Walnut Hill Press

[Reload3006]

I’ve had mine over 12 years it’s still going strong. As to whether it can use s dies Corbin manufacturing sells an adapter it works great. Problem is it’s almost 300 dollars and now the new ownership is a lot prouder of their products than even Dave was. But it does work and works well

[rolltide999]

DDriller Thank you. I keep hearing about David Corbin's presses, but I don't hear much about the Walnut Hills. How are Richard's dies?

I thought I had my WH press for about 5 years, but when I stopped to add it up, it has actually been over 10 years now. (time flies when you are having fun). I have Herter's swage dies and presses (3 different types of dies, 3 types of presses ) in a few pistol and rifle calibers, CH dies and press in a few pistol and rifle calibers, BT Sniper dies for reloading press in .50 cal ( I use in my WH press), Dave Corbin "R" dies for reloading press in 223 ( I use in my WH press), and I also have Hollywood Gun Shop swage/reloading presses and soon to acquire a set of HGS swage dies in 357 caliber just for fun. I also have RCE dies and Walnut Hill press in 223, 308, 358, 361, 375, 379, 400, 416, 429, 458, and 500. I also have BT Sniper and RCE jacket making dies (also used in my WH press)

So you can see how I voted with my pocketbook. I have settled on RCE presses and dies for most of my serious swaging needs. I think all these guys make good dies and/or presses. RCE is considerably less expensive than Dave Corbin and BT Sniper, and a little more expensive than BSS. It wasn't just a money decision for me.

A little known fact is that Richard Corbin was still working with his brother Dave Corbin when Richard designed the Dave Corbin CSP-1 press. After breaking from his brother, he made significant press design improvements and the end result is the design of the current RCE presses. So, IMHO, the Walnut Hill press is actually the next generation forward over the Dave Corbin presses. Larry Blackmon uses some of these evolved principles in his little press, which is actually great design, but with much less leverage than the WH press due to the physically much smaller size of the BSS (Blackmon) press. When I was a struggling college student, I would have really appreciated the fact that I could use the BSS press on the kitchen table (when the wife wasn't looking of course). Come to think of it though, when I was a struggling college student, I had never heard of swaging and I did all my reloading with a $15 Lee Loader outside on a picnic table because I could not afford a reloading press OR a place to put it. My wife could have probably been counted on for some free advice as to where I could put it though.

As far as dies go, Richard also improved die design. What was found over time with the Dave Corbin designs (and similar ones) was that a "stress riser" developed at the "step" where the large diameter of the die meets the small threaded diameter causing dies to fail at that point due to heat treating stress combined with usage stress. Richard Corbin dies are actually the next generation forward where the threaded diameter is increased to nearly the same as the outside diameter. This greatly reduces the "stess riser" effect and increases final breaking strength of the die and durability is therefore increased. Reloading press dies are limited in strength by the 7/8" straight diameter of the dies. They avoid the stress riser problem though because there is no "step". These dies can be strong steel and are fine for small calibers, but increased diameter is preferable for large calibers. I have a BT Sniper reloading press die in 50 cal, and I am always afraid I will break it with my WH press. Also straight dies with a lock ring cannot achieve the same precision in alignment that square shouldered "step" designs can. Although, BT Sniper reloading press dies can make amazingly accurate projectiles. Ted Smith evolved reloading die designs forward. Dave Corbin (and Richard Corbin working with his brother at the time) evolved Ted Smith die and press designs forward considerably and increased die body diameter, but kept the smaller thread diameter (probably in an attempt to maintain compatibility with older press designs.) Then Dave Corbin with his H dies, and Richard Corbin (now on his own) with his WH and HS dies increased thread diameter and body diameter. The far more common Dave Corbin S dies and M dies still kept small thread diameter. Richard Corbin designs, however, evolved forward and kept large body diameter and increased relative thread diameter close to the same diameter to avoid the stress riser flaws inherent in the Dave Corbin designs (even the bigger ones).

So the main reason that I went with the RCE designs for all my serious swaging needs is that Richard has kept improving designs in both presses and dies and currently represent the highest generation of design innovation for swaging executed with a very high level of precision and quality. The amazing thing is that Richard Corbin has done all this and also avoided the price gauging that some of the other business models have resorted to. RCE prices are not cheap, but they are reasonable. I think Larry Blackmon designs have also evolved in very similar ways to RCE, they are just limited by the smaller size of the press. Larry has also avoided price gauging and kept prices reasonable.

Contrary to popular belief, RCE (Richard Corbin) and BSS (Larry Blackmon) are still making dies and presses. The rumors of their demise have been greatly exaggerated, as Mark Twain used to say.

[Dark Vaj]

I thought I had my WH press for about 5 years, but when I stopped to add it up, it has actually been over 10 years now. (time flies when you are having fun). I have Herter's swage dies and presses (3 different types of dies, 3 types of presses ) in a few pistol and rifle calibers, CH dies and press in a few pistol and rifle calibers, BT Sniper dies for reloading press in .50 cal ( I use in my WH press), Dave Corbin "R" dies for reloading press in 223 ( I use in my WH press), and I also have Hollywood Gun Shop swage/reloading presses and soon to acquire a set of HGS swage dies in 357 caliber just for fun. I also have RCE dies and Walnut Hill press in 223, 308, 358, 361, 375, 379, 400, 416, 429, 458, and 500. I also have BT Sniper and RCE jacket making dies (also used in my WH press)

So you can see how I voted with my pocketbook. I have settled on RCE presses and dies for most of my serious swaging needs. I think all these guys make good dies and/or presses. RCE is considerably less expensive than Dave Corbin and BT Sniper, and a little more expensive than BSS. It wasn't just a money decision for me.

A little known fact is that Richard Corbin was still working with his brother Dave Corbin when Richard designed the Dave Corbin CSP-1 press. After breaking from his brother, he made significant press design improvements and the end result is the design of the current RCE presses. So, IMHO, the Walnut Hill press is actually the next generation forward over the Dave Corbin presses. Larry Blackmon uses some of these evolved principles in his little press, which is actually great design, but with much less leverage than the WH press due to the physically much smaller size of the BSS (Blackmon) press. When I was a struggling college student, I would have really appreciated the fact that I could use the BSS press on the kitchen table (when the wife wasn't looking of course). Come to think of it though, when I was a struggling college student, I had never heard of swaging and I did all my reloading with a $15 Lee Loader outside on a picnic table because I could not afford a reloading press OR a place to put it. My wife could have probably been counted on for some free advice as to where I could put it though.

As far as dies go, Richard also improved die design. What was found over time with the Dave Corbin designs (and similar ones) was that a "stress riser" developed where the large diameter of the die meets the small threaded diameter causing dies to fail at that point due to heat treating stress combined with usage stress. Richard Corbin dies are actually the next generation forward where the threaded diameter is increased to nearly the same as the outside diameter. This greatly reduces the "stess riser" effect and increases final breaking strength of the die and durability is therefore increased. Reloading press dies are limited in strength by the 7/8" straight diameter of the dies. These dies can be strong steel and are fine for small calibers, but increased diameter is preferable for large calibers. I have a BT Sniper reloading press die in 50 cal, and I am always afraid I will break it with my WH press. Also straight dies with a lock ring cannot achieve the same precision in alignment that square shouldered designs can. Altough BT Sniper reloading press dies can make amazingly accurate projectiles. Ted Smith evolved reloading die designs forward. Dave Corbin (and Richard Corbin working with his brother at the time) evolved Ted Smith die and press designs forward considerably and increased die body diameter, but kept the smaller thread diameter (probably in an attempt to maintain compatibility with older press designs.) Then Dave Corbin with his H dies, and Richard Corbin (now on his own) with his WH and HS dies increased thread diameter and body diameter. The far more common Dave Corbin S dies and M dies still kept small thread diameter. Richard Corbin designs, however, evolved forward and kept large body diameter and increased relative thread diameter close to the same diameter to avoid the stress riser flaws inherent in the Dave Corbin designs (even the bigger ones).

So the main reason that I went with the RCE designs for all my serious swaging needs is that Richard has kept improving designs in both presses and dies and currently represent the highest generation of design innovation for swaging executed with a very high level of precision and quality. The amazing thing is that Richard Corbin has done all this and also avoided the price gauging that some of the other business models have resorted to. RCE prices are not cheap, but they are reasonable. I think Larry Blackmon designs have also evolved in very similar ways to RCE, they are just limited by the smaller size of the press. Larry has also avoided price gauging and kept prices reasonable.

Contrary to popular belief, RCE (Richard Corbin) and BSS (Larry Blackmon) are still making dies and presses. The rumors of their demise have been greatly exaggerated, as Mark Twain used to say.

I also like to add to rolltide's comment, Dave Corbin was a business man who ran the Corbin mfg, Richard Corbin was the head machinists when he worked there, Richard really improved the dies and his presses, Richard's dies and presses are in my opinion, superior indeed.I have his dies, cartridge die jacket maker, core swage, core seat, point form, jacket trimmer dies are in my opinion well designed.