Turret vs Single Stage

[Doc. Holiday]

So I have been told my several that when you begin to reload, avoid a progressive press as it can be a little overwhelming for someone who hasn't reloaded (which makes total sense) and that if you are doing precision loads, NEVER do a progressive and always do a single stage.

My question is the reason you are supposed to avoid a progressive press is due to "the process being too quick and not given the proper attention to detail" or does it have to do with tolerances? I ask, because I am going to avoid a progressive press as I want to do precision loads for my .308, but I do plan on reloading .223 and 300 blackout in mass. I thought a good compromise would be something like an RCBS turret press or the Dillion turret press. Keeping my .308 process nice and slow, but having a press that can also bang out mass loads that don't need to be as precise as the competition .308 loads. (hope that makes sense)

Would a turret press be a good route to go with this thought processes? Or should I stick with a single stage press only?

[Gödel]

There is much to be said about learning the business of reloading before going to a progressive. But if your goal is mass production and you are reasonably mechanical, you could jump right in to a progressive.

Additionally, many progressives can be deconstructed into a turret. So you could just get what you want, assemble as a turret and go to progressive function when you're ready. That would be cheaper than building up a progressive compatible turret piece by piece.


Personally, I don't think turret presses are much faster than a single stage if you do each stage in lots (50 expands, 50 primes, 50 powder drops, etc.)


Consider buying a used .223 single or turret set up off Armslist locally as a starter. Could be cheap.

[boombotz401]

I started off on a single stage rock chucker and used it for years.

I now load bulk 9mm on a pro chucker progressive however I still use the single for my match rifle ammo

Point is get a single and learn the steps, then add a progressive....you'll always have a use for a single




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[cswpsi]

I started off on a single stage rock chucker and used it for years.

I now load bulk 9mm on a pro chucker progressive however I still use the single for my match rifle ammo

Point is get a single and learn the steps, then add a progressive....you'll always have a use for a single




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^^this

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[Lefty223]

There is a middle option, sort of - the turret press. With the Lee 3 or 4 hole turret press all dies for the caliber are right there. Of course this isn't progressive by any stretch, but when loading pistol calibers I'd run them a box of 50 at a time, moving 2 cases at a time through each step - size/deprime - belling the case mouth - then prime off the press using a handheld priming tool - followed by powder by an RCBS Lil' Dandy (uses rotors) - then seat the bullet and crimp using a taper crimp die. I could easily knock out premium handloads in no time.

I even use the same turret press for the milsurp and precision rifle loading. All I'm really saving in time is moving the dies around. Using the 4-hole turrets, on a caliber like 308 I can have full length sizer, a collet neck sizer, the seating die and the Lee factory crimp die. That crimp die is phenomenal for consistency in chronograph numbers and with the collet die, I don't need to full length size the bolt guns. And even in the turret, the runout is negligible to none.

[signal4l]

I've been using the Lee Auto indexing turret press for several years. It is slower than a progressive. It's much faster than the Lyman T mag turret i used to use. The Lee turret press is very good. The primer feed is the best I have used. I would start with this press. If you need to load 300 rounds in an hour you will need to upgrade

[gunnerblue]

I recommend to friends who are interested in reloading to start with a good quality turret press. It could be used as a single stage for someone who is just starting out, while enabling bulk ammo to be loaded at a much higher rate than a strict single stage. Depending on how much ammo is used, a progressive press may not even be necessary further down the road. FWIW, I use a Rockchucker and a Hornady Lock-n-Load.

[sjoliat]

I think a lot of this depends on just how fast you are looking to load. Personally, when I load my bulk loads, I can more than double my output by only using the powder thrower vs throwing and trickling like I do for precision loads. Have never timed it, but I swear it seems like I can do all the other steps in the same time it takes to weigh and trickle a charge. As far as the inherent precision of the press, I don't have a turret press to test against, but i have a hard time believing that a turret is as consistent as a fixed single stage. I hope to need something like a Dillon 650 one day, but for now my dual Rock chuckers do pretty well.

[MegademiC]

So I have been told my several that when you begin to reload, avoid a progressive press as it can be a little overwhelming for someone who hasn't reloaded (which makes total sense) and that if you are doing precision loads, NEVER do a progressive and always do a single stage.

My question is the reason you are supposed to avoid a progressive press is due to "the process being too quick and not given the proper attention to detail" or does it have to do with tolerances? I ask, because I am going to avoid a progressive press as I want to do precision loads for my .308, but I do plan on reloading .223 and 300 blackout in mass. I thought a good compromise would be something like an RCBS turret press or the Dillion turret press. Keeping my .308 process nice and slow, but having a press that can also bang out mass loads that don't need to be as precise as the competition .308 loads. (hope that makes sense)

Would a turret press be a good route to go with this thought processes? Or should I stick with a single stage press only?

As far as "learning" I would just get a progressive like a Dillon 550. I picked it up in one night. It's not rocket surgery.
My suggestion:
Do a few cycles one stage at a time to see what all goes on.
Then start and go slow, watch your powder dump, ensure good qc, and you'll fall into a rhythm.

I can't comment on accuracy as I reload pistol rounds only right now, but I found this: I'd pay special attention to markm's posts. https://www.m4carbine.net/archive/in...p/t-56655.html

[Doc. Holiday]

Agreed, Markm knows his stuff for sure!