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Turret Presses
victorlvlb
Member Posts: 5,004
If I'm going to reload for my pistol I want some kind of turret press.Any ideas on what brand? Keep in mind I'm a cheap skate.I see that Lee has one for sixty bucks.[:)][:)][:)]
Comments
you wont be sorry
If you are new to reloading, pick a powder that will FILL the case of your pistol (not compressed loads though). You do NOT want a double charge pistol case.
Are you saying all I have to do is order a new head, and it will work on my single stage press?
FrancF
Are you saying all I have to do is order a new head, and it will work on my single stage press?
NO-[:D]
Sorry bud, my bad, Big mouth here opens mouth and inserts foot! I was getting ahead of myself thinking you had a turret and did not read.
When I was shooting a little pistol stuff (less than 200 rnds a weekend)
I have a Lyman Classic turret. Use it for a lot of things. multi- heads for short runs of 500 or so works.
Thanks for clearing that up for me.[:D][:D][:D]
reloader and couldn't get it
to work properly , sent it
back ,got another and
gave it to my son-in-law
and we got it to work for a
bit but it kept malfunctioning.
Sent that back. i probably
could have got it to work
but I don't have enough time
left on this earth so I'm
sticking with my faithful friend
of 30yrs my rockchucker, strong
and relaxing.
At this link you can see a detailed article reviewing the press and explaining how to set it up, with dozens of clear photos to help.
http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews2006/leeturretpress/index.asp
For about $200 you will be in business. I just loaded 3 boxes of 9mm with my setup in an hour, with no pushing. If I did push, I could load 4 boxes. It is one solid setup. A perfect round every cycle.
I reload, I have an old Lyman Sparton. I only reload a hundred rounds a year for my rifle.I just started reloading for my .40 cal pistol.I figure I'll be loading a hundred rounds a month for the pistol.I figure a turret press would save me some time.The only step that will slow me down is weighing each powder charge.
Invest in a powder dispenser/measure. I have a Lee setup. You fill it with the powder, do a quick calculation using a table they give you which has coefficients for each brand/type of powder. Set your bushing on the measure and check it a few times on a scale so you know each throw is accurate and consistent. Charge 10 cases and recheck the weight on your scale. The bottom of mine is chamfered so you don't even need a funnel, just put your case up to the "chute" and send a throw. It is a big time money saver if you are just reloading for plinking. They are very accurate also. I have used it enough that I trust it, and charge 20-25 cases between checking it. I check it over and over at the start, and when I've been assured it is consistent, I let er fly.
This is the one I have, it came with the set I ordered. It's worked great so far, just doesn't like the real fine spherical powders like H110.
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=540522
I have a Lee powder dispenser\measure , I just don't trust it all that much yet.
cubslovers
I have a Lee powder dispenser\measure , I just don't trust it all that much yet.
It's been said that it is the most accurate. Don't the the Lee name or the cheap price scare you. Mine has never suddenly thrown a wierd charge.
While the RCBS is highly regarded, the Lee is the better deal in my opinion. I think that you can't go wrong with any brand single stage press. When moving to a progressive, RCBS and Dillon are the best. I wouldn't trust a Lee progressive press.
I have no expeience with RCBS and it may be fine--but I put together my Classic Turret press with everything needed to load three calibers, the powder measure, Auto Disk Pro, Safety Prime, all the dies, extra turrets, scale, etc., shipped to my doorstep $325. With the RCBS you are starting with a bare press and their addons are not cheap--
If you go to Kempf's Gun Shop website or Midway, or Grafs--you can put together everything you need for one caliber for less than $200.
Lee makes pretty good products at a reasonable prices. Start cheap while getting your feet wet. You will not regret having a couple of extra presses on your bench[:D]
http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1155695715.453=/html/catalog/turretpress.html#ClassicTurretPress
If you go here you can order it for about $85--much less than at the website--you can load the longest rifle cartridges for which you can find dies, and any Lee dies
http://www.kempfgunshop.com/products/reloading/leeprecision/presses/90064.html
I don't know if Midway has this product listed yet. It's not in their hard copy catalogue which I have.
For less than $200 you can have an auto-indexing, rugged press and all the stuff you need to load any rifle cartridge you can get dies for.
This is one super press!
Can the Lee turret reload both rifle and pistal?I'm looking at the Midway catalog and shows only pistal set ups.
Vivtorvlb;
You CAN load rifle ammo on the current progressive or turret presses from LEE but I don't recommend it. You get better results using a single stage press for rifle bullets and, to me, rifles are about precision shooting. If you are loading for a high-cap magazine Ak/SK or something where you just want to shoot huge ammounts of fairly decent ammo then by all means--feel free to use a progressive.
On the other hand, I'm not shooting handgun ammo from a bench rest or gearing up for the Camp Perry Nationals, so the extra effort to produce precision ammo would be wasted.
Anyhow, If your primary goal is to learn to make ammo and to make precision ammo you are probably better of with a single stage--if you want to primary make lots of handgun ammo then the press Benedict1 is recommending would probably do very nicely.
Just my humble opinion.[8D]
Your right, I want ammo that will give me tight groups.If I do get a progressive press , I will still weigh all my powder, one round at a time.Me , myself ,and I have been argueing about how long it takes to load one hundred rounds of .40 cal loads for my semi auto XD on a single stage reloader.I on the other hand do not want to load ammo that will not give me tight groups.We all agree that loading 40 rounds for the 3006 Is not time consuming.I just keep thinking that I could still load more rounds per hour with a progressive press for the .40 cal.[:D][:D][:D]Two hundred rounds an hour would beat fifty rounds in an hour and a half.Then again I just might need something to occupy my time once I retire.So I'm still arguring with myself.[:D][:D][:D]
I trust Midway with my credit card numbers, so i'll go with them .Thanks for the reply and the heads up.
I'm going to ordered it plus a few other things fro Midway Saturday.Thanks for all the help , you all.
Since we live in the same area, I could have shown you REAL-TIME how much .40S&W ammo you can load in 20 minutes on my 550B (which also loads .25acp,.32acp,38Super,380acp, 9X18Mak.,9X19, 9X23, 38special, 357mag, 41mag, 30carbine,.223, 30-30, .243, .308, 300savage, 300WM, 7mmMag, and anything else up to 3.5" case length); and saved you all this time and agony!
I tried almost all the "other" progressives before I got this Dillon, and it runs like a sewing machine! It produces very consistent ammo (the USAMU uses a dillon or two for their loads, as do the US Shooting Team), and if there's ever a problem (quite unlikely, but some people can't open a can of soup by themselves); Dillon is just a phone call away! They have the BEST Customer Service of ANY business out there, and often ship replacement parts before you hang up with them (for free, usually).
And the beauty of the whole thing is you only pay around $325 or so, and you're making ammo within an hour!
I also know some guys that are getting too old to play outdoors that own Dillons, and they have extra powder measures, toolheads, etc.
Hope you're not too disappointed with what you wound up with....
Talk to me,I busted my butt all day Saturday on the den.I didn't get a chance to order my stuff from Midway.Keep in mind I only need to load fifty rounds an hour to be happy.The rounds I want, will have less then one tenth of a grain differance from one an other.Thats in my forty cal XD pistal.In my 3006 twenty rounds an hour is just fine, but they all have to match each other.I shoot a hundred rounds of 40 cal when I do get to the range, maybe twice a month.My 3006 I only fire if I have a hunt coming up.Even with a hunt coming up the 3006 only gets forty rounds thru it a year, if that much.The rest of the time I shoot an SKS,10-22, and my single six, in .22 and .22 mag.My shotguns get about six hundred rounds shot thru them a year.So far its been cheaper to buy shootgun shells off the shelf. By the way you all I did get to the range today.I did very very bad, but I had one heck of a good time.[:D][:D][:D]You all have a good week.
For a WHOLE lot less than what you would spend a a big progressive press, and all the stuff you need to make it go, you can have a quality loading tool that can load anything you might ever want to shoot.
I think your right,so far.I just have to many irons on the fire to get anything done real quick.
This is for the old 4 die press, but the directions are the same for the Classic turret--
http://www.leeprecision.com/html/HelpVideos/videos/Four hole turret index adjustment-1.wmv
This link has every direction you need to set up your press, priming system, powder measure, etc.--It is outstanding--
http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews2006/leeturretpress/index.asp
It has dozens of photos and takes you through the whole process, from bolting it to the bench to a finished cartridge. Go look and enjoy! [:D]
You do not have to resize and deprime first. Do not take the deprime pin out of that die. No need to at all. Won't have to clean primer pockets cause the depriming is going to push the old primer out and any media stuck in the flash hole.
I clean out the primer pockets on an RCBS power bench machine, and INSPECT the cases carefully under a good light.
Then prime the cases on an RCBS bench mounted loading tool. I load using a LEE 3 station auto indexing turret press, using the stations for (1) Powder drop and flaring,(2) bullet seating, (3) crimp and final size.(Lee Dies)
I usually have cases prepared for the final steps so they may be used at any time. I have been reloading for 35 years and have not had a single misfire or squib load. Even before all this power and turret stuff became available I followed the same common sense procedures but it took a lot longer on a single stage press. Some would ask "What do you want to do, shoot or waste all your time reloading"? I want to shoot and not have my day ruined by a junk load.
Have fun, save money and be safe!
I just loaded another 50 45 ACPs with some new FN plated bullets I want to try. Tomorrow I will switch over to 9mm--that process will take about 2 minutes. I intend to load about 500 rounds tomorrow and with the Safety Prime and Auto Disk Pro powder measure I expect to be done in two hours. It will take us 4 weeks to shoot all of them.
If I ever get close to loading 150 rounds an hour I'll be happy.I weigh each charge of powder,since I load close to a max load.
Even Unique which has a bad reputation for consistency, at amounts larger than 4.0 gr, will weigh very well. I use 5.8 gr in 4 ACP and that's what I get when I weigh a charge.
I understand your well-deserved caution near the max., but you might be pleasantly surprised if you tried the Auto Disk Pro.
Speed is not everything--I only mention what I can do because there are those who would have you believe that the only way to go is with an expensive progressive press. For myself, 200-250 per hour is just super--my loads are pretty standardized now so I can really go at them in production mode.
Good luck. It sounds like you are off to a very satifying career as a reloader!