Turret Press Which

[warf73]

I'm wanting a turret press, here are my current thoughts about it.

My price limit is 150 so that puts out a lot turrets. The goal is to load the 480 ruger with the press, it’s getting old screwing my dies in/out of my old pacific press all the time. I really don’t feel like dropping 150+ on a conversion for my 550 so that puts me back to a turret. If I did get a conversion its just for the 480, as the turret can be used for other things.

What I’ve observed by reading and looking at pics. My two choices are the Lee classic and Lyman T mag 2.

The T mag looks more solid than the lee classic, I don’t need the 4 hole that the classic has (not a deal breaker) and really like the 3 hole lee but its alum. I refuse to buy an alum press so the 3 hole lee is out.

The idea of a turret press to me, it should make load R&D a little easier.
I'm done rambling what do you guys think?

Warf

[buck1]

I have the Lee classic and the RCBS turret presses. Belive it or not I like the lee better. If you go Lee the only thing to concider is you need the Lee priming atatachment, lee disc powder measure and riser to get the most out of it.
Once I got it set up I was suprised to find how well this little press worked.

[skeet1]

Lee classic turret without a doubt. Best design, best made, best price. What else can be said.

Ken

[jmsj]

warf73,
I have both of those presses. I leave the T-mag set up for .44 Mag and .45 Colt. The Lee turret press I have is the older 3 hole model. And like buck1 and skeet1, I like it better than other presses that I have had. I wouldn't worry too much about the aluminum construction. I have full length sized a lot of 7mm Remington Mag. and .300 Win. Mag. with mine, Over the years I have loaded many sub MOA rifle loads with my LEE. I also like that once you have a cartridge set up you can leave it set up. You can change calibers out in seconds by just changing turrets.
When I bought my Lee they only offered the 3 hole model. If I were in the market for a new Lee I would most definitely get the 4 hole model. The 4 hole turret lets you set up for sizing/depriming, expanding, seating and crimping in one turret.
Good luck, jmsj

[timkelley]

Lee Classic four holer, pay attention to the primer feed and it will work fine.:)

[44Vaquero]

Midway has Lee's Classic 4 hole turret press on sale this month for 94.99! That's a fair price. (I stand corrected thanks bumpo628)

I use the older 3 hole press, with 5 or 6 extra turrets set-up and ready to go. I do not use the factory crimp die so I have not upgraded yet.

The Lyman is fine quality press I just never needed one.

As for buying an Aluminum press, that's really a matter of taste, I have used mine to form wild-cat cartridges with no problem. It's plenty strong and when it wears out I will order another one for 70 bucks from F&M! Actually for that price I may order another one today.:-)

Keep us posted as to which one you pick!

Good Luck

[bumpo628]

You can get the LCT here for $84.48
https://factorysales.com/html/xcart/catalog/classic.html

Although, depending on shipping it may be cheaper at Midway for $94.99
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=814175?cm_cat=Cart&cm_pla=ProductDesc

[Huntducks]

You have a 550 Dillon and your looking at a turret vs caliber con.:confused:

[gofasttodd]

i just looked on the lee site and are out of the factory seconds but give them a call and see if the have one on hand. I payed 65$ 3 months ago and it was brand new in the box only thing i could tell was powder coat wasn't perfect and still carry full warranty

[warf73]

You have a 550 Dillon and your looking at a turret vs caliber con.:confused:

Like was stated in my OP not only will the turret be used for the 480 but R&D for other cals also. I love my 550 but its not a R&D press by no streach.

I'll get a classic ordered next week if the boss lets me lol

Thanks guys

[fryboy]

out of all the presses that have been thru my door i only miss ye olde lyman spar-t , i get to visit a few times a year but .... with proper care the aluminum base on the older lee 3 holer is durable and while i have quite a few turrets set up i bought a 4 hole classic cast ... that dude is nice , to be fair i disassembled defarbbed polished flitzed and waxed it and put it back together ( yes before i ever used it ) while i have very few rifle rounds that need 4 holes i dont regret buying it , i got mine on sale at natchez but as always shopping around is never a bad idea , the beauty of it is one can also use it semi progressively as well - that added to the 2 second caliber changes is hard to beat and the updated primer catcher is much better than many single stages and various other presses

[brimic2]

The goal is to load the 480 ruger with the press, it’s getting old screwing my dies in/out of my old pacific press all the time. I really don’t feel like dropping 150+ on a conversion for my 550 so that puts me back to a turret. If I did get a conversion its just for the 480, as the turret can be used for other things.

I've been using the classic cast lee turret for a few years now. Its a very different reloading paradigm from other turret or single stage reloading systems.
The turret seems to be very loosey-goosey, but set up correctly, it will load very consistantly. I reload my highpower match loads on the turret, it shoots boringly sub-moa in my NM AR-15, day in, day out.
I'm not impressed with other turret systems- rcbs, lyman, redding. They are all good if you reload the same caliber over and over, but don't auto index, nor change out calibers as quickly and easily as the lee.

I got a 480 a few weeks ago and I really don't have much experience with reloading handgun cartridges, other than .45 ACP. I loaded my first 50 480s up last weekend using boolits form the 400gr Lee mould. I was using the Lee die set as well. It took me a bit to set up the dies, but once set, I got consistant bullet seating and crimp. Only problem I had was with the powder through expanding die- the belling is adjusted by how far in the Auto disc swivel adaptor is screwed into the die. I had problems at first with it not screwing in far enough to bell the case mouth and actuate the measure at the same time. I took th emeasure off andfound 2 o-rings on the threads, removed one, then had plenty of play to get a good case belling. I also tried mounting the autodisc on a rifle charging die as a stage after case belling, but the belled 480 cases will not fit in this die. The autodisc swivel didn't have enough tension to keep it unscrewing, so I had to readjust it every 5 rounds or so to get enough bell on the case mouth to seat the bullets. Other than this slightly annoying problem, It worked very well. I don't remember the number of the disc cavity I used, but it measured out about 15.9-16.0 gr of 2400, which turned out to be a very pleasant load to shoot.

If you get a Lee turret, don't loose the extra indexing cam, its a small plastic square. If you incorrectly index the turret, you'll bugger up the cam and will need the the spare- there's a bit of a learning curve, my first cam lasted about an hour, the next has lasted me a few years.

The primer feed works pretty good, but sometimes primers hang up and you end up with a dud round if your not careful. I now just hand feed each primer.

[brimic2]

If you see factory seconds turret discs, snap them up. Some seconds work right out of the box, others need a few casting fins filed off. I have about a dozen turrets, 1/2 are factory seconds, cant tell the difference in how they work.

[Dan Cash]

Redding for a turret or watch for a used Bonanza/Forster Co-Ax. The Co-Ax can be had used for $150 and is the fastest thing alive for die changes. The Redding has the best priming system but you will need to save up for that one as they never seem to come up used. Wonder Why?

[recycledelectrons]

I have a lee turret press (not the classic) among 5 metallic presses on my loading table.

I will say the Lee is the easiest turret press to change the turrets on. The only easier way to change calibers is to have several turret presses next to each other, each with a different caliber loaded.

The down side to changing turrets is the powder measure. You can not lay a turret flat and not spill the powder, or at least loose the cover on an empty powder measure. I even thought about buying a dozen of the top parts of turret presses from Lee to make a turret holder.

The Lee is OK, but not the best for under $150. My Texan 7-hole turret press is much better, though you would have to find one used. I load pistol ammo only on my Texan.

I've been thinking about a Ponsness Warren Metal-Matic P-200. It's a 10-hole turret press designed for pistol calibers only; available for $250 new + $20 S/H. It's kinda a cross between a turret press with auto-index and a progressive press (since it can auto-index 4 shell holders at once.) Has anyone played with one of these? I'm concerned about its' ruggedness. I see it is rated for pistol only, but I hope that's due to stroke length.

Andy

[bumpo628]

The down side to changing turrets is the powder measure. You can not lay a turret flat and not spill the powder, or at least loose the cover on an empty powder measure.

You can use the bottom half of the red plastic box that the dies come in. Set it on that and it won't tip over.

[warf73]

Great info guys thanks.
I don't plan on using the priming system or powder set up, didnt know it came with the turret press.
As of right now this is our process.
1. I deprime size the brass and hand them to my son to prime.
2. I bell the cases then hand them off to him to add the powder.
3. I check for uniform powder in all cases.
4. I add a 400gr pill to the case and hand off the loaded round to my son once again, he then does the last inspection (measures over all length) and cleans each round.

I don't need a turret press but it would make life easer at the bench for us/me.

[cajun shooter]

As I just posted on another thread, I use the Dillon 550B for my big loadings like 500 or more rounds. I purchased the Lee Classic Steel press about two years ago. You should purchase extra plastic indexing squares at the same time as you may need them. The Lee may be set up to use any powder measure you want. See my posting on measures that was just posted today as I don't need to repeat it. It will allow you to also use the Lee Auto prime which will make your Lee a very quick press. The Lee is well worth the $100 price.

[1hole]

A turret press without Lee's auto-index system is a funny looking single stage with die storage holes.

[bumpo628]

A turret press without Lee's auto-index system is a funny looking single stage with die storage holes.

That's how I use it.
Dies are all set up and powder measure for each caliber - tuned in and ready to go.

[fryboy]

The down side to changing turrets is the powder measure. You can not lay a turret flat and not spill the powder, or at least loose the cover on an empty powder measure. I even thought about buying a dozen of the top parts of turret presses from Lee to make a turret holder.
Andy

while i usually store mine in the round boxes ( for the older 3 die turrets anyways and the 4 holer with boolit sizing dies ) i do like the concept of this , to be fair as long as there isnt a powder measure or extender on the powder thru die the round box lid should still help keep the dust off of them

http://leeprecision.com/xcart/Die-Storage-Rack.html

[wgr]

i have thought about a lyman but the extra turrets would break me up

[warf73]

i have thought about a lyman but the extra turrets would break me up

Thats another good thing about the Lee the turrets are under $15.

[casterofboolits]

Is this press a real "turret" press or more of a basic "progressive" press? Seems to have the attributes of both.

[skeet1]

It is a real turret press with progressive capabilities that can be used either way. Very good designing!

Ken

[firebrick43]

After owning a Lyman t mag and using a friend lee cast turrent, get the LEE!!!

When you first look at them the Lyman is impressive and even handling them it is but in actually use the lee becomes much more apparent of its better design. Lees priming system is better, the stiffness of the turrent is rock solid on the lee (don't let the loose feeling when shells are not in the dies fool you) where the Lyman always has flex unless you adjust it out then you can index it. I had to adjust the Lyman with every turrent head change as well, they cost 35$as well.

Then the lee has the ability to auto index. Thelyman handle was always getting in the way. The optional Lyman primer feed sucks and doent work and the primer arm seating system is vague and some times has problems seating lr primers. The lee lever prime has much better feel, power, and lee safety primer feeder is wonderful. So much so I bought a lee classic cast o frame with it after using a friends lee turret and sold off the Lyman. My dillon 650 does high volume pistol stuff so I wasn't using the Lyman very much and it never did worth a hoot for rifle rounds.