OK went and bought a lee collet neck sizing die. Put it on my RCBS press per the instructions(2 turns past contacting the shell holder), ran a case through and nothing. All it did was push the cap out. The bullet could be set in the neck by hand. Tried a bunch of settings and nothing. Thought maybe I wasnt using enough pressure. Instructions said 25+ pounds. Really pulled down on it and the the collet pushed up against the screw on cap and busted out the threads. The neck still was not sized down! Now I have a broke die and no neck sized cases. whats going on???

You need to rotate the case in the die a quarter turn and resize a couple times to get the neck squeezed down. Sorry to hear of the broken die. Send it back to Lee and tell them of the problem.

Of all the neck sizing dies, folks have the most trouble trying to use the Lee Collet dies.

I ran into the same problem. So on most of my Lee collet dies I've had to remove the mandrell and put in a drill and "hone" off materiel where the neck of the case leaves a mark until I get the desired bullet pull. I usually take off .001 at a time 'till I get a little bit of a pull coming of the mandrell after sizing. After that I've never had any problems.

RJ

should I just get a RCBS neck die instead?

If you aren't set on neck sizing, you can just take your regular full length dies and do whats called "Partial Full Length Resizing" by just taking the die and screwing it into the press until it touches the shell holder and backing it off 1/2 turn. You will get longer case life, and you don't have to buy any extra dies.

OK went and bought a lee collet neck sizing die. Put it on my RCBS press per the instructions(2 turns past contacting the shell holder), ran a case through and nothing. All it did was push the cap out. The bullet could be set in the neck by hand. Tried a bunch of settings and nothing. Thought maybe I wasnt using enough pressure. Instructions said 25+ pounds. Really pulled down on it and the the collet pushed up against the screw on cap and busted out the threads. The neck still was not sized down! Now I have a broke die and no neck sized cases. whats going on???

Maybe annealing the case necks would do you some good. The mandrel on my Lee collet die for the 25-06 measures .253. With unannealed brass there was still enough spring back the .257 bullets would slip in without resistance after annealing there is about .0025 interference.

Also if I remember correctly my instructions say ONE turn in after contacting the shell holder. If that isn't enough they recommend another 1/4 turn.

There are lots of people on this forum that swear by the Lee collets, personally I've done more swearing at 'em.

Annealing your cases is almost a must with collet neck sizing dies. I do it every fifth firing. There is a learning curve to using the Lee collet neck sizing dies they are simply not like any other dies on the market. It's not a good idea to put them in a heavy press that toggles over. I think that's somewhere in the directions to mount them so the press won't toggle over. That could be the cause of your breakage.

Some of my 243 cases have in excess of 20 firings on them. Usually a case will split a neck somewhere well past 30 firings and get thrown away.

I'd send the die back to Lee they will replace it free in the first two years. I'd also try annealing the necks prior to sizing the cases and mount it in the press so your press does not toggle over. I do a twice or three times turn on the case for each case and do not lube the cases or run the die in the press without a case in it. That locks the collet and then it won't work and can also lead to die failure.

captbrandon - what cartridge are you loading? I had some problems with my 25-06 collet die, I'm just curious if yours is a 25-06 too. My problem was the die body was out of round and the working mechanism would stick. I had quite a few crushed cases before I figured it out. I polished the dickens out of it but that didn't fix the out of round problem. Lee replaced the die for free and all is good on the bench once again.

I am loading the 30/06. I have a case that I have sized and turned about 10 times and nothing changed. The bullet could still be seated by hand. This die was highly recommended by many but I just couldnt get it to work. I had the press set so that it wouldnt cam over, per the two turns in after contacting the shell holder. Why do people have a "learning curve" with the Lee collet die? Whats the secret?

Measue the diameter of the mandrel and compare that to the diameter of the bullet. It sounds like you are not getting enough reduction in neck diameter to make a friction fit on the bullet.

If the mandrel is too big you can chuck it up in a drill and shrink it with some fine emory paper. This will allow the collet to collapse the neck to a smaller diameter.

I too had my problems with the first Lee collet die I used on .308 Winchester. As I think Bob said above, this is a different animal than most dies you use on your press and there is a learning curve. I wouldn't trade mine for anything now but it also took a broken die, which Lee replaced with just a phone call, to help me learn how to use the thing. My problem was the press camming over at the bottom of the stroke. It is vital to make sure that you don't do that as you will put astronomical force on the die and strip out the aluminum threads of the plug on top of the die. I make sure the ram contacts the bottom of the die well before the handle gets to the bottom of its stroke. And, as also mentioned above, I turn the case a quarter turn or so and do it again. You learn the "feel" of the neck being squeezed. It's sort of like learning the "feel" of seating primers. After a while, you just know when it is right. When you are pressing on the handle, you will feel the squeeze of the neck. After that squeeze is felt, you back off and turn the case, and then do it again. I get very consistent results now and almost never have to trim my cases. Annealing every once in a while will greatly extend your cases' lives. Good luck and work on "feeling" the work being done.

what is annealing the cases? Thanks for all the replys. Sounds like what I am going through is normal and the end result will be worth it. I think the mandrel must be too thick. If this is so common, why doesn't Lee make them a lil smaller?

what is annealing the cases? Thanks for all the replys. Sounds like what I am going through is normal and the end result will be worth it. I think the mandrel must be too thick. If this is so common, why doesn't Lee make them a lil smaller?

I fill a cake pan about 1/2 full of water. The cases are stood up in rows on their head (primer down). With the lights off I heat each case with a propane torch until I can just see the neck start to glow and tip it over in the water. Dry the cases and you're done.

I'd try annealing the cases first, it's amazing how much difference that makes.

Lee has no way of knowing how hard your cases are. The harder they are the more spring back is involved. If the necks are annealed to dead soft there is little or no spring back, plus they will last longer.

cptn, I think they make the mandrell the size they do is so it can cover all the brands of brass. We know that not everyone's neck thickness ids not the same. I've noticed that with decreasing the diameter of the mandrell, it takes less effort to actually size the neck.

RJ

RJ - that's an interesting comment....all brands of brass.....the mandrel sizes the inside diameter of the neck so brass variation should not be a factor. Bullet variations may be more of an issue. I have no idea what tolerances the bullet manufacturers can adhere to. I imagine they are pretty tight but if you liken it to primers for example, you can get measureable differences in primer diameter and some will fit tighter than others.

OK went and got a new set of dies and these have parts the other didnt. I think someone had tampered with the other ones. So far looks good. For a .308 bullet, what should the ID of the neck be for a good fit? I know everyone might like a certain number, but what would be ball park.

Yes but the outside diameter is probably all different. Especially after it's been shot a few times. I have a mixed bag of WW, Remington and Federal .223 brass and it was a booger to get consistant neck/bullet tension. After I "honed" the mandrell down, it made a big difference on seating. That's where I could really tell. I tried the 1/4 turn thing like Bob mentioned but all I was doing was exercising my arm. If I remember right my .223 mandrell measures at .221. I measures the inside of the neck and it's .2215 to .222, so it's springing back .0005 to.001, leaving .0015 to .002 press fit for bullet tension.

Just my findings, yours may vary.

RJ

OK went and bought a lee collet neck sizing die. Put it on my RCBS press per the instructions(2 turns past contacting the shell holder), ran a case through and nothing. All it did was push the cap out. The bullet could be set in the neck by hand. Tried a bunch of settings and nothing. Thought maybe I wasnt using enough pressure. Instructions said 25+ pounds. Really pulled down on it and the the collet pushed up against the screw on cap and busted out the threads. The neck still was not sized down! Now I have a broke die and no neck sized cases. whats going on???
I had the same problem with my Lee Neck Sizing Die for my 30-30. I didn't break a die but the bullets would just push easily into the case. I traced my problem down to my press not being mounted as solid as it should be for neck sizing. When I was applying the pressure to size the neck I found my press was actually ever so slightly flexing down with the handle. I anchored the press solid and presto the problem was solved. Check and make sure the press is not moving when you apply your pressure. I think neck sizing takes more pressure than other reloading procedures we perform with our presses.

Cary

This thread is turning out to be a pretty good collection of tips on how to use a Collet Neck Die.

captbrandon - are you making good ammo yet?

I am loading the 30/06. I have a case that I have sized and turned about 10 times and nothing changed. The bullet could still be seated by hand. This die was highly recommended by many but I just couldnt get it to work. I had the press set so that it wouldnt cam over, per the two turns in after contacting the shell holder. Why do people have a "learning curve" with the Lee collet die? Whats the secret?


Capt., there is a "learning curve" because there are movng parts involved, it can't just be adjusted according to a set of written instructions and work for all presses, cases and people. The "secret" is to work with it, gently, and try different things until we find what works for us. The top cap on that die is made of aluminum so it can act as a "fuse", it will blow out before we damage the press if we exceed the "25# pressure" limit and Lee is used to replacing them. The ram "toggle-over" precaution doesn't really matter either unless we put too much pressure on the lever.

The thickness of the case necks is almost irrelivant, you are working to squeeze the internal diameter to fit the center pin/mandrell and the out-side diameter doesn't really matter. What does matter is that we squeeze the neck down enough to hold bullets firmly. Work hardened necks do spring back more than softer ones so they need annealing occasionally. But, they shouldn't be dead soft, only moderately so, so don't over anneal, don't let them get red hot, just slightly blue works.

Sanding down the mandrel to a max of 2 thousants under bullet diameter is the normal suggestion and that usually works. Do it by rapidly spinning the mandrell in a drill while holding carborundum paper (black sandpaper, from Wallmarts auto paints dept.) at the point of neck contact and check the diameter frequently as you work. Going smaller than .002" under bullet diameter will actually harm the effect of the die in that the bullet will act as an unreliable expander!

If you are willing to sacrifice the fact that the Lee collet die produces significantly straigher necks than conventional neck sizers/expanders you will find it easier to use the RCBS, or others, and there is no learning involved with them.