Turret Press

      A turret press is an intermediate step between single stage and progressive presses in terms of volume of ammo produced, they are best suited for mid volume shooters. Although the lower end presses do not produce ammunition quite as precise as that loaded on a single stage press, it is perfectly acceptable for all hunting and general shooting purposes. Some competition shooters load on the higher end presses of this type, such as the Redding T-7.

      The general principle of this style press is that all dies are mounted on a turret head and can be rotated into and out of alignment with the press ram as needed. The turret head is a metal disc that sits on top of the press and has several holes tapped in it for dies. Depending on the brand and model turret press you choose the turrets will come with between three and seven holes for the dies. The turrets make reloading much faster than with a single stage press as there is no time wasted changing dies. Many reloaders choose to set up several calibers on the larger turrets, but some choose to have turrets designated to a caliber and switch them out as needed.

      Turret presses are available in two types, auto indexing and manual indexing. The difference between the two is the auto indexing presses automatically advance to the next die upon lowering the press ram, a manual indexing press must be advanced by hand.

Redding T-7

Manually indexed presses are typically operated much like a single stage press, the primary difference being you do not need to change the die after you are done using it. When you are done performing one step in the reloading process to your cartridges, you simply index to the next die and begin the next step. Due to the simplicity of the manual design these presses can be built to very tight, precise tolerances. This is a good thing for making top quality ammunition.

Although many companies offer manually indexed presses, three are most common; these are the Lyman T-Mag 2, RCBS Turret Press, and the Redding T-7 (pictured at left). Of the three the Redding T-7 gets the most favorable reviews. It has one especially unique feature, a positive stop on the back side of the turret. This prevents any flex at all in the turret head and leads to the most precise ammunition possible with this style press. The RCBS is also well reviewed, but some people have had issues with the primer catcher. The Lyman seems to be the light weight press, many people note flex in the turret head during use.

      Lee Precision offers the only auto indexing presses. They offer two versions, the standard turret press and the classic turret press (pictured at right). Both are very good presses for the money, but the classic turret press is by far superior. The linkages are stronger and setup is much easier.

      The auto indexing presses are, in my opinion, best suited to making bulk pistol ammunition with carbide dies. With the carbide dies there is no need to lubricate the brass; this means you can simply pull the handle 3 or 4 times and have a fully loaded complete round. If you are loading rifle ammunition with this press I have found it best to convert it to single stage. This is very easily accomplished by simply removing the indexing mechanism. Due to the nature of the auto indexing presses they are built with fairly loose tolerances. The turret heads will shift up to 0.120” during operation. My C.O.L. varied up to 0.015” on rifle rounds when loading rifle ammunition on the Lee Classic Turret Press, I found that unsuitable for the match quality ammo I make. I have found that this much variation does not affect pistol ammo in the slightest. Most shooters will never notice this difference even in their rifle ammunition.

      The turrets for the Lee presses are inexpensive and available in three and four die versions, depending on which model press you purchase. The die heads are quick and simple to change out, just turn it halfway between stations and lift it out. This feature enables you to set different calibers up on different turrets, when you want to change the caliber you are loading you just snap the current head out and put a new one in. Priming on the Lee Classic Turret press is easy with Lee’s Safety Prime tool; you just click a primer out onto the priming lever, and then lower the ram fully to prime the case. I have used my Lee Classic Cast press to load pistol ammunition for quite a while now without any issues. If you choose to purchase this press I advise purchasing a powder dispenser to go with it. The dispenser can be mounted on the turret and greatly increases the speed with which you can reload.

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