Any Lee Collet die users out there?

[Tesoro]

Just a heads up. I was ordering a custom collet die the other day and chatted with one of the techs. We spoke about the anvil dia for ordering spec and I wanted to stick with 1.5 tho under my measured bullet dia avg, which works out to atleast 1 tho nt with spring back. He mentioned that any custom anvil under 1.5 tho under bullet dia will in essence now turn your bullet into a sizing manderel on seating. I had never thought of it this way with the collet but makes sense. Same applies to neck bushing dies unless you are of the brass moving school of thought and neck down a tad more then expand to desired id with a mandrel as the last step. But why do that if you can do the same with a Lee and work the neck 1/2 as much!

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I think they get their ideas from that guy on the video on that other thread- the “real gunsmith”

 

[std7mag]

I had a set of RCBS 284Win dies that sized the neck for 270 bullets.
I accidentally found out one day seating a different bullet weight.
I was loading 154gr SSTs before & went to a 139gr SST.
Since i didn't want to bury the bullet in the neck, i screwed out the seater stem quite a lot. And usually take the cartridge out & check length with a set of calipers. Screw in stem till i get to desired length.

When i pulled the cartridge out, there was a sizable bulge in the neck from the bullet being pushed into it.

Measured neck of a sized case. 0.309". (0.277+0.016+0.016)

Way under what my 284 should have been!

Ordered a set of Forester dies. Problem solved.

 

[Rocketvapor]

"He mentioned that any custom anvil under 1.5 tho under bullet dia will in essence now turn your bullet into a sizing anvil on seating."
How do you get neck tension WITHOUT sizing the neck to fit tight?
How would you get 0.002" without the bullet being smaller than the anvil?
I take my as fired, sized in a body only die and the neck is larger than the anvil.
Then neck size with a -0.0025" anvil in the Lee die. Annealed necks spring back a little and the anvil slides out non-contact.
When I seat a bullet it expands the neck. Sorry, just how it works.
The Lee standard size mandrel is about 0.001" under bullet diameter. The Lee undersized mandrel they sell is at least -0.002" under the standard. I take a little more off that.
Using the wrong size die just won't work.

 

[Tesoro]

"He mentioned that any custom anvil under 1.5 tho under bullet dia will in essence now turn your bullet into a sizing anvil on seating."
How do you get neck tension WITHOUT sizing the neck to fit tight?
How would you get 0.002" without the bullet being smaller than the anvil?
I take my as fired, sized in a body only die and the neck is larger than the anvil.
Then neck size with a -0.0025" anvil in the Lee die. Annealed necks spring back a little and the anvil slides out non-contact.
When I seat a bullet it expands the neck. Sorry, just how it works.
The Lee standard size mandrel is about 0.001" under bullet diameter. The Lee undersized mandrel they sell is at least -0.002" under the standard. I take a little more off that.
Using the wrong size die just won't work.

I neck size with the lee for 6mm, 224 and 308 with the std mandrel that comes with the dies. I only use Lapua and get .01 on small brass and .015 NT on the 30 cal when all done. Depends on the actual dia of the bullet you are using. The mandrel is smaller than the bullet diameter, obviously.
I think what he meant is with a 1 tho type expansion, the bullet slips in with just enough pressure to get a 'grab' but not enough to possibly distort the neck alignment by exerting too much pressure.

 

[Tesoro]

I think they get their ideas from that guy on the video on that other thread- the “real gunsmith”

Why do you have a hardon for the Lee Collett? did you invent it and they screwed you?!!

 

[old_heli_logger]

Quit calling them a neck sizing die and call them a mandrel die and everyone will get onboard

 

[Homerange]

Has nobody ever heard of a VLD chamfer tool, apparently Lee haven't.
Of course if you increase neck tension it's gunna peel guilding metal from projectiles or conceivably make seating difficult that's why we chamfer necks FFS.

 

[big5ifty]

I use a mandrel for the calibers that Lee has no collet die for.

There is a bit more to uniform neck tension than using a collet die or a mandrel.

 

[Ray123]

I have lee collet dies in a bunch of calibers...even 50BMG. But I hardly use them these days. When your brass gets fired a few times in your bolt action, ya gotta bump the shoulder back, anyway.
Plus as the brass gets different hardness in the necks after firing...so your neck spring back gets to varying quite a bit where the bullet can be pulled out of the case with your fingers... in sone cases. Same on bushing dies... You need to anneal, but more often on the Lee collet dies, consistent neck hardness seems to show up more easily in the collet die. When you get them take them apart and deburr and polish & lube them ... follow instructions on set up, or you crush shoulders. And you can only polish the mandrel (anvil?) down so far. I just buy FL bushing dies these days, machine all the bushings in a lathe, so they are free, and I get the exact size for the brass, in the press...plus I set the shoulder back slightly...so they all chamber nicely. Just got done loading some 6 dasher...in a FL bushing die...and some 8.6 Blackout in a standard FL sizing die and some 358 Win in standard FL sizing die. I have Lee collet dies in 222, 17 rem, 223, 25-06, 308, 6 5 Creedmoor, 338 Win mag, 50BMG...that I can think of... but its been years since I've used them...Except ..I have 2 for 50BMG...no lube on the 50BMG if fired in your bolt gun saves time ... great for sub 50s, with Trailboss or Redot, and with fun tips...make flash & alot of noise on impact...even in plywood backer...and accuracy is great...shoot the eye out of a hog at 50 yards with a sub 650 gr 50BMG. That's my experience with collet dies...they have a place ... but for me it's limited.

 

[Tesoro]

I use a mandrel for the calibers that Lee has no collet die for.

There is a bit more to uniform neck tension than using a collet die or a mandrel.

They can now make you nearly every die you wish. (new cnc machinery)

True - garbage in garbage out applies equally to collet and bushings.

 

[msilbernagel]

I have lee collet dies in a bunch of calibers...even 50BMG. But I hardly use them these days. When your brass gets fired a few times in your bolt action, ya gotta bump the shoulder back, anyway.
Plus as the brass gets different hardness in the necks after firing...so your neck spring back gets to varying quite a bit where the bullet can be pulled out of the case with your fingers... in sone cases. Same on bushing dies... You need to anneal, but more often on the Lee collet dies, consistent neck hardness seems to show up more easily in the collet die. When you get them take them apart and deburr and polish & lube them ... follow instructions on set up, or you crush shoulders. And you can only polish the mandrel (anvil?) down so far. I just buy FL bushing dies these days, machine all the bushings in a lathe, so they are free, and I get the exact size for the brass, in the press...plus I set the shoulder back slightly...so they all chamber nicely. Just got done loading some 6 dasher...in a FL bushing die...and some 8.6 Blackout in a standard FL sizing die and some 358 Win in standard FL sizing die. I have Lee collet dies in 222, 17 rem, 223, 25-06, 308, 6 5 Creedmoor, 338 Win mag, 50BMG...that I can think of... but its been years since I've used them...Except ..I have 2 for 50BMG...no lube on the 50BMG if fired in your bolt gun saves time ... great for sub 50s, with Trailboss or Redot, and with fun tips...make flash & alot of noise on impact...even in plywood backer...and accuracy is great...shoot the eye out of a hog at 50 yards with a sub 650 gr 50BMG. That's my experience with collet dies...they have a place ... but for me it's limited.

Sounds like a decent solution.

I've been using a Redding body-only die to set back the shoulders.. and the Lee Collet die for neck resizing.

Nice to have options. I've been pleased with the results.. enough so that I'm considering selling my RCBS dies.

 

[Ray123]

Sounds like a decent solution.

I've been using a Redding body-only die to set back the shoulders.. and the Lee Collet die for neck resizing.

Nice to have options. I've been pleased with the results.. enough so that I'm considering selling my RCBS dies.

Yep I've done the same procedure with 308 and other calibers many years ago ... Redding body die to bump the shoulder back and a Lee collet die for neck sizing...it works.

 

[Tesoro]

Yep I've done the same procedure with 308 and other calibers many years ago ... Redding body die to bump the shoulder back and a Lee collet die for neck sizing...it works.

and a wilson arbor press + their seater die