Did Santa Goof in My Favor?

R

Rangerrich99

New member
So here's the deal: I asked Santa for a green turret press for Christmas, because in my case 'Santa,' is a short thirty-something red-head with absolutely no knowledge of guns or anything that's related to guns. So I literally told her to just tell the store clerk that I wanted "the green turret press," figuring that he'd trot out an RCBS.

In my defense, the four or five places I usually go to for reloading products only carry one brand of green: RCBS. So it never occurred to me to tell her a specific product name, as I had never seen any other green reloading equipment at my usual stores.

So imagine my surprise when I opened the box and found a Redding T-7 turret press.

So my question is simple: which turret press is the better performer? Do I keep the Redding or trade it in for the RCBS?

I'll be loading the usual suspects in pistol calibers as well as .223 rem, .30-06, and .308 for the foreseeable future.

Thanks in advance for your replies.
 
The Redding T-7 is on par or even better than the RCBS turret and will handle the calibers you mentioned with ease. Will last you your lifetime and your grandkids lifetime. They are built like a tank.
 
The Redding is a growling Grizzly bear and the RCBS is a friendly, picnic basket loving black bear.

Definitely keep the Redding!
 
If you mean you were asking for a RCBS Rock Chucker... Then heck yes keep the T-7.

Nothing the matter with a Rock Chucker... but the T-7 is better.

You will find out soon enough how much of a pain it can be to change dies frequently....lol
 
Santa Claus is a civil servant. Civil servants don't make mistakes. Especially a red head. snicker.
"...keep the Redding or trade it in for the RCBS..." Redding and RCBS were the same company, at one time. QC is about the same. Been using a Redding single stage press for 40 years with no issues whatever, myself.
 
If you mean you were asking for a RCBS Rock Chucker... Then heck yes keep the T-7.

Nothing the matter with a Rock Chucker... but the T-7 is better.
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It was supposed to be an RCBS Turret press, not a Rockchucker. At the time I thought it represented the best bang-for-your-buck in a turret press.

I've done a little research on the T-7 and so far it looks like I can expect more precise and consistent bullet production on it, than with either the RCBS Turret or the Lee Turret. Which means I can probably produce high quality rifle ammunition, negating my need for a single stage?

I might keep the single stage on the bench anyway . . .
 
so far it looks like I can expect more precise and consistent bullet production on it, than with either the RCBS Turret or the Lee Turret. Which means I can probably produce high quality rifle ammunition, negating my need for a single stage?

I might keep the single stage on the bench anyway . . .
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Correct.....and good plan. The single stage should always be on your bench....unless you get a better single stage.

Now you can save up for a progressive......to add to your bench.:cool:

You can't have too many presses....unless bench space is too short. The fix....more bench space.:rolleyes:
 
Those single stage presses can be quite necessary for some calibers, I use mine to load .577-450 Martini Henry and .50BMG, you'll never do that with a progressive press, unless you want to spend $2000 on the Dillion setup for the .50BMG.

If you have an oddball antique caliber to load up, that single stage is ideal. Especially if it's for a buddy, let him furnish the dies and you set it up, you'll have a reloading buddy, what's better than that?

As an aside, the Lee die sets for the Martini and Browning cartridges are the best deal on the planet.
 
I agree with the consensus: Keep the T-7. It's a good press, and arguably better than the RCBS turret.


I am, admittedly, biased.
My bench currently sports green, dark green, black, and red presses (previously light blue, as well).

The best press out of all of them is the T-7.

I like my Rockchucker, and it lives in a world where there are some jobs that are only suitable for the Rockchucker, but the T-7 is the workhorse that feeds most of my firearms. (I even gave up a Dillon 550 after getting the T-7, because I preferred working with the turret, even though it was slower.)

The few RCBS turret presses that I've been able to play with haven't impressed me. If anything, they were a big disappointment due to poor tolerances, resulting in way too much slop in the ram and linkage.

The Lyman T-Mag II turret on the end? ...Boat anchor. Hunk of crap. I always have problems trying to set it up (which is difficult to believe, since it's such a simple concept!). The Lyman turret presses are in such low demand that I haven't been able to sell this one with nearly zero use, at asking prices as low as 50% of retail sale prices. (Which is still 30% lower than Lyman wants for refurbished examples.)



The only real downside of the T-7, compared to other turret presses, is that turrets are fairly expensive and changing them may not be an option. My T-7, like quite a few other owners have reported, has a center bolt that cannot be removed. It was either over-torqued or loctited at the factory, and simply won't move.

But, I never planned to swap turrets, anyway. I mostly wanted the extra pre-set die storage, and the ability to always have my .32 revolver dies available without having to remove them to reload something else. So, for me, the frozen center bolt isn't a problem.
 
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I purchased a Redding T7 turret press a few months ago, and I love it. I get much more consistent sizing and OAL measurements than I did with my Hornady LNL AP. I think that you will enjoy the Redding.
 
I don't think many would argue against the build quality, durability and attention to detail of any Redding tool -- especially a press.

I think it is a fallacy that folks believe they can make "better" ammo with it than with another press.

If the Redding is what the wife got you, you're in fine shape. If I were choosing a turret press for myself right now, I'm 100% selecting the Lee Classic Turret. And I'd buy a dozen & a half turrets for all that I load. Turrets are dirt cheap and swap in/out in 1.5 seconds.

I know by demonstrated fact what my ammo produced on two Lee presses is capable of doing. ;)
 
The plan of keeping them both on the bench is good. I have a Redding single stage at one end and a seventy year old Lyman turret at the other. The turret isn't conveniently placed. It's a pain when setting up new loads, but I still use that single stage far more than I do the turret.

It took me an hour to set the dies properly initially, but now, they're locked in and are plug and play unless I have to change seating depth. Whether it's fifty or 500 rounds, I don't think it takes a significant amount of time to set up and use either press.

All of this depends on how you shoot and load.once, I was putting together thousands of rounds of nine mm. I locked the dies in the turret and worked on it for weeks. Last month I worked up fifty rounds of a new .357. I just don't see a way that a turret would make that easier. They serve me best as a session loader, or a seasonal loader when I'm going to return to the same cartridge over and over, while using the single stage for anything else.
 
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