Turret Press?

[00Scot]

I have never used a turret press before so I am curious about something. Are they a good choice for basic reloading? When I was reloading on regualr basis I used to use a RCBS Rockchucker for the majority of the reloading steps with a tiny little old used Lee set up on the side for misc. Operations that were not part of the step that I was on with the rockchucker.

I liked being set up for more then a single operation at a time so I like the idea of a turret press.

So what I am wondering is if any of the usual turret presses are any good. Such as the lyman tmag, hornady LNL or the Redding and RCBS offerings. I'm only loading for hunting and not for competition. Is there any reason not to use a turret pres for the loading I will be doing?

I will be loading 308, 22-250, 223, 243, 243AI, 260AI and maybe sometime in the future 9mm and 45, 357. But I will never be loading enough pistol ammo to warrant the dillon presses. 99.9% of my loading will be rifle calibers for hunting and maybe 308 for target and hunting.

If I bet into a Turret press I would most likely look for a used one or one of the less expensive ones. Unless there was a real important reason to get one of the more expensive ones to start with. If I was loading for comp shooting then I would buy the best. But since I will be loading for hunting only I don't see a reason to pay the premium price.

Which of the above mentioned turret presses would you recommend and which ones should I stay away from?

 

[fishbone]

Years ago I shot 2 different cartridges in IMHSA. The Redding turret saw both sets of dies mounted and adjusted.
This saved a ton of setup time and made loading a lot easier. It was a good press.

 

[bozo699]

I have owned and operated several of them and by far like the Redding T-7 the best. The Lyman T-Mag looks like a pretty good press, however after using a Forster coax press I think I may box my T-7 up and bolt the coax down, have you checked into one of them, after you have the dies set and locked down it is just a matter of sliding one die out and sliding another one in, just as fast as a turret press and no conventional shell holders to monkey around with.
Wayne.

 

[Geronimo Jim]

I have owned and operated several of them and by far like the Redding T-7 the best. The Lyman T-Mag looks like a pretty good press, however after using a Forster coax press I think I may box my T-7 up and bolt the coax down, have you checked into one of them, after you have the dies set and locked down it is just a matter of sliding one die out and sliding another one in, just as fast as a turret press and no conventional shell holders to monkey around with.
Wayne.

I agree with Bozo. As a matter of fact, the only drawback is changing between the large and small shellholders. However, there is a simple solution.

 

[bozo699]

I have owned and operated several of them and by far like the Redding T-7 the best. The Lyman T-Mag looks like a pretty good press, however after using a Forster coax press I think I may box my T-7 up and bolt the coax down, have you checked into one of them, after you have the dies set and locked down it is just a matter of sliding one die out and sliding another one in, just as fast as a turret press and no conventional shell holders to monkey around with.
Wayne.

I agree with Bozo. As a matter of fact, the only drawback is changing between the large and small shellholders. However, there is a simple solution.

Jim,
I like it Nice setup, same concept as I use with hand priming tools, find one you like, then buy a dozen of them so you have one dedicated to every type of primer you use. I am calling Forster as we speak to clone my bench after yours
Wayne.
Wayne.

 

[00Scot]

I have owned and operated several of them and by far like the Redding T-7 the best. The Lyman T-Mag looks like a pretty good press, however after using a Forster coax press I think I may box my T-7 up and bolt the coax down, have you checked into one of them, after you have the dies set and locked down it is just a matter of sliding one die out and sliding another one in, just as fast as a turret press and no conventional shell holders to monkey around with.
Wayne.

I originally wanted the Coax when I first started reloading. But being in my early 20's and broke fate stepped in. I was leaving the reloading center and had someone come up to me who saw me looking at the presses inside. He followed me out and asked me what I was looking for and he then offered me the RC supreme set up for an amazing deal. So I took it. Couldn't pass up that great of a deal. It saved me many hundreds of dollars because it came with everything I needed to start reloading that day.

I always remembered seeing the Military long range armorers using the Coax to load up the teams long range comp loads. So I figured if it was good enough for them it was more then good enough for me. I believe I saw a special on the long range team and that they are still using the same presses to load the same comp ammo used by the military shooters for all their matches.

 

[00Scot]

I mainly like the idea of having a Turret set up for each round I load and being able to store every single die for each caliber as one unit already preset and ready to go. That way I can do any part of the operation from start to finish without having to do anything except move the turret.

My concern is that the turret press may not line up perfectly 100% of the time which could cause inaccuracy due to inconsistencies. I just don't know if that is a valid concern or not. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

 

[bozo699]

My T-7 turret press lines up perfectly however there are trade offs with whatever way we go, with the turret press to make it loose enough to rotate the turret without a pipe wrench they had to give it some clearance, to do that they used a bushing and a shoulder bolt, if you setup a dial indicator on the press you will find the turret moves some when you cycle the press, mine has about .003-.005 slop in it, what I mean is as you run the ram up and the bullet starts to seat or you start to resize a case there will be some deflection in the turret, like I said mine moves about .003 or so, does it cause me any problems? don't know I am still out on it but am well aware of the potential problems that can occur.
Wayne.

 

[dig]

I have a Lyman and T7. The Lyman T-Mag is great for the smaller stuff .308 size the T7 or Forster is far better for the big stuff 300 wby etc. . . I believe the tiny bit of movement produces better loads, much like using a rubber "o" ring to aid in alignment when seating. If money is not an object go with the T7 the extra hole is nice!

 

[LRCampos]

.

I have a Redding T7 (one of the firsts made) for more than 10 years now and I absolutely love it!

It produces more straight rounds than my RCBS Rock Chuker.

the Redding T7 is solid and dependable.

 

[00Scot]

I do like the Redding. But if one of the turret press options is going to load more consistant and accurate rounds then that is the one I will go with. regardless of cost.

 

[bozo699]

Well if cost isn't a option then I would find a very good R&D machinist and have him build me one to have less then .0000000001 movement in the it's full vertical stroke and have less then.0000000002 of slop in the turret itself, yet rotate like on ice that will cost you about $11000 or you can buy a T-7 for around $250-$300 I can't remember exactly how much I payed and get very concentric ammo, choice is yours.
Wayne.

 

[dennisinaz]

I have owned and operated several of them and by far like the Redding T-7 the best. The Lyman T-Mag looks like a pretty good press, however after using a Forster coax press I think I may box my T-7 up and bolt the coax down, have you checked into one of them, after you have the dies set and locked down it is just a matter of sliding one die out and sliding another one in, just as fast as a turret press and no conventional shell holders to monkey around with.
Wayne.

There is no way a Forster press, however good they are, is as fast as my 7 station Redding turret press. I switched to it this year and it is the best reloading upgrade I have ever made.

I use 3 dies for some cartridges and load 2 calibers concurrently. I have all the dies on there and I just rotate it and go. I can switch from a body die to a neck die and never miss a beat. I can't find the downside.

The only 2limitations is that I can't rotate it with the K&M expander die in it- the mandrel hangs down too far and hits the casting and I can't use a Forster bullet puller in it with other dies in place as the tightening rod will hit the other dies.

I may set up a second press with a quick removal feature for doing these chores.

 

[BoydAllen]

About the only time I use my Rockchucker these days, is for helping someone work up a load, at the range, for a hunting caliber that is a little too big for my benchrest presses. When I do this, I dislike losing die settings when alternating their use, loading very small test batches. To solve this problem, I have converted the press over to the Lock-n-Load system, which should allow me to rapidly change dies, while preserving their settings (as long as the same shell holder is used).

 

[bozo699]

I have owned and operated several of them and by far like the Redding T-7 the best. The Lyman T-Mag looks like a pretty good press, however after using a Forster coax press I think I may box my T-7 up and bolt the coax down, have you checked into one of them, after you have the dies set and locked down it is just a matter of sliding one die out and sliding another one in, just as fast as a turret press and no conventional shell holders to monkey around with.
Wayne.

There is no way a Forster press, however good they are, is as fast as my 7 station Redding turret press. I switched to it this year and it is the best reloading upgrade I have ever made.

I use 3 dies for some cartridges and load 2 calibers concurrently. I have all the dies on there and I just rotate it and go. I can switch from a body die to a neck die and never miss a beat. I can't find the downside.

The only 2limitations is that I can't rotate it with the K&M expander die in it- the mandrel hangs down too far and hits the casting and I can't use a Forster bullet puller in it with other dies in place as the tightening rod will hit the other dies.

I may set up a second press with a quick removal feature for doing these chores.

Dennis,
I like my T-7 just fine and I am not getting rid of it and I like it for the same reasons as you like yours, I can do multiple chores with just a spin of the turret, but if you haven't used the Forster press or haven't been around one then how can you say they couldn't possibly be as fast as your T-7? Rotate the the turret on the T-7 and your there, I grant you that, but the Forster you just slide the dies in and out as fast as it takes to grab the top of the die and pull and slide another in place, and I guarantee if you have 50 dies set up for the Forster and just happen to want to use all 50 of them one after the other then the Forster will be faster as you would have to either change turrets or start threadding dies in and out, wayyyyy slower then the Forster then! You won't get a argument out of me either way as I like both of them and believe there both excellent presses, I guess were all entitled to our opinions.
Wayne.

 

[00Scot]

Damn it!!! Now you all got me excited about the Forester again. I still wish I would have bought it as my first press like I wanted to do. Tooo bad I was broke as could be and had to jump on the deal I found for the Rockchucker.

I suppose I could leave one die set up in the Rockchucker that I use allll the time and then use the Forester for pretty much everything else. I suppose that would not be that bad. Hell I had three presses set up on my last reloading bench at all times. The RCBS for my main reloading, a small Lee for little chores where I wasn't worried about accuracy, and my MEC for shotguns.

So someone please explain how the Forester works again for me? How exactly is the die held in the Co-Ax press? Does it screw in? Snap in? slide in? I don't remember. It has been many many years since I looked into one. I remember something about not needing shell holders. Is that correct?

 

[nosualc]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM3I6CRMYcM

look at 1:00, and 1:28 into the video.

-nosualc

 

[dennisinaz]

I have owned and operated several of them and by far like the Redding T-7 the best. The Lyman T-Mag looks like a pretty good press, however after using a Forster coax press I think I may box my T-7 up and bolt the coax down, have you checked into one of them, after you have the dies set and locked down it is just a matter of sliding one die out and sliding another one in, just as fast as a turret press and no conventional shell holders to monkey around with.
Wayne.

There is no way a Forster press, however good they are, is as fast as my 7 station Redding turret press. I switched to it this year and it is the best reloading upgrade I have ever made.

I use 3 dies for some cartridges and load 2 calibers concurrently. I have all the dies on there and I just rotate it and go. I can switch from a body die to a neck die and never miss a beat. I can't find the downside.

The only 2limitations is that I can't rotate it with the K&M expander die in it- the mandrel hangs down too far and hits the casting and I can't use a Forster bullet puller in it with other dies in place as the tightening rod will hit the other dies.

I may set up a second press with a quick removal feature for doing these chores.

Dennis,
I like my T-7 just fine and I am not getting rid of it and I like it for the same reasons as you like yours, I can do multiple chores with just a spin of the turret, but if you haven't used the Forster press or haven't been around one then how can you say they couldn't possibly be as fast as your T-7? Rotate the the turret on the T-7 and your there, I grant you that, but the Forster you just slide the dies in and out as fast as it takes to grab the top of the die and pull and slide another in place, and I guarantee if you have 50 dies set up for the Forster and just happen to want to use all 50 of them one after the other then the Forster will be faster as you would have to either change turrets or start threadding dies in and out, wayyyyy slower then the Forster then! You won't get a argument out of me either way as I like both of them and believe there both excellent presses, I guess were all entitled to our opinions.
Wayne.

I am not saying that the Forster isn't fast, it just isn't as fast as simply rotating the turret a notch. You have to take a die out, put it down, pick a die up and put it in. Not the same.

I had this same argument with the rangemaster at our PD range one year. He was advocating for the Remington 870. He said it was just as fast as the semi-auto. I told him to put his money where his mouth was. I went and got an 11-87 out of the car and grabbed a box of slugs. He got the 870 and a box of slugs. First one to put 5 rounds on the target (50 dys) won. The semi auto won by a good margin.

Just because something is fast, doesn't mean that something else isn't faster. I haven't used a Forster press in over 15 years. I would love to have one but I can never give up my turret press. It's like a CNC machine with a revolving toolhead so you don't have to do anything other than spool to the next tool.

There isn't a single stage press that can hold a candle to the Forster press, that I will agree on!

 

[bozo699]

Dennis,
A few seconds isn't worth arguing over to me, I am a hug fan of the T-7 I have two of them screwed to my bench along with a, RCBS partner, Junior, Two Rockchuckers, two Lee hand presses and I use them all, and I am going to mount two Coax press as well. Happy shooting to you.
Wayne.

 

[noelfr]

Looking at your initial post I'm thinking that a simple Lee turret press would do everything you are looking to do both pistol and rifle. They are simple, inexpensive and quick to change turrets. I have used Dillons, Forsters and Lees. I sold my Dillons when I got out of high volume pistol loading. I basically use a single stage press now but still have my old lee turret hanging on the wall for higher production when I'm not concerned w/ teeny groups. One other thing is that the lee turret is capable of self indexing for semi-progressive loading.