hello , I just wanted to ask those who use the Wilson bullet seating system what there thought where on it and if they have seen a major improvement in there sd's ,or just consistency overall . What really is the advantage of the whole set up . I think I might get one and am assessing if its right for me
Wilson bullet seating
- Thread starter deepsix++
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- bullet seating
It allows you to add another QC check in your system, especially if you have a gauge on your arbor press.
However, the gauge will just tell you that *something* is different around the seating of that particular bullet. “Neck tension” is comprised of several things. So when a round has a noticeably higher or lower seating force, it may be from something that will show up on paper or something that may not. So, just know the system has its limitations.
The soon to be released AMP press may change this a little.
Also, personally I’m much faster seating using a Wilson die than I am a conventional press for seating. So I’d still use it regardless of using it as a QC check.
However, the gauge will just tell you that *something* is different around the seating of that particular bullet. “Neck tension” is comprised of several things. So when a round has a noticeably higher or lower seating force, it may be from something that will show up on paper or something that may not. So, just know the system has its limitations.
The soon to be released AMP press may change this a little.
Also, personally I’m much faster seating using a Wilson die than I am a conventional press for seating. So I’d still use it regardless of using it as a QC check.
You can feel the bullet going down the neck with great sensitivity and quickly eliminate potential flyers by sorting out the ones that went in too easily or too hard as those may have a different velocity from the rest.
@Dthomas3523 and @918v hit on the high points. As pointed out, I find it far more efficient and quick than a standard press/seating die. Think about it, you move the entire case/bullet up something like 4-5 inches just to move the bullet like 1/2 - 3/4 an inch. Also, the moment arm of the long handle on a press is so large that it "hides" discrepancies in seating force bullet to bullet - you can't tell the difference between a normal seating bullet and a tight seating bullet.
Where possible, I will only use this type of seater. Big fan of the Wilsons.
Where possible, I will only use this type of seater. Big fan of the Wilsons.
I think for a lot of guys using an arbor press and a Wilson seater to seat bullets is a great idea. Even without the force packs, the greatly enhanced "feel" is a huge upgrade over what most guys are cranking on when seating bullets.
Many of the presses out there have handles/arms that are just ridiculous overkill when you consider how much force one actually needs or is really involved when reloading IMO. I went from a Redding Big Boss (WAY too much leverage to feel anything) to a Forster Co-Ax (not much better, I don't like them at all) to a little cheap Lyman Ideal press. The little guy makes much better ammo than the others for whatever reason, and I think a big part of it is that it allows me to feel what's really going on when the others were vague and muted feeling by comparison. I originally only bought it just for seating because I figured it'd be too small for everything, but since getting it, it's more than fine for sizing and everything else, it just happens to shine when seating bullets.
It also shouldn't be understated how huge the effect is of having that heightened sense of "feel" as far as forcing one to be honest with one's self about cleaning up some of the processes earlier upstream. Once I could really feel what was going on at seating, it made me get better at every other step before, no more cutting corners: when I'd skip a step I could feel at seating that I had already fucked something up even before heading off to the range.
I don't do it all the time, but like a lot of guys, if I put the finished rounds in a few separate boxes by seating force ("softer than average", "average", "harder than average") it pretty much guarantees seeing single digit SD's and getting bugholes as long as I didn't screw up anything else earlier in the process.
Using my little press and Forster Ultra Benchrest seater (captures the whole case, to my knowledge as similar to a Wilson in-line seater as can be), I haven't felt the need to go to an arbor press or Wilson seater just yet, but had I not taken the chance on trying the little press, I know I would've ended up there sooner or later.
I was just trying to make the point that a lot of guys probably don't even know what they're missing.
I mean, if I were to take a guess on what the most ubiquitous presses guys are using for precision rifle stuff are out there, I'd probably say most are using a Co-Ax or some variant of a full-size Redding/RCBS/Hornandy/Lee, something like that... and IMHO those don't really provide enough feel during seating due to their size and how much leverage they have.
I think that's why the arbor presses and the Wilson seaters remain so popular, because one kind of needs that (or a little press like my little Lyman) to really "get it" and feel what's going on when seating bullets.
