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david_r · March 14, 2013, 03:09 AM

The quantities that you are loading could all be done with Lee Loaders and a plastic hammer throughout the year. They could also be done over a month of weekends on a single stage or over a weekend on a turret.

I think a helpful question on choosing a press is, how many rounds of a given caliber do you want to reload at one time. With a single stage, you have to have enough loading blocks and real estate to hold every round in that batch. Not such a big deal for 50 rounds. 200 rounds become a bit cumbersome.

Even with a turret press, you can load in batch mode like a single stage press. I would recommend one do that anyway when starting out to get familiar with all the steps. When operating in continuous mode, it is really easy to seat a bullet and then ask yourself, "Self, did I check the powder level in that round?"

The biggest time saver with the turret is the handling of shells. It is amazing how much time is wasted putting the shell in, taking it out, wash, rinse, repeat.

I looked at both the LCT and the RCBS. I would recommend you look very hard at all the presses in a given category. I did and chose the LCT.
Here is a video of the RCBS starring one of their engineers. It left me with cold feet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5KyQzigVLk

Here is a video from Lee Precision on their LCT. More of what I was looking for in a turret press.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=FDfOO2j0zYI

Here is a google search if you want to look further into the RCBS turret. Lots of insight from owners of them.
site:thefiringline.com rcbs turret Just copy that into google.

RCBS customer service is apparently the best there is. I hope they never start enforcing their warranty. That would be a real bummer for all their fans.

As far as wear and quality on the LCT. The whole thing is steel and iron. There is a plastic piece that is a guide clamp for the indexer and a plastic drive bushing for the indexer that is designed to break if you do something silly. In pictures, the top of the press appears to be aluminum. My magnet says it is definitely steel. The turrets are cast aluminum. The turret is held in position around the edge. This is actually a great design feature. When you run a shell up into a die, the entire turret rises until the teeth of the turret contact the inside of the steel top piece. There is no way for the turret to rock backwards like on the other brands designs.

This is the only turret that can auto index. I think it might also be the only turret that can run in a full circle instead of having to index back and forth to get to the die you want. as mentioned, turrets are so cheap, there's no reason not to have one for each die set you own. If you need a fifth die, you are out of luck but I don't have a need for five or more dies in any single round.

Regarding single stage presses and resetting dies. Once you have your lock rings set for a particular press, it is really quick to change your dies back and forth. It takes about 20 seconds to get a bullet seater back where you need it to be, flaring is simply accomplished by eye and crimping is easily set with your pistol barrel.

March 14, 2013, 03:09 AM	#10
david_r Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2013 Posts: 131	The quantities that you are loading could all be done with Lee Loaders and a plastic hammer throughout the year. They could also be done over a month of weekends on a single stage or over a weekend on a turret. I think a helpful question on choosing a press is, how many rounds of a given caliber do you want to reload at one time. With a single stage, you have to have enough loading blocks and real estate to hold every round in that batch. Not such a big deal for 50 rounds. 200 rounds become a bit cumbersome. Even with a turret press, you can load in batch mode like a single stage press. I would recommend one do that anyway when starting out to get familiar with all the steps. When operating in continuous mode, it is really easy to seat a bullet and then ask yourself, "Self, did I check the powder level in that round?" The biggest time saver with the turret is the handling of shells. It is amazing how much time is wasted putting the shell in, taking it out, wash, rinse, repeat. I looked at both the LCT and the RCBS. I would recommend you look very hard at all the presses in a given category. I did and chose the LCT. Here is a video of the RCBS starring one of their engineers. It left me with cold feet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5KyQzigVLk Here is a video from Lee Precision on their LCT. More of what I was looking for in a turret press. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=FDfOO2j0zYI Here is a google search if you want to look further into the RCBS turret. Lots of insight from owners of them. site:thefiringline.com rcbs turret Just copy that into google. RCBS customer service is apparently the best there is. I hope they never start enforcing their warranty. That would be a real bummer for all their fans. As far as wear and quality on the LCT. The whole thing is steel and iron. There is a plastic piece that is a guide clamp for the indexer and a plastic drive bushing for the indexer that is designed to break if you do something silly. In pictures, the top of the press appears to be aluminum. My magnet says it is definitely steel. The turrets are cast aluminum. The turret is held in position around the edge. This is actually a great design feature. When you run a shell up into a die, the entire turret rises until the teeth of the turret contact the inside of the steel top piece. There is no way for the turret to rock backwards like on the other brands designs. This is the only turret that can auto index. I think it might also be the only turret that can run in a full circle instead of having to index back and forth to get to the die you want. as mentioned, turrets are so cheap, there's no reason not to have one for each die set you own. If you need a fifth die, you are out of luck but I don't have a need for five or more dies in any single round. Regarding single stage presses and resetting dies. Once you have your lock rings set for a particular press, it is really quick to change your dies back and forth. It takes about 20 seconds to get a bullet seater back where you need it to be, flaring is simply accomplished by eye and crimping is easily set with your pistol barrel.