Need input on arbor press seating

DynamicAccuracy

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Minuteman
May 6, 2017
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Mexico, MO
Ive used the same lee challenger press for 3 years to load match ammo..i also have a dillon i load for bulk 223 practice ammo. Currently using redding type s comp die. But just upgraded my scale and thinkin an arbor press seating setup would benefit me. Is the force gauge worth having? What dies do you recommend? Lookin at the K&M arbor press. Would the arbor press be worth the money over what im currently using or would i be money ahead to upgrade from my challenger press to the forster coax instead of the arbor press?
 
Do you sort brass? If not I wouldn’t worry about the arbor. If so then what’s great about the arbor is that it allows you to sort by seating pressure. If you don’t load with that in mind then I don’t think it would be all that beneficial to you.

I would go for the force gauge just to have an empirical measurement you can tie to it rather than just the relative “this one may be harder than the other but I’m not sure about the few before that” scenario.
 
I use an arbor press and love it. Get the Wilson seater with the mic and a Sinclair/21st cent arbor press. Not only is it cheaper, you can developer loads at the range. Just take your chargemaster or filled tubes.

The biggest thing you will notice is variations in seating pressure.

FYI my press is the Redding t7. No die changing out. I have my neck turning arbor/deprimer/collect puller/Redding s dies for my 3 most used calibers.
 
Ive used the same lee challenger press for 3 years to load match ammo..i also have a dillon i load for bulk 223 practice ammo. Currently using redding type s comp die. But just upgraded my scale and thinkin an arbor press seating setup would benefit me. Is the force gauge worth having? What dies do you recommend? Lookin at the K&M arbor press. Would the arbor press be worth the money over what im currently using or would i be money ahead to upgrade from my challenger press to the forster coax instead of the arbor press?

What are you trying to fix? I have two arbor presses and I use one of them to seat bullets but I do it out of habit. I do not have measurements that show that my arbor press and Wilson dies are better than than competing methods.

Shoot dot drills. Analyze your targets. Identify issues - do you have vertical? horizontal? flyers? Write them down and think about them. Is your scope ok? Is it you? Determine which issues can be addressed by improving your ammo. Better ammo will not improve your wind reading or fundamentals or fix a bad scope. Today I shot a few flyers and I called them when I sent them - that is me. Better powder measurement may help you more than an arbor press. I have a whole workshop full of junk that didn't help my targets as much as fundamentals, wind reading, and trigger time.
 
Do you sort brass? If not I wouldn’t worry about the arbor. If so then what’s great about the arbor is that it allows you to sort by seating pressure. If you don’t load with that in mind then I don’t think it would be all that beneficial to you.

I would go for the force gauge just to have an empirical measurement you can tie to it rather than just the relative “this one may be harder than the other but I’m not sure about the few before that” scenario.
I dont currently sort but if i had a way to measure seating force to gauge neck tension id sort my brass. Usually buy 500 pieces of brass for use in matches all the same lot #.
 
What are you trying to fix? I have two arbor presses and I use one of them to seat bullets but I do it out of habit. I do not have measurements that show that my arbor press and Wilson dies are better than than competing methods.

Shoot dot drills. Analyze your targets. Identify issues - do you have vertical? horizontal? flyers? Write them down and think about them. Is your scope ok? Is it you? Determine which issues can be addressed by improving your ammo. Better ammo will not improve your wind reading or fundamentals or fix a bad scope. Today I shot a few flyers and I called them when I sent them - that is me. Better powder measurement may help you more than an arbor press. I have a whole workshop full of junk that didn't help my targets as much as fundamentals, wind reading, and trigger time.
Not really trying to improve anything in particular. But i thought i heard that arbor press seating pretty much guarantees less run out than a typical single stage.