Seater die preferences

[TheOtherZilla]

While I do not shoot competition or plan to I do like to turn out accurate ammo for my varmit rifles.. I have RCBS, Redding and Forster dies here.. For bullet seating which brands/types of dies do the best job of seating the bullet straight?

 

[DCRYDER]

My favorite is the Wilson seater and arbor press. Second choice is Redding Competition.

Chamber type inline seater dies have the case and bullet in perfect alignment before the actual seating begins.

 

[jonbearman]

Use some type of inline seater. Rcbs makes them and hornady comes with one in all there sets.Wilson hand dies are the best but any inline seater works better than a standard rcbs.Rcbs makes an inline seater but they only come in competition sets.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

Thanx for the replies. I'll look into it.

Ok do I need an arbor press to use the inline seaters?? The Wilson I looked at seems to be set up for an arbor press..

 

[338Lapua]

You could get away with using a small rubber mallet and a flat hard surface, but and arbour press is reasonably cheap. And the way to go with Wilson inline dies.

 

[Taildrag15X]

I use the RCBS Competiton Seater....THEY ARE AVAILABLE BY CALIBER WITHOUT BUYING A SIZING DIE! Also you can use one body to do a large assortment of calibers by only buying the case/bullet guide and seating stem for the different caliber.

https://shop.rcbs.com/WebConnect/MainServlet?storeId=webconnect&catalogId=webconnect&langId=en_US&screenlabel=index&action=CategoryDisplay&categoryId=C45J048&route=C45

 

[clmayfield]

This is one of the best comparisons I have seen of seating dies:
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2009/09/reloading-seating-die-runout.html

Of course, this is specific to the dies / bullet / caliber in questions, but I think the results are extremely useful.

 

[RonAKA]

Good article. Too bad the Forster Ultra was not included in the test.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

Thanx for all the info.. I am shopping seater dies now..

 

[SS427]

I'm a little late on this one but will share my experiences. I have two sets of Redding competion neck and seating dies and they produce minimal runout - .002 and less on average.

I have three sets of inexpensive RCBS dies, two of them include neck dies. All three of the FL dies and seating dies produce runout around .003 and less. One of the neck dies produce runout around .008 which I don't use any more.

The Redding competition dies are clearly better, but far more expensive. The RCBS dies are pretty darn good for the price, but I did get one bad die. That one will soon be resting in the bottom of a lake until it fixes itself and floats back to the surface.

 

[bozo699]

My favorite is the Wilson seater and arbor press. Second choice is Redding Competition.

Chamber type inline seater dies have the case and bullet in perfect alignment before the actual seating begins.

+ one, what DCRYDER said.
Wayne.

 

[Shynloco]

BINGO! DCRyder has it right. I use Wilson first and Redding second. The reason, concentricity runout variance on finished cartridges with Wilson Seating Die is .002 and Redding is .004. And I definitely recommend using an Arbor Press if you go with the Wilson Dies. Russ Haydon (www.shooters-supply.com) makes and sells Arbor Presses that are a little less expensive than others on the market.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

Thanx for all the replies.. I do think an arbor press and Wilson seater dies are in my future.. Right now I don't have the funds to buy it all at once. I am thinking I'll start with a A Redding Competition seater and buy the arbor set up later when my disposable income is at a higher level. or maybe buy the arbor press and later the seater dies.. So many toys, so little money.. Thanx again.

 

[bozo699]

Zillla,
I didn't do much shopping for you but a redding comp seater is $94 a wilson is $47-
$93 depending if you need the s/s micro or just the plain jane seater die. and a arbor press is $89 all @ Midway. I don't think you would have to save much more to just get the arbor press and wilson over the redding. For whatever its worth.
Wayne.

 

[Joe O]

http://www.gmwvickerman.com/

If you haven't decided yet,check this out.The first window seater (50s)and manufactured to same specs today.I use one for 20cal and 243,243AI.Guide is cut to shoulder angle.One body and three inserts,takes care of all my loading.Great when handlin the smaller bullets.

 

[bozo699]

Joe O,
Thanks for the site on the GMW-Vickerman dies, I am definitely going to purchase one and give it a try.
Wayne.

 

[artbosco]

For bullet seating which brands/types of dies do the best job of seating the bullet straight?

Without a doubt, the bullet seaters near the bottom of this page http://www.lewilson.com/products.html

 

[GerryM]

Most of those mentioned are pretty good.
I had one made with the same reamer that cut my chamber.
The straight line is the best way to go with the arbour press.

 

[BoydAllen]

I have also heard of excellent results using custom dies made with a chamber reamer and one of Troy Newlon's threaded die blanks. They are a thing of beauty, and one of the good reports is from a major Benchrest gunsmith and competitor. There is also a micrometer top available for these that is quite nice.