T Mag II Turret Press

[tred1956]

I am just getting back into reloading after a 15 year break. I have obtained most of the items I need. I have a Lyman T Mag II press on the way. My question is does anyone have any experience with this press and is it worth the cost to purchase additional heads? Will it handle bottle neck cartridges or do I need to stick with my rock chucker for them? Thanks for reading.

Safe shooting
Doug

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I owned one before and after having it about a year, I sold it. My personal feeling is the Lee Classic Turret is a better press and I've owned both. I would not buy additional heads for that press. Expensive and they have a tendency to tilt, causing runout.

It will handle bottle neck cartridges, but depending on your needs, you may not be as pleased with the runout vs. the Rock Chucker.

Just my .02, having owned all the above mentioned presses.

Regards,

Dave

[kingstrider]

I have the same press and agree you don't really need more than one head. I have used mine for rifle cartridges but the T-mag really excels at handgun loads.

[ir3e971]

I have one. I use the head that came with it and just put the dies in. It is an OK press, and does a good job on pistol ammo.

[JesterGrin_1]

If you can stop the order for the Lyman and or see if they will let you return it and get the Lee Classic Cast Turret Press. It will serve you better than the Lyman.

I had a Lyman T-Mag II and sold it to get the Lee Classic Cast Turret Press and darn happy with it. :)

[jmorris]

I own an early one (pre II) that I use for 22-250, 45lc, 44mag, 300 win mag, 458 socom, 7-08 and a few others that I don't load on progressives. I use extra heads so it doesn't take too long to switch calibers. I like it better than my old Lee turret but the friend I gave that one to still uses it.

[DLCTEX]

I own the Lyman turret and the Lee Classic Cast Turret, the Lyman sits idle. The Lyman turrets are too expensive for me, and with the Lee I have the option of auto advance or manual. The Lyman will loadgood ammo, but I find it flexes too much under hard rersizing. I broke the turret bolt when sizing 243 brass that needed the shoulder set back.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I had one once and got rid of it. The indexing was off and I got tired of arguing with Lyman about it and who should pay the shipping for returning it. It can load good ammo nevertheless if there are no quality control issues. If you like this type of press then you should consider the best of this style which is the Redding T-7. It is a true monster and you can do anything on it. It has seven die positions and also has the option of interchangeable turrets. It'll do anything the Rockchucker can do. As already recommended by other experienced users in the field, a better choice would be the Lee Classic Cast Turret Press; It is strong, smooth and fast with the turret advancing with each stroke of the handle. The turrets are easily changeable in a moment and are vastly cheaper than either Lyman's or Redding's. It is made/forged out of railroad steel and has built a fine reputation as a semi progressive since it was introduced. Both the Lee and the Redding have the spent primer disposal system thru the ram using tubes that can collect the used primers or channel them into a receptacle rather than the T-Mag and similar presses that use exterior cups that have dead primers bouncing in and out of them and have to be detached to empty them. Its your call as you're the one that will be using whichever machine you decide on and you have to be happy with it. Good luck and good shooting. LLS

[JesterGrin_1]

This is what it looks like.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/SHAKERATTLEROLL/IMAG0052.jpg

And this is what I did for my spent primers. But the options are open as you may read how others do it. :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/SHAKERATTLEROLL/IMAG0045-1.jpg

[StarMetal]

I owned one before and after having it about a year, I sold it. My personal feeling is the Lee Classic Turret is a better press and I've owned both. I would not buy additional heads for that press. Expensive and they have a tendency to tilt, causing runout.

It will handle bottle neck cartridges, but depending on your needs, you may not be as pleased with the runout vs. the Rock Chucker.

Just my .02, having owned all the above mentioned presses.

Regards,

Dave

Aha Dave,

So that's why you sold it to me. Hey I load pistol on it and it's just fine for that. Load rifle on my RCBS Rockchucker. The only thing I don't like about mine is the little bit of flex in the turret head. Lyman build a pad on the frame that is suppose to be dead nuts against the bottom of the head opposite side of the ram to counteract the ram's force, but like I said...too much of a gap. I'll probably remedy that someday.

Joe

[pmeisel]

I have a pre-II that I still use and love. Never bothered with an extra head -- I load 357 most of the time and that's always in, just change out the others, once every year or two.

[1hole]

I have its predecessor. A good press, of its type. But, its type is less than ideal to me. IF I only loaded one cartridge, so there would be no die swaps, it would be fine but I load for maybe ten cartridges on a regular basis. At about $50 apiece, shipped, swapping heads wouldn't work for me, much to expensive and working with that big bolt would be VERY clumsy.

Conventional turret presses (Non-Lee) simply have too much spring for precision rifle loading, IMHO anyway. I used to lock the head of my turret down but that just made it a semi=rigid and really funny looking single stage.

But, for some folks that type press is great, hope it is for you.

[Sixgun Symphony]

I am just getting back into reloading after a 15 year break. I have obtained most of the items I need. I have a Lyman T Mag II press on the way. My question is does anyone have any experience with this press and is it worth the cost to purchase additional heads? Will it handle bottle neck cartridges or do I need to stick with my rock chucker for them? Thanks for reading.

Safe shooting
Doug

If it were me, I would load pistol ammo on the T Mag and load rifle ammo on the RC.

If you are using two die sets for rifle ammo, consider buying a used single stage press to sit on the bench next to your RC. I seen old Pacific single stage presses sell for $25 on ebay.

[-06]

Just bought a T-Mag and you fellows are not making me feel good about my choice. I do have a couple of single presses and I may stick to them for my rifle loading. Was wanting another head to mount 06 and 308 dies. You have talked me out of ordering that $60 item. wc

[shotman]

If you have the T mag. Look at the gap in back. You can either have main bolt turned or put a shim washer under head to make it ride tight on the back up pad. I got one off feebay that the bolt was broke. Found it was not tapped true from factory. Got new bolt and works good.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Aha Dave,

So that's why you sold it to me. Hey I load pistol on it and it's just fine for that. Load rifle on my RCBS Rockchucker. The only thing I don't like about mine is the little bit of flex in the turret head. Lyman build a pad on the frame that is suppose to be dead nuts against the bottom of the head opposite side of the ram to counteract the ram's force, but like I said...too much of a gap. I'll probably remedy that someday.

Joe

Joe,

That wasn't the main reason I sold it. The main reason was it wasn't fast enough to suit my needs or I would have done what you're doing, reload pistol on it. I got my Lee Classic Turret after I sold you the Lyman. If I remember right, you were tickled with the condition it was in, as I'd taken pretty good care of it.

But if I still had it and wanted to reload rifle, I'd have to do what you mentioned, close that gap. By the time I did that, I could sell it and get myself something different, which is my tendency, being as I don't own machine tools.

Long term, my recent upgrades to my Hornady LnL have even supplanted my need for a Lee Classic Turret. It did help my son bought his own and returned mine. :drinks:

Regards,

Dave

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

If you've got Rock Chuckers, you can always speed up the single stage reloading by adding a Hornady LnL bushing conversion kit. Makes changing dies very fast and once set, the dies never change setting.

Regards,

Dave

[Lloyd Smale]

my first reloading press was one of the original tmags and it served me well for many years.

[1Shirt]

Have an early Lyman turret, and a new T-Mag and loveum. Never had a problem with either, and have loaded thousands of rounds on both.
1Shirt!:coffee: