Educate me about turret presses

[mike in co]

Mike,

I'm sure your numbers are right. Do you think it makes any practical difference in speed?

25% is significant....again it is false economy to under value your time.....

on the other side of the coin...do what you enjoy......

mike in co

[JesterGrin_1]

I can only speak for myself here. But at least for me speed reloading is not the name of the game. I am there to make good ammo and relax doing it.

What the Lee Classic Cast Turret Press does for me is it gives me convenience that I do not have to change the die for each use on the cartridge. Also I can leave the die's set up in the turret head. And I can change out the turret head in seconds.

So at least for myself in the end it is more a convenience than anything else along with good loaded ammo in the end.

[liljohnnie]

Well Jeff, I guess the bottom line here is preference.If i had a turret press i would loan it to you for a week so you could make a decision based on experience. I do not dislike turret presses and have considered getting a Redding T7, but in your case i think i would keep my Coax and maybe consider adding a turret later because lets face it,neither a turret press or your Coax is ever going to outdistance your Dillon no matter how fast you pull the lever.

[jeff423]

Thanks John,

After reading all the posts I'm persuaded that a turret might be slightly faster than a single stage, but not enough to make a meaningful difference. But like you say if speed is the answer a true progressive is the way to go.
I have gotten an "education" on turret presses and now have a better appreciation of their operation. For my reloading they don't offer enough of an advantage over a single stage to justify getting one.

FWIW: That RCBS cutter head is great and does an excellent job of trimming, deburring and chamfering. You can try mine if you want to.

Jeff

[liljohnnie]

FWIW: That RCBS cutter head is great and does an excellent job of trimming, deburring and chamfering. You can try mine if you want to.

Jeff

Too late , i already bought one at Cabelas and i'm thinking about going and getting the .30 cal too just so as i don't have to readjust it every time i change calibers. And i agree that it's a HUGE time saver and does an excellent job.But thank you though.

[garym1a2]

I like the Lee turrent as I can set up a set of dies, powder measure and once I get the load dialed in than the setup is allways the same. I keep one setup for 45acp, one for 357 and soon will have a setup for .223. whenever i want to load I just can setup in a couple minutes and am ready to go. No adjusting dies, setting up a powder measure,... Just loading. With the Lee setup I can install the case, and with 4 strokes of the lever am done. Decap, prime, charge, seat and crimp.

[9.3X62AL]

9.3,

Could you explain how the P200 and its larger brother work? Their web site doesn't adequately explain. Do you manually advance the shellholder like the Dillon 550B?

Kevin--

My apologies for not getting back to you in more timely fashion. Distractions in three dimensions around here lately.

You are correct, the shell holder is manually-advanced under the die array overhead. My typical array is to have the priming sleeve in place at the front-most pivot position, with a primer in place. The front-most die station has the sizer die adjusted for case sizing and decapping.

The shell holder's position "at rest" is one die station/pivot point to my left (facing the machine). This die station has a Lyman Multi-Expander Die in place, with proper stem and expander spud adjusted and powder measure screwed into place and set to pour the proper charge.

The second-left die station has the seater die installed and adjusted for seating and (in the case of revo rounds) roll-crimping.

I'm in the middle of a run of 38 Specials right now. I'm right-handed, if that matters. I pre-size/lube my boolits (Lyman #358429s) and set them to the machine's left on a paper towel. My empty/fired cases are set between the boolit stacks just to the left of the machine, with a 50-count cartridge box (or coffee can) just behind the empty cases.

I grab an empty case and insert it into the shell holder, then pivot it to the right as I raise the press ram a bit. A detent stop indicates the pivot is centered under the size die, I give a slight push to the case to confirm its full insertion/contact with shell holder, and finish the press ram upstroke to size and decap the case. On the downstroke out of the sizer die, I seat the case's new primer.

Raising the press ram again, I begin and complete a pivot right to the next detent stop--confirm case placement in the shell holder--and complete the press ram upstroke which expands and flares the case mouth. My left hand runs the powder measure at this time. I lower the press ram, and while doing so pivot the shell holder one more stop to the left.

Here I place a bullet on the case mouth (love the M-Die!) and raise the press ram. Cartridge completed. Total time about 15-20 seconds, at a leisurely pace.