Redding T-7 ?

[R.Morehouse]

Going to get the T-7 press from Redding and was wondering if there are any opinions on the primer option available with it? I have only ever hand primed and like the feel of it to judge the health of the pockets. Does the T-7 option offer a decent feel to it?.....Thank's....Rick

 

[Broz]

Rick, it comes with a primer lever but I rarely use it. I too prefer the feel of a hand primer. When comparing the two the T-7 will not give the feel you get with a hand primer tool. I do use it once in a while like this. I drop a primed case and dent the neck. So I open the dented neck back up and run it through the neck size die. This knocks out the primer so I flip the priming arm up and place a single primer in and seat it. Saves a little time than setting up my hand primer for one case.

If you have a little extra $ in the budget a second turret for the price is handy. Depending on how many rifles you load for.

I think you will love the T-7, I sure do.

Jeff

 

[g0rd0]

IMHO the T7 is the cadalac of turret presses, good choice.
As for primeing, I use the hand prime from Lee, I just love the feel of it

 

[dig]

Great press, I use one with different turrets set up. I too prefer to hand prime. Tried the priming option but to slow not enough feel.

 

[boomtube]

"Going to get the T-7 press ..."

I wonder why? I mean, it's good but it's just a turret press and I wonder what you hope that feature will gain you? IMHO, presses are greatly over agonized, they all work quite well for me. A turret rig is only slightly 'faster' than a single stage because it's basically a single stage with die storage; you will still have to install and remove dies when changing calibers. IF I were willing to pay that kind of price for something as simple as a loading press I go straight to Redding's massively strong and quite rigid Ultramag. (Foster's CoAx is also excellant in that price range but I don't care for it's ergonomics.)

Good rifle ammo can be made on any press if the loader knows what he's doing but the rigidity and precise ram-to-die alignment of a single stage press makes it easier to do good work. All presses have much more body flex under load than most folk realize and turret presses obviously have more flex than a single stage; that turret attachment simply has to have some looseness or it couldn't turn! (Anyone who thinks his pet turret press - or any other press - is "rigid" simply hasn't used a machinest's dial indicator on it to see what actually happens under load.)

I find that a turret press is best used for large volumes of handgun (straight wall) ammo. Lee's Classsic Turret with the auto-indexing feature is as good as any and is much faster than a manual turret. And Lee's turret head price is low enough to make it a practical choice to actually have pre-loaded die heads standing by.

I have a preference for Lee's old AutoPrime hand tools. They work well for me and I've been using the same two (a large and small primer set up) since 1990 without breaking anything or wearing anything out -- but I'm not a mechanical klutz.

 

[Broz]

I never remove my dies from the T-7. I have a few extra turrets. So, if straying from the two calibers I load most one bolt to remove and replace and next turret is on and ready. My dies are always set to exactly the same depth as they are never removed. Cases sizing, shoulder bump and seating always the same. I find this a very nice option that saves time. Especially if I want to load a small batch like during load development where the change from the neck , to body, to seating die is a simple click with one hand.

Jeff

 

[Reloader222]

I also bought a T-7, but there was a small play on the turret. I emailed Redding and within 24 hours they had given me the instructions how to correct it. The T-7 is an excellent press!

 

[R.Morehouse]

Thank's for the input. I will be passing on the primer option and picking up the T-7 with an extra turret. I like my Rockchucker just fine and will continue to use it. Plenty to load for around here and the T-7 will sure help.....C'mon Spring

 

[dig]

Boomtube, you got its it's convenient. Having multiple turrets set up saves a ton of time a leads to more consistency. I simply swap turrets and I'm good to go, adjustments are RARELY necessary. I tork the turret screw same each time. I use both a Redding T7 and a Lyman T Mag. They both produce excellent ammo, I like the T7 better but have more calibers set up on the Lyman. Think of it this way. On one Turret I get a dedicated depriming die, (I deprime prior to tumbling) and three calibers set up or a prep turret with bullet puller. No screwing in dies, less time measuring and adjusting, no brainier. Agree that most any modern press will turn out accurate ammo, most are heavy duty quality built this is just a more efficient way to do it. As for priming have always found the Lee or RCBS tools to be much quicker and lend a feel for seating the primers, don't know why anyone would use the press other than shear economics these days.

 

[Zep]

My first metallic press. I am very happy with it.

 

[rfd]

i've had a t-7 for about 2 years, using it to load 45acp (4 dies) and 45-70 (3 dies). it's massive and powerful, like a t-rex - arguably the rolls-royce of turret presses. i use a lee classic breech load single stage press for 30-06, 308 and 243. almost all my dies are redding, with their competition seaters, and lyman "m" expanders.

the only thing to be aware of with the t-7 is to periodically make Sure the turret is seated down tight - if not, it will allow the turret to lift up more than it should, and then all the dies will short stroke = not good. i bought mine brand new and it didn't come with the allen key required to seat the turret. that should be a mandatory tool supplied by redding.

i use the redding sleeve priming tube only for 45acp. it works extremely well for me. to set it up properly, you will need to tweak priming arm adjustment for length of travel. this makes building good pistol rounds lots faster, and worth taking some time to properly set up. i prefer to hand prime all my rifle cartridges.

 

[R.Morehouse]

Nice set-up you have there. When seating the turret do you secure it to a set torque # or just a feel ?

 

[rfd]

what a dang mess! a very busy looking loading table that always gets cleared away and tidied up when actually loading rounds. i just put everything that i could fit on the table for the pic. lotsa stuff is missing.

between the t-rex and the breech load, i'm pretty well covered for making really accurate rounds. that little lee press off in the back is strictly for punching out .45-70 wads and sizing lead boolits that i cast - you can see the boolit catching red plastic hopper installed.

powder management not shown - though there's an rcbs 505 analog beam scale under that plastic hood on the table, i rarely use it. i have a jennings mack 20 digital scale that i mostly use and a gem pro 250 to back it up. both are accurate to +/- .02 grains. i use a cheap lee powder measure to under throw the charge and then bring the weight up to spex with an omega power trickler. in the past i tried all manner of powder throwers and none were accurate enuf for me, particularly with small 4 and 5 grain pistol charges. then i went to a full blown automatic rcbs chargemaster. which works pretty darned well, but at best it will do about +/- .2 grains. that omega power trickler is just perfect and the charges are never off by more than +/- .03 grains. that's good enuf for me, for both pistol and much heftier rifle charges for .30-06 and .45-70 loads.

with the t-rex press, i just snug down the turret bolt tight and check it once a week or month. you can pretty much feel when it's loosening. the more you use the press, the more that dang bolt wants to loosen. i need to call redding up about that, today. maybe it needs a lock washer.