Vintage Lyman All American Turret Press - Any Good?

[PBSmith]

The ones I see on e-bag are red in color.

The way bidders there chase after them, you'd think the presses were bikini girls on the beach.

Are they (the Lyman presses) worth owning?

Thanks

[TNsailorman]

That is one of the better presses made , especially for pistol calibers, in my humble opinion. I would like to buy one but I am not willing to pay the going prices they command these days. my .02 anyway, james

[KenT7021]

They are worth owning if you like turret presses.They were made with two types of turrets.One was made to take a shotshell reloading die in one position.An adapter was furnished with a 7/8-14 thread so the press could be used for normal reloading on all four stations.This adapter is missing on many of the presses and is not available from Lyman.Most of the presses have turrets with 7/8-14 threads on all four positions.They are very nice presses.

[Pressman]

It's a good press and my dream press from 1967/68 when I first began reloading. They are smooth to operate and made of aluminum. Good for handgun calibers and small rifle as the linkage is a bit limited when compared to the Rock Chucker.

[Walks]

They're not really red, it just photographs that way. I grew up loading on one. If you want a press that doesn't hang down below the bench edge, then it's the press for you. The press is threaded 7/8 X 14. LYMAN still catalogs the shell holder conversion to use std shell holders & priming punches to go with them. And the 7/8 X 14 adapter's for their #55 Powder Measure and Truline Jr or 310 dies. I just checked their 2018 Catelog.

[rbuck351]

I really like mine. The shell holder and the primer punch set right out in the open without obstructing each other. The turret has 4 holes which is just right as I load one round at a time. Stage 1. size, deprime and prime ( I hand set primers) stage 2. bell mouth and dump powder stage 3. seat boolit stage 4. crimp and one more click and stage 1. Many of the newer turrets have 6,7 or 8 holes which means there are several holes to turn past to get back to stage 1. The only draw back I have with the AA is the primers dump on the floor. With a concrete floor and a shop vac that's no problem. On a carpet it could be a real issue. I have seen them listed for around $100 to $150. I would pay $100/to $120 if I didn't already have one. Oh, the primer feed is not the best design either which is why I hand feed.

[Green Frog]

Other than my little TruLine Jrs which have their own niche, the only turret press I own and am likely to own is my Lyman All American. Mine has the one odd sized large hole, but I was able to get the adaptor for it. I keep it set up pretty much all the time for 327 Fed Mag. Come to think of it, I guess that's the niche "owned" by my AA press!

Green Frog

[PaulG67]

Of my 1/2 dozen presses my Lyman AA is my favorite.

[Char-Gar]

They are very good and smooth presses. They are workingl man's Hollywood press. I have three of them set up for various handguns cartridges (45 Short (45 ACP, 45 AR and 45 Cowboy (45 Colt) (44 Special and Magnum). The early ones were Lyman Orange, but at some point they became red.

[ascast]

I had one to use for BPCR neck sizing stuff. I just don't get the heavy, spring loaded, moving top vs moving an empty case in and out a couple times. I found the turret concept a delusion. The primer feeds stink, oir worse. The shotgun loading option is way cool. I let the press go, then stumbled onto dies sets for shotgun, several gauges. Someday I'll try it again. YMMV

[Char-Gar]

I had one to use for BPCR neck sizing stuff. I just don't get the heavy, spring loaded, moving top vs moving an empty case in and out a couple times. I found the turret concept a delusion. The primer feeds stink, oir worse. The shotgun loading option is way cool. I let the press go, then stumbled onto dies sets for shotgun, several gauges. Someday I'll try it again. YMMV

The turret is where you store the other dies in the set, adjusted and ready to use. Other than that, I use it as a single stage press. I have not deprimed or primed on the press is many decades.

[too many things]

i have one for 65 still in use. have one in box and just got another
if you lube and treat it right will out last you and grand kids.
if you buy make sure it has the shotshell bushing, with the wood handle. and look to see chrome is bright

[Geezer in NH]

The turret is where you store the other dies in the set, adjusted and ready to use. Other than that, I use it as a single stage press. I have not deprimed or primed on the press is many decades.

I use my Lyman turret the same way. Just turn the head for the next step on the coffee can of brass I am loading. No need to change dies or adjustments and less wear on the turret from movement.

It is nor a progressive press by any means to me.

[Green Frog]

Originally Posted by Char-Gar;
The turret is where you store the other dies in the set, adjusted and ready to use. Other than that, I use it as a single stage press. I have not deprimed or primed on the press is many decades.

Originally Posted by Geezer in NH;
I use my Lyman turret the same way. Just turn the head for the next step on the coffee can of brass I am loading. No need to change dies or adjustments and less wear on the turret from movement.

It is nor a progressive press by any means to me.

Phrom the Phrog;
Me three! I have never been able to understand why anyone would use a turret press to load one round at a time instead of the much faster strategy of batch loading, doing one step on the whole batch of cases, then rotating the turret one notch to do the next step on all to them, etc. This makes perfect sense to me as I can also perform QC on the whole batch after each step, and with most rounds load only a little more slowly than the basic speed I get when I am carefully using the Dillon 550. This is my personal experience, YMMV!

Froggie

[wrench man]

I learned to reload on one, have since picked up one for myself, they are good presses!

[rbuck351]

I load one round at a time and have tried both ways with little difference in time. My main reason is because I frequently am interrupted by my wife and no matter when that is in a loading session, I have that number of rounds ready to shoot, If interrupted in the middle of a batch I have 0 rounds ready to shoot. I can load over 200 rds per hour one at a time. Less than half of what I can turn out with my Dillon 550.

[Char-Gar]

I load one round at a time and have tried both ways with little difference in time. My main reason is because I frequently am interrupted by my wife and no matter when that is in a loading session, I have that number of rounds ready to shoot, If interrupted in the middle of a batch I have 0 rounds ready to shoot. I can load over 200 rds per hour one at a time. Less than half of what I can turn out with my Dillon 550.

The time is not a factor with me. I load in batches, so I can charge the cases and visually inspect the cases before I seat bullets. You need to have a talk with your wife, about reloading safety, concentration and focus.

[Walks]

Well I'll be, my DAD'S was Dark Orange. We loaded all pistol on it except for .38spl & .45acp, those went thru the STAR. Didn't have the one with the shotgun position. Shot Shell went thru a PACIFIC press or a LYMAN. Later on a MEC & P-W.

Now that I think about it, I believe the single stage press we used for most rifle was Dark red/Orange. A Lyman Comet.
All-American Turret was a good press, best part was it didn't hang down in front of the bench.

[KenT7021]

Two All Americans listed on Ebay currently.Both have the turret that use shotgun dies.One has no adapter for the shotgun position.The other has an adapter but it appears to be to adapt to TruLine Jr dies.

[Char-Gar]

Two All Americans listed on Ebay currently.Both have the turret that use shotgun dies.One has no adapter for the shotgun position.The other has an adapter but it appears to be to adapt to TruLine Jr dies.

I looked at them both. I believe the adapter to be correct for full sized dies. The purchaser of the other better had a friend with a lathe to make an adapter, if he wants to use all four holes. Not bad prices for these two.