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Best turret press that’s not a Zero.

Islas82

Islas82

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Dec 18, 2019
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So been thinking about making the move to a turret press, mainly because am getting tired of constantly switching and resetting dies in my single stage Rock chucker. I only load 2 calibers at the moment (rifle)I don’t do on turret priming so that’s not really a must have feature and also for what I do I really can’t justify dropping the coin on something like the 419 Zero.

So for you reloader out there that have experience with different turret presses what do you recommend? And are there any disadvantages to turret presses that single stage doesn’t suffer from?

Thanks!
 
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Thinking Lyman myself for next press.
Have a Lee single and a Dillon.
Almost forgot the Lee APP for deprime, swage .

Probably never have the cash for the zero since there is allways something needing attention.
 
BuildingConceptsllc said:
T7 gets a lot of love, but I'm very happy with my Lyman 8 turret press. I did hone the spacer slightly to make it absolutely movement free. It's easy to do with some 1000 grit sand paper and I think you'd have to do it to any turret press accept maybe the zero.
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"All American 8" is the name of my Lyman press. It works great and will hold a seater and sizing die for each of the 4 calibers I shoot. Set em up and then I just turn the turret when I want to change calibers, and it's ready to go. Makes great ammo, though honestly if you think about the die and the shell being all the way inside of the die, I'm not sure how much a little wobble in the press actually matters.... mine doesn't have any wobble what so ever though.
 
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savagemann said:
Any opinions on the rcbs turret?
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I have taken a look at it, honestly it’ll probably be the easiest decision to make since I’d be able to use switch and still use the same inline fabrication stand and not have to buy another one for the other presses mentioned. It just seems like the RCBS doesn’t have a lot of feedback and you don’t hear much about it.
 
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savagemann said:
Any opinions on the rcbs turret?
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I have one, I like it alot. Ill probably get a second turret for it some time. I don't see there being any negative aspects to it in my experience so far. I've loaded 6.5cr and 308 fgmm clones on it for a bit now and am very happy with the results. My only beef is that if you don't set the decapping pins to the right height where they pass through the press when you turn it you'll snap them off (RCBS dies come from the factory too long ask me how i found out...). After fixing those though it has been really solid.

I probably would have went with the redding because of the online reviews, but I was home visiting my folks in Dec. and my dad goes happy Xmas. Said he found it on clearance for $190 in some store in Iowa.

I've messed with one of the Zero presses at a place in Austin and it's really lovely. But I know it wouldn't make my loads better.
 
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I have the Lee classic 4 hole turret press.
I load 9mm on it, and I love it.
I think I'd like to get another top for it and load .223/5.56

For my .243 I'll stick with the RCBS Rock chucker. I don't shoot it hard enough to need to load faster. And when something shoots so good I would hate to mess it up.
 
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I use a Redding T7 for 7SAUM and 338SS, for hunting rifles I am happy with the results.
 
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Islas82 said:
And are there any disadvantages to turret presses that single stage doesn’t suffer from?
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The only shortcoming of a turret style press is the stiffness and play, but you get the convenience of skipping the die adjustments.

For the turret to rotate, there is generally going to be either some end play (slop) unless the design locks down, like the Zero. That play translates into more than one type of freedom of motion and stiffness, but most users have managed this well enough.

If you are picky about sizing and seating length workmanship, you may need to re-think your die setting process to allow for a little play and lower stiffness, as compared to having just the typical ram and shell holder issues to deal with. Nothing you can't manage. YMMV
 
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My Lyman does not have any slop, it did have a small amount of the box, but I saw a video about removing the slop on a turret press and then did the mod myself.
There's a spacer the center bolt goes through, in I think all turret presses so they can be tightened yet still turn. The tolerance on that spacer determines the amount of slop. If you take a piece of 1000 grit sand paper on a nice flat surface, and rotate the spacer every few strokes, you can remove just enough material so that you have virtually zero slop, but the turret still turns. If you go slow and test fit many times, you can get it extremely good while keeping a smooth turning turret. Good enough to make this ammo that I just shot.
 

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i just picked up a t7 to go with my mec marksman and lee breachlock pro

i like the smoothness of the marksman but the t7 feels like a beast of a press
 
I'll agree with others and say get a Dillon 550. It'll give you a lot more room to grow if you decide to do pistol calibers in the future. You can use it's primer feed or not. You can use it's powder measure to drop powder or not. You can use it for precision and blaster .223 if that's one of your two calibers. You can set up different toolheads and only do brass prep on it. Very nice stuff and they're a phone call away if you have a problem.
 
Lee Classic Cast 4 hole turret. I disengaged the progressive component and use it as a quick-change single stage. Easy peasy.

Extra 4-holers are cheap.



P
 
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I'll have to toss a coin to the Lee Classic 4-hole. Loaded many rounds with my Stepdad on one and I liked it.
 
GMZ said:
Devils advocate here…

$20 Lock n load bushing kit made switching dies on my RC a breeze. Then Inline Fabrication upgrades took the press’ production to the next level for a single stage. Of course hard to go wrong with a T7 or Co-Ax if you just want some new gear.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012999418

https://inlinefabrication.com/collections/rcbs
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I have the Inline brass kickr finger on the Rock Chucker. Its really nice. I would say it almost doubles how fast I can FL resize, deprime and reprime.

Also the Inline reverse rotation rod and brass kicker finger on the Lee classic turret is also badass.

Crazy how 2 little upgrades can make a simple tool so much better.

And the bracket with the 2 bins next to the press are really good too.
 
SanPatHogger said:
I have the Inline brass kickr finger on the Rock Chucker. Its really nice. I would say it almost doubles how fast I can FL resize, deprime and reprime.

Also the Inline reverse rotation rod and brass kicker finger on the Lee classic turret is also badass.

Crazy how 2 little upgrades can make a simple tool so much better.

And the bracket with the 2 bins next to the press are really good too.
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What is the kicker finger?
 
tnichols said:
T7 is my vote for precision rifle work. I also own 2 550’s.
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I have a T7 as well and all I do is precision rifle stuff. I'm not sure where the "slop" comments are coming from. The design of the press is such that with the detent and heavy spring, there is no slop. My only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that the ball bearing used for the detent is not captured, so when you change turret heads, there's a distinct possibility that the ball falls off and gets lost behind your bench - which is why I have a bunch sitting in one of my bench drawers.

I haven't played with the Lyman, so can't comment other than it looks like a very similar design.
 
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Rocketmandb said:
I have a T7 as well and all I do is precision rifle stuff. I'm not sure where the "slop" comments are coming from. The design of the press is such that with the detent and heavy spring, there is no slop. My only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that the ball bearing used for the detent is not captured, so when you change turret heads, there's a distinct possibility that the ball falls off and gets lost behind your bench - which is why I have a bunch sitting in one of my bench drawers.

I haven't played with the Lyman, so can't comment other than it looks like a very similar design.
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Yeah it's very similar, you could even call it a copy. I was looking at the T7 and only went with the Lyman because it was an 8 turret vs 7, otherwise I'd have gotten a T7 also.
 
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A copy you say?
Added an extra station you say?

Hole my beer.
Someone says there's a T-9.
New shinney built like a tank?

If I had a shop I would build a one off T-10 just for fun.

Not trying to discredit A-419, I would like a tank but have a 7-8 station budget.

In fact a T-10 should be easier to build due to the math just like mils. Lol
 
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What are the advantages of presses with so many stations? I've only ever worked off a 4 station turret and single presses. Never anything more or progressives.
 
JimJoeBob said:
What are the advantages of presses with so many stations? I've only ever worked off a 4 station turret and single presses. Never anything more or progressives.
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I don't have one like that either but the advantage of the more stations is that you can do operations one at a time vs trying to decap and size ect in one shot. You can also do more to the brass with no more work involved. That's where my very limited knowledge of it ends though. Whenever I do move and build my own house with a proper reloading/gun room, I will definitely have a Dillon or some such type of set up, but I don't know how precise you can get the ammo doing it that way? You can get pretty good ammo just not sure how good, but that definition is different for us all I suppose.
 
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JimJoeBob said:
What are the advantages of presses with so many stations? I've only ever worked off a 4 station turret and single presses. Never anything more or progressives.
Click to expand...

I have two turrets for my T7. One is for all my .30 cal dies. I have two 300 PRC sizing dies, a 308 sizing die, a .30 cal mandrel die, and a bullet puller. In my second turret, I have my 6 BRA sizing, a 6mm mandrel, my 375 sizing, 375 seating, and 375 mandrel (different body than the die holding the 6mm mandrel). My 6mm and 300 seaters are with my arbor press.
 
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I was reading a really good hand loading book called Top Grade Ammo and he had a section his recommended equipment based on how intense of a reloader you are. Anyway when it came to turret presses his opinion at that time was that Harrells Precision made the best one. Take that for what it's worth.
 
ifgator said:
I was reading a really good hand loading book called Top Grade Ammo and he had a section his recommended equipment based on how intense of a reloader you are. Anyway when it came to turret presses his opinion at that time was that Harrells Precision made the best one. Take that for what it's worth.
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Will look that up, thanks.
 
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Gtscotty said:
That's interesting, I wonder if that's a zombie page or if you can still pick up a 4 position for under $300?
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Just call them. Super nice dudes and they have a lot of credibility from the guys that know and deal with them. The reloading guy I read this from said the one thing you can count on from them is their press ram will be true or something like that.
 
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Dillon 550.

I have the T7 and you get deflection with it. Its a good press but has its own issues.

IF you aren't going to spring for a Zero press, then go with a 550 and set yourself up for speed. You can set one toolhead up for brass prep and one for loading.
 
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Gtscotty said:
That's interesting, I wonder if that's a zombie page or if you can still pick up a 4 position for under $300?
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Worth a call if you like what you see. Very handy press and also travels well. Hope that works out either way.
 
DeathBeforeDismount said:
Dillon 550.

I have the T7 and you get deflection with it. Its a good press but has its own issues.

IF you aren't going to spring for a Zero press, then go with a 550 and set yourself up for speed. You can set one toolhead up for brass prep and one for loading.
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How precise can you get with Dillon for precision rifle ?
 
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