Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Turret Reloading Press

My first turret press was the Lyman TruLine Jr. With an aftermarket 4 hole 7/8x14 head. I still have it loaded with Lee Quick Trim dies.

Then it was a Lyman All American that I used until Lee came out with the Cast Classic 4 hole press.

I have two of the Lee presses on the bench with 9 heads. I leave one set up with a 378 size shell holder And the other with a 473. One end of the bench skinny cartridges and.the other end fat one. Bothe have the auto-rotate disabled.

I also have a Lyman Crusher single stage set up for heavy case forming.

I've gone through a lot of presses in the past 61 years of reloading, this set up works great for me.

Been looking at this too. Substantial bit of kit

I don't see how they can come any better than the Redding T7. Been loading for about 12 years with it and it is a delight. Along with my 550b and my Rock Chucker and a single stage CH I can do anything I want.

What to your mind justifies calling it an upgrade? No question well worth having but where is upgrade?

Nice to have for sure and I agree with the many folks above that a T7 is a handy thing to have on the bench. I also have a Harrell's 4 hole turret with interchangeable aluminum turrets that works well and is my most used for short cases with a short throw lever and a Hollywood Universal turret with big holes and a variety of primer punches if domed primers ever come back. All are sufficiently precise for my needs and I'm not going to buy anything beyond the T7. I know that other T7 presses in commercial use have loaded a million cartridges and still good as new. I don't expect the aluminum Harrell to last quite as long but certainly my lifetime. If price were no object I might go beyond the T7. Whatever Gavin Gee is currently most excited about would be nice to have but for the money I'd buy a progressive which I did.

Bottom line, if you know you want a turret start with a T7. If you don't like it then trade it in sell it off for something more expensive but by that time you will know your own mind.

For what it’s worth, I really like my Lyman All American 8. It produces ammo that is every bit as accurate as my 30 year old Rockchucker and I never have to change dies. I really only reload 4 cartridges: .243, 30-06, .338 Winchester and .375 H&H so I don’t even have another turret for it, though that might be in the future if I start loading pistol ammo. It does all the heavy duty resizing I need with minimal fuss. I have never noticed any flex in the turret. I debated between the Lyman and the Redding and ultimately settled on the Lyman because eight stations made more sense than seven for what I do. The Redding has a wonderful reputation as a quality press but after two years and hundreds of rounds with the Lyman, it is hard for me to imagine the Redding is a significant step up in quality or, put another way, that any differences between the two would actually be manifest on paper or game. The Lyman was significantly less expensive than the Redding when I bought it. For me, with two young boys, that was also a consideration.

I don’t think you will go wrong with either one. Happy shooting!

It is very solid. I really like some of the small innovations from Area 419 as well. Their modular shell holder set, the flat platen shell holder, the ability to lock down the turret via torque wrench, it has a great feel and designed such that leverage shrinks at the top of the stroke with a solid stop but with some "give" to it. Its a lot of money, but worth it for my use.

The Lyman is obviously a copy of the Redding and is lighter, weighing a few pounds less. (23lbs vs. 27.5lbs) The Redding has a heavier frame where it counts at the intersection of the base with the mounting holes, and the upright, vertical part of the frame. From photos, the Redding is twice as thick there. I don't have a Lyman to compare to my Redding, but I'll bet you'd see a great deal more frame deflection when full length sizing a large case like a 30-06 or 300 WIN MAG. Just my 2¢ worth.

I just switched to a Redding T-7 and it's a big step up from a single-stage. I should've listened to the advice I was given and done it sooner.

My only complaint with the T7, since I prime by hand rather than on the press is how the priming arm is mounted, but I'll get used to working around it.

The T-7 should outlast me and the generation coming behind.

If I was gonna buy a turret press it would be a T-7 Redding. I do have a Lee classic 4 hole and just like the others have deactivated the advancer. The holes in the turret are to close together to use any die lock ring other than Lee's. I'd also say the whole unit would be a hell of a lot better if Lee had used steel instead of aluminum for the turret. Just about 100 % of resizing activities are done on my RCBS Ammomaster and Big Max presses. CH H presses get the nod for my black powder case depriming and powder compression roles. Yes I like owning many different reloading setups. Mb

A Redding T7 is your huckleberry.

Yeah, I’m not going to do the Lee press, for me it’s between the Lyman & the Redding. The Area 419 is too big of an expense for me to justify it.


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If you decide you like the Redding T7, check with Creedmoor Sports, they have some turret heads available that may be a significant improvement over the stock.

Metallic II ?

I have a old version. Bought used without small primer feed parts. AFAIK PW discontinued the older primer feed parts so I made my own parts for small primers.

I love that old press.

Made a short operating handle as I don't resize on it at all.

To be technical, a Redding T-7 is a single stage press.

I would recommend you keep the old press and just use it for decapping all your different cases.
A decapping die will handle all of them except the very largest cases.
As for a turret press, ive been using a Redding for many years with no issues.

Technically, you are correct.

Shrapnel,
I've got a PW Metallic II press and I've been using it for over 20years. Very strong.
Soup

If folks are reading this and wondering if a turret press might be a good idea, let me throw in a middle option between a single stage press and a turret.\

Hornady Lock-N-Load Press and Die Conversion Bushing Kit

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



I got into these after I purchased my LNL Progressive. They offer a quick-change alternative. There is a bushing that goes on the press and then one goes on each die. You can switch dies with just fingers and the settings stay constant. I've been using them for several years now on some of my hdie sets, and I can say only positive things about them. A 10-pack of bushings cost $60.

I just posted this over in the reloading forum. I'm very curious why I don't hear more about these. They seem to offer all the benefits of a turret press (quick switching between dies without the need to adjust/set up) for considerably less money, both up-front and over time as dies are added. I've been using them on a RockChucker for a decade, and have almost no complaints.

My one complaint is that dies set up this way don't fit into Redding die boxes especially well. At all, really.

If I had known then what I know now, I would have gotten it. I did tell him I will get it, but he lives 300 miles away…