Turret press options

[badkarmamib]

I am considering a turret press to speed up loading for pistols. I currently have 9mm and .40S&W, with no plans of growing. I have noticed that 9mm is considerably harder to size than .40S&W. I will continue to load my rifles on a single stage, since I trim and chamfer every time. Now that all of that is out of the way, would I notice a difference between the Lee Classic Cast turret press and the $40-cheaper aluminum version for 9mm and .40S&W lead plinking ammo? Accuracy is not a concern, as it is simply blasting ammo, just concerned about safely repeting OAL and longevity wirh maybe 1k rounds per year. TIA.

 

[AJC1]

There are now turrets at every price point. The area 419 turret being the most expensive, the Redding which I have, the Lyman, and the Lee. I like cast over aluminum but that's just me. At that volume, service life should be a non-issue for all.

 

[Blue68f100]

A turret still does only 1 function at a time so you will be doing the same number of strokes on the handle. So the only time you save is changing of the dies. Move to AP if you want to increase speed. 1 stroke = 1 round after the stations are full.

A little spray case will make the sizing easier even on carbide dies.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Out of the 2 Lee's. Go with the classic cast. I love mine. I did remove the auto index. I could never get ratchets to last. And the plastic clamp broke. That was the end of that for me. I can go faster with indexing by hand.

 

[AJC1]

A turret still does only 1 function at a time so you will be doing the same number of strokes on the handle. So the only time you save is changing of the dies. Move to AP if you want to increase speed. 1 stroke = 1 round after the stations are full.

A little spray case will make the sizing easier even on carbide dies.

The time you save is brass handling. If you seat and crimp separately you don't handle the brass again.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

When i run a batch of ammo. I sit some brass,bullets and primers on my desk. I don't use the goofy priming thing that comes with the press. Any way when i have everything at reach. I can crank out ammo very fast.

 

[badkarmamib]

The time you save is brass handling. If you seat and crimp separately you don't handle the brass again.

This is the main reason I am considering it. I would like to avoid the time of carefully moving a charged case to a tray, and back to the press after switching to a seating die. I would guess that pistol would take half as long on a turret compared to a single stage.

Conversely, I already had the Breech Lock Auto press, didn't take to it. Too much overhanding and swapping hands while holding the handle up or down.

 

[edwardware]

I am considering a turret press to speed up loading. . . I have noticed that 9mm is considerably harder to size than .40S&W.

I own all three (Single, Turret, Progressive) and I think you will regret buying a turret press. In my experience it's not a bit faster than a single stage, but offers more opportunity to lose track of the process. If you want speed, swallow hard and get a progressive, and be prepared for a learning curve.

9mm is tapered, that's why it's harder to size.

 

[kennedy]

I use the lee turret 3 hole press with the disk powder dispenser, I use a lee hand primer instead of the one with the press, the auto indexing works great, I have loaded thousands of .40, .38, 45lc, and 223 on it.

 

[drband]

I started on a LCT. Now use an AutoBreechlockPro. The LCT is simpler, but not as fast. You do have to get in a rhythm with each of them.

 

[nettlle]

I have all three, progressive, T-7 turret, and single stage, and would give up the single stage long before the turret. There's not a lot of difference as far as speed goes between the turret and single stage but the turret is so much nicer to work with.

 

[irishlad]

I load 100 pistol rounds on my LCT in under an hour. That includes setup, cleanup and case gauge check. It’s quite a bit faster than a single stage, as you don't have to insert and remove the brass for each step. I use the auto index and and have the Inline Fabrication ejector.I don't shoot alot of pistol rounds. If I did I'd go with a progressive. Only you can decide what your volume is and how much time you want to spend.

 

[Hikingman]

I own all three (Single, Turret, Progressive) and I think you will regret buying a turret press. In my experience it's not a bit faster than a single stage, but offers more opportunity to lose track of the process. If you want speed, swallow hard and get a progressive, and be prepared for a learning curve.

9mm is tapered, that's why it's harder to size.

Let's add the rust factor for the many that sit/ remain on the turret long-term within a humid or otherwise damp environment. When the press is not in operation, a good place for die storage is inside the plastic box in air-conditioning.

Edit: Spelling

 

[MikeInOr]

I would look around for a used progressive press. I see Dillon Square B, 450XL and 550XL presses come up on the used market at very decent prices from reloaders that have upgraded to fancier machines. I don't know the other brands of progressives enough to suggest one but I can say I have had bad luck with Lee and RCBS progressives.

There is a 550XL that needs a couple parts on my local facebook market place for $325. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/617521037026455/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp:84962843-7bb9-4a8c-8281-af86e302a62f
I am sure there are other used quality progressive presses around for reasonable prices.

I have also seen that Frankford Arsenal is shipping their X10 presses for $1072 with a case feeder and free shipping. That should give you everything you need (since you already have dies) to really crank a lot of rounds quickly.

Personally I never found much of a learning curve on my Dillon 650XL but I would imagine some of the lower end progressives would have quirks that have to be learned.

 

[PO2Hammer]

I loaded 9mm on a turret for a while, then one day pulling the handle 4 times to get 1 round became maddening.
Bought a Dillon BL 550 (stripped down 550 C, no primer feed, no powder measure). Less than $300.
So much better, I can’t tell you. 1 pull, 1 round.
I use my Redding 10x powder measure on the press and place primers by hand.
Now I look forward to loading 9, instead of worrying about my sanity.

ETA, Hornady One Shot for 9mm brass.

 

[bbqncigars]

If you have to load a bunch of cartridges, a true (auto indexing) progressive is the way to go.

 

[mdi]

I used an old style Lee aluminum 4 hole for over 15 years. 380 Auto through 45 ACP, with a boxcar load of 44 Magnums. Rifle cartridges; 223, 30-06, 308, 7.62x54. I disabled the auto-index the day after I got it. I kept it clean and never abused it, but I did make some adaptors to ram prime and size my cast bullets. Hand indexing fit my "batch loading" style perfectly, and I have never been in a hurry.
Up until I moved to a Co-Ax I could hold a very low OAL variation, just a few thousandths and well within safe tolerances. All that with a cast aluminum frame. But if I bought another Lee turret it would probably be the steel Classic Cast. No other reason, I just normally prefer steel loading tools.

Although an aluminum turret would more than likely last quite a while and produce consistent handload OALs...

 

[Skgreen]

wirh maybe 1k rounds per year.

That's 3 rounds per day. A whacka-a mole would keep up with that pretty easy.
A LCT would be able to keep you supplied with ease.
I'd opt for the classic cast version, just because, but even the value-turret would have no problem with >1k/year for years to come

 

[sparkyv]

I have the Lee "Value" turret press, and it's loaded over 18k rounds in 9mm, 40S&W, 10mm Auto, 44Spcl, 44Mag, 460Mag, 223 Rem, 6.5CM, 6mm Rem and 308 Win and its held up well with no signs of giving up. I use the indexing with handgun rounds, and I've only worn out one polymer ratchet so far. If I could have a do over, I'd have purchased the Lee Classic Turret Press as it requires fewer mods to make it function the way I like.

I resemble this remark:

I load 100 pistol rounds on my LCT in under an hour

 

[cfullgraf]

Skip the turret and buy a progressive.

Contrary to popular opinion, you do not have to run a progressive fired case to loaded round.

I break my reloading on a progressive into a couple steps.

First, I size, decap, then expand the case mouth. I then clean my cases. I usually do this shortly after shooting them so the batches are small and go quick. I store the cases for a future loading session.

I prefer to prime my cases off press. Discussion for this is a subject for another thread.

I then charge the case, seat the bullet, them crimp, if part of the operation.

Although I seemingly waste time breaking up the process, I can run each operation at a higher cyclic rate with fewer stoppages.

My overall loading rates are comparable with what most folks claim they run fired case to loaded round.

To me, turret presses are glorified single stage presses. Except for Lee’s turret prrss with the auto index of the die plate, turrets really do not have any measurable advantage over a single stage press.

If you want a turret, buy a single stage press and put the savings due to a cost lower than a turret into other reloading tools.

 

[JerkyFreak]

With a single stage I used to process 1000 cases at a time. With practice you can go reasonably fast.

On average used to take just under 4 seconds a case to deprime and size, same for flaring the case mouth, around 8 seconds to prime and around 10 seconds to charge and seat a bullet.

I will never in my life willingly charge a number of cases at once again. Learnt my lesson the hard way.

 

[1KPerDay]

I can go faster with indexing by hand.

I can’t….

 

[NMexJim]

I load 100 pistol rounds on my LCT in under an hour. That includes setup, cleanup and case gauge check. It’s quite a bit faster than a single stage, as you don't have to insert and remove the brass for each step. I use the auto index and and have the Inline Fabrication ejector.I don't shoot alot of pistol rounds. If I did I'd go with a progressive. Only you can decide what your volume is and how much time you want to spend.

View attachment 1165586

Not pushing hard and w/o case or bullet feeders, I can load 300+/hr on my progressive.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Nice Jeff.

 

[MarshallDodge]

I loaded 9mm on a turret for a while, then one day pulling the handle 4 times to get 1 round became maddening.
Bought a Dillon BL 550 (stripped down 550 C, no primer feed, no powder measure). Less than $300.
So much better, I can’t tell you. 1 pull, 1 round.
I use my Redding 10x powder measure on the press and place primers by hand.
Now I look forward to loading 9, instead of worrying about my sanity.

ETA, Hornady One Shot for 9mm brass.

This is the right answer.

You can use the 550 as a progressive, single stage, or similar to a turret in operation.