Whidden Dies

[milboltnut]

what's your take on them?

[Wyosam]

I’ve got a couple sets. Good stuff. I’d call them top shelf, one of my top 3 (with Forster and Redding).


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[milboltnut]

So your Redding and Forster dies do just as well?

[Wyosam]

Yeah, pretty comparable. I get next to no run out with any of them. They are very well made.
I wouldn’t expect groups to shrink switching from one to the other.

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[milboltnut]

I'm talking about comparing Whidden shrinking groups, to Redding/Forester. Is that what you meant?

[Nathan]

Yea, I would agree with Wyosam’s opinion. It is important to understand the differences. Primarily, the sizing is different in how they control neck tension...All have adjustable neck tension.

Forster - Uses interchangeable expander ball to allow this adjustment. They are also famous for their custom honing and their expander ball position. The expander ball is placed up high for a hand off from sizing to expanding. These dies are very easy to make low runout cases from.

Redding - very good. Uses bushings to adjust neck tension. Expander ball can be used or not...

Whidden - Can adjust neck tension by expander or bushing change...that’s a nice option.

Expander balls can pull necks off center and floating bushings can get gummed up and stick off center....so always check runout.

Something to consider is I’ve had same runout in Hornady std dies....

From a seating point of view, they all use sliding chamber micrometer seaters. Forster uses the same quality sliding chamber design on their budget non-micrometer dies....hmm. Redding has a variety of options where most are not sliding chamber type. Whidden uses all sliding chamber micrometer seaters.

As an aside, the Hornady seater looks not very nice in comparison, but is a sliding chamber seater and makes good straight ammo! It is probably not good enough for sub 1/2 moa ammo.

[milboltnut]

Nathan

What dies do you use and why?

[Bart B.]

If one case has .012" thick neck wall and another has .016" thick neck wall, if both have inside diameters .001" smaller than the 30 caliber bullet's diameter, which one requires the most force to push it out of the case neck?

Both have .001 inch of "neck tension."

[milboltnut]

Are you are talking about the same case having two or even three different thicknesses..? Uneven wall thickness effects bore alignment from the way I understand it, so bullet tension is another part of the equation. Some say they do improve the accuracy some don't.

[Bart B.]

The USA industry standard for how tight case necks grip bullets is the amount of force needed to move the bullet out of the case neck. Termed pull or extraction force in pounds.

Military 7.62 NATO M118 match ammo specs are at least 20 pounds, 60 pounds for M80 ball ammo.

Some match handloads have only 1 pound or less bullet extraction force.

[stagpanther]

If one case has .012" thick neck wall and another has .016" thick neck wall, if both have inside diameters .001" smaller than the 30 caliber bullet's diameter, which one requires the most force to push it out of the case neck?

Both have .001 inch of "neck tension."

I'll bite.

Depends on:

1. Bullet type/composition.
2. Chamber and throat dimensions.
3. bullet seating depth

[Bart B.]

Originally Posted by milboltnut

Are you are talking about the same case having two or even three different thicknesses..? Uneven wall thickness effects bore alignment from the way I understand it, so bullet tension is another part of the equation. Some say they do improve the accuracy some don't.

I referred to different cases, each with the same uniform outside diameter but different inside diameter.

[Bart B.]

Originally Posted by stagpanther

I'll bite.

Depends on:

1. Bullet type/composition.
2. Chamber and throat dimensions.
3. bullet seating depth

Items 1 and 3 are the same. Item 2 doesn't matter.

[old roper]

Milboltnut, Whidden makes custom from fired case and sells standard die.

https://www.whiddengunworks.com/stocking-dies-chart/

Whidden dies I have are made from fired case.


This is how click adjustment works

https://www.whiddengunworks.com/clic...-instructions/

[milboltnut]

old Roper

They don't make .30-06 nonbushing clicking dies.

[hounddawg]

send them 3 fired cases and they will make you anything you want. They made me a full length bushing die for a .30 BW. I have 2 of their sizing dies now, top quality stuff. Takes a couple of months for custom dies but worth the wait if it is a off the wall cartridge like a .30 BW, or you want the die made custom for your chamber. One of my dies is a standard off the shelf click style, I did not bother with that with the custom. Nice gimmick but not necessary

[old roper]

milboltnut, You send cases to Widden and asking about turning necks?

Kind of figured you know what your doing!

[Nathan]

Nathan

What dies do you use and why?

I use all dies that work. I have a Whidden set for my 300 Sherman....haven’t got to use them yet...rifle still inbound.

I have a set of Forster for my 300 WSM. they make perfect loads when measured.

I have a Redding die sitting idle, but it was effective, just duplicate.

I have many Hornady basic die sets. They fit std chambers well, IMO and make pretty straight ammo.