Redding T7 turret press, Any good ?

[Barrelsniffer]

Does anyone use the above press ?

 

Also, how accurate (repeatable) are the loads from turrets? Are they any less than those made on a single stage press ?

I have the single at mo but may want to upgrade soon.

 

Mick

[Laurie]

Mick,

 

this is a very good press indeed. It's the only turret model that American precision shooting gurus Bill Gravatt and Fred Sinclair recommend. Having said that, it is heavy and expensive.

 

Pros - well made, produces ammunition that matches that of a good single-stage model. 7 stations. Powerful (subjectively up with the other big Redding single-stage presses, RCBS Rockchucker); very smooth. Spent primer catcher tube. Automatic primer system available as an optional extra. Can buy spare turrets and swap by undoing a single large bolt in the turret centre. Turret indexing is very positive. cartridge runout and case headspace consistency are both small - with most of the pricey single-stage jobs, marginally behind the best such as the Forster Co-Ax.

 

Cons - 23lbs! Price - was just over £200 from Norman Clark 18 months ago. Today with the pound dropping against the dollar? Takes a fair bit of effort to turn the turret, so better suited to batch rather than semi-progressive processing. The turret tilts under load (all turret presses do) until the back edge hits a 'stop peg' that is part of the main cast-iron frame. The gap is so small that you need feeler gauges to measure, (and stays constant for each of the 7 positions) but you need to set the dies deeply enough for the user to cam the operating mechanism over on full handle operation to get full and consistent sizing etc, which adds to operator effort and stress on the bench.

 

Why do you want a turret press - a basic question in this. If it's for semi-progressive operation, I'd recommend the much cheaper Lee Classic Cast turret (the recently introduced big one, not the original pistol cartridge sized model that is crap for precision reloading). My tests gave surprisingly good results from this model despite the turret tilting all over the place in the frame.

 

If it's to reduce time and effort in die changes, I'd say spend a bit extra and buy a Forster Co-Ax. This is the outstanding precision single-stage bench press IMHO, short of specialist BR types, and the 'snap-in' die holding facility lets you swap them in a couple of seconds without any tedious screwing around if you pardon the pun. Results are really good. It accepts tall dies too like the Redding and Forster comp dies, no problem. Very, very powerful and smooth.

 

PM me your email address again and I'll send on my press review articles for Target Sports mag and a T7 v Co-Ax comparative test for the Target Shooter online mag.

 

Laurie

[Barrelsniffer]

Mick,

 

this is a very good press indeed. It's the only turret model that American precision shooting gurus Bill Gravatt and Fred Sinclair recommend. Having said that, it is heavy and expensive.

 

Pros - well made, produces ammunition that matches that of a good single-stage model. 7 stations. Powerful (subjectively up with the other big Redding single-stage presses, RCBS Rockchucker); very smooth. Spent primer catcher tube. Automatic primer system available as an optional extra. Can buy spare turrets and swap by undoing a single large bolt in the turret centre. Turret indexing is very positive. cartridge runout and case headspace consistency are both small - with most of the pricey single-stage jobs, marginally behind the best such as the Forster Co-Ax.

 

Cons - 23lbs! Price - was just over £200 from Norman Clark 18 months ago. Today with the pound dropping against the dollar? Takes a fair bit of effort to turn the turret, so better suited to batch rather than semi-progressive processing. The turret tilts under load (all turret presses do) until the back edge hits a 'stop peg' that is part of the main cast-iron frame. The gap is so small that you need feeler gauges to measure, (and stays constant for each of the 7 positions) but you need to set the dies deeply enough for the user to cam the operating mechanism over on full handle operation to get full and consistent sizing etc, which adds to operator effort and stress on the bench.

 

Why do you want a turret press - a basic question in this. If it's for semi-progressive operation, I'd recommend the much cheaper Lee Classic Cast turret (the recently introduced big one, not the original pistol cartridge sized model that is crap for precision reloading). My tests gave surprisingly good results from this model despite the turret tilting all over the place in the frame.

 

If it's to reduce time and effort in die changes, I'd say spend a bit extra and buy a Forster Co-Ax. This is the outstanding precision single-stage bench press IMHO, short of specialist BR types, and the 'snap-in' die holding facility lets you swap them in a couple of seconds without any tedious screwing around if you pardon the pun. Results are really good. It accepts tall dies too like the Redding and Forster comp dies, no problem. Very, very powerful and smooth.

 

PM me your email address again and I'll send on my press review articles for Target Sports mag and a T7 v Co-Ax comparative test for the Target Shooter online mag.

 

Laurie

 

 

Hi Laurie

 

I have sent you a email.

 

Mick

[Foxshooter]

A cracking press. I know a few others who use them too

 

Its lovely not having to change dies or bugger about with different calibres. One turret, 3 calibres and a universal decapper

 

Mark

 

Have a look at prices on www.smartreloader.com

[sauer]

im no "specialist" bench rest shooter or anything and im fairly new to reloading as my brother was fdoing most of it. ( doing more masel now tho )

 

but for my 2 p worth i have a lyman T-mag turret press and its solid!!!! far better then the lee 4-hole press i used to have which wobbled all over ( but was still reasonably consistent )

 

but the Lyman T-mag is really wellmade and machined and is a heavy sturdy bit of kit

 

 

im impressed

 

 

sauer / paul