who can tell me about Lyman presses?

[44minimum]

well dude's,after much consideration of your input and a careful check of the pocketbook I have pretty much decided to purchase a turret press. on eBay I have noticed that the lyman st and tmag are pretty cheap. Would they work for reloading 357 Mag, 44 Mag, 223 and 308? I assumed that they are pretty good quality, just kind of old. they seem to be pretty simple, but if something does break are parts available?Am I correct in my assumptions? Please enlighten me.

[David R]

Never used one of those, but if it says Lyman or RCBS on it, I think you are safe. RCBS even has a lilfetime warrenty. I don't know about lyman.

[1Shirt]

Have three different Lyman turrets, and they have loaded thousands of rounds without any problem. Have never known Lyman to turn out anything but a quality product.
1Shirt

[BruceB]

44, pard;

The T-Mag is pretty current, I believe. Midway lists the "T-Mag 2", so that's probably a slight modification of the original T-mag. It should be another good Lyman product, based on my experience with other turret presses from them.

I have a Lyman All-American, bought new around 1967-68, which has been in INTENSIVE use since the day it came home. I'd say at least several hundred thousand rounds have been loaded with it, and it's going strong...maybe just a tad smoother than when it was new. EXCELLENT press, often available on Ebay in near-new condition for under $100. If you buy one, let me know, because there are a couple of caveats you'll need to know. Highly recommended!

Der Schuetzenwagen now has a Lyman Spar-T mounted for loading at the range. I got it from Ebay, brand new for $50. The paint in the die holes had never been touched by a die! Originally I had a second All-American on the van's bench, but because of the mounting method for the A-A, there wasn't enough headroom for the turret-mounted powder measure. So, the A-A moved on to a friend's bench, and the Spar-T came to live in the GMC. To see the A-A in the van, go to Castpics (link at bottom of this page) and then to "Special Projects" for photos.

Oh....I load everything right up to the .416 Rigby and .404 Jeffery on the A-A without difficulty, and I expect the same will apply to the Spar-T. Certainly, the calibers you mentioned will fit easily.

I'm a great fan of the Lyman turret presses. What good taste you have!

[Scrounger]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I have a new Lyman T-Mag II with an extra turret I'll sell for $125 shipped lower 48. Pretty good price.

[LAH]

Either will do what you want. I have an ST.

BruceB I also have the Lyman All American. Have you made a way to use standard shellholders and still be able to prime on the machine?

[BruceB]

LAH;

Lyman makes an adaptor that allows the use of standard RCBS/Pacific type shellholders. Along with the adaptor, you'll need their "Special-T" priming punch which replaces the original punch with a longer one. It comes with sleeves etc for both primer sizes. A call to Lyman will get the parts, and I don't believe it'll cost more than maybe $20, if that. This was one of the "caveats" I mentioned earlier.

Scrounger's price for the T-Mag press and extra turret is indeed a good one, and it would be hard to go wrong with that deal.

[44minimum]

Bruceb, I almost fell out of my chair laughing so hard when I saw that first picture of your van, thinking that you had been the victim of a mighty ripoff. By the time I got to the bottom picture tho, I was feeling more than a twinge of jealousy. very creative use of materials. you don't have to push it to the range do you?

[LAH]

I have the shellholder adapter but not the priming change. I'll give them a call. Thanks.

[BruceB]

LAUGHING????? You have the unmitigated gall to laugh at the very finest shooting "toy" in creation?? (BruceB recalibrates his initial favorable impressions of 44minimum).

Actually, there have been a lot of changes since those pics were taken. The spotting scope now mounts to an overhead side-to-side aluminum bar, using the panning head from a camera tripod to allow infinite adjustment angles. This frees-up a good bit of bench space. The 12-foot chronograph boom mounts on a pivot under the benchrest, and has windage (angle) adjustment from the shooting position...no need to to get out of the vehicle to adjust the screen positions. Also, a cleaning and gunsmithing bench has replaced that seat just ahead of the loading bench, with permanent storage for cleaning rods, brushes, fluids, etc.

A rifle rack for cased rifles has been built right across the van just behind the driver/passenger seats, and in the base of the rifle rack is carpeted storage for a hi-lift jack and the rebar components for my target-mounting system. 4-foot-wide cardboard backers for targets are carried in a narrow compartment between the loading and cleaning benches.

Everything is designed to be rattle-free as much as possible, with carpeting or rubber cushioning for most major items.

I suppose I should get some newer photos. I figured for $379 total price for the van, I was pretty much free to do what I wanted with it. It runs fine, and is air-conditioned to boot. It allows me to shoot in comfort all 12 months of the year, regardless of most weather conditions (barring the Nevada zephyrs, which can be a problem).

I also keep a stock of ammo in my most-used calibers in the vehicle, so I can just grab a gun and run, being assured that there'll be at least a hundred rounds or so available for whatever firearm I grabbed while going out the door.

Life would not be the same for me now, without this ol' van!

[Bodydoc447]

you have sparked my curiosity. where are the pictures of the shooting wagon?

Doc

[BruceB]

Bodydoc;

Go to post #4 above.

[fecmech]

44minimum--I've got 2 Spart t's with auto primer feeds. The one was bought new in the late 60's and still going strong, the other bought on Ebay 2 yrs ago. You don't have enough time in your life to wear one out!. Nice presses but need one minor modification. I drilled and tapped the turret head for a couple of 5/16X18 bolts which screw in to make turning handles as I load each shell to completion. The Redding powder measure is mounted between the expander and seat die on the turret to charge the cases. Nick

[BruceB]

fecmec:

Great minds really DO think alike! My new/old Ebay Spar-T was so stiff to turn that I drilled and tapped three holes around the turret, screwed in some 3"-long 1/4" bolts, and after cutting off the heads at a judicious length, maybe 1.5" protruding, I screwed on some neat brass-lined plastic knobs, about 3/4" diameter.

This gives ample leverage to turn the turret, just like your 'fix' does..

[fecmech]

Bruce--Your "fix" was so much more refined than mine. I left the heads on my bolts and simply wound a lot of masking tape around them to make a knob to hang on to. The old "crude but effective" method! They are nice little presses. Nick

[44minimum]

scrounger, I shall keep that in consideration. it may be a month or two before I buy a press, unless I just happened to run across a screaming good deal on ebay. I am saving my pennies for a press, a stainless handi rifle, and a family trip to Disney World. I remain undecided about what one should take first priority.

[44minimum]

on th spar t press, how do you change calibers? Do you have to unscrew the dies and put the other ones in or can you just change the turret head?

[44minimum]

after reading my previous post, I don't think I made myself clear.. When you want to switch to a different caliber to do you have to unscrew all of the dies and put the new caliber dies into the holes? Some of the other presses have interchangeable turret headsthat you can keep loaded with other dies and merely snap into place.based upon the pictures I have seen, it doesn't appear to be very quick release..

[fecmech]

44--If you load as I do by turning the turret till each round is completed with the powder measure on the turret the short answer is yes you have to change the dies out. It's not really a big deal though, your size die just gets screwed down till it touches the shell holder and if your seat die lock ring is set you just screw that down tight to the turret. If you use a Lyman "M" die as I do you screw out the center expander spud and change to the new calber spud leaving the "M" die in place. The whole operation does'nt take more than 5 or 6 minutes.
There are only 6 holes in the turret so loading pistol calibers with a 3 die set takes up 4 holes with the powder measure. Hope this helps. Nick

[BruceB]

44;

The Spar-T uses a BIG nut on top of the turret to retain the whole thing. It's no great problem to unscrew it if need be, but it is NOT a "quick-change" device, by any description.

I intensely dislike the idea of using a turret press as merely a place to store dies, since my loading method requires the rotation of the turret from station to station each time a new case enters the circuit, meaning that each case is completely loaded once it first is placed in the shellholder. The powder measure is installed in the turret, just like any of the dies. If one has spare turrets however, then keeping each turret with ready-adjusted dies installed makes sense. I'm loading at least twenty different calibers on my All-American though, so it doesn't make economic sense to have that many spare turrets lying around, even if I could find such spares.

The Spar-T actually has one hole too many, for the way I load, and sometimes I only use four of the six positions, so I'm forever clicking past empty holes to get to the next function. It's just a minor inconvenience, though.

If you use a standard load in a given caliber, the dies can have their adjustments locked and thereby retain their settings even after removal from the press. If you experiment a lot, as I do, then you just have to resign yourself to adjusting everything whenever you change from the previous load. Once you're accustomed to this necessity, it's no big deal. The sizer die can be adjusted and left locked, for example, for most projects. Seating depth and crimp are the major items needing changes when using different bullets.

[KCSO]

I have a Spar T that has been in use since about 1976. Now I mostly use it for push through bullet sizing, but in the past it loaded many rounds of pistol and rifle ammo. Unlike some on this board I like the Lee turret press also. I currently have about 35 die sets set up in Lee turrets. You just have to remember that the Lee is not a press for heavy duty resizing. If I really have to put the squeeze on something I put a die in the Spart T or the old Herters. I sure wouldn't pass up a Spart T for $50.00 or so if I could get one. I have never taken the turret off of my Spar T and I doubt I ever will I just screw the dies in and out. I also have an All American 310 turret press that has been used for bullet sizing and loading 38 specials fo on to 35 years and No Problems. I did see a Lyman single station c press broke once, a fellow was using it to size jacketed slugs with a cheater bar on the ram and the casting gave way on about the 200th bullet. He was sizing 338's down for a 8mm M95. I have Lyman and Ideal products that date to 1884 and most see at least limited use. If you take care of them and use them as intended I don't think they will ever wear out.

[44minimum]

thanks for the information gentleman. It seems that maybe the t mag is the way to go for me.