Wilson seater question

T

tiny68

Member
Rookie question. My 30BR Redding competition seater has been on order for over 2 months. I give. I am going to have to figure out these Wilson dies that came with the rifle. There simple, I know. What is the thread on the screw adjustment used to set the bullet depth? How many thousands per turn?

Thanks, tiny
 
Tiny , dosn't really matter, (a thou is just a smidge)Get some of the Skip's seater die shims available through Sinclairs or Bud Mundy. Then you just set the wilson top at a middle ground number and add or subtract shims to get to your desired depth.
joel
 
On mine, 1/4 turn = .005"

I use a dial caliper though and measure the stem/cap OAL during adjustment so I know when I've moved .005" or more.
 
hmmmmm,

I've always figured 40thou/turn on a Wilson. Maybe I need to check it :) My brain DOES have a few fissures..........


tiny,

I've got all sorts of cool seaters with micrometers and threads and knurls and digital readouts and whizbanggizmo's and NONE OF THEM offer any extra usability over a plain ol Wilson and a set of Skippers Shims......... And even without the shims it's no biggy deal. Here's what I normally do.

Stick a loaded round int the Wilson and just run the bullet down enough to stay in place.

Now put it in the gun and seat it with the riflings.........

Now put it BACK into your Wilson seater and adjust the stem to the bullet.


Bingo, you're set to jam.

work from there.


hth


al
 
alinwa said:
hmmmmm,

I've always figured 40thou/turn on a Wilson. Maybe I need to check it :) My brain DOES have a few fissures..........
Click to expand...

I had to re-check mine after that. Your right, 1/8 turn is .005", 1/4 turn is
.010", full turn is .040", Sorry. I guess it was my brain that had fissures.................. :)
 
I promise that sooner or later you will miscalculate adjustments on the wilson top. turning in when you should go out etc. get the shims and
a notebook. They are nearly idiot proof
 
NEARLY idiot-proof :D

I've got three sets of shims and I've gotten to where I measure each stack adjustment with the calipers, I don't even read the notches except to sort them. And lissen to Bob, write stuff down!


AND, I should have noted....... I actually set the seater stem to a little MORE THAN actual jam. I loosen the stem setscrew, run it down to touch the (jam-seated) bullet and then pop it out and screw it out a smidgeon. I wanna' see some air in the system..... this allows me to put an actual shimstack under it instead of a flimsy single.



REMEMBER TO TIGHTEN THE SETSCREW!!!!! I was 64rds into a 600yd reloading block two wks ago........64 out of 150 scrupulously weighed TO THE POWDER KERNEL loads, when I noticed the loose seater stem.

I nearly cried.

LOL


al


BTW wnroscoe, thanx for doing the legwork. I was gonna' have to walk clear down to the range (nearly 70yds!) to measure...... :D
 
Wilson dies are great

and from the above posts it is obvious you guys have used them. I recently got one of the micrometer tops and personally I like the stantard better. I have the shims and IMHO it is easier to use the shims versus the micrometer top. My shims do not work work with the mic top. I have a Jones seater and I use the shims with it also. They work great for me...
 
alinwa said:
hmmmmm,

I've always figured 40thou/turn on a Wilson. Maybe I need to check it :) My brain DOES have a few fissures..........


tiny,

I've got all sorts of cool seaters with micrometers and threads and knurls and digital readouts and whizbanggizmo's and NONE OF THEM offer any extra usability over a plain ol Wilson and a set of Skippers Shims......... And even without the shims it's no biggy deal. Here's what I normally do.

Stick a loaded round int the Wilson and just run the bullet down enough to stay in place.

Now put it in the gun and seat it with the riflings.........

Now put it BACK into your Wilson seater and adjust the stem to the bullet.


Bingo, you're set to jam.

work from there.


hth


al
Click to expand...

Al, I could not agree with you more. The old reliable L.E. Wilson straight-line seater is my choice over everything else. You just cannot beat it for benchrest use. Keep it simple right? And you're right, one turn of the stem equals .040. You don't need shims, calipers or anything, just establish 'JAM' as you described and work from there. If you want .010 off of 'JAM, simply rotate the stem a quarter turn. Simple, quick and easy.

Gene Beggs
 
Nader said:
C'mon Gene,
you can't tell me that you don't have a dial caliper in your reloading box!
joel
Click to expand...

You're right Joel, I do and use it all the time, but even without it, I could adjust seating depth within two or three thousandths using only the screw slot of the stem as a reference. I use my dial caliper much more when adjusting the sizing die for proper headspace.

One thing I might mention and that is, choose a dial caliper that is either digital or calibrated so that one revolution of the dial equals .100. Some are calibrated so that one revolution equals .200 and they are impossible to read accurately. With a good caliper and proper technique, you can measure to within .0005.

My .02 worth

Gene Beggs
 
I haven't been

much of a Wilson supporter. I bought a couple of Forster threaded seaters and had sleeves reamed for the various chamberings I have. I think I have found that I can load more consistent ammo using threaded dies than the hand press variety. It is way easier to adjust them. I believe the M Mouse set screw Wilson puts in their top certainly could be improved. ;)
 
I did do this to some of my Wilson's;

Took out the Leatherman file and filed grooves across't the top, two grooves at about 90degrees to make an "X". It makes it easier to see the adjustment and heck, with this micrometer top I bet I can get within one or two thou VS Gene's two or three ;) I often don't use a screwdriver to turn it, I just pop it out and spin the stem with my fingers.

Micrometer Top :D

LOL


al



But I STILL use The Skippers Shims....... it keeps me from forgetting and leaving the seater stem loose! :D In this light I've actually got 3 PPC and 4 BR seaters just so's I don't have to adjust them as much.....

I've also got 4 sets of Skippies Die shims, the big ones for under the threaded die. I keep a lot of them so I put them back in the rack with the shims left on and mark them "X-gun" so that I don't have to go through the whole setup each time I screw a die in for a barrel I haven't used in a while. I can pop them in and out of the Hood and they'll repeat. I do write down the die stack dimensions in my notebook too. I've got PPC barrels from three different 'smiths and can swap out a barrel and be shooting again in minutes, different chamber, different die.
 
Stephen B Moore,

On the surface that advice seems really sound. I'm a Safety Geek, I reload wearing my safety glasses! BUT....... just how "unsafe" is it to fiddle with the stem on a loaded round? A loaded round that was JUST LOADED in the same equipment?? I can't see where taking the seater stem in and out could possibly blow me up, plus loaded ammo isn't exactly a dangerous item.... seems we could be going a little overboard here?



al
 
Stephen B Moore,

In retrospect I see that you were probably balking at my advice to "put a loaded round into the rifle and let it set the depth"...... here I'll agree with you, that was bad advice :eek:

I do it a lot ON MY OWN RANGE because my gun's already set up in the bags and pointed downrange.....If I slip and let it off I'll just get an embarrassing extra hole in the target. BUT...... I'll agree with you anyway, IT IS SAFER to use a dummy for the jamset. In fact I did exactly that today because I was jamming bullets in the reloading cradle, NOT in the bags.


ALSO, if you're to get one jammed into the lands it IS rather spooky to be tapping it back out with a cleaning rod....LOADED round.

I'll retract my former statement. I DO believe in dummies, good catch Stephen.

Thank You.


al
 
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