Your thoughts on turret press

hitman2565

hitman2565

New member
I've recently acquired a pair of older Lyman turret presses, the grey ones with the red turret tops. Do any of you guys use these or have any thoughts on them? Since they are capable of holding 6 dies I was considering setting them up for the pistols I hunt with and leaving them setup. I'd be reloading for .357 Mag, .44 Mag, .41 Mag, 45 LC and some .454 Casul. I know there are better turret presses out there but I've been happy with the same style single stage press I have setup too so I thought these might work good. I appreciate your input.
 
I use a 4 Station turret press, works for me. As long as you can get whatever shell-plate you need for the various cases, should be fine.

Over the years I’ve acquired various shell plates for my press, even had to modify a slot or two for a larger case. The one that comes to mind is 8mm Label, for a French mil-surp my Son has. I switch around a fair bit, so no need to go fully ‘progressive’.
 
I've gone through a number of presses over the years(nearing 60). My goto press right now is a Lee cast classic turret. I have eight heads set up with dies and just have to drop in the one I want to work on, the dies are all adjusted so it is simple. I do have a large single stage press for case forming on the bench also.

I also have a small old Lyman Jr. turret(converted to 7/8-14) set up on the bench with a couple of Lee quick trim dies and my bullet puller in it.

They aren't quite as precise as a single stage, there is some spring to them but it isn't enough to make much difference to me, my ammo still shoots very accurately.

Even though I'm retired I have better things to do than sit and screw dies in and out and adjust them every time I want to load a different cartridge.
 
Started out with a Herter's single stage press, which after overhauling the priming system, was a great press and still deserves a place on my bench.

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When more ammo was needed than the old Herters was able to produce in a reasonable time frame, bought a new (at the time) Dillon 450 which has been upgraded to 550 and a few years later added a 2nd 450 which received the same treatment. I did not change the frames as the time required to screw two dies in/out is negligible (to me). One is set up for small primers and other for large primers. (Switching priming system back and forth between small/large primers is a bit time consuming.)

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Been reloading for 67 years but I must be missing something. Recently several very knowledgeable reloaders have mentioned the hassle of "adjusting dies" every time they set up for a different caliber. This is confusing to me, as, once I adjust a sizing die and lock the lock ring, I never adjust that die again unless moving it to a different press. Same with seating die (other than adjust the seating stem for different bullet weights). What am I missing?

Regards,
hm
 
Nothing wrong with those old set ups. They'll be loading ammo for your Grandson long after you're gone and never break stride.

I'm with HM I never have to adjust sizer dies much as I have separate dies for special rifles that just get screwed in and out as needed. I have two Dillon 300 presses that I have never adjusted in over 30 years and just adjust the seaters as needed. The only time they come out of the tool head is to clean all the lead/lube out of them. My other 300 vacillates between various and sundry rounds. My Dillon 550 and 650 have dedicated tool heads so to get them going assuming the same case head it's pull two pins slide on out and slide one in and re-hook the fail safe if I am using it.

I own two single stage presses. An old Texan and an RCBS Rock Chucker. They are both still in the box. My last single stage set up went away in 1979. I have two Lyman AA Turrets that fill that void and I use them for all my precision stuff unless I use my benchrest arbor press.

I spend about 4-6 hours per day here.

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Greg
 
Dang, Greg, I thought I'd been around a long time. You're showin' your age, now; I never even heard of the 300's.
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ETA: When did the 300's come out? I set up my first 450 sometime around 1983. They must have been pretty new then, as I had a few issues that Dillon worked real hard to iron out and were supportive every step of the way. Main problem was the powder measure and I have a whole box of different parts they sent but finally got it working great. I never weigh powder charges (other than to check consistency every 10 rounds or so), once they worked out a solution, and it didn't take them too long. They now measure stick powders (H4895 mostly) consistent enough for match shooting.

Regards,
Clarence

 
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Note the lava lamp. There should be a thread about this.

Everybody wastes time doing something. Some people think unscrewing dies is a waste of time. Some don't.

I could go on forever about examples on reloading techniques. I love my turret press. If one reloads for pistols it is nice too.

I know multiple folks that can spend a grand in the bar in one weekend.

Squabbling over a few hundred for a life time investment is silly to me.

My Rock Chucker is my decapping station. I have a custom made 3D printer gadget that catches ALL the primers.

If you have young kids, do not let them eat the primers off the floor.

My shop is external from the house and i keep my kids out!







UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_1270 by aklaunch, on Flickr
 
Originally Posted By: arlaunchIf you have young kids, do not let them eat the primers off the floor.

That would be bad! Not quite as serious, another bit of advice is be SURE you don't overlook a live primer dropped on the floor!

Many years ago, I managed to overlook one and the wife's vacuum cleaner beater bar managed to somehow pick it up and set it off in the vacuum. I have been responsible for the floor in my loading room ever since. Luckily, I always keep spilled powder cleaned up (and usually dropped primers, live or spent)or it could have been worse.
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Regards,
hm
 
Originally Posted By: hm1996Dang, Greg, I thought I'd been around a long time. You're showin' your age, now; I never even heard of the 300's.
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ETA: When did the 300's come out? I set up my first 450 sometime around 1983. They must have been pretty new then, as I had a few issues that Dillon worked real hard to iron out and were supportive every step of the way. Main problem was the powder measure and I have a whole box of different parts they sent but finally got it working great. I never weigh powder charges (other than to check consistency every 10 rounds or so), once they worked out a solution, and it didn't take them too long. They now measure stick powders (H4895 mostly) consistent enough for match shooting.

Regards,
Clarence



I got my first 300 in 1980, the second in 82 and the last in 85. They were actually made with many machined parts. I think it was about $300.00 but maybe a bit less. Somewhere between 900-1000 were produced and they lost about $100.00 on each one and that's why the 450 has a cast frame. The plates from a 550 can be used. It rotates the opposite of the 550. Powder and primer are manual feed but I swapped over to the newer self dropping measures from Dillon and run a Lee Auto Powder Measure on one. of them.

In 1980 I loaded 1000 rounds of PPC ammo a nigh and shot 1000 rounds the next day for 21 days straight. I won that State Match..LOL I have won literally a pick up bed of trophies with these and still rely on them for much of my competition stuff.

Ad a note o the lava lamp. It gives me ambiance when I load up 45 ACP on the 550 or 9MM. Old school lighting for old school cartridges. Also note that Garfield keeps watch on the general reloading room from his spot over on the little table too..LOL

I haven't loaded for 60 years as I just turned 69 this month. Here is the label on my FIRST box of ammo.

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Greg
 
I started competing as a civilian (after 21 year hiatus). Never forget the shock after registering for that first state match in 83 on the spur of the moment and realizing I had to come up with 292 rounds of ammo (plus a couple of alibi strings just in case) in three weeks and I didn't have a load or anything near that much brass. Scrounged up enough GI ball brass of mixed headstamp and loaded it all on the old Herters.

It must have been after 85 that I got the first Dillon as I didn't know about the 300's. My first 450 had manual powder & primer feed. In fact, I did not upgrade the primer to auto on either of mine as I primed match rifle by hand. The auto powder measure is a real improvement, though! Kinda felt like a one-man band w/those old hand powder & primer systems, didn't it?
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Originally Posted By: GLShooterIn 1980 I loaded 1000 rounds of PPC ammo a nigh and shot 1000 rounds the next day for 21 days straight. I won that State Match..

That may not be a record, but it's a darn good average!
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I was your age when I had to give up HP comp. due to arthritis in neck; got to where it wasn't any fun staying on the line prone for 22 minutes any longer. Was fun while it lasted, though.

Regards,
hm
 
It was a bunch of loading and shooting. The following year was 18,000 round and the next year after that was 15,000. That was in between the thousands I shot in IPSC. I won a few back in the day..lol

Greg
 
I really appreciate the input guys!!! I don't have a problem changing dies out and resetting. I thought it'd be nice to just have a separate pistol setups. I'm finally getting things setup after we moved so I've enjoyed seeing everyone's setups and getting an idea what's working for everyone. I made a couple risers for my single stage presses after looking at some different setups.
 
if you're interested in risers and want something out of the box instead of having to fab up.. make sure you take a look at https://inlinefabrication.com/

he makes press accessories for most of whats on the market these days, and even has a universal quick change system to use a single riser/stand for multiple presses and tools.

could be extremely handy for a single mount location but a multi-press setup like you're talking about for specialized ammo production.


also - highly recommend the ergo roller handles... OMG what a difference to using a straight pull with a round ball on top... wow!
 
I had seen some of your guys setups using the inline fabrication risers so that's what I used as reference to fab mine up. I definitely like the raised platform!!! I had also seen some of the different handles and was wondering how much of a difference they'd make. Right now the pair of Lyman turrets are setup on one bench and then on the other bench is a RCBS and an older Lyman single stage. It's all still a work in progress in getting everything the way at I'd like it since the move.
 
I use the Dillon risers on my 550's and even on my Redding. The aluminum roller handles are nice too

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If you want taller, the Inline fab risers sit taller than the Dillons. My benches are already tall so I like the height of the Dillons better.
 
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