for more then half a century. I have all the dies, scales, tumblers, etc. I don't need a kit and I'm not on a tight budget. I've used other friends progressive presses, etc. I just thought I'd like to get a turret press to speed my pistol round loading along a tad faster, not wanting a Dillion.

Joe

[versifier]

Joe,
I had an older Lyman turret and loved it. I used it for almost a year, then I was forced to part with it in some hard times and have been kicking myself ever since. One of these days I'll see a good deal on one at a show when I actually have some cash and get it. I have never actually seen-to-touch-it Redding or RCBS models, nor the newer Lymans, but the one I had was very rugged and should be OK to buy used unless kept in a damp basement, etc., and that would be obvious on examination.

[StarMetal]

Thanks Versifier, that's the kind of stuff I like to hear. I'm following a couple of them on some auction sites. I notice the older Lymans had a special shell holder. Fortunately the one on auction comes with alot of shell holder for it.

Joe

[Doble Troble]

I've had a Lee turret press since 2000. Pistol ammo flies off of it and I load a lot of rifle ammo on it too. There've been a couple upgrades to it. The current priming system makes it really fast - just dump the primers in the flipper, flip, close the cover, press the button for each round and seat on the downstroke. Combined with an autodisk powder measure that adds powder during neck expansion, its a slick system that's cheap too (like me).

[BruceB]

My Lyman All-American was bought new (by me) in 1967, and still does the vast majority of my loading, having already loaded hundreds of thousands of rounds. It's an excellent press with an outdated primer feed system.

The primer-feed tubes are made of thin brass which offers practically zero protection in the case of a detonation in the system, so I just abandoned it altogether. It's no problem to manually place the primer in the punch, as there's plenty of room even for large hands. Also, the press has no provision for catching spent primers when they're de-capped. I simply catch them in my open hand under the shellholder platform and drop them into the waste barrel under the bench in front of me. No problem.

The A-A has only four stations in the turret, but I consider this to be an advantage for someone who USES the turret feature as a turret, as I do, and not just as a place to store die sets! I set up with the sizer at Stn1, the expander die at Stn 2, the powder measure (screwed right into a die hole) at Stn 3, and the seater die at Stn 4.

An empty case starts at Stn 1 (where else????) and then is processed through all the other stations before another case is touched. This means that, once I pick up an empty, it is completely loaded before leaving the press. The turret is rotated for each function as the case is loaded. I may take the case out of the shellholder to check the charge, or to add dacron, but basically, each case in turn is processed to the finished-load stage before starting on the next one. This is why only four holes make life easier for me....I'm not forever clicking the turret past empty die holes to get back to Stn 1 to begin loading the next round. There are a few times when one more station would be nice, but I'm 99% happy with it as-is.

The A-A was made for the "J"-type shellholders, which are now obsolete. These shellholders often show up on Ebay, so it's not a fatal flaw. Also, Lyman makes an adaptor for using today's standard RCBS/Pacific type shellholders. NOTE that to use this adaptor, you MUST have what's called the "Special-T" priming punch, since the original priming post won't work. Both adaptor and priming punch are available direct from Lyman for less than $20 total.

I even mounted a second A-A for handloading in Der Schuetzenwagen, but due to its mounting method the headroom was insufficient. I sold it to a friend and replaced it on Der 'wagen's bench with a Spar-T turret press.

Do I like turrets? Hell no, I LOVE 'em. I have yet to see a Lee press worthy of my houseroom. I do hear good things about their new "Classic"(?)cast-iron turret press, though.

[sundog]

Joe, I prep my handgun brass on my RC, prime with my RCBS hand primer and store the prepped and primed brass until I need to load it. Just about every bit of handgun brass I assemble is done on one of two Lee turrets, and they make just fine ammo for my purposes. One is a 3-holer and one is a 4-holer. I suppose if I shot alot more handgun ammo, especially something of a venue like IPSC or IDA, I would get something 'mo betta', but this works for me. Very economical, especially considering one of them was not bought new. The other is one of the very few reloading equipment items I ever purchased new. Been using them for years, and the only thing I do not like about them is the priming system. sundog

[Swagerman]

I've got to cast my vote on what I've known and used.

As to Lyman, the older All American turret model far outclasses the newer Lyman turret. The older AA was bigger and stronger, and the newer model has a pitiful linkage system though it seems to satisfy some.

The only Lee press I've ever bought was the Classic model that is not turret. It is a fine unit and even use it for swaging with a slight aulteration on the shellholder being shortend.

The Lyman AA presses are bringing premo prices on the ebay auctions, so, try and find one from putting out an ad for one.

Mine cost me about $125 by the time the mail man dropped it off from Canada.

I find I use this press more than anyother on my benches, so it must be the best I've got. It looks and works like new but is probably over 40 years old.


Jim

[floodgate]

Thanks Versifier, that's the kind of stuff I like to hear. I'm following a couple of them on some auction sites. I notice the older Lymans had a special shell holder. Fortunately the one on auction comes with alot of shell holder for it.

Joe

Joe:

The special "J" shell-holders for the older Lyman All-American, Tru-Line Jr. and other presses of the 1950's are plentiful on the used market - Randy Davis of "The 310 Shop" usually has the commoner ones in stock, and they use the same ID numbers for various calibers as the current Lyman "X" shellholders. Lyman makes a "conversion" part that lets you use the standard RCBS-type shell-holders (Cat. No. 7095762 @ $9.95), and - if you like to prime in the press - a "Special-T" priming punch (#7095763 @ $7.25) that fits that setup - Randy stocks these, too. The only problem is that there have been some variations over the years in placement of the set-screw seat that retains the "J" shell-holders and the adapter, and the set-screw is a bit less resistant to pulling on a stuck case than the T-slot arrangement.

One warning: left in a dark drawer, the "J's" tend to multiply like cockroaches, and I've got about three dozen now, almost all slightly different as to set-screw placement, finish, overall length, etc. I guess they don't breed true....

Doug

[StarMetal]

Bruce, Doug, Jim.....good stuff. Jim one of the negative reviews from a buger in Midways site was indeed the linkage was bad on the new Lyman turret press. Bruce you bring up a good poing about those six hole turrets...man you would be spinning that turret around too much. Doug I'm sure you're right those J shellholders aren't a problem to get. In fact there's no doubt I could turn one on my lathe, the hard part being cutting the slot in it. I'm sure Buckshot could come up with an easy solution to that.
Thanks guys.

Joe

[Cayoot]

Bruce you bring up a good poing about those six hole turrets...man you would be spinning that turret around too much. Joe

Joe,
I use the RCBS turrent. It has 6 stations. I really like it. I have several turrents. I keep either 2 handgun die sets or 3 rifles on each turrent. No excessive turning, just click it back 2 clicks after seating the handgun boolit (or 1 click after seating the rifle boolit). I have some colored tape that seperates the calibers just because I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer and once I tried to resize .45 Colt brass in a .41 mag die. If course, nothing dangerous there, but it did suprise me. I guess my mind was wandering a bit. Now however, I have the bright colors seperating the calibers and I have no such problems.

I really like the primer system in the RCBS turrent and the press is big and bullet proof.

I would strongly suggest that you consider them too.

I have 4 presses set up, a Hornady LNL Progressive, the RCBS Turrent, a RCBS single stage and the Lee turrent. Each has their individual advantages, but if I could only have one, it would be my RCBS turrent, no question about it.

[floodgate]

Joe (and anyone else gioing for a Lyman All-American Turret press):

As Bruce B mentioned, there is no provision for catching spent primers in the AA-T; further, if you don't like to prime in the press, and leave the "T" priming punch out, the fired primers can drop down through the priming punch seat in the base, which is bored right through into the main operating handle bearing. Primer residue can really gum things up, and you'd have to take the linkage completely apart to clean it out. Fortunately, the "fix" is stone simple: take a short 1/4" machine screw and drop the threaded end into the hole to plug it.

Bruce inspired me to get my AA-T, which lives next to my Rockchucker - and I've got a spare in its original box with all the primer feed parts stashed in the storage shed. Then there are all those pesky little "J" shell-holders: "Gidouta here! Scram!! (I use the conversion kit from Lyman.)

Doug

[Char-Gar]

I have a Redding in regular use on my bench. A first class piece of equipment and about about four years of use, I have not found a fault. I can highly recommend it for those looking for a turrent press.

[DLCTEX]

I have a Lyman turret press, the T MAG Press, not the Tmag II, that is currently broken. I was resizing some 243 cases that required the thoulder to be set back a little, so was putting extra pressure on it, and broke the bolt that holds the turret. I ordered one from Lyman $4.00+ $4.00 S&H, but recieved one for a TMag II which is different. I am going to repair it and sell it, as I bought a Lee classic turret and love it. I have used it to form some cases from some 30-06 LC brass and it sailed through as easily as with my RCBS Rockchucker. The option for auto advance and the primer dispenser are a joy. The ejected primer disposal is great too! It has a 1 1/8" ram and the lever stays in position wherever I stop it. The base is cast iron, and the alloy for the turret is said to have a higher tinsel stength than cast iron. I don't detect any tipping of the turret(Lyman had lots), but if there was some, you could add a few inches of spring(part of a 1911 recoil spring) to lift the turret into contact withe retaining lugs at the top of the stroke. Extra turrets can be had for $8-12 and the press is under $80 at Midway. Whats not to love?

[BruceB]

AAAAGGGHHHH!! SPELLING POLICE!!!!! OVER HERE!!!! QUIIIIICK!!!

I have a fair tolerance for almost any slippages in grammar, spelling, etc, but THIS one has bothered me for years, and it's very common. Gentlemen, PLEASE take pity on an older feller's good humor, and make note of the following (say after me):

"There IS NO, repeat, NO "N" in the word "T-U-R-R-E-T", turret, turret, turret....

NO "N" in "turret".

(whew) That feels better.... Have pity, guys!