Anybody here use Vickerman seating dies ? Why ? Why not ?

Sysephus,
I've had quite a few Vickerman seating dies. I like 'em. The Vickerman was the first die, I know of, that approached the competition seating dies of today. I bought my first Vickerman in 1960. As I recall a set of RCBS dies went for about $7.00. Just the Vickerman seating die went for $27.50. I haven't seen the Vickerman dies on the market for many years. Good luck.

Sisyphus & Big Bob, CH4-D still makes Vickerman die bodies and inserts as does Ponsness-Warren. The latter refers to them as "window type" seating dies.

Here you go: http://www.castingstuff.com/gmw__products.htm These folks have actually purchased the rights to the Vickerman name and are making new dies to the exact specifications of the original dies.

I have been able to use true Vickermans at my gunsmiths and they are simply the cat's ass. Had I found the above link 2-3 years ago instead of 2-3 weeks ago I would have purchased those instead of that found here: http://www.z-hat.com/MIS.htm although these seem to be very nice dies as well.

Good luck,

Reed

Paul Brasky... Thanks...but I was interested in VICKERMAN dies. Z-Hat makes a similar die. The CH4D and P-W dies are NOT Vickerman dies. They are not even Vickerman-style dies.

Reed, I agree.

My first experience w/ the Vickerman dies was years ago, since then I have gotten Bob Gemmell's version (which by the way, have interchangeable parts w/ the "original" Vickerman.) Pricey (?) at $67 but NOTHING seats w/ less runout... which is, as you know critical to accuracy.

BTW...Larry at Superoir agrees.

The Z-Hats have a micrometer seating stem, which is nice (!) but not the precision of the Gemmell edition of the Vickerman.

[ 02-21-2003, 03:26: Message edited by: Sysephus ]

Sysephus,

I take it you've done some side by side comparisons between the two? I'm not doubting your conclusion but do you have any quantifiable numbers as to runout between the two? I bought the Z-hat and while it's nice as a universal seating die I kind of wonder how it compared to Vickerman dies as the bullet was held up by the small bb with the spring attachment in that little grove around the edge.

Anyway, any additional information you may provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Reed

Reed - thanks for the GMW link! I've been looking for a way to use the Vickerman that I've had for years on more than one caliber.

You're welcome. I was very glad to have found that link as well. I'm pretty sure I came across it somewhere here.

Once a guy uses a Vickerman die they will pretty well never want to use another.

The only other die that comes to mind along these lines is a Ford from Freemont, KS or else a Freemont from Ford, KS. (I don't have my notes with me but my gunsmith had one and I wrote the name down and could never come up with any information). Of course this was in an attempt to get a Vickerman style die under the assumption that they were no longer made.

Later,

Reed