Making a seater die

S

skeetlee

Active member
I am going to make a couple seater dies and i just wanted to discuss the topic a bit here. I have a pretty good idea on how to approach al this, but a little research and discussion is always a good idea. In my opinion anyway. Ok,

-Set up of the die blank- 3 jaw, or do you dial the blank in as you would a barrel? I think i will use a barrel stub, rather than a wilson blank.
-Wilson seat stem and cap- On my 6mm wilson seater stems they measure .245 i do beleive. How much, or how big do i need to drill or ream the hole in the top of the seat die so that the stem is straight, and so it wont bind? Do i ream the same size, or do i need a little wiggle room? I will need to have a chucking reamer made, or actually a few of them made, as not all the seater stems i have are the same OD. Or i can polish each stem to the proper size.
Those are really my only two concerns. This should be a pretty simply project. Thanks Lee

PS- Does anyone have any wilson seater stems in 6mm and 22cal to sell?? I need a few of each.
 
Lee, this is what old barrels are for, not to hold up tomater plants. Sinclair usually has the cap-n-stems in stock.
 
If you check around you may find a picture of a seater that Speedy used to sell, that was scratch built. The stem bore was part of the same reamer as the rest of the die cavity. That way it would all have to be in line. For the blanks that Wilson sells, you can use your chamber reamer, but you will need different size pilot than you would use to chamber. In any case, by drilling and reaming the whole length of the die body you are basically left with a setup and chamber job for a very short barrel.
 
Skeet...you can order chucking reamers in decimal sizes that should work fine from MSC or enco. Not sure of clearance, but definitely need a little clearance.
 
By the time you buy the stem and the appropriate reamer you can buy a Wilson blank seater die in the cal you need.
 
I bought a .2440" and a .2445" chucking reamer from one of the supply houses and use the .2440". I am probably getting some run out and it makes the hole a bit larger than stated size.

I have also made stems and caps also. They are time consuming for sure. You can custom fit the stem for the reamed hole and get a nice fit.

I drill the stem and bore the hole straight to a diameter of .215" or so and then cut the angle that engages the bullet. You can check the bullet you plan to use and find the angle to use. If you get it too shallow the bullet sticks in the stem, hum, how do I know that?

I was talking with someone just a short time ago about this very subject and he said he had some stems made that are one piece. He did some measuring and decided on a certain length. That sure would save some time not having to bore,thread and fit the 2 separate pieces. Huh, gonna have to try that.

You can surely make a better fitting die than a generic one and get better concentricity also.

Joe Hynes
 
I made a miniature "action holding fixture" to dial my blanks into true parallel......... as you said Skeet, "just like a barrel."

al
 
alinwa said:
I made a miniature "action holding fixture" to dial my blanks into true parallel......... as you said Skeet, "just like a barrel."

al
Click to expand...

This is the rite idea...... I use a steady rest..... same way you set-up a barrel.... parallel
and do it all in 1 set-up.......
 
B.Larson said:
..... same way you set-up a barrel.... parallel
and do it all in 1 set-up.......
Click to expand...

If you are using barrel stubs, then the bore is only enlarged a few thousandths for the stem. Thus the bore has to be perfectly aligned, or the bored and reamed hole won't be smooth, right?

Thanks,
Keith
 
I made several with decimal reamers bought from in stock supplies at MSC. I decided I could do better on the stem clearance so I sent all my spiral chucking reamers to have them reground for .0005 clearance (.00025 per side) and then started getting a better die than I could buy.

I used several old barrels up making dies and still have a few of my blanks laying around waiting for me to ream them and finish them out.

I cut the barrels into the length I needed then used a piloted 60° center reamer in each end then turned each blank between centers and put them away till I needed something to do.
I'll put a blank in my 4 jaw and ream it and then run my chucking reamer in and ream all the way out the top of the die. I then turn it around in the chuck and face the top end and it's off to the engraving machine. I can't find any run out issues with this setup. If you like to spend a lot of time dialing it in you might try coaxial alignment like in a action truing jig, some claim they are better that way.
 
what type of rod or indicators do you all use to dial in the Wilson seater blanks? Im fixing to make some 20cal seaters. I don't have the proper bushing for my gordy rod, so I am either going to make a rod out of brass or try and order the proper bushing. Probably rhe bushing. I made an action truing type of jig for these seater blanks. I think it will work fantastically, once I get the proper tools too dial the blank in. lee
 
skeetlee said:
what type of rod or indicators do you all use to dial in the Wilson seater blanks? Im fixing to make some 20cal seaters. I don't have the proper bushing for my gordy rod, so I am either going to make a rod out of brass or try and order the proper bushing. Probably rhe bushing. I made an action truing type of jig for these seater blanks. I think it will work fantastically, once I get the proper tools too dial the blank in. lee
Click to expand...

Me, Gordy rod
 
I ended up using my long stem dial indicator. Worked well, however I think ill go ahead and order some bigger bushings. Lee
 
I have bushings made to fit Wilson seater stems for every caliber I make seater dies for. I had decimal reamers made to fit the stems and bushings to fit the reamed hole so I can ream an off caliber barrel stub and have a hole and a bushing made to fit.
Works good for off caliber stuff like making 25 caliber dies out of a 22 barrel. I can run the decimal reamer all the way through then pilot the reamer with the appropriate bushing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top