onedash
Ultimate Member
I started with a Lee Classic Turret Press and it's still my only press. My 308 match ammo is all still done one at a time but I crank out handgun ammo as fast as it will let me. I started doing the same thing with .223 too.
I'm going to preface this post with the fact that I own and use a Lee Turret Press, a Lyman Crusher, and a Dillon 550.
There's a big difference between reloading pistol brass and the full size cartridges the OP wants to reload. Resizing a 7.62x54R takes a lot of grunt, and I stopped trying with the Lee Turret Press I have. Same with resizing 30-06 and 7mm Mauser. I don't think the Lee Turret Press is sturdy enough to take a steady diet of resizing those bigger cartridges. For bullet seating and such, it's fine. That's why, after 25+ years of reloading, the Lyman Crusher is still on my bench. After breaking an aluminum press while resizing 7mm-08 brass, I want a big, steel single-stage press for this duty.
Which turret press are you referring to, my Classic Cast Turret press is pretty darn beefy, and with doobie using the word Classic in his post I'd have to assume he's talking the same press. Now as for the regular turret from Lee I wouldn't give that one a second look when looking for a press. I'm not big on the aluminum either, and the way it discharges spent primers looks cumbersome also.
I have the 4-hole turret press. It is not steel. And it dumps the empty primers into itself, so I have to take it off the bench to vacuum them up But half the dead primers end up on the floor. It is currently relegated to seating bullets for .223 and reloading my cowboy action rounds. I resize all rifle brass, including .223, in my big Lyman. Oh, and I have to use the Lyman to seat all of my 30 caliber bullets as they don't quite fit in the Lee. All straight wall pistol ammunition is going through the Dillon. Since the OP is loading the longer milsurp rounds, the turret press, in my opinion, isn't a good choice.