Vintage Lyman 4 station All American Turret Press Question

[Combatmedic63]

I picked up a vintage Lyman all American 4 station turret press the other day and it seems to be in great condition and complete. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this press. I have read that it is not a good press for reloading rifle ammo but is mainly a pistol caliber press. Is this the case?

 

[Kmccord]

I picked up a vintage Lyman all American 4 station turret press the other day and it seems to be in great condition and complete. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this press. I have read that it is not a good press for reloading rifle ammo but is mainly a pistol caliber press. Is this the case?

I have one, it is red in color and I am not sure when it was made, I bought it used back in 93 from an old coworker. I used it up until last year and upgraded to a Frankford Arsenal M Press, the old Lyman worked good for me and was always good for pistol ammo, however when I started really paying attention with my rifle ammo for the past 5 years, that is when I noticed the slop, bad runout, inconsistent seating depth. The seating depth problem came from the turret head loosening from rotating it from one station to the next, when I started paying close attention I noticed the small gap between the turret and the large nut on top that holds it together. I would screw it down from 1/4 to 1/2 a turn at times to take out the play and then need to readjust my FL sizer and Seating dies. Mine was just worn out from no telling how many years of service. I still have it and if I need to reload a bunch of pistol ammo I will bring it down and use it.

 

[Combatmedic63]

Thanks for your reply. How do you like your FA M press? I have thought about picking one up.

 

[Kmccord]

I like it, it works as designed, my runout is very little compared to the Lyman I was getting, some runout is 0 and some up to .004, what I did notice on my runout this past week while setting up some loads, the die was not floating, I did not push it in all the way and was causing a bind. The only thing that is a negative to me is the ability to use certain dies. The Forester Micro Adjustable die, the upper body is fatter than the bottom portion of the die, so when screwing it into the die block then sliding it into the press, the upper body will hit the frame. To make it work, I had to unscrew the upper body roughly two full rotations to one align the micro scale and two to clear the press frame. It works, I have no issue making concentric ammo. The second problem is Hornady micro adjustable dies are too tall and will hang on the press handle, those are the only dies I have heard that will not work. I have a Redding Micro Seating die for my 28 Nosler and it works with no problem, fits perfectly and not to tall to be hitting the handle. The primer catch is awesome, do not have to worry with primer residue around my bench or press, the integrated light is another big plus, the shell holders for all calibers is another big plus, no more purchasing shell holders for particular cartridges. The press is smooth, the other downside can be from not having a primer seater on the press, I use a hand primer so that was not an issue for me. It is well worth the money, I wanted the Forester CO-AX, but I could never find them in stock, I waited 6 months for it to come in stock and gave up on it and went with the Frankford M Press, it was almost 150.00 cheaper than the Forester. Some people do not like it due to the Made in China, I don't blame them for that, I would rather it to be built in the USA as well and would gladly pay the extra for it like the Forester is, but when Forester cannot build enough fast enough or only so many during the plandemic, I had to have a press now and that hurt them. I even kept an eye on them after purchasing the FA, and it was another 3 months later I saw it come up in stock and then back out of stock within a week.