Wilson seating dies VS Redding competiton seater?

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TrxR

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What are your opinions on the quality of ammo made from each? What are the pros and cons for each in a rifle being used for F/TR? I understand that the Wilson dies need an arbor press. What is everyone using for a arbor press. Ive already got a Big Boss 2 press for the other type of dies but have not bought any dies yet.

Thanks
 
I use Wilson dies, sizing and seating. Advantage for me is I have limited space for reloading, and I can pack my gear and take it to the range or gopher patch with me. I dont think there would be much difference in the way either seating die would perform. I use the Sinclair arbor press, works real good. A disadvantage with Wilson dies is the inability to FL or SB size. I'm reloading .223 if that matters.
 
I like the fact with the wilson I can leave my sizing die in the press undisturbed.

Have you tried loading by hand instead of the press?
 
I use custom dies in my press for sizing that never get removed and use Wilson for seating. I will never go back. For my kicking around fun rifles I have 1 press that I use for that purpose and that purpose only.
 
Wilson seater dies do a better job than Redding Comps, faster and easier to use. With the cost of Redding competition die sets closing in on $250.00, Neil Jones dies are about the same money and can be threaded or arbor press style and are custom fitted for fired cartridges submitted. Jones arbor press neck die bushings are flanged same angle as shoulder and if a shoulder bump is needed its there. I wish Wilson would smarten up and build a "floating neck bushing" die that sizes entire neck when case is fully supported.
 
How much of an issue is it to send the fired cases across the border when getting a custom die done? Any special paperwork involved?
 
I've used both kinds. They both make topnotch ammo, neither is inferior in that sense. Each of them has their own ideal niche.

If your neck tension is very light, you can seat a bullet with the Wilson die by hand. You don't really know in advance though whether you're going to have a good load with very light neck tension,or not.

I have a small Sinclair arbor press which is quite good for seating bullets with the Wilson.

Knowing what I now know, I might not bother buying the Wilson die and just stick to using my Redding seater (actually I'd probably get a Forster seater instead of a Redding).

I am very much a believer in assembling your ammo at the range when you're doing load development/testing. You can attach your single stage press to a piece of wood, and then clamp that wood to your work bench at home or to a table at the range. Or if your main press is permanently attached at home, pick up another press for portable use. Any old press will do, no matter how small, light, insubstantial etc. Lee even makes a "handheld" press that takes regular dies but does not mount to a table - it is very suitable for travelling with or using at the range. The precision of the press does not matter - the high quality loading die (Redding Competition, Forster, etc) takes care of the alignment in spite of any slop or misalignment in your press.

BTW the adjustment of your FL sizer die is kept by its lockring. That's where you make the adjustment (for how much headspace setback it gives you). Done this way, you can unscrew your FL die, and then later when you return it to your press you can expect it to return to the same place.
 
Daniel: what the reason you might pick the Forster over the Redding? Is it the price difference? So you dont find that the Wilson does any better than the Redding ? I know I read something on here from Peter Dobson saying that in a test the Forster done a better job than the Wilson and German Salazar wrote a review where in his test the Redding came out on top. Im thinking I might just go with the Redding kit that has the FL type S and the Comp seater.

Decisions , decisions , decisions !!!


Thanks
 
Daniel: is there going to be any training matches for beginners this year? I would love to get out to one this summer if I can get my hands on a rifle setup that a lefty can use.

Thanks
 
All of those dies (Forster, Redding, Wilson) make topnotch ammo. If one makes better ammo for you than another, is probably a matter of _that particular_ Brand X die working better in your particular setup. It would take some pretty serious testing to be able to say that one was actually making better/worse ammo than another. Your starting point is that all three of them are really good. You can't go wrong with any of them.

Wilson seater dies are made to quite tight dimensions, which makes sense from the BR heritage. My target rifles have a "match" chamber, suitable for TR or FTR shooting, but they do not have a "BR" chamber (my chamber is a .308 Obermayer, using a JGS reamer; state of the art 20 years ago but kinda ho-hum old-school these days). A piece of fired brass from one of my target rifles, or a piece of neck-sized brass from my target rifles, will lightly "stick" in a Wilson seater, firmly enough that I can't get it out with a fingernail. A small screwdriver blade easily does the job. To be honest I should just open up the base part of the Wilson seater by a thou or so but I've just been too lazy. This keeps me away from using my Wilson more often.

I have and use the Redding Competition, and have nothing at all bad to say about it. I have used the Forster seater die (in fact about 35,000 rounds of .308 ammo were loaded on my press using that die), and I prefer its ergonomics to the Redding (the Forster has a much larger adjusting knob). The fact that the Forster is cheaper is wonderful gravy too. So if I had to start over, I'd get a Forster seater instead of the Redding, for those two small reasons. The fact that I continue to use my Redding should be ample evidence that I don't think it's costing my any accuracy.

I don't have the Redding FL Type S, they didn't make it when I bought my dies. By every account I understand them to be exactly the Redding sizer that I would want to buy.

The RNBRA Fullbore site is http://rnbrafullbore.########.ca/ and on the right hand side (sorry this doesn't work from a mobile device) you'll see a panel called "NEW BRUNSWICK / MARITIME USEFUL THINGS", the first item of which is the NB - 2013 Fullbore Section Schedule.

Pretty much every match we run, except for our Provincial Championship, can fairly and rightly also be considered a "training day". If you're serious about wanting to become a better shooter, informal or more formal coaching can be arranged for you. On days when I'm running a match, or days when I don't have a serious training objective in mind (sadly hardly ever these past few years), I'm willing to forego putting my attention into shooting a match seriously and am happy to direct my efforts toward spending time with other shooters.

Our first event of the year, "Electronic Targets Training Day" on 5-May in St. Antoine is essentially a training day for shooters to learn how to shoot on the e-target system we'll be trialling this year, and also for people to learn how to set up and operate it. This would be a pretty good day for you to come out and start shooting with us.

Later in the season we have a "Long Range Circle Training" day 11-Aug. It's a mismatch for a rank beginner, it's oriented toward wind reading and group centering at long range. If you've come out to several matches and worked on your ammo so that it shoots decently enough at long range, you'll definitely get something out of it. If you haven't had a chance to do much shooting by then, it would be a bit of a mismatch. Solution - come out early and shoot often! ;-)
 
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I did the test years ago, neck-turned brass, same lot and Neil Jones sized and yes, the Forster did a better job(less runout) and the Redding is a copy of the Forster with the latter costing less.
 
Hard to say if it's marketing rumor or not, but up until about a decade ago, wasn't a significant benchrest record held by a fellow who used the Lee Target (classic) Loader to roll the rounds he used for the record? Not to imply Lee is typically in the same pedigree that Redding or Forster or Wilson brands are usually perceived, but from that it just sounds that to a certain extent, all this fuss about 'the best' often overlooks the fact that there is a certain extent of voodoo matching rifles to bullets to powder to primers to dies. Might be better fine tuning the indian before spending excessive amounts of cash and effort straightening the arrow.
 
TrxR said:
I like the fact with the wilson I can leave my sizing die in the press undisturbed.

Have you tried loading by hand instead of the press?
Click to expand...

I have not, don't like the idea of hitting my die and seating/sizing in one swift motion. I like the feel a small arbor press provides. I'm sure if my press broke or I had no choice, seating with a mallet would work. That was the original designed purpose of Wilson hand dies after all.
 
When Redding introduced their benchrest seater they were supposed to be better than what was already out there
which at the time was the Forster/Bonanza benchrest seater and some of the lesser known brands.
Some might say that they are a copy of the Forster/Bonanza which had been around for years before Redding but it
is not the case...well not exactly, yes they look similar but don't work the same since the seating stem in the die bodies
differs, in the Forster/Bonanza the stem is attached to the adjusting head and is regulated by turning the head, the Redding
head is not attached to the seating stem only has a short knob on the bottom that acts on the seater stem as the case is raised into
the die body, in principle the Redding should provide superior results but in actual practice I have not found this to be the case,
I own many of both and would buy either one depending more on caliber availability than expected accuracy advantages ,
Oh and the Forster costs less :)
 
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