going with the turret

[corbanzo]

So I have decided that with my loading needs and wants, I am going to go with a turret press. 

I will most likely be loading a couple hundred rounds a week or less, and like the turret idea to save time over the single stage.   So the type of press I am already set on.  The brand is what comes next.

I have some money to spend, but still don't want to spend lots of it. 

I'm not shooting competitively, I dont care about getting sub-moa groups.  As long as she will load good enough to kill a bear at 300 yards, I'm happy.

I was looking at the lee classic turret press kit on cabelas, looked like a good deal to me. 

[quickdtoo]

I've been using the Lee Classic Turret press for several months now, great press, although I only use it as a single stage press, I got tired of resetting my dies each time I switched cartridges, having the dies all adjusted in a turret ready to go is the cat's meow to me!! Best price I've found lately on extra turrets is at Midsouth at $9 each, Cabelas used to sell em for $7, but no more, wish I'd have bought more when I started out!

Tim

http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews2006/leeturretpress/index.asp

http://www.realguns.com/archives/122.htm

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductreview.exe/GetReviews?productid=814175

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0000690269

[Val]

I have an RCBS turret press. It is a very solid press and yields me sub moa groups on all my hunting loads.

[ihuntbucks]

I have the Lyman T-Mag and T-Mag II.Both work with no problems whatsoever.I load several hundred rounds a week.Think you would be happy with the Lee.Turrets for Lyman T-Mag II are about $40 each.I have 5.Problem is new ones fit both presses but the old T-Mag one,s won't fit the new press.Lyman in their wisdom  made the bolt larger in diameter on the new model.Guess so they could sell more turrets.........Rick

[Will_C]

Do yourself a favor and take a good look at the Redding T-7. I have had mine for over a year now, and I am very happy with it. I have one turret set up with three sets of rifle dies, and another with .357/.38 dies, a decapping die, and a crimp die.
Will

[wncchester]

My first press was a Lyman turret, bought for the same reasons you state but it's been off my bench for years; the turret was an illusion without value to me.   I use an RCBS RC II instead.

BUT, if I were to replace my two good presses today it would be with the Lee Classic Cast (iron) types, single stage or turret.  They are at least as strong as my RC II, their spent primer catchers work better and they cost much less.  What more can such a simple device be expected to do?

[Questor]

200 rounds a week can get pretty tedious on anything but a progressive press, but if you've got the time to dedicate to it, and 200 is a real maximum, then it ought to work out OK. My threshold was that I got sick of loading with a single stage press at 100 rounds per week. I then switched to a progressive and started making batches of 500 in one evening every month or two.

[longwinters]

I have the RCBS turret and have really like it.  But if I did it again I would probably go with the Redding.  The turret is 7 hole, instead of 6, so you can have 3 rifle calibers on it plus the Hornady camlok bullet puller.

Long

[jgalar]

I have the old 4 hole Lee turret press. The things I don't like about it are the deprimer will drop used primers on the floor, auto indexing will not work with rifle cases and there isn't much room when loading rifle cases with the auto indexing removed. The new Lee press you are looking at corrects all these problems plus has a better priming system. Loading a couple hundred rounds would not take long at all with the new auto priming system added and a powder measure attached.

There isn't any problem with accuracy with the Lee or any other turret press. All turret presses will have some movement since they are not a solid press. You just have to adjust your dies for the movement. No big deal.

[tony212]

I have a RCBS turret press with 3 heads and am very pleased with it. No problems at all.
Tony212

[PaulS]

Of all the turret presses out there, note that I like RCBS products, the Lyman is your best choice for the dollar. It is a solid press, as solid as anything RCBS makes and I like the design much more. The RCBS press always looked like an after thought to me. The Lyman has evolved over a period of many years. They simply make the best turret press on the market and don't charge as much as they could for it.

[Jim n Iowa]

I have the Lee 4 hole that I use for pistol cal, the extra turrets are inexpensive. For the long guns I went for the Redding T-7 with a extra turret. I think this the top of the line in turret press's. I have a RCBS rockchucker that I now use to decap. I would recommend the RCBS or step up for 20+$ to the Redding.
Jim

[T.J. McSuds]

  I suggest the Dillon AT500. It is a good solid turret press that can be upgraded, piece by piece to a progressive. I really like mine.

[Savage]

I use a progressive for my high volume pistol rounds. I load for about half a dozen other pistol rounds that I shoot very little. For those I have one of the old Lee 4 hole turret presses. The primer catcher is the only thing I don't like. I hand prime the cases I load on that press and have a powder measure installed to charge the cases. It loads a couple hundred rounds in a little over an hour without too much trouble. I would recommend a turret press to a novice or an experienced reloader. They just make life so much easier! I have used the Redding and Lyman turrets, both are quality presses. For my money the Lee does the job, and costs a bit less in the process.
Savage

[Evil Dog]

Perhaps I am missing something here.  In my mind the only advantage to using a turret press is that it is not necessary to physically change the die between operations.  Instead of unscrewing one die and screwing in another, you just index the turret to the proper position.  It is still however a single stage press... you are only doing one operation with each handle stroke.  Presuming dies with set screw fixed locking rings, the only time saved is the less than a minute required to change the die.  To actually increase the production rate would require a progressive reloader which is an entirely different animal.  I've used both a Dillon 650 and a Dillon Square Deal but never really needed the increased production rate.  I fire mostly 38 Special, maybe 500 rounds a month at the most.  Easy enough to keep up with using my old Pacific 0 press.  Do spend a good bit of time casting, sizing and lubing bullets though.

[Dand]

I'd encourage you to look at the new Lee Cast turret.

I have been using a Lyman turret for a number of years now. It was an improvement over a single stage press.  I use it in what I call a "semi-progressive" mode.  I size and decap, hand prime in separate operations.  Then expand, charge, seat and crimp each round in one session - keeping a single round in the shell holder, I rotate the turret head to do the separate operations.  I have a Lee Proauto disk powder measure and Lee dies that expand the case and trigger the powder dispenser.  I  have to keep a good rhythm or I get messed up.  I had one load the other day where I didn't charge it - first time ever in many years.  Firing the primer really jammed up my revolver until I could find a rod to tap the bullet back into the case. I've never done a double charge - usually use loads that make that mistake impossible - poweder would flow all over.

But I now have 5 turrets and I'm switching them frequently.  This is tedious. And I wonder how well the turret hole is hardened and designed to take all that rotation and switching.

The Lee Cast Turret is designed to auto rotate.  And there are a LOT of good reviews for it on the Midway site.  I've been thinking more and more about getting it. Less likely for me to mess up and probably faster loading. Much easier to change turrets, and the turrets are far cheaper.  Wish I had a big enough bench to have the Lyman Turret and Lee Cast Turret.  Oh and the Lee handles spent primers better - on my Lyman they miss or bounce out of the catcher too often. 

I just don't load enough to go for a true progressive though I have pondered the Dillon Square deal.
The Dillon turret came out the week after I ordered the Lyman.  But I figured by the time I built a 550B piece by piece out of the AT, it would have been cheaper to just buy a 550B.

If I start loading bigger batches I'd be getting the Lee for sure.

HTH