Question regarding Wilson inline hand dies

[Lofty]

My rifle smith is a long time bench rest guy and he swears by hand dies. Says seating concintricty is more accurate with less run out than a traditional press.

I like the idea in coupling with a Sinclair Arbor Press just for the space savings as well as not having to have a work bench to clamp the press to. I've got a nice desk I can use for reloading but I don't want to have to drill holes in it to mount a traditional press. I'm moving in a few months and don't feel like buying a big reloading bench just to have to pack it all up and relocate a ton of more crap.

So with hand dies is there any downside aside from time consumption? Well that and not being able to full length size the brass.

Or would I just be better off going with a Forster Coax like I originally was planning?

 

[DocB]

Re: Question regarding Wilson inline hand dies

Lofty,

I'm in the process of changing out from Redding Comps to Wilson neck sizing/seating dies for my LR stuff. You will eventually end up needing a regular press for shoulder/full length sizing operations. The Reddings work well for progressive operations, but the Wilsons seem to turn in better concentricity if both operations are done on their dies.

HTH,
DocB

 

[Lofty]

Re: Question regarding Wilson inline hand dies

How many rounds do you usually get out of new quality brass before you have to full length resize?

If I can't get enough firings out of a case before resizing to make it worth it and I'm just gonna end up with a standard press anyways, I'm not sure if I wouldn't be better off just going with a standard press.

Something I guess I need to think about.

 

[DocB]

Re: Question regarding Wilson inline hand dies

Lofty,

I get somewhere between 5 and 15. It depends on whether the chamber is tight or very loose. It's usually cheaper to start off with the Wilsons and a second hand press, then find a buddy with a with an frame press who will let you use it occasionally.

HTH,
DocB

 

[427Cobra]

Re: Question regarding Wilson inline hand dies

I perfer the Wilson inline seaters to my Redding\Forster micrometer seaters, in the end all do the exact samething equally as well, it has more to do with the layout of my bench\computer table, on the sizing side I FL every time, I tried the Wilson neck die and hated it with 308Win, but the same die with a .289 bushing works great on 260Rem, I use the Redding Type S FL die with no bushing as a body die then size the neck in the Wilson. I belong to the club in North Texas where all the BR matches are held, nobody uses Wilson dies in the BR matches I have watched, all use custom made sizing dies that bump the shoulder about .0005, and most gut a Redding comp die and make a new sliding sleeve from there reamer and a old barrel stub.

 

[former naval person]

Re: Question regarding Wilson inline hand dies

I have a set in .308 and it does NO better than the Coax with Forster BR seating and Lee neck collet dies. MUCH slower. Handier in the field, however. I guess that everything has a purpose...and a place. JMHO

 

[Sledge1]

Re: Question regarding Wilson inline hand dies

The Wilson die/ arbor press setup is real handy for testing seating depths in the field also. Load some rounds up seated long and seat them to the depth you want as you go. Saves having to pull any bullets later.

 

[bward]

Re: Question regarding Wilson inline hand dies

I use the Wilson dies to seat bullets with, but only because the layout of my bench and Prometheus makes it handier to. I have seen no difference in accuracy between a Redding seater and the Wilson. However, I'm a big proponent of FL sizing every firing so to me you would be better off with a standard press if your setup allows for it. If you ever plan on testing seating depths at the range, the Wilson will be really handy to have though.

 

[justme]

Re: Question regarding Wilson inline hand dies

I use Redding comp dies in a press to size my brass.
I keep a supply of preped,primed,ready to load in zip locked bags.
I take a Hart arbor press & Wilson seater to the range for working up a load with pre weighed powder charges labeled in 35mm film containers.
Once I have a load I like I load at home with my press and a Redding comp seater.
I also keep a supply of favorite powder charges in labeled 35mm film containers just in case I have the need to load when I am away from home.
The only thing I would change if I was to start over is to get my Wilson dies in stainless.

 

[300ATT]

Re: Question regarding Wilson inline hand dies

I have used both the Wilson and the Reading Comp dies. The Wilsons work great but even though I could measure less runout with the Wilsons (.001-.002") I did not see better results on the range

I mostly use the Reading Comp Dies in an RCBS or Dillon.

 

[BuzzBoss915]

Re: Question regarding Wilson inline hand dies

For most rifles, I use full length dies in a standard press and seat bullets with the Wilson chamber die. For those accuracy jobs that require neck turning and bushing dies, I use the Wilson sizing die and have not reached the point where I need a shoulder bump in five different calibers, and they are all hot rock numbers. Well, the 223Ackley....not so much.

But, you lose nothing with Wilson or comparable dies, a plastic mallet and an arbor press. I would not even concede "slow" except a progressive press, but that involves a few negatives, in my view. BB

 

[DanGuy48]

Re: Question regarding Wilson inline hand dies

I hope this isn't considered a hijack, but years ago (OK, decades then) I used
CH and thought they were pretty good. No one seems to recommend them that I've seen. Is there a quality issue?