Lyman turret press opinons...

[lhump1961]

I have been researching reloading presses and like the price of the turret presses for my purposes. I did a search here and didn't see much about the Lyman turret press but did see a whole lot on the other major brands. There doesn't seem to be as many out there and would appreciate any opinions to fill the gaps. I ask about the Lyman because it seems to be the most versatile of the turret presses...feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

 

[john16443]

Well, for me the need to manually index the Lyman is the first thing that would keep me away, the cost is the second. One advantage that could be given to it is the availabiity of 6 stations that may or may not be considered an advantage by you.

There are many, many forum members that use and love the Lee Classic turret press. If you've evaluated it, what if anything, did you not like about it? Mine just plain worked when I used it, but volume has caused me to move from my Lee turret to a Hornady LNL progressive.

 

[lhump1961]

Well, for me the need to manually index the Lyman is the first thing that would keep me away, the cost is the second. One advantage that could be given to it is the availabiity of 6 stations that may or may not be considered an advantage by you.

There are many, many forum members that use and love the Lee Classic turret press. If you've evaluated it, what if anything, did you not like about it? Mine just plain worked when I used it, but volume has caused me to move from my Lee turret to a Hornady LNL progressive.

Nothing to not like about the Lee...hear good things...but the Lyman has 6 slot turret vs. 4 on the Lee. Not sure if that is a huge plus but there it is. As for cost the Lyman is a little more but not enough to deter me if I found it had any advantages. Manual indexing seems more durable but that is the type of advice I am looking for.

Like I said...I find plenty of good words on the Lee, RCBS, ect....just looking for more user info on the Lyman. Thanks for the thumbs up on the Lee.

 

[WPWarhawk]

I am a big fan of the Lyman turret press, specifically the T-Mag press. Many years ago I started handloading using the orignal orange T-Mag press. At some point I decided to upgrade to the current model, the T-Mag II.

I do not need the speed of a progressive, and prefer to take it slower with my loading. But the turret press is still much faster than a single stage press, and I don't have to do all the die changes, I can leave the press set up for two calibers and never have to mess with dies.

 

[jimkim]

I used a Lyman T-Mag* turret press at our shop in the early '90s. It was a neat little press. The Lyman is basically the same as the RCBS in the article, except IMHO built with looser tolerances.
Real Guns - Lee Classic Turret, It's Not Just For Kids

* The T-Mag I used was the first model T-Mag not the present T-Mag II.

 

[Titegroups]

Something to note on turret presses, most people using the Lee presses auto index feature load each cartridge from empty to fully complete in a single cycle, was watching a youtube video of the redding turret press that does't have auto index and it shows them running all the cartridges through each stage before advancing to the next stage much like a single stage press operation. Two very different ways to operate a turret press.

 

[TheTinMan]

I bought a Lyman T-Mag II not long ago. I never tried the priming function on it, but it is solid. There is an adjusting stem in back to minimize deflection of the turret which is nice.

You can do 3 or at most 4 operations (stations) without moving the turret handle. For cartridges that have excess case capacity like .45 Auto or .38 Special, I bell, seat and crimp one case at a time. That's definitely faster than doing those 3 operations separately on a single-stage.

However, you should NOT bell a charged case of .357 Sig or 9x23 Winchester because the expander hits the powder (and yes, I figured that out the hard way).

You should be aware that the dies are very close together on the turret head. I had a collection of lock rings, so I was able to try different ones and flip them over to get the locking screw lined up so I could tighten it.

I only shoot 200-300 rounds a month so a progressive press did not seem cost effective. However, I'm reconsidering that notion and looking at Hornady's LNL AP. I enjoy taking my time hand loading rifle rounds but would rather get my production rate up with pistol rounds so I can spend more time shooting.

 

[sbeatty1983]

Ive got an old lyman turret press. I like it.

 

[tkdguy]

Original Orange Crusher--My firt Lyman..

This one is about 20 years old and is going strong. I use it with in building very accurate 30 06 and 338 ammo. I use 4 stations total because the primer assembly is quickest for the two stations on either side of it. I do not use it to load pistol ammo because for me doing 9mm, 38 or 357 is it too slow. I think it would be a very strong press for building 44 mag and larger pistol ammo.

I would look at what ever is competive proce wise if the Lyman is running several hundred bucks. Good luck.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I started on the old Lyman Spar-T and now have a Redding T-7. The extra die space always comes in handy. I usually have 3 sets of Redding compitition dies and a universal decapping die. I think you can load BR quality ammo on a T-mag II or a T-7, if your other equipment is up to it. The T-mag I & II and the Redding T-7 have a support oppisite the ram to support the turret, and make it almost as strong as a "D" press (without the front post in your way). The aluminum presses might last with good service and maintenance, but I know of a old True-line press that turns out match ammo (30-06) after 60 years on a barn work bench. If you buy good quality up front, you may add to it, but you won't need to replace it. One commercial reloader I know has a Spar-T one his bench with auxillary dies on it (e.g. decaping, bullet pulling, & ect.) Just don't do high stress functions on any turret press, like case forming or bullet swageing, as you might spring the rotation "shaft". I did that to a Spar-T (Dumb of me).

 

[smithnframe]

I have been using a Lyman Tru-line junior and a Lyman All-American turret press for over 40 years without any problems whatsoever! I dont hand index....I do one operation at a time on a quantity of cases then move to the next step. I'm not after speed when reloading I'm after accuracy. I wont use a progressive press. For one reason you cant clean the primer pockets and I like to at least look at the powder levels in the cases to check for uniformity. I also use a Forster Co-Axial single stage press and a Lee hand held press. Two days ago I reloaded 200 41 mag. cartridges in less than 2 hours. Thats fast enough for me.

 

[dickttx]

To quote someone on another post: A turret without auto-indexing (lee) is just expensive die storage.

 

[smithnframe]

You get what you pay for. Every piece of Lee equiptment I have ever used is inexpensive but it has also been repaired somewhere along the way. Usually a piece of pot metal breaks.

 

[Maximumbob54]

Tried a Lyman turret and just wasn't that impressed. It was bulky and awkward. The amount of stations was what caught my eye but it always seemed as slow as a single stage press in batch loading. The one nicety was that if I wanted to test a short run I could set the dies and crank out a few and come back later. I won't say it's a bad press, but I just wasn't impressed enough to buy my own.

Tried a Lee Classic and saw that you can lock down and leave the dies. New turrets are dirt cheap. And I've now made a rather large and massive pile of ammo on that press and never broke a part. The biggest danger in breaking anything is short stroking the press.

 

[budman461]

lhump,

i retired an ancient lyman spar-t after i got lee's classic cast turret, now my go-to press for most reloading chores. a dillon 550 and two square deals are only used for extended runs.

turrets rest in 11 oz. coffee cans marked with the cartridge; changeover take 15-20 seconds. i avoid auto-index, sizing and belling straight-wall cases before tumbling; when they come out, i prime (hand tool) and powder. lastly i seat the bullets and then crimp...4-hole turret, 4 dies, perfect!

lee's cast aluminum presses may work okay, but i prefer the cast classic which is strong enough to case-form for my oddball military rifles...even thinking about retiring my rockchucker.

 

[ol' geeser]

I started on a Lyman All American I bought from an old guy 35 yrs. ago....still going strong, no issues what so ever

 

[dickttx]

I started reloading with a Lyman All-American 40+ years ago. Nice press, but had to use only Lyman shellholders. When I started using it to size down 270/30-06 to 25 it would not handle it.
After several years absence I started reloading again a couple of years ago. Soon acquired a Lee Classic Turret with Safety Prime and Pro Auto Disk. With the auto indexing it is a completely different world than the die-storage type turrets.

 

[AABEN]

For hand gun the Lee is hard to beat also like loading my 223 on it. My T-Mag is what I load 22-250 up to 375

 

[johnjohn]

I started on a T-Mag (orange) and still like it. Went to a Crusher II and like it too. If it's speed you're after get a progressive. I'm just a slow old guy and always will be.