Options for custom dies...

Send a few cases and bullet to Lee and $50 US. They will make you a collet die set to fit. Call first just to make sure they will or can work with a case that short.

You could always ream out a collet die and seating die from a Lee Collet 7BR die set. You just have to watch case length and such.

If you are getting reamers made, why not just make your own dies? There is a US company selling blanks. Again, big bucks.

Man I love wildcats...

Jerry
 
mysticplayer said:
Send a few cases and bullet to Lee and $50 US. They will make you a collet die set to fit. Call first just to make sure they will or can work with a case that short.

You could always ream out a collet die and seating die from a Lee Collet 7BR die set. You just have to watch case length and such.

If you are getting reamers made, why not just make your own dies? There is a US company selling blanks. Again, big bucks.

Man I love wildcats...

Jerry
Click to expand...

Some very good ideas, thanks Jerry. This is my first real foray into a true wildcat, turning out to be fun. :)
 
Yeah, my aim is to create 6mmBR "big brother" performance; very low SD's, easy on barrels. I just love the 7mm VLDs (was a hard choice between going for a 6.5 WSSM or a 7mm WSSM, chose 7mm in the end due to slightly higher efficiency due to the slightly larger bore and the fact that the 7mm AMAX is such a great bullet at a bargain price (hope it shoots it well). Plus, if I plan to ever hunt with the caliber, 7mm with 160s-175s beats 6.5mm.
 
custom dies

I,ve had alot of luck with Buffalo arms. If they don,t have it they will make it and the brass you require. great to deal with and fast
 
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I think the way I'm going to go is either customs from Lee (good price IMHO, a lot of custom dies run $120+US) or I'll make my own as I have a lathe. I'm toying with making my own thanks to Jerry's suggestion; I have an interesting idea for a guided bullet seater die I might just have to make. The though of making my own completely slipped my mind...
 
You have a lathe...I hate you. Maybe I really, really, really like you. Do you know how to use it?

Forster makes very nice inline seating dies. You could always get a 7WSM and cut it down. You might be able to open up a 7BR or just make a new sleeve.

If you feel so inclined, why not just make your own dies? Using a good quality steel or alum round stock, just make your own bushing neck die and seating die. You will have a chamber reamer after all and bushings are easy enough to buy. Wouldn't bother making the bushings unless you already have the right size diameter reamers, then there is the heat treating nonsense. For $10, why bother.

Just take apart some commercial dies for their seating plugs and decapper and have at it. Probably only cost $5 for raw stock.

Wildcatting is so much easier if you have machining tools. I hope you realise that the 7WSSM with a long throat will equal a 7-08AI.

I can see it now...Ardent's custom die manf.

I've decided...I like you.

Jerry
 
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mysticplayer said:
You have a lathe...I hate you. Maybe I really, really, really like you. Do you know how to use it?

Forster makes very nice inline seating dies. You could always get a 7WSM and cut it down. You might be able to open up a 7BR or just make a new sleeve.

If you feel so inclined, why not just make your own dies? Using a good quality steel or alum round stock, just make your own bushing neck die and seating die. You will have a chamber reamer after all and bushings are easy enough to buy. Wouldn't bother making the bushings unless you already have the right size diameter reamers, then there is the heat treating nonsense. For $10, why bother.

Just take apart some commercial dies for their seating plugs and decapper and have at it. Probably only cost $5 for raw stock.

Wildcatting is so much easier if you have machining tools. I hope you realise that the 7WSSM with a long throat will equal a 7-08AI.

I can see it now...Ardent's custom die manf.

I've decided...I like you.

Jerry
Click to expand...

I got a good laugh out of that post... :p As for lathe work, it's been about 6 or 7 years since I was doing a reasonable amount of machining, at the time I was fairly competent. Looking forward to playing again. I'm fortunate as I have a personal mill and lathe, but also have two other massive lathes available in the family if needed. (Father in law is an ex shipwright, has an absolutely gargantuan lathe, and there's also a retired machinist with yet another lathe in the family so the bases are well covered).

I'll let you know how it turns out, be fun just for the project anyhow. I have a ton of barstock sitting in the shop ready to be butchered.
 
The most accurate laoding dies for a wildcat are those made from the same reamer used to cut the chamber.

You chamber 2 peices of barrel stub making one into a sizer and one into a seater; basically copying Wilson or Jones hand dies for use with an arbour press.
 
Ardent, I didn't suggest any commercial neck die because most of them will not fit. The bore diameter is too small for the WSM family of cases. Contact the manf to check. You could always ream it out.

Also, you may have runout issues due to the expander plug. Can be made to work but I prefer ammo with the best possible accuracy. Die induced high runout will drive you insane trying to work up a load.

Many so called inaccurate cartridges and rifles are caused by improper sizing and seating of the bullets.

Jerry
 
Before you go and ream out any factory made dies - check that it isn't hardened otherwise you'll wreck your reamer. I've seen some different style die blanks before - though if you've got a lathe it wouldn't be too hard to do it yourself.
 
"7mm with 160s-175s beats 6.5mm" All other things being equal 6.5mm 160gr. will always beat 7mm 160gr. with better BC and SD (laws of physics)
 
assuming the neck and throat dimensions are similar , at the very least a guy could take a neck sizing die for a 7mm wsm and machine off the bottom of the die until you had the correct length for the wssm case .

this might even work with a regular wsm die ...... the only thing I could see it doing is the new base of the die possibly acting as a " small base die " on the wssm case .


if you have a lathe you could make a hardened blank of the wssm case and put some valve lapping compound on it and use that to remove any minor differences in the die your modifying .
 
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