arbor press

Sinclair International has been building great arbor press's for longer then I've been reloading. Most it not all their products are a top notch made equipment. Although they're not made for F/L sizing, but there priced about $15.00 less then what you were looking at.
 
Boy I guess I have been living in the past too long or never payed any attention to these since I have used either a C or D style press for all my reloading. What is the advantage of an Arbor press?
 
These are nothing new, been around 50+ years I'd guess. Likely much longer.

The dies don't screw in. They're simply placed on the press. Standard dies cannot be used. The Arbor press doesn't have enough leverage for full length sizing. They're pretty much standard for many benchrest competitors, but... are also used by accuracy-minded loaders for other competition types and also hunters.

I'm not going so far as to say they're better than high quality standard dies. I do like them though. I like the ease with which the press & dies work together to neck size, then bullet seat.

Local benchrest competitors (one who happened to win the Nationals a couple of times) and varmint shooters introduced me to the Wilson loading dies and the use of the arbor press - close to 20 years ago.

It's a different way of loading. I get very good results, but I'm not going to pound my chest and say that it's better. I only use the Wilson dies & arbor press for my rifles I demand highest accuracy from:
.308 Win
.25-06 Rem
.204 Ruger

I insist on high accuracy from those, and the Wilson dies help me get it.

Regards, Guy
 
Purists may cringe, but the Wilson dies have always reminded me of the old Lee "pound 'em with a mallet" loading dies. Much the same concept.
 
My RW Hart arbor press, a small drill press is about the same thing:


Sizing die, disassembled, showing the bushing, which can be changed to vary neck tension:


Neck Sizing a piece of .204 Ruger brass:


Sized:


Place the sized case, about to be loaded:


Put the bullet on the case mouth:


The "chamber type" seating die will hold the case and bullet in near-perfect alignment. This is the biggest advantage to this type of die that I've seen. It made quite a difference in my 600 yard groups:


And we're done:


Guy
 
Thanks Guy for the explanation and the great pics. Just wondering how you get the casing out of the die when you size it.
 
Turn the die over and put it back under the press. It pops right out, slick as a whistle! (y)

The de-capper does the pushing.
 
Guy Miner":1yj9o015 said:
Purists may cringe, but the Wilson dies have always reminded me of the old Lee "pound 'em with a mallet" loading dies. Much the same concept.
Click to expand...

I've used the Lee "Mallet" dies in a couple of calibers years ago. The standout was a 22-250 that shot tiny groups with regularity. I was impressed and it was the beginning of my concentricity and inline bullet seating understanding. I've thought seriously about buying another set or so to complement my screw in die sets.
 
Yes. I have my old, 1970's Lee dies in 6mm Rem & .357 mag. A couple of years ago I used the 6mm dies to build some cartridges - first time I'd used those dies in many years. They still work just fine!

Regards, Guy
 
Never used one. Do you need to lube the neck for sizing?

JD338
 
I use an old gizmo that took a 1/4" drill and converted it into a drill press of sorts and used it with a couple of sets of those old Lee dies. About all the pounding I would have to do was to remove the case from the neck sizing die. It eliminated pounding the primer in place which I liked. Never did much care for the sudden bang from an over sensitive primer. I never could find the proper drill to stick on that thing which was some kind of solid. These days I prefer to use one of the old Lyman tong tools of which I have several sets.
Paul B.
 
I never used lube with the Lee die but that was a long time ago. When I neck size on the press I use a white powder lube. Micah? Maybe? Can't remember as I've had for number of years and a little goes a long way.
 
Darkhorse":i4i4ziua said:
I never used lube with the Lee die but that was a long time ago. When I neck size on the press I use a white powder lube. Micah? Maybe? Can't remember as I've had for number of years and a little goes a long way.
Click to expand...

No doubt motor mica, which works well. I have gravitated to graphite in more recent years, though I still have a pound or so of motor mica.
 
JD338":24zsi2el said:
Never used one. Do you need to lube the neck for sizing?

JD338
Click to expand...

Yes, I use just a dab of sizing die wax. A really, really little dab.

Guy
 
With all the money I have invested in reloading presses and dies I can't see myself buying a press that I can't use what I already have. The idea of an arbor press intrigues me but I would have to buy new dies for everything I load. If I was just starting out or was heavy into long range shooting it would be a different story.
 
Agree. It would make the most sense if you had a rifle, dedicated to precision shooting, like BR competition or something.

Even then, many competitors rely on a standard press, or even a Dillon progressive, and "competition" dies. They build great ammo.

When I got mine, I was trying to break into the "High Master" class for long range NRA prone competition. My ammo improved, my scores went up and I got my High Master designation. Otherwise, I wouldn't have likely bothered, as the good ol' RCBS Rockchucker churns out pretty doggone good ammo for most purposes.

Later I added dies for the .204 for varminting purposes, and the .25-06, because I was intrigued by the accuracy potential of that cartridge, in a sporter weight rifle.

Guy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

nosler06
Brass Question
2
Replies
28
Views
2K
jimbires
jimbires
T
Retiring the 7mm Magnum
2
Replies
29
Views
1K
xphunter
xphunter
T
portable press
Replies
19
Views
2K
ElmerThud
ElmerThud
T
Stretching it to 725
Replies
6
Views
238
remingtonman_25_06
R
B
Decided to pull the trigger...
Replies
12
Views
586
SJB358
S
AMMUNITIONAmmunition BULLETSBullets BRASSBrass FirearmsFirearms GearGear
Back
Top