Bullet seating pressure gauges

[ds1]

Has anyone experience with arbor presses from K&M and / or 21st Century (hydraulic ) for use as bullet seater with pressure gauges. Thinking of buying one with Wilson bullet seating dies. Primarily for 338 Lapua but also 308 win and 224 Valkyrie.

Appreciate thoughts on which arbor press, best inline seating dies, best place to buy and possibly other options ( I prefer some feel when seating the bullet so an AMP seater would not be on the cards). Baseline for what I have got at the moment is Forster CoAX press and Redding competition dies. 

Idea is to have a way to gauge neck tension (not directly measurable) but at least bullet seating pressure can be measured. Ideal would be a strain gauge under the case head on some form of base plate. Years ago a company did this but does not seem to be in production now.

[jcampbellsmith]

I found the dial gauge on the K&M press a complete waste of time.

Regards 

JCS

[DaveT]

Litz discredited these devices on the basis of they record different pressures dependant upon how fast you seat.

[Popsbengo]

29 minutes ago, ds1 said:

Has anyone experience with arbor presses from K&M and / or 21st Century (hydraulic ) for use as bullet seater with pressure gauges. Thinking of buying one with Wilson bullet seating dies. Primarily for 338 Lapua but also 308 win and 224 Valkyrie.

Appreciate thoughts on which arbor press, best inline seating dies, best place to buy and possibly other options ( I prefer some feel when seating the bullet so an AMP seater would not be on the cards). Baseline for what I have got at the moment is Forster CoAX press and Redding competition dies. 

Idea is to have a way to gauge neck tension (not directly measurable) but at least bullet seating pressure can be measured. Ideal would be a strain gauge under the case head on some form of base plate. Years ago a company did this but does not seem to be in production now.

I have made a load-cell that sits below the inline die on the press base plate.  It records well and charts on my laptop (bit crude, Arduino analogue chart).  The upshot is,  it's a waste of time!  Just as Dave T says above,  the variability of insertion rate makes a bit of a mess of force gauging.   The best method is the calibrated finger;  I find the feel of seating the bullet is quite tactile and easy to group any that feel a bit loose or stiffer.  I find with annealed cases and a good clean case that the general feel is very similar across the batch and this is borne out in my results.  I've seen a motorised press with force sensing but IMO it's getting too silly for words quite frankly.

 

[1066]

I made a few of these a while ago - but as others have said, it's only half a tool. To get meaningful data you need a constant force press - something I might eventually get around to some time in the future.

 

[GT3_richy]

Dunno if this link will open or not:

https://www.facebook.com/AMPannealing/posts/2428592734104303

 

[ds1]

Thank you all, for the informative replies. There seems to be a consensus that as a system it is less than perfect without a way of applying a consistent force. The AMP does this but seems very ‘overkill’. I was hoping that the 21Ct hydro press would be a workable answer.

At the moment I use Pops calibrated finger method with a short stem on the COAX. It provides what I think is a decent amount of feel when seating bullets and can do the Goldilocks method of too loose, too tight and just right for batching. Also agree annealing after each firing makes for more consistent bullet seating feel.

[Deserttech Europe]

Hi David, I have the 21st Century and when used in a consistent way (as mentioned), allows you to batch your loads by pressure.

 

Ewen

[dorg]

Sinclair, best press for feel by a mile.

[Pat Allen]

I find the k&m with dial force can be used very well to determine seating force variations .

[ds1]

Thank you all for the feedback.

Ewen,  If I do go the arbor press route it will be the 21ct hydro press. If the IWA is on (not heard anything) then I could get a chance to try before I buy. 

[Deserttech Europe]

Or visit the UK and try mine

[ds1]

Thanks for the offer Ewen, I don’t know when I will be in the U.K. There won’t be any BSS show so I hope the NSS show will be on and we will be advertising  there.

I can’t see the IWA happening either.

Many thanks again for the offer.