Turret Press?

[Dancing Bear]

After many years of using my Redding Boss single stage press I'm thinking of buying a turret press just to reduce having to screw the dies in and out. Getting too old for that and a lot of other things. Looking at the Lee Classic Turret Press.
Thoughts? Recommendations?

[NSB]

If you can swing it, look at the Redding turret press. I’ve owned a dozen different presses in my life (including two Dillons) and have had as many as three on my bench at one time. I’m now down to just the Redding. It does everything I need it to do. It’s plenty fast for loading, and now that I’m not shooting CF competition anymore it loads everything I need with ease. The quality and service are outstanding.

[ukrifleman]

I use a Lee Classic turret press to load 14 calibres and can highly recommend it.

Once the dies are set up in the turret, it takes only seconds to swap calibres.

For pistol calibres, I use a Lee auto disk powder measure mounted onto the turret with the indexing rod installed, (this moves the turret on to the next die when you move the handle)

I can crank out 150+ 45 Colt rounds an hour with this set-up.
ukrifleman

[omgb]

Buy the Redding T7 and don't look back. I have two. I've had lots of other presses too. The T7 does it all and produces perfect ammo. You may decide not to buy the slide primer. I have mixed feelings about it. The dang thing gets in the way. There is a Teflon bushing kit available for $20 that really makes that turret glide like butter.

[kentfielddude]

+1 for the lee classic turret. It works well. Only annoying thing is the indexing rod uses a square piece of plastic to engage the grooves o the indexing rod which I find I have to replace every 1500 rounds or so.

[openbook]

I'm a fan of the Lee Classic Turret. It's solidly built, easy to set up and enjoyable to use. Instead of screwing each die in, you pop all four dies in, already set in their turret, in about 15 seconds. I'm not familiar with Redding turret presses but I looked up the cost of a new T-7 turret and it's $100. Per turret. The Lee four-hole turrets are $13 right now.

This Youtuber reviews the Lee Classic Turret here. He's done a number of videos on it and has a lot of good things to say about it. This one is the most recent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJokIZ7nLxE

[NSB]

The Redding turret head holds 7 dies. That’s why it’s called the T7. Extra turret heads allow another seven dies to be ready at a moments notice and take about 2-3 minutes to change. The biggest advantage Lee ever had against anything else is that they’re cheap….in both cost and quality. Yes, they work but you get what you pay for.

[Sam Sackett]

The Redding turret head holds 7 dies. That’s why it’s called the T7. Extra turret heads allow another seven dies to be ready at a moments notice and take about 2-3 minutes to change. The biggest advantage Lee ever had against anything else is that they’re cheap….in both cost and quality. Yes, they work but you get what you pay for.

I beg to differ. The Lee Classic Turret press is one of the Best Buy’s in todays market. I have one and it’s very solid and dependable. The cost is $200 or less. Extra turrets are around $15. They are all the average reloader needs. If you need speed or supreme accuracy, you need to spend a whole lot more. I shoot cowboy action. I also reload for many rifle and pistol calibers. I use a progressive press for my blasting ammo. I use the turret for most of my pistol ammo. I use a single stage for my high accuracy loads.

If I could only have one press, it would be the turret press. Use it with the auto advance, or remove the rod and either manually advance or single stage. It’s a very versatile piece of equipment. Don’t bash it unless you had used one and can say what you don’t like about it.

Sam Sackett

[porthos]

any thoughts on a old texan turret press?

[Streetwalker]

I have a Redding T7 turret press that I received as a Christmas present. Best Christmas present I ever got! Built like a tank, seven die positions, easy to use and maintain..what's not to like?

[almar]

+1 on the t7. I should have bought one a long time ago. It's a great press and a joy to use. I was contemplating the lyman, the t7 and the area 419. The 419 is top of the line but too expensive, the lyman had some complaints and is pretty new still. The t7 is time tested and good quality so I chose that one.

[DougGuy]

I was wanting one of the Lee original turret presses without the auto index. Have looked at a few of them go for around $75 which is just WAY too much.

So now I go to fleabay just to look, and here is this rusted POC non-indexing Lee press, for $130. That's not a deal that is an INSULT.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Really happy with my Lee Turret. Load around 12 calibers and enjoy trying different loads, so I am always swapping out turrets. Around 200 pistol rounds per hour without too much trouble once I get the autodrum adjusted which only takes a couple minutes. I place the primers by hand because the primer feed mechanism looked cumbersome to me. Ironically, I rarely drop small primers, but manage to drop one or two out of a hundred large primers. They seem to stick to my finger for some reason. Still on my original ratchet after probably 10-15,000 rounds. I’ve got some spares. Maybe that is why it hasn’t failed? Early on someone mentioned not getting any oil on it as it would soften and wear out faster. Some folks are probably easier with the handle than others as well.

Also have a RCBS Jr that I put the kids on occasionally to size boolits and what not. The Lee has quite a bit more leverage.

[ulav8r]

Who makes a 7 die set, or a six die set? Are there maybe 5 die set forming dies? I have heard of 4 die sets.

[deces]

I was wanting one of the Lee original turret presses without the auto index. Have looked at a few of them go for around $75 which is just WAY too much.

So now I go to fleabay just to look, and here is this rusted POC non-indexing Lee press, for $130. That's not a deal that is an INSULT.

In recent years Lee presses are hot sellers.

[omgb]

I load my T7 as follows: size/decapping, powder/expander, bullet feeder, seating die, crimping die. I need two open holes to get clearance for the powder measure and the bullet feeder. That’s for pistol. For .348 Win I set it up this way: size/decapping, powder drop, belling die, bullet seater, crimp die. I leave an open station on either side of the powder drop. I insert a case and rotate the turret head all the way through.

For 45-90 I decap powder off the press, compress the powder on the press, add a wad, bell the case, seat a bullet

I use the on press primer occasionally. I’ve had a Lee. I broke too many plastic parts. I had two LNLs but spent way too much time tweaking them. I still have a Rockchucker. It’s great for detail work but it is too shallow for 45-90 and too slow for volume pistol. The T7 is just a lot better.


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[trails4u]

I'd say 90% of what I load is on a Lee Turret... It's fast and accurate for pistol and rifle plinking, but I can also run it pseudo single stage and crank out sub-moa stuff without much fuss. It would be my only press if I could have only one'

[jetinteriorguy]

The Lee Classic cast turret is the one press I will never get rid of. It’s perfectly capable of producing MOA or better ammunition in every caliber I have.

[460S&W]

I’m going to throw another in the ring for the Lee Classic turret, great press for the money if you don’t want to go progressive.

[Dancing Bear]

Thanks all for your input. Going to go with the Lee Classic. Can't justify spending a ton of money at this point and it seems like it'll fit my needs just fine. Not really sure how I'll set it up since my current process is:
1. Universal die deprime
2. Wet tumble
3. Prime using Lee Auto Bench Primer
4. Either set aside for later or proceed to loading.

On video's I see reloaders deprime then size and prime as the next step. Don't they have primer pocket crud issues? I always cleaned after depriming even when I dry vibed.