I am considering a change from my Hornady single-satge press. Nothing wrong with the Hornady, it's still going strong after 25 years, but I would like to speed up the process somewhat. I get tired of weighing every rifle charge, and continually screwing dies in and out for each operation.

I am looking at turret presses, and the Redding T7 and the Lee Clssic 4-holer seem to come out on top.
I like the powder measure feature of the Lee, as well as the easily swapped calibers.

YouTube "experts" seem to like the Lee, with only minor complaints. Realizing my reloading will most likely be ~500 rounds 357 Maggie and 100 257 Roberts per year, I think possibly it may be my best bang for the buck.

Opinions, please.
Thanx;
Carl

It is a Fine and Pleasant Madness

Hornady LNL progressive; nothing else comes close to performance and quality. Others, like Dillon, and Lee, have followers, but the Hornady is the best. I do not work for Hornady.
BUT; if your loading needs are as limited as you say, you don't need a progressive press. Get a powder measure; you don't need to weigh each charge either.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Hornady LNL progressive; nothing else comes close to performance and quality. Others, like Dillon, and Lee, have followers, but the Hornady is the best.

Agree.....I have the "Top of the line" Lee Loadmaster and wish I would have went with the L&L

Thanks for the suggestions, but I hope others with experience with the two particular systems I mentioned won't fail to respond just because two experienced forum members have had positive experiences with one product, which is actually not on my short list.
I am going to change my press, and given my current and future level of reloading, (satisfactory to me) the fewer $$ I need to spend to do it, and still have a reliable and accurate set-up, That's where I would like to go.

Be well

Then get the Lee.

My good friend and co-worker has the classic Turret and I must say I like it however it is slow

4 pulls of the handle and a primmer insertion on the downstroke after sizing

There is a pladtic wear part on the Classic Turret that wears out or just plain old is the weak link

When you order replacement bushings get several as they are cheaper than the shipping

Remember... the Redding is a manual turret and the Lee auto indexes

Both will require 400 pulls of the handle per 100 rounds loaded

By all means get a progressive press if you want to turn out ammunition of just a bit less quality than that of factory ammunition.

But if you want to build precision handloads, stick with your single-stage press. If you were shooting tens of thousands of rounds of handgun per year that would be one thing, but with your volume of loading you'll spend more time setting up a progressive press than using it.

By the way, the Redding turret press is an outstanding piece of machinery, but it was NEVER meant to be used as a "progressive". It was meant, as are all manually indexed turret presses, to be used one stage at a time. Its advantage is in being able to hold two or three calibers set up and ready at one time. If you only load two calibers then you would never need to move your dies.

Forster Co-Ax isn't progressive but slip dies in and out, very easy.

That and something like an RCBS Chargemaster will speed the process up quite a bit.

Cheers,

Chris

Like Ted said, the Lee Classic turret is a bit slow- I like it, anyway, and use it with interchangeable turrets for (4) different Pistol calibers and (4) Rifle calibers. I weigh the Rifle loads, but use the Auto-disc measure for the Pistol loads.

I'm not loading high volume, but I can be fairly certain my handgun loads are as good as factory, and the performance I get from my rifle loads is better than factory.

Seems to me it all boils down to versatility vs. volume vs. money. If I wanted a progressive, and could afford it, I'd go with the Hornady L-N-L. For me, the Lee Turret gives me quality, safety and low cost. But---I'm not in a big hurry and speak only for myself.

I have been using the T7 for several years now. I still have my single stage, but I have gotten several turrets and mounted all the currently used cartridges on them. It is so nice to just grab and go. I very highly recommend that press.
Doug

quote:

Originally posted by Rockdoc:
something like an RCBS Chargemaster will speed the process up quite a bit.

Cheers,

Chris

The didgital powder throws are nice.....I have the Hornady L&L

But! Not fast....

I have two Lyman manual powder throws dedicated to high volume loading and these are fast....

Faster than my progressive dedicated to .223 ?

Not even close

I have weighed hundreds of charges thrown from the Lee and Lyman powder throws and I am always amazed by the accuracy.

Set up and used correctly all progressive presses will build consistant ammo equal to any factory ammo

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
By all means get a progressive press if you want to turn out ammunition of just a bit less quality than that of factory ammunition.

quote:

Originally posted by Rockdoc:
Forster Co-Ax isn't progressive but slip dies in and out, very easy.

That and something like an RCBS Chargemaster will speed the process up quite a bit.

Yep, they do.

Great setup tanks.

What is the mount the Co-Ax attached to?

Cheers,

Chris

I don't see how anyone can load good ammo on a bench that clean and neat. I have to have everything piled on top of it before I can think clearly.

quote:

Picture of dpcd

posted 03 January 2015 21:20 Hide Post
I don't see how anyone can load good ammo on a bench that clean and neat. I have to have everything piled on top of it before I can think clearly.

oh yea = me2 - when wa sthe last time you saw your benchtop? i think it's been about 30years ago for me

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
I don't see how anyone can load good ammo on a bench that clean and neat. I have to have everything piled on top of it before I can think clearly.

Now, that's funny!

Yeah- way too much open space on that bench.

I load my pistol ammunition on a Dillion 550 B progressive, but if you are only going to be shooting and loading 500 rounds a year, a progressive is too expensive and complicated for just 500 rounds.

I do all my rifle sizing on a Redding T-7 and it is a heavy, well made press. I don't see much of a speed advantage to a T-7 or any of the "turret" presses compared to a single stage press. It is not until you get into the progressives that time per round goes down significantly.



But if it really bothers you, you can leave the sizing die, the seating die, and the powder die on top of a turret press and you don’t have to unscrew them till you are done. I always hated switching out dies on a single stage, inevitably you find a case that did not get sized, or belled, out of the batch.

I really liked my Lyman T Mag. The only real complaint, and why I am not using it now, is the primer cup. Darn primers bounce out of the cup on to the floor. For the T-7 the primers go down the ram, through a tube, and into a plastic bottle.

I still use my single stage RC for sizing and swaging and I use a T-Mag for the rest of the operation. I have a Lee auto-prime II that has become a permanent fixture of the T-Mag and it is great for priming. Better than a hand primer.

I have managed to somewhat streamline and simplify my process with that system. But it wouldnt compare to the output of a progressive. On the other hand a progressive doesnt really make sense to me because of the need to inspect, clean and trim cases between resizing and reloading operations.

If I were to try to improve my current setup for less hassle and greater efficiency I would go with a chargemaster dispenser for sure.

The T-Mag isnt the brick S%^thouse that the Redding T-7 is, but it is a very solid press for less $. I like mine very much.

there is nothing that the chargemaster will do than cannot be done faster with a scale and measure

It can weigh out a charge without ME while I am seating bullets. My PM and scale cannot.

quote:

Originally posted by C.C.:

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
I don't see how anyone can load good ammo on a bench that clean and neat. I have to have everything piled on top of it before I can think clearly.

Now, that's funny!

It is indeed . . . and it's a great relief to me because in my case, it's also true.

I have a Dillon for 45 Colts and 500 S&W, and a T-7 for everything else. I like being able to have multiple set-ups for shooting sessions.

quote:

Originally posted by Wstrnhuntr:
It can weigh out a charge without ME while I am seating bullets. My PM and scale cannot.

Yeah. From having read reviews, I came to the same conclusion and have one on order.

Something more to clutter my bench with . . .

I load between 1500-2000 rounds per year using a single stage press and a Lyman 55 powder measure for the pistol rounds. Been loading for 30+ years this way. It's my wintertime hobby. I load in batches of 100 rounds. At your volume of 600 rounds per year, you're only doing 50 rounds per month. It would be hard to justify upgrading in my mind.

quote:

Originally posted by C.C.:
I am considering a change from my Hornady single-satge press. Nothing wrong with the Hornady, it's still going strong after 25 years, but I would like to speed up the process somewhat. I get tired of weighing every rifle charge, and continually screwing dies in and out for each operation.

I am looking at turret presses, and the Redding T7 and the Lee Clssic 4-holer seem to come out on top.
I like the powder measure feature of the Lee, as well as the easily swapped calibers.

YouTube "experts" seem to like the Lee, with only minor complaints. Realizing my reloading will most likely be ~500 rounds 357 Maggie and 100 257 Roberts per year, I think possibly it may be my best bang for the buck.

Opinions, please.
Thanx;
Carl

It is a Fine and Pleasant Madness

Carl, I load at least as much as five times than you do over the course of the year and never seen a need to go to a progressive press.
Ditched my Rockchucker about 6 years ago and went to the Forster Co-Ax and added the short handle to it and the press is much faster to use. Dies slide in and out and no need to even change shell holders. Last year added the Redding powder measures, one for rifle and one for handguns. They are so accurate that once dialed in they drop within 1/10th of a grain and no charges have to be measured. I can charge a loading block of 50 in about 2 minutes. Keep a record book of what setting to use for each powder and charge and can have either measure dialed in to repeat within 3-4 throws of the arm.
The only time I don't use the Co-Ax is when loading the really long cases for my double rifles or the 375 Ruger, as this case takes a lot of effort to resize.

I can't imagine going back to a single stage after having a Lee Classic Turret press. I just use mine as a manually index press though...but...the turret rings are cheap and I have a bunch and keep most of my commonly used dies loaded in one and ready to use.

I often read about one powder or the other not metering in a this or that powder measure. I use an old caveman relic Belding & Mull measure and it meters anything you put in it. Slow, but accurate---what do you want in reloading, speed or accuracy? I use an old Rockchucker and find that the numerous times I handle the brass, I'll find stuff I wouldn't have found if I was just running them through. For no more production per year that was mentioned, I can't see the need to upgrade.

I have been using a Redding T7 turret for a year now after 20 years of reloading on a RCBS Rock Chucker. It allows me to get done faster than I used to on the single stage machine - but not as fast as a progressive as I have observed. Not needing the sheer volume of a progressive, I didn't care for their price and complexity.

Using the T7 also allows me to to keep 2 or three calibers on each turret depending on what they are, and can swap them out quickly. Downside - I had to invest in three more turrets to support my calibers. Still cheaper than all of the additional gear for a prog when I did the math. But those were just my needs, progressives are great for those that need more rounds put out than I do.

I still use my RCBS Uniflow powder measure - would recommend getting a quality measure.