Hey guys, I have the Redding two die competition set on back order right now from Midway. It's the comp seater and FL bushing die set. It's $233, for $180 I can get the Whidden set with the bushing die. How durable are the Whidden dies. It appears they are aluminum? Are the Redding dies worth $50 more? Up till now, I've always used standard Redding dies. This is my first time using micrometer dies. I have time to change my order if the Whidden dies are good to go.
Whidden or Redding 6.5x47 Lapua dies
- Thread starter bglimpse
- Start date
I have three sets of Whidden dies (6br, 6 Dasher, 6.5x47L) and they work just fine. I also had to wait and decided to go the whidden route and have not looked back since. Another great bennifit is there customer service, no long wait times and you can speak to their techs when needed. I believe they can supply the bushing as well.
Whidden dies are top notch and I would choose them over Redding every time. They also carry the neck bushings as mentioned in the post above.
the body of the seat die is aluminum with a steel sliding alignment sleeve.
Dgd6mm said:
The Whidden seater die does not have a beefy feel to it as compared to a forster due to the use of aluminum . .. The main difference other than that is the sliding chamber is probably going to have a tighter fit to your cases as compared to forsters or reddings.
In fact I have once fired brass that will not properly fit in the sliding chamber unless it has been FL resized using the Whidden FL sizer.
Johns off the shelf dies are cut based on Dave kiffs reamer prints.
If you plan on using your redding die to do the sizing I would recommend using their seater or go with the forster or as a last resort try the Whidden seater and if the seating chamber is too tight run your chambering reamer into it..
Also , whidden does not make bushings you must get them from another business that carries redding/wilson bushings.
And as for choosing whidden over redding or anyone else I think the important thing is that the die closely resembles your chamber as opposed to whose name is on it.
In fact I have once fired brass that will not properly fit in the sliding chamber unless it has been FL resized using the Whidden FL sizer.
Johns off the shelf dies are cut based on Dave kiffs reamer prints.
If you plan on using your redding die to do the sizing I would recommend using their seater or go with the forster or as a last resort try the Whidden seater and if the seating chamber is too tight run your chambering reamer into it..
Also , whidden does not make bushings you must get them from another business that carries redding/wilson bushings.
And as for choosing whidden over redding or anyone else I think the important thing is that the die closely resembles your chamber as opposed to whose name is on it.
coford
Gold $$ Contributor
I have 5 Whidden sizer dies and about 10 to 12 sets of Redding dies. The Whidden sizer dies are smoother inside, made fully of steel, and run a little smaller at the cartridge base compared to the Reddings. My Redding sizing dies all seem a little rough on the inside compared to the Whidden's. I have no experience with Whidden bullet seating dies as I use Wilson dies to seat bullets with. If I had it to do over again I would go with all Whidden full length bushing sizer dies and all Wilson bullet seaters.
Patch,
According to Whidden's web site they do carry neck bushings: http://www.whiddengunworks.com/product/custom-realoading-tool-bushing/
According to Whidden's web site they do carry neck bushings: http://www.whiddengunworks.com/product/custom-realoading-tool-bushing/
mshelton
Or send 3 fired cases to Harrels and get a die that's just as good for under $100.
madmixerman
Gold $$ Contributor
Another vote for Whidden
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