Larry Willis collet die

The reason I ask is because there are alternatives sometime to the Willis die. The bulge just north of the belt comes about often because the chamber in your die and the one in your rifle don't match up good. Often the chamber in your rifle is longer than the one in the die. What happens is you set-up your sizing die to headspace on the shoulder and give you a .002-.003 bump. Being that your die chamber is longer you get the proper bump but leave the portion of the case just ahead of the belt unsized. With a few firings this portion expands from not being sized and your bolt becomes hard to close and also effects extraction. If you screw your sizing die down to size this portion of the case then your bolt troubles go away but you now have much more shoulder bump than necessary and your case life goes to pot. Here is where a different die comes in and a lot of time will fix this issue. For example if you were having chambering trouble with your 338 mags and you had ( or know someone who has to try) a 340 Weatherby or maybe even a 300 Weatherby FL die ( small base would be even better) you could adjust this die in your press to contact your shell holder + 3/4 of a turn then run your 338 case all the way in the die and this may size that area of the case that is giving you trouble with no worry of bumping your shoulder too much. This does not work in every instance but from what I have experienced it works often and is a much cheaper alternative than the Willis die.
 
cape cove said:
The reason I ask is because there are alternatives sometime to the Willis die. The bulge just north of the belt comes about often because the chamber in your die and the one in your rifle don't match up good. Often the chamber in your rifle is longer than the one in the die. What happens is you set-up your sizing die to headspace on the shoulder and give you a .002-.003 bump. Being that your die chamber is longer you get the proper bump but leave the portion of the case just ahead of the belt unsized. With a few firings this portion expands from not being sized and your bolt becomes hard to close and also effects extraction. If you screw your sizing die down to size this portion of the case then your bolt troubles go away but you now have much more shoulder bump than necessary and your case life goes to pot. Here is where a different die comes in and a lot of time will fix this issue. For example if you were having chambering trouble with your 338 mags and you had ( or know someone who has to try) a 340 Weatherby or maybe even a 300 Weatherby FL die ( small base would be even better) you could adjust this die in your press to contact your shell holder + 3/4 of a turn then run your 338 case all the way in the die and this may size that area of the case that is giving you trouble with no worry of bumping your shoulder too much. This does not work in every instance but from what I have experienced it works often and is a much cheaper alternative than the Willis die.
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Interesting! My son is having problems with his Browning 338WM chambering. I hadn't come across this problem before, and had me going. In reading all the imput here, I feel that's possible the problem with his chamber and dies. In my rifles I hadn't had any of those problems. About 25yrs ago I switch to neck sizing my belted mag, without any trouble. I was loosing case in 3 firing. I was and still do have a 308 NM rifle. It's shorter to the shoulder and longer neck than the 300WM. I happen by accident in trying neck sizing for that cartridge, but only could get a 300WM neck sizing die. I didn't want to wait for 6 to 9 months to get a special order die.
Being the difference in the two cases, the 300WM neck sizing die would only size about 3/4 of the neck. Leaving the balance unsized. It work just fine, and stop the case separation at the belt. My case life was extened to about 12 firing before I would loose the primer pockets. So now my cases are fired formed up and including about a1/4 to 1/3 of the neck. The balance of the neck was sized. It reduced my groups some, but I was close to 1/2" @ 100yds. I was and do shoot 165gr Nosler BT and AB in that rifle @ 3300fps. I am 5+grs over the manaul hot load. That why I began to loose primer pockets. I learned a lot during that time of going to the range at that time. My sons rifle is in Montana and I am in Mexico-North (aka Calif) presently so I can't measure his cases. So I order 3 die this morning. One sons is about 180m mile away from us and my brother reloads too for belted mag rifle. So I got a die for the 3 of us being we are in different places. The other is I don't want to wait until I get to measure the cases of my son. I can see the dies are not cheap either. Thanks for the imput. It's only money!😁
 
I have one and I use it every 3 rd or 4th firing in my 300 WM brass. I just chamber fired cases and use the collet die on the ones that wouldn't or hard to chamber.
 
I bought one last year for my STW and 300 weatherby and it works great. No other way that I know of to get rid of that bulge just north of the belt. If you don't address this issue, eventually you will develop a crack and possible separation at that point. This single die fits a half dozen belted cartridges. I think I paid just north of $100 for it which is almost priceless when you consider extending the life of your expensive brass. Whether you, next size or full size, if you're breast does not cycle freely, you need one.
 
Good morning everyone, whew it's been years since I posted here! I saw this thread in an email though and had to share my experience with the Willis die.
I bought one years ago, during the first "great brass shortage" lol. The die has worked exactly as described and it turns brass that won't chamber into being usable again. Anytime I'm loading belted magnums I use the die to measure the case, after sizing of course, and if the case sticks it then gets run through the collet portion of the die. Added steps to the reloading process but well worth it in my opinion. The cost of the die has easily been offset by the savings in not needing to buy new brass as much. If you shoot belted magnums, it is worth every penny IMO.
 
Mike Matteson said:
I kind of wonder is you are going to get the die or not. I have a problem with a browning 338WM chamber in my sons rifle. I feel that it's about the area above the belt. I stumble onto this, this morning. Looking at ordering out 4 of them. My brother, and sons all have belted mag rifles. I have several.
I thank all for the imput. Great day when you learn something new. Now of to the net to see what I can find.
Click to expand...
It was several years ago when I found out about the
Mike Matteson said:
Interesting! My son is having problems with his Browning 338WM chambering. I hadn't come across this problem before, and had me going. In reading all the imput here, I feel that's possible the problem with his chamber and dies. In my rifles I hadn't had any of those problems. About 25yrs ago I switch to neck sizing my belted mag, without any trouble. I was loosing case in 3 firing. I was and still do have a 308 NM rifle. It's shorter to the shoulder and longer neck than the 300WM. I happen by accident in trying neck sizing for that cartridge, but only could get a 300WM neck sizing die. I didn't want to wait for 6 to 9 months to get a special order die.
Being the difference in the two cases, the 300WM neck sizing die would only size about 3/4 of the neck. Leaving the balance unsized. It work just fine, and stop the case separation at the belt. My case life was extened to about 12 firing before I would loose the primer pockets. So now my cases are fired formed up and including about a1/4 to 1/3 of the neck. The balance of the neck was sized. It reduced my groups some, but I was close to 1/2" @ 100yds. I was and do shoot 165gr Nosler BT and AB in that rifle @ 3300fps. I am 5+grs over the manaul hot load. That why I began to loose primer pockets. I learned a lot during that time of going to the range at that time. My sons rifle is in Montana and I am in Mexico-North (aka Calif) presently so I can't measure his cases. So I order 3 die this morning. One sons is about 180m mile away from us and my brother reloads too for belted mag rifle. So I got a die for the 3 of us being we are in different places. The other is I don't want to wait until I get to measure the cases of my son. I can see the dies are not cheap either. Thanks for the imput. It's only money!
Click to expand...
 

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