SHOOTALL: "Quality is not so nebulous as it is worth for investment ,some value this more than others it seems ."
You're right of course, 'quality' of itself isn't so nebulous. But where and for what purposes different people find an effective difference in quality IS nebulous and that's what I meant. I mean, some folk happily drive Fords but a few others demand a Rolls Royce; no one would question the very high quality of a Rolls but Ford drivers would reasonably ask what benefit all the extra money actually buys! And I mean real benefit here, not just high cost snob appeal. (I would argue that the best "feel" of presses [or women?] is NOT a hard fact, it's highly personal and therefore quite nebulous but you seem to suggest it's quantifiable!)
I listed several presses and commented on each, by type. So far, in spite of your expansive and pointed elitist comments, I don't see any such info from you so you have been quite neblous yourself. Surely with your vast hard won experience you can easily tell us what brand of press is (and is not?) of sufficent quality for normal functions, ie., who makes a great press and who puts out "junk"? And, passed brand, perhaps you will take the time to tell us all what is required for a press to be 'quality' and in what specific ways you find quality in a measurable way that puts one above of all others of its class ... and maybe the average effective improvement to target accuracy or gaged concentricity you base your certainty on??
Just for the record, I started reloading in early '65. I still own five presses from three makers and have owned or used at least a dozen others. I've found no measureable difference in the average 'quality' of the ammo that can be made on any brand of press IF I do my part skillfully. Come to think of it, IF I don't do my part, no press is going to change the result, is it?
For dies, I still own some 50+ die sets in 32 calibers made by some 12-14 brands and have tested the results of at least another dozen borrowed dies. On average, I've found as much measurable difference in results between individual dies of the same brand as between brands. Thus, discounting "feel", I find all die brands are pretty much tied for third place after the Reddings and Fosters tie for first place; Lee's Collet is tops for neck dies but they're not nearly as purty as others. And I can prove all that "quality" with both targets AND on a concentricity gage, not by my
nebulous finger feeling!
And, once again, your "free parts" were not free. They never have been, they never will be, they can't possibly be. They were fully paid for at original purchase and if you never get any such 'freebies' the money happily stays in the company's profits.
After a rational warranty period, Lee
sometimes chages what the broken parts cost but, at least from what I read, not always. Anyway, that is as much as a reasonable person should expect.
In my meager bit of reloading experience I've only had to get replacements for two FL die's bent decapping rods (my fault), a few decap pins (my fault) and one shell holder retaining spring (not my fault). They were all "free" but I would gladly have paid for them if the purchase price had been adjusted down as Lee does; the total savings over-all would have been significant.
Enough, we've wandered far afield from the question of turret vs. single stage.
