Wilson Hand Dies, Arbor Press

[Greg Duerr]

I have often looked at and read about the wilson hand dies using a Arbor press but I have never used one nor do I know anyone else who has.
For those out there that have and are using them could you tell me about them and the reasons pro or con over Redding or RCBS dies and the stationary press??

Thanks

 

[tmason1]

Greg,
For me it was portability. My range is 38 miles away so I get more out of my trip by developing a load at the range rather than trial/error at the house. Take my assorted powders, bullets, scale, prepped brass, notes, press and dies....off I go.

T

 

[40X Guy]

Greg, i just got into Wilson seating dies about 2 months ago, and I can honestly say that the operation seating bullets by hand with an arbor press is totally by feel. I can not verify by shrinking of target size yet, but the groups did not get bigger. But as of now everything just feels better. They are totally in line as received from Wilson, or you can get the seater blank from Wilson and have your smith ream out blank with same reamer that chambered your barrel, then everything is as it should be. Seems like a no brainer to me and I now have 3 different calibers in Wilson seating dies, and my shooting partner with his 22-6XC had our smith ream his Wilson seater die blank with same chambering reamer. IMHO it is the way to go for seating bullets.

Frank

 

[1953Longrangesniper]

Hi Greg
First of all I use several types of loading presses and all have their uses , I will try and clarify if possible for you !

I will start with the biggest that I use, this is an RCBS Ammo Master Auto 11 88704 , it has place for 5 dies in station , this press has 5 stations on the die plates so it is progressive , it has a auto prime facility too , this is made to move automatically round through the different stages one at a time , all you do is put the cases on and put the bullet in the case . This is a very large heavy press made for doing large amounts of ammo at one time with little effort , this is a very strong and well made press they are a bit heavy on the pocket though $ This is the super douper fantastic heavy duty press !

Next is a Redding T 6 Turret press , again this has place for 6 dies in Station the new T 7 has 7dies instead, this also has an auto prime facility too , these presses have only one shell holder thus you can only load one round at a time by going through the different stages one at a time till the round is finished ! This is a fantastic heavy duty press , built to last a lifetime !


Next up is my RCBS Rockchucker 11 09366 press this press is very well made , heavy and very strong, it only takes one die at a time and one shell-holder too, that means on size round and you have to go through all the die stages one stage at a time after changing each die. This is still a very well made heavy duty press built to last a lifetime

Next up is my RCBS Reloader Special 5 09285 press, again a very well heavy press and made with stronger linkage than its predecessor , single shellholder single die operation again , primer arm and primer catcher. This is still a very well made heavy duty press built to last a lifetime

Next up is my RCBS Reloader Special 09356 press , still a very strong and heavy press , this is single station press and was one of the first to fit the universal primer feed facility , again this was for doing one round one stage at a time till complete ! Again this press was very well made and built to last a lifetime !

Then my two trusty old Lee Single station Challenger Presses, again one die and one shell-holder thus one round at a time , primer tray and primer attachments single and multi, these are not quite as strong as the RCBS but at a fraction of the price and if you look after them they will give you a lifetime of use !

Lastly the Sinclair Arbor Press, This has a multitude of uses but it can be moved around with you in the house on the range on the hunt , so these are a very little versatile press the dies are single stage one stage at a time , as far as I am concerned and more so with having one or two presses that the dies that are used in the Arbor presses , are slightly more pricey than the standard press dies.

This press for me for its overall size and convenience has to be the winner because you can take it anywhere with you if need be !


Hope this has helped a little


Steve

 

[Shynloco]

Gregg,
There are some pros of using an Arbor Press and Wilson dies, but you first have decide what it is you are trying to accomplish. I say that because you CANNOT Full Length Size any brass with an Arbor Press and Wilson doesn't make Full Length Sizing Dies. They do make a Neck Sizing Die, but that die only sizes one-half of your casing. Some Benchrest guys love them, while other having been getting away from the half neck sizing idea, especially since the 6.5 mm bullet has become popular with it's really great accuracy. On the flip side of that, is you-would be hard pressed to out-perform a Wilson Seater Die in terms on concentricity runout of a loaded and finished cartridge. I've tested 6 different calibers I reload for and in each instant the runout variance was the lowest
for each caliber using the Wilson Seater Die.

I enjoy precision shooting though I don't compete, except for .22 Rimfire stuff. I use two single stage presses, a Redding Big Boss and an RCBS Rockchucker for all resizing. I do that in 6 different calibers and have Wilson dies as well for each. I have two Arbor Presses (a Sincalir & a Haydon) which I use for the Wilson Seater Dies and ocassionally use the Wilson Neck Sizing Dies, but have started going back to more Full Length Sizing to achieve ultimate accuracy. If your reloading is strictly for hunting or plinking purposes, your regular single stage or even Turret presse are more than sufficient. But if it's perfection and accuracy you seek, might want to consider incorporating the use of an Arbor Press for bullet seating purposes.

 

[Greg Duerr]

I always thought that after fire forming your cases to your chamber that you want to neck size until you need to set back your shoulders a .001 or so. Does full lenght sizing each time produce more accurate loads?
In the past before I had my CZ 527 rebarreled with a PacNor SM I felt that getting under one inch was accuracy to be proud of. Now its getting well under .500, so, yes accuracy is my goal since Im having a .243 AI built.
What most of you guys take for granted, Im just learning. I do appreciate, very much, your imput you have all helped me a lot.
I do see now that using Wilson dies and an Arbor press is the way to go for portability and for perfect bullet seating.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[woolenmammoth]

Not only that, but for me, the wilson dies are SO much faster to use. Hold the die in your right hand, grab a bullet with the left, then a case, push them into the die, put the die on the arbor and pull the handle, done. There is a rhythm that you can find that for me is much better than having to have a shell holder in the process. I use wilson neck sizers as well and if you are lazy, they'll serve as halfway good indicators as to when you need to FLS as your rounds will eventually stick in the bullet seater (you'll need a spoon or flathead driver to -easily- pry them out, not like a stuck case in a threaded die). I only use threaded dies now when I have to, the hand dies are a real joy to use. Funny thing, before I got them when I was in your shoes, it looked really convoluted and I just didnt get it at all, turned around completely on it. Try it out if you can afford to. I really recommend the mic tops for the seaters if you have ever spent time tweaking your seating depth, they're fantastic.

 

[bozo699]

I agree with Steve, there is no do all press if accuracy is imprtant to you. I have and use a multitude of different presses for different jobs for different rifles, I even have a Lee hand press I use strickly for resizing my .22 hornet and another for expanding necks while sitting in my recliner
Wayne.

 

[Preacher]

As far as buying a mic top, I think it's just as easy to measure the seater top and go from there... If your seating where you want and the top measures 1.350 and you want to seat .010 deeper set the top to measure at 1.360.....
Seems cheaper than buying a micro top to me...

 

[BoydAllen]

At the very highest levels of accuracy, short range benchrest, most shooters FL size every time, but their dies and chambers are so closely matched that the brass is hardly touched, as compared to a run of the mill FL die. For factory sized chambers, here is something that you might consider. Neck size with a Lee Collet die, and then use a body die to size the body of the case, and bump the shoulder by a measured amount. (not by feel) I have both an arbor press, and various other presses that take threaded dies. If you want to use a Wilson seater and an arbor press to have more feel when seating bullets, that is fine. Another good way to go, that seems to give good results for friends is the Forster Ultimate seater die.

 

[Eddie Harren]

Wilson does, or did, make FL dies. Can't use an arbor press with them but, they do make a FL die. A hammer or a mallet works well.

 

[artbosco]

Wilson does, or did, make FL dies. Can't use an arbor press with them but, they do make a FL die.

Here's their Link: http://www.lewilson.com/home.html

Where do I find the FL die? I can't seem to find it. Thanks for your assistance.

 

[artbosco]

As far as buying a mic top, I think it's just as easy to measure the seater top and go from there... If your seating where you want and the top measures 1.350 and you want to seat .010 deeper set the top to measure at 1.360.....Seems cheaper than buying a micro top to me...

Or, you can buy and use these Seater Die shims for $9.95: http://www.sinclairintl.com/.aspx/pid=33711/Product/Skip_s_Seater_Die_Shims

 

[Shynloco]

Outdoorsman,
As I stated in my post above, Wilson does not make an FL die. I tried like heck to locate nsuch an animal about a year or so ago so I called Midway, Sinclair and a few other suppliers with no luck. I finally called L.E. Wilson. Their representative and all the other companies told me Wilson doesn't make an FL Die. But on the off chance all these companies were all wrong, if you locate such an animal, NEW, please PM because their other dies are really nice and accurate. Thx!

 

[1953Longrangesniper]

Hi Shynloco
Just a thought mate if you want a FL die such as the Wilson Type why not approach one of these good machinist shops and ask them to make you one , its only a basic body die shell of the calibre of your choice to its own calibre specific tolerances , am I right in assuming that this is for benchrest shooting , if Wilson don't do them it cannot be a copy right infringement . :-[

Or could you not even buy a blank die body and get it made to your own dimensions to suit your needs ? It cant be that hard to make !

Steve

 

[Eddie Harren]

Shynloco, I have a Wilson FL die in 257 Roberts. Since these were, or are not made, I believe the price just went up. Any of you guys that are interested I'll send some pics to someone who can post them on this forum. By the way, these dies are not for use with an arbor press. As I stated in the earlier post, a hammer or mallet works well. DocEd.

 

[fdshuster]

Steve: I have and use both the Wilson dies with a Sinclair arbor press, and traditional 7/8 x 14 threaded dies with a RCBS Rockchucker press. Your idea of having a custom FL die made in the non threaded Wilson style would then require that it be used in a arbor press. The arbor press was not designed for, nor do I believe is it capable of producing the required force to full length re-size most, if not all fired cases. Guess you could always get a hammer and start pounding away, both in and out, but not my idea of precision reloading. JMO

 

[mshelton]

I would think a FL Arbor press type dye would not work too well when extracting the case, which is where the single stage type press and the shell holder come in.

 

[Shynloco]

Good Morning Steve,
Thx for the suggestion. Actually I've gone past that and now use Redding Dies and the Wilson Seater Die in several calibers. I was merely addressing the issue of availability of a Wilson FL Die which is not made. And rather than trying to find a machinist who I don't know, Redding will make you any die (to your chamber specification) you request. I'm in the process of having a conversion done on a 22-250 that has headspace issues and going over to the 6.5mm which I've read and seen shoots incredible groups. And I shoot strictly for fun, but have become an accuracy freak thanks to some of my close friends who are Benchrest Shooters. For me, the only person I love to challenge is me because I'm chasing that five shot one holer.

Take care Steve and thx again.

Alex

 

[oldroper]

I started using arbor press/dies when I go into br back in the early 80's and I still use them.

As Doc Ed mentioned Wilson use to make FL sizing die and I'm not sure when they quit making them or why but I think alot has to do with what press to use with them. B-Square makes the arbor press for those dies
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=122107 and they been making that press a long time.

I got to mention the Hood and I think Harrell makes a combination press for threaded and Wilson dies.