Longtrain
Gold $$ Contributor
...an improvement over the Redding die that took a lot of force to size a piece of brass.
I can’t quantify why the Whidden dies work so well. I also used Redding for years, but once I got into more “custom” cartridges like the Dasher and 223 AI, with custom throats and neck diameters, I moved to custom dies. So, why is Whidden so good? Is a Whidden custom vs Redding off the shelf a legit comparison? Maybe not, I guess Redding may produce custom dies, but I never explored that option.
Are Whidden’s tolerances tighter? Are they giving us a die that is smoother internally so that a properly lubricated case resizes and releases without any drag or bite?
Once my die is calibrated, as I have said in other posts, I lube carefully and consistently and get just about the same bump, case after case after case. I have seen some posts challenging Whidden dies, I have no basis to challenge their opinion, but the two I have are lights out perfect in my opinion.