LE Wilson arbor press
- Thread starter memilanuk
- Start date
Last edited:
Did it come with the die cut case or is that an “Extra”?Anyone else got theirs yet?
View attachment 1697202
Picket up my new precious this morning.
Sometimes it's good living 5 minutes away from their shop
Nice looking setup and being a tool freak, I’m putting the hard eye on my K&M…
Their press looks like a copy of the Prazi press except that it only takes 7/8” dies…
memilanuk
Gold $$ Contributor
That's how it came. AFAIK there aren't any options/extras at this point.
I hear ya. I have one of the older K&M's (the ones with umpteen allen screws on the back rail) with a custom hydro seater base. I already pinged the guy who makes that base, gonna see if I can get one for this press.
memilanuk
Gold $$ Contributor
I've got a couple hundred rounds loaded on it so far... just under 200 for my main 308 FTR gun, and about 70 or so for one of my 223 bolt guns.
Overall, I like it quite a bit. I do however have some... not sure if I'd say 'concerns', maybe more... 'reservations'... about the toggle link setup they used on this thing.
The instructions say to run the ram all the way down, past cam-over, and adjust the head height so the ram just touches the top of the die (without a round in it).
My beef with that method is that the act of cam-over pretty much wrecks any sense of feel you might be looking for when seating bullets. And who the hell needs the increased mechanical force of cam-over to freakin' seat bullets for precision rifle?
After the first box of FTR ammo, I'd had enough. I lowered the head an additional 1/8", just enough to get almost full stroke but before the cam-over "feature" engages. *MUCH* better... or at least more what I was expecting from an arbor press.
Additionally, I ended up having to dust off my Wilson 223 neck-only die the other night (don't ask) and used it with the new press as well. I thought maybe the cam-over would work better for this application, as sometimes cases and/or primers can be a little sticky coming out of the die/case. If anything it felt like the linkage didn't make enough force at the spots where it needed to. With the head adjusted so the ram just touched the top of the die on the case end, the ram is 3/8" from the cam-over range when the die is flipped over and the stem is pushing the case out of the die, and then still ~3/16" from the power band when decapping is *done*. Never comes anywhere near the cam-over range.
I realize very few people use neck-only hand dies any more. Most people only use an arbor press for seating these days, and I think just lowering the head an additional 1/8" past what the directions call for will make using it a much more pleasant experience.
PatMiles
Silver $$ Contributor
How old is your K&M? Mine, which I have had for 5 years, has 2 locking allen screws on the back rail.
I have a Wison coming which I will be mating to my Dale Carpenter (DC Firearms) base.
memilanuk
Gold $$ Contributor
Not without some modifications you won't. The bottom bolts on the Wilson are much bigger (3/8 vs 1/4") than the K&M that Dale designed his base around. Mine is one of his older / original ones, with separate holes instead of a slot. The throat depth (distance between the column and the ram) is likely different as well.
I've got a new base, modified for the new press, on order.
memilanuk
Gold $$ Contributor
In talking with Dale, part of the concern is the throat depth - whether he'll have to make the base deeper to accommodate the bigger head and post. You can mill away material, but adding it on that back face is a little trickier
Mine is closer to 15+ yrs old. The design from the owner before this one. Column/post is two pieces, with 5 allen bolts on the back side. You have to loosen *all* the allen bolts on the back rail, then loosen the ones on the head to raise/lower, then retighten everything. Kind of a PITA, but that head isn't going *anywhere*.
Nice base ‘ If this gauge measures seating pressure / resistance , are you checking or verifying your seating depths using a separate tool ?
memilanuk
Gold $$ Contributor
Spot checking, yes, like with any seating process. What does that have to do with the hydro base?
bassnbrass
Silver $$ Contributor
Does Dale have a website to sell his base? I've searched some but couldn't find it.
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