Original York -VS- Wilton Bullet Vise Comparison

I've wanted a bullet vise since the first time I laid eyes on one however the prices on them made me think I'd never own one. Then one day I came across a 4" York bullet at a swap meet. It didn't live up to my expectations though until I customized it to stop it from wandering during rotating it. (see the fix here in post # 3078): https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5773784

I recently had another streak of luck when I scored a 400 Wilton bullet. This is the 1st Wilton bullet I've ever seen and I was surprised to see how different it was to the York. (A great thread on the history of these vises is here and on post # 80 you can see a comparison of modern Yorks and Wiltons which look identical) See Here (worth reading this thread): https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=111502

I'm no expert on Wilton vises so perhaps my comparison photos are out of context between these 2 models but these are both older original 4" bullet vises and I wanted to demonstrate the vast differences between them for those like me who had never seen either in the flesh.

First, let me point out that photo lenses distort and can make objects look bigger or smaller in relationship to others. I tried to control this but in my crowded shop I wasn't able to get too scientific. This 1st photo makes the York look a bit bigger than it is but you can see the length against the tape. It's about 5" shorter than the Wilton.



The York is a little closer to the camera in this 2nd shot as well so bigger looking.



The 3rd shot is pretty much even.



The 4th shot shows the difference in height and the size of the screw shaft and handle although the jaws are both 4".



Photo #5 Back view shows the bigger base and bulk.



Photo #6 is the top view which shows an honest portrayal of the length.

In this corner from 1934 in the Czech republic, weighing in at 12.4 KG is the York Bullet:





And in this corner from sometime later and weighing in at 26.85 KG is the Wilton Model 400 Bullet:




Well there you have it, the Wilton weighs in at more than double the weight of the early York so needless to say the Wilton is a different class of vise. I considered the York as a small vise in the medium vise size range but I consider the Wilton a small vise in the large vise size range. I'd be interested to know how the #6's compare weight wise at least.

Like I said in my 1st post I'm no Wilton expert so I hope this was the correct model to compare with.

Great looking Wilton! Looks like it will clean up fantastic.

Thanks but I put it straight to work as is. Maybe some day I'll purdy it up some but I'm happy with it just mounted on the bench for now. It seems old enough but the handle needs to be coaxed through which makes me think it's has a soft life and has never been worked.

Kind of surprised you left out the biggest shortcoming of the York - the lack of any kind of center pin or boss to align the vise to the base as it is rotated. Was very surprised to discover this, I added a couple roll pins, not ideal, but much better than it was.