I would be grateful if anyone has a parts breakdown
for my old lyman turret press. It is grey with a red reound turret on top. It has an auto primer feed and a primer catch pan, also red plastic. I believe I got it in thew 1970's.

Thanks Dave

Guess I've never seen a red/grey Lyman reloading press. Only Lyman's I've seen have all been orange/black.

Welcome to the board, though.

Your press is likely the "Spar-T", a predecessor to the "Special T", a predecessor to the "T-Mag". All were early turret presses and really work well for handgun stuff, so-so for large rifle cases due to the lack of compound leverage.

The press's parts are few and assembly is simple. The only hidden parts are a small stiff spring and ball bearing under the turret top that serve as a detent stop. If the turret is sticking or what ever, remove it. Then clean and grease the ball/spring and the center bolt and washers. Reinstall the top and tighten the retaining nut until the turret locks, then back the nut off until you are comfortable with the turning resistance.

Those presses are good but they were made before "snap-in" shell holders became standard, their shell holders are retained by an allen head set screw. If you have a friend with a metal lathe it is easy to remove the screw and turn a shallow ring around the ram to take a snap-in type retaining spring. The spring is inexpensive and installing one will modernise your shell holder system, but the screw really works well enough as it is.

Your press is likely the "Spar-T", a predecessor to the "Special T", a predecessor to the "T-Mag". All were early turret presses and really work well for handgun stuff, so-so for large rifle cases due to the lack of compound leverage.

The press's parts are few and assembly is simple. The only hidden parts are a small stiff spring and ball bearing under the turret top that serve as a detent stop. If the turret is sticking or what ever, remove it. Then clean and grease the ball/spring and the center bolt and washers. Reinstall the top and tighten the retaining nut until the turret locks, then back the nut off until you are comfortable with the turning resistance.

Those presses are good but they were made before "snap-in" shell holders became standard, their shell holders are retained by an allen head set screw. If you have a friend with a metal lathe it is easy to remove the screw and turn a shallow ring around the ram to take a snap-in type retaining spring. The spring is inexpensive and installing one will modernise your shell holder system, but the screw really works well enough as it is.


My Spar-T has a snap in shell holder and the ram is stamped RCBS; and it's still running good..

My Spar-T has a snap in shell holder and the ram is stamped RCBS; and it's still running good..

Yeah Danny, exchanging the old ram for a newer one is an option I never even considered but I see that it would work fine since those rams are the same size..

I have an old South Bend 9" lathe so I just cut a grove in my original Spar-T's ram and used a replacement RCBS retaining spring.

As a fun experiment I also cut the original length of the ram guide to about half its length and fashioned a set of new steel bar (swinging type) links to connect the lever. That modification converted it into a modern compond-toggle link press, it works MUCH easier now!

I have an old Lyman manual w/ the parts breakdown for the Special-T and Spar-T press. Will wait on your reply.

I have an old Lyman manual w/ the parts breakdown for the Special-T and Spar-T press. Will wait on your reply.


I've got one in vey good condition that I'm going to put on ebay next week if anyone interested; it also has the auto primer feed and both tubes.

I've still got mine, too. Same colors and all. Primer parts, too. Haven't used it since getting Dillons, but loaded many a pistol round on it in the early 80's.

Guess I've never seen a red/grey Lyman reloading press. Only Lyman's I've seen have all been orange/black.

My first press, the Lyman single stage Spartan circa 1963, was grey in the main casting, blued ram, with a red rubber grip on the operating handle. When someone says they've never seen one of these, I get another white hair on my head. :(

Have one in my basement but can't remember when I got it. Have used it for years until I got a bonanza coax press for single stage and reddingT-7. The auto prime the lyman didn't work as well as I liked so use a forester primer and wore out the threads on the handle so welded it on tight. Not many moving parts as the post above states. simple but it works.

dmebersole,
Here is a scan of the Lyman parts book for your press. I have the same one set up that was my fathers from the 80's. Still works great. Hope this helps...

I have an old Lyman 'All American' on a corner of my bench. It came set up with Lyman's proprietary shell holders. I have the adapter they made that allows the use of standard shell holders & I think you can still get the adapter for a reasonable price from Lyman.