Turret presses vs single stage presses?

[jski]

I use a Lee Universal deprimer for all cases. Then I soak them in water and a little Dawn dish soap. Rinse and dry. Ready to resize,prime and load from there.
I want the cases clean,but couldn't care less if they shine.

But, do you deprime then tumble your brass or tumble your brass then deprime? And with which media: walnut shells or corn husks?

 

[Livin_Cincy]

I use a Lee Universal deprimer for all cases. Then I soak them in water and a little Dawn dish soap. Rinse and dry. Ready to resize,prime and load from there.
I want the cases clean,but couldn't care less if they shine.

I hand polish each case with a Q-tip and unicorn sweat...

 

[Vern Humphrey]

In 2017 Lyman introduced a new turret press, the Brass Smith All-American 8-Station Turret Press replacing their venerable T-Mag Turret Press. On Midway it's priced at $199.99 (vs $189.99 for a MEC Marksman single stage press).

I have no experience with turret presses vs single stage presses and was wondering the advantages? Moving the turret around for every cartridge produced seems like a lot of work. BTW, the Redding turret press is priced at $319.99, the RCBS turret press is available for $239.99 from Midway.

"Moving the turret around for every cartridge produced seems like a lot of work"

Unscrewing one die, screwing in another, adjusting it, then unscrewing that die, screwing in another and adjusting it, IS a lot of work. With a turret press you set up each die, and leave it be -- much easier!

In addition, when you finish reloading one cartridge, you can leave the dies in the press, and use the remaining holes to set up another cartridge. For example, let's say you reload .45 ACP and .357, plus several other cartridges -- say .30-06, .223 Rem and so on. Since most people shoot a lot more pistol ammo than rifle ammo, you can leave both the pistol calibers set up permanently, and still have two holes for your rifle calibers.

 

[tranders]

But, do you deprime then tumble your brass or tumble your brass then deprime? And with which media: walnut shells or corn husks?

I don't use any media or tumbler. I deprime, then soak in dish soap and water. Rinse and load. I want my cases clean so not to damage my dies,but careless if the brass shines.

 

[JimKirk]

"Moving the turret around for every cartridge produced seems like a lot of work"

Unscrewing one die, screwing in another, adjusting it, then unscrewing that die, screwing in another and adjusting it, IS a lot of work. With a turret press you set up each die, and leave it be -- much easier!

In addition, when you finish reloading one cartridge, you can leave the dies in the press, and use the remaining holes to set up another cartridge. For example, let's say you reload .45 ACP and .357, plus several other cartridges -- say .30-06, .223 Rem and so on. Since most people shoot a lot more pistol ammo than rifle ammo, you can leave both the pistol calibers set up permanently, and still have two holes for your rifle calibers.

Again this is just one of the fine features of the CoAx press .... No turret to have to store dies in ...no taking turrets off and replacing with another turret ...

Your dies are stored in their factory box ...the adjustments are just like you left them last time you used them ... about 3 seconds I can swap any die any time any caliber .... Never have to adjust unless making a change ...

It is so simple a cave man can do it ...

 

[Toprudder]

 

[cfullgraf]

Your dies are stored in their factory box ...the adjustments are just like you left them last time you used them ... .... Never have to adjust unless making a change ...

I use more conventional presses than the wonderful Forester Co-Ax and I never have to adjust the dies between use except as JimKirk said when making a change of some kind.

I use die lock rings with a clamping feature to lock the dies' settings. (This is the main reason I do not like or use Lee's o-ring lock rings).

Even if I did have a Co-Ax press--or a turret press, I'd still use batch processing of cases and ammunition on a non-progressive press. I'd do one process on a bunch of cases at one time before moving on to the next process.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

I'd do one process on a bunch of cases at one time before moving on to the next process.

Doesn't everyone?
You don't need any tools to change dies in the Coax. Pull one die out and snap the next one in, that's the convenience of the Coax press.
Nothing wrong with other single stage presses either.

 

[Skgreen]

With pistol, my 'process on a bunch of cases' involves decap / resize / flare / charge / seat / crimp, all at the same time, 1 pull / round.

If doing only one thing at a time is your preference, and repeatedly loading / unloading a single piece of brass in/out of a press (or any other reloading tool) is what you like,,,,,, no worries. Lotsa stuff out there that will work for that.

Same 'one thing at a time' method can be done on a progressive, if that's what you really want to do.

'Single-strokers', whether they be a true SS, a turret, or even an auto advancing turret, are relatively all the 'same game' with different features. Deciding between the difference in features is purely up to what you think you'd like / what you think you need / what your willing to spend for those features. All of them will get the job done.

Nice to have options, and as always, YMMV

 

[Dudedog]

As you know the primer has enough energy to move the bullet into the barrel without any powder. So a small spec of corncob does not have a chance.

I tested the primer moving a bullet into the barrel just to see if it would (ok well I tested it, unplanned)
I did test for fun what a piece of corncob in the flash hole would do. (on purpose) Had to find a big piece of corn cob from my media and get it in the flash hole, not easy when you are trying. Most pieces of the corncob I had at the time were to small to stick.
For me in 9mm it didn't make any difference that I could tell. The 5 I tested were fine.

 

[marchboom]

I like turrets and the Lyman 6 hole turret (circa early 70's) was my first press. It works great and I still use it for some dies that stay installed (depriming, bullet puller, etc). BUT, what happens when you start accumulating more dies? Then you have to buy more turret heads and that can get expensive. Plus the time needed to change them.

Recently got a Co-Ax and I wish I would have bought it years ago. Very fast to change dies and they stay adjusted. It's a one-time purchase. Never have to buy additional turret heads. The only downfall is the initial cost. But that is a one-time deal. Cry once. And you can be assured that you have the best single station press made...IMO. I repeat...IMO.

 

[TheDomFather]

In 2017 Lyman introduced a new turret press, the Brass Smith All-American 8-Station Turret Press replacing their venerable T-Mag Turret Press. On Midway it's priced at $199.99 (vs $189.99 for a MEC Marksman single stage press).

I have no experience with turret presses vs single stage presses and was wondering the advantages? Moving the turret around for every cartridge produced seems like a lot of work. BTW, the Redding turret press is priced at $319.99, the RCBS turret press is available for $239.99 from Midway.

I have the Redding T7 and use it for all of my rifle reloading, In my opinion its great as I can keep a size die and a seat die for 3 calibers in it plus my mighty armory decapping die. It works great. For those of you who are crimping, you can seat, index then crimp. My progressive is a hornady LNL which is relegated to pistol only and in my opinion is a POS and will eventually be replaced with a Dillon 650.

 

[loose noose]

I started reloading on a single stage Texan reloader, that got lost when I went to Viet Nam, came back and bought a single stage RCBS Rock Chucker, that reloaded all my rifle as well as pistol cartridges. Since that time I purchased an RCBS Progressive "Piiggy Back II that I mounted on a RCBS RB5 single stage. Granted it took a little bit of time to get used to the progressive, but once I got used to it I could easily put out 250-300 rounds an hour of all the pistol calibers I had at the time, everything from .380-.45Colt. Fact is I still use the Rock Chucker for all my rifle .223-45-70. The only thing I changed on my progressive was the powder drop, which really improved the already excellent Uni-flow powder measure. (no more spills/hang ups). BTW I always leave the primers in the casings prior to putting them in my tumbler, using corn cob or walnut media. When separating the media from the casings, Usually put them in my two colanders and rotate them very robustly to shake all the media out. Never had a problem with having a piece of media stuck in the primer pocket, when de-priming them either.

Thought seriously about a turret press for years, but couldn't see the advantage over the single stage, especially doing rifle casings only.