Whats the realistic rounds per hour you can produce on a turret press for something simple like 38 special ?

This would be assuming an automatic powder dispenser/thrower is used and a period weight check on scales, and working at a steady safe rate.

I'd also possibly use a hand primer for convenience.

RCBS says 200 per hour in progressive mode for their turret press - Is this realistic or just for marketing ?

Other presses I'd be interested in are the Lee Turret, the Lyman T-Mag II, and the Dillon AT500.

I use the Lee Turret for all my reloading. I deprime the cases in a seperate step and then tumble them. From there I use the Lee Auto Prime and then start on the press. 200 loads per hour would be very easy.

I've got a Lee Loadmaster Progressive press on the bench also and use it for some specific ammo but I truly favor the turret press.

Michael

I use the Lee Turret for all my reloading. I deprime the cases in a seperate step and then tumble them. From there I use the Lee Auto Prime and then start on the press. 200 loads per hour would be very easy.

I've got a Lee Loadmaster Progressive press on the bench also and use it for some specific ammo but I truly favor the turret press.

Michael
Loral, I'm with RD on this one....I have a Lee 4 hole turret Deluxe pistol kit and can EASILY run 250 rounds or better without pushing myself. Once you get your flow going (meaning: press setup, component, scale etc location) things go very smoothly and quick. Good luck load and shoot safely....mack

I guess I'm slower, my Lee turret rate is probably 100 per hour. I use a Dillon 550B when I need to go faster.

I started with a Lyman All American Turret press. It's a 4 holer. I prime with the press and use a Lyman 55 measure. 150 rounds per hour is about all I can do.

I'm new to reloading and I purchased a new Lyman T-Mag and let me tell you that thing is built like a tank....now I haven't started reloading yet so I haven't used it....I'm looking for one of those old steel office desk to use as a reloading bench. A couple of my friends that reload are using rockcruchers and they are impress with the press.

David

Go to the military or State and get a surplus desk or even a workbench. If you want to spend an afternoon building a decent bench for reloading you can download plans from the reloading manufacturers association. Turret presses are convenient because all your dies are set up and all you have to do is put in the cartridge and pull the handle. I use a Redding T-7 and deprime all cases with the RCBS universal die. Once all the cases have been tumbled and prepped you can really swing. What takes time is the prep work. If you really want to pump out a lot of handgun shells the Hornaday progressive seems to be the least expensive for a whole lot of volume.

I have a pair of Lee Pro-1000's progressive presses and I can run 350-400 rounds an hour without rushing on my normal bench. I care more about good loads versus how many per hour.

I have been using the Frankford Arsenal Portable Reloading Stand for a couple weeks now and I am still getting used to it but right now my times are around half that as a guess.
(haven't taken a close check yet)

Using my Lee 4 hole turret press i can SAFELY load 200+ handgun cases an hour from start to finish...rifle cases i tend to go MUCH slower as they demand alot more finesse and precision(trimming, powder trickling, etc) and i can typically knock out 50 or so rifle rounds in an hour.

I use a RCBS Rockchucker with a piggy back conversion (5hole) and get about 200-250 per hour on a good day.

When doing 45acp I add a second seating die, 1st one just seats the bullet and the 2nd crimps. (Those are for a 625 S&W revolver not for a semi auto.) It was very touchy about seating lead bullets w/o shaving their sides while seating.

The biggest thing that slows me down is recharging the primer tubes.