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[bazineta]

If the shell holder does not move, only is taller or shorter depending on which one you get, why not just screw down the die a little more instead?

Stilly, in my case, it's the other direction; when the die is nicely squared up against the standard shell holder, my full-length die sizes the brass about 7 thou under SAAMI minimum, and that's shorter than I'd like.

I'd rather not back the die out. With the competition shell holder, I can just reduce the bump by 6 thou and end up 1 thou under.

[tonyjr]

In my case , I have a Lee load master .
If I use one of the shell plates for the 50 A E , the pills want to cock . The other one is fine . Both work well / good on the 44 mag .
Since I hand place the 44 and 50 [ some times even the 357 and 45 pills ] because they just get top heavy , don't like the colander [ the pills ] having to shake the case tubes , it is easier and faster to just hand place .
I kind of think like you - explain it and after people can say " I knew that " instead of nobody told me or what does that mean .

[Metal God]

bazineta explained it well and I'd like to add to that .

If you screw your die down enough to have hard contact with "a" shell holder with cam over if applicable . Keeping in mind I'm talking about presses that use shell holders like single stage and turret presses . That will remove all press deflection .

If I have hard contact with die and standard shell holder . That will size my cases about .006 shorter from head to datum point then I want . In that case I use the #6 competition shell holder allowing my die and shell holder to still make that hard contact while at the same time sizing the case .006 longer from head to datum point . When set up properly my cases come out +/- .0005 from one another . If I'm looking to size the case to 1.630 they are no shorter then 1.6295 and no longer then 1.6305 . Before using the comp shell holders I would have a swing as much as +/- .0025 . That's not good when you only want to bump the shoulder .002 because sometimes they don't bump at all

[JagerDog]

I love my T-7. Holds 2-3 calibers in 1 toolhead so dies stay adjusted. I batch process on it, but will go back to a previous die to fix a booboo midstream. The integrity of a single-stage but the convenience of changing dies on the fly.

It's priming system leaves a bit to be desired, so I prime on a stand alone RCBS priming tool or a Lee Auto-prime II on the press.

No need to feel you HAVE to batch process all your brass at one time. Have 1000 pcs? Wanna load up 250? After that 250 you decide another 250 would be a good thing? Just rotate the tool head back to square one. On the single stage I would usually prime and bell the 1000. Then drop powder and pills sometime down the road in smaller lots.

[tonyjr]

I wanted [ still do - but can not afford ] because kind of anal about reloading .
One die for decapping , 1 for sizing , 1 for belling , one for bumping shoulder
Not a big fan of one size fits all .
On bottle necks , I use 2 tool heads - one for prepping [ then cleaning brass lube off ] and then change head for dropping powder . pills , OAL , crimping .
Lee's priming system sucks too .

[Redemption]

Well since this is a DISCUSSION FORUM and NOT A WTB/WTS forum, I guess you came here to discuss why you want a T-7 instead of any other presses. Oh, Please do not post things in the forums while you are acting like a zombie on your phone and walking into things. You clearly need MORE ATTENTION to what you are doing and you appear to only have enough attention to give to ONE thing at a time...

So why do you want a T-7?

Have you even seen the RCBS turret? It TOO is green...

LOL Stilly..... LOL I just cant even LOL

You do not want a Redding. You need something simple since you have proven you cannot follow directions. I would not want you to hurt yourself or someone near you with what you would make on that press.
I think lee makes a hand loader more suited for you or better yet just buy factory ammo.

Now if you want to DISCUSS the merits of the Redding over other presses or if you even need a turret press then this is where you want to post. Also if you have questions about HOW to reload this is the place to be.

I love it, brutal...


TO THE OP:

Bud, you need to me a little more clear about what it is that you are asking for. I know it probably seems like people are being mean to you but... I want you to think very hard about this. If you mess up a little in this hobby you damage your firearm, if you mess up bad, you or anyone with the misfortune of standing near you, or using your ammo can get hurt or even killed. So if you are going to step into this world, before you even consider buying a press you need to consider if you are able to come at it with the serious mindedness and attention to detail that is needed to do this safely.

For you specifically I am going to suggest a single stage press, get your bearings, learn the fundimentals and if after a few hundred safely loaded rounds you still feel like this is something you want to continue with, then move onto a more advanced press... Ive been reloading two years and I only just very recently stepped into a progressive press... lotta stuff going on, lots of moving parts that need your attention, and you need to know what to do with them or you are going to end up angry, out money and no longer interested.....or worse.

[stilly]

My only open faced press is the Spartan that I am currently running but I am tired of it already because it sits the shells at an angle and makes it a pita to decap. BUT all I do is decap with the press so I live with it. Oh, I also size my pills too. But I have not really loaded anything on it. I will have a look at that next time I am out there.

Another thing about cam-over is that I THOUGHT that with carbide dies that you should not cam-over or you could crack the rings. Okay so that makes sense, it is a back and forth game possibly.

Good photos. Makes a LITTLE more sense now as to why you would do that. For my applications though it does not matter at this point since I only want to resize ammos on the workhorse press. Maybe I should move the JRRC back on.

Thank you for the info.

[Osburnjd]

I have a T7. It is the only press I have used and I have been happy with it going on 2 years now. I use it for pistol and rifle. Changing dies on a single stage would have driven me nuts after a couple of reloading sessions. Take your time, understand the process and you will be happy. I suggest running your first couple of rounds without a primer or powder and check your measurements. You will quickly get the hang of it. I also use the Redding primer system. It took some effort to work the bugs out which mostly consisted of adjustment and operator problems. I typically seat 98-99% of primers without issue. The T7 is a good product. The primer system could probably be better but suits my needs fine.


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[bazineta]

While I did buy the 100-primer tube system for my T7, I don't use it now. It works fine; there's nothing wrong with it. However, to take a page from Stilly here, I've come to think that Lee had some important things to say about primers, and I've since grown hesitant to stack 100 of them in a tube.

I prime using a hand primer from 21st Century, but that's just me. I think a sane individual would look at the new Lee priming options instead. That 21st Century tool though -- nicely made.

[hambam105]

A Redding T7 is a fine machine. You and your grandkids will be using that machine without fail. A T7 might cost more to buy but would cost less to own as compared to a Lee Press over a period of 20 years of hard everyday work.

The reality of the reloading situation is that one day soon you will belly-up to the counter and lay down twice the amount of money on reloading components as you did on press acquisition. So you might as well spend your money on quality.

Sorry guys, I just don't see the quality of any Lee Press to be on par with Redding's presses.

[tonyjr]

hambam105
I don't agree .
Maybe , if you only load a pistol and rifle - but in my case , I load 15 calibers .
I have 22 tool heads [ one spare and just ordered 2 more . ]
Granted , I might get by with less tool heads with 7 die holes , but that would only help on bottle necks .
Don't get wrong Idea - when I bought the Lee it was the only press they had that took 4 or more dies and it was an open box return .
At that time Lee was the only one who had carbide die for my 50 AE [ Lee had a special run of them ] Right now you have to special order the 50 AE dies from redding .
Redding , Dillon and other press makers know what their press can handle .
Go to there web sites and look for dies for the 17 , 25 ACP , 41 mag , 50 AE . Then write down I won't buy there calibers because I can't reload .
And yes if I can break it or wear it out , I probably have on loadmaster .

[hambam105]

Tonyjr,

On your past advise, I've decided to buy some Lee presses to prove myself wrong about my above post. Now that is a weird sentence.

There are just too many experienced rifle shooters out there that use Lee so I'm just going to have try it myself. My 1978 Rock Chucker and Dillion 450 have never let me down. So it's not the equipment that is changing rather it's me that is changing and I just want to try out a new press.

[tonyjr]

I hope you realize we are taking CHEVY , FORD and DODGE .
I would say 95% of time it is cheaper to buy Lee .
But the 80% of my relatives prefer stick shifts to Autos . Lee's primer system sucks [ but from what has been posted , others are not much better . ]
My biggest complaint is only 5 dies in the load master . For pistols - one or 2 more would be nice . rifles [ bottle necks ] , so far 5 is enough .
I deprime and prime by hand .

[stilly]

I hope you realize we are taking CHEVY , FORD and DODGE .
I would say 95% of time it is cheaper to buy Lee .
But the 80% of my relatives prefer stick shifts to Autos . Lee's primer system sucks [ but from what has been posted , others are not much better . ]
My biggest complaint is only 5 dies in the load master . For pistols - one or 2 more would be nice . rifles [ bottle necks ] , so far 5 is enough .
I deprime and prime by hand .

That is the secret to the Loadmaster. If you remove the priming of CERTAIN calibers from it, then it can run flawlessly and for the price you pay for the thing, well, it sure DID put a smile on my face all of the way through all 10k 9mm rounds when it was running great...

I only primed 9mm though, I am now gearing up to do 1k .44 mag, 1k .40 and 10k 9mm again.


Hey that reminds me. Where has Cowboy gone to?

Is he still around?

[tonyjr]

On the 44 and 50 AE , I had place the shell casings and bullets [ pills ] . They get to heavy . The 50 AE , neither want to fit easily . I also dip the pills in ground mica . It [ ground mica ] dirty ups the tubes and rubs off .
Sometimes I hand feed the 45 ACP . This is when the cases have not been annealed after 5 reloads , start splitting or range pick-ups .
I also use a bungie cord [ the little black ones in the package of 10-15 @ harbor freight . ] around the tubes / press and rubber bands about 1/2 down the colander .
Most of the lee people know this , but some might not .