Lee collet die concentricity

[MRogersII]

Question. I am finishing up a 300 H&H build to be used for a hunting rifle. Have been looking for a Redding Type-S FL resizing die for sometime without much success. Wondering if anyone has experience using the Lee collet neck die just to size the necks, and how the concentricity/ runout was?

Thank you in advancefor the help.

Michael

 

[Straightshooter1]

Question. I am finishing up a 300 H&H build to be used for a hunting rifle. Have been looking for a Redding Type-S FL resizing die for sometime without much success. Wondering if anyone has experience using the Lee collet neck die just to size the necks, and how the concentricity/ runout was?

Thank you in advancefor the help.

Michael

How well it does depends on the press being used and how the die is set up. I use LCD in my Forster Co-Ax press and get a TIR of .001 or less. . . most often less.

 

[tommeboy]

it works well if you turn the brass several times. Size turn size turn. Depending on brass you might have to sand the sizing rod a little to get the right amount of neck tension. Thin brass they don't size enough so you turn down the rod till it gets to what you like.

 

[Tesoro]

They work well but low number concentricity is over rated and not necessary imo . But you will still need to f/l size and bump for a hunting load.

 

[Doom]

They work well but low number concentricity is over rated and not necessary imo . But you will still need to f/l size and bump for a hunting load.

I think low concentricity may or may not be an issue. It depends on things like actual freebore diameter, jump and jam, to some extent probably the specific cartridge and bullet.

 

[Tesoro]

I think low concentricity may or may not be an issue. It depends on things like actual freebore diameter, jump and jam, to some extent probably the specific cartridge and bullet.

yeah but for hunting chasing concentricity is a waste of time.

 

[bozo699]

Question. I am finishing up a 300 H&H build to be used for a hunting rifle. Have been looking for a Redding Type-S FL resizing die for sometime without much success. Wondering if anyone has experience using the Lee collet neck die just to size the necks, and how the concentricity/ runout was?

Thank you in advancefor the help.

Michael

As others have mentioned you can get really good concentricity with them, also as mentioned turning them a 1/4 turn 2 or 3 times also can help however without turning the rod down you won’t have enough neck tension for a magazine fed rifle with as much recoil as yours has plus the shoulder angle you have the cases stretch easily so if your wanting to use a collet die you need a Redding or some brand of f/l body die to use in conjunction with the collet die imho
Wayne

 

[NZ_Fclass]

I suggest that you would be better off with a standard FL die set. You need good neck tension. If you want to go the bushing route, maybe one of the custom die makers is the answer.

 

[Fuj]

Lee Collet dies work great for me.....One tip though......For the best
consistent neck tensions, I do a good anneal and feel that's the most
important aspect when matching up with a properly sized mandrel.

 

[MRogersII]

Many thanks, Guys, for the feedback. In the absence of bushing dies, my intention was just to size the case with a body die and then neck size with the collet die. I did this in a previous life with a 308 Baer bench gun and was satisfied with the results, including minimal case stress. That was 20 years ago though.
Have a great week.
Michael

 

[SeabeeKen]

They work well but low number concentricity is over rated and not necessary imo . But you will still need to f/l size and bump for a hunting load.

Some runout you can get by with but too much is bad. I have a redding die that induced .010 runout. Rifle would not shoot well. After arguing with redding, they had me send it in. It came back with no explanation but still induced .002 runout. I called them to aks what they did and was told simply that they reworked the neck of the die. This difference in runout was very noticeable on target.
the lee collet die has worked great for me and as already mentioned above, runout is .001 or less no matter which press im using.

 

[Tesoro]

Acceptable low number to me is .003. At 1k I dont see any diff between .001 and .003. There are so many other variables that will over ride minor concentricity variances that this concern is pretty much last on the list.
For sure .010 is crazy..bullet not going in straight so stressing the neck wall and neck tension is all over the place, even after the bullet is straightened out by the leade.
If you want to do do collett then recommend getting a custom one made for your chamber..about 100 bucks. The collett works even better with less slop and a with a floating shell holder like the co-ax.

 

[Fast14riot]

I load all my match ammo with a body die and LCD. I do take the Lee dies apart and polish the mating surfaces and add a touch of grease. I rotate brass during neck sizing, too.

 

[markm87]

Neck runout is very good with the Lee Collet neck sizer. They are cheaply made dies, but do work good for the most part. I've modified my process so that the necks get sized twice.

I used to get like 3% of the brass where the bullet could be pulled out with my fingers because the die didn't work correctly.

Double sizing the necks gave me much better consistency in my neck tension.

 

[Tesoro]

The LCD will give you excellent low run out numbers, but the problem is you never really know how consistent the neck tension is because every round gets a different amount of pressure impressed on the neck on each stroke. And we all know neck tension trumps runout. However for hunting it is a great simple way to go. imo. The mistake is to try to make your hunting rifle shoot like a target rifle. Took me a while to stop doing this and just build a dedicated target rifle! However I will say that I have had 2 hunting rifles that shot as well as my 7k target rifle! But they were both European.

 

[Murray Brook]

The LCD is a great die although there is a learning curve. Your run-out will be very good with this die but , as previously mentioned, run-out for hunting rounds isn't that important unless it is real bad. If you feel the tension isn't enough to hold the bullet during recoil then you could incorporate the Lee factory crimp die in your process as well. Works real good also. JMO

 

[robert8904]

I have great results with LCD. I do have extra mandrels for each caliber. The goal is to get the necks about .001" under the desired ID, then finish with a neck mandrel. With annealed brass, this gives very consistent interference/tension.

 

[Rocketvapor]

Doesn't the LCD mandrel would like a neck mandrel?

 

[bsekf]

Great old cartridge, but won't you get a lot of stretch and have to do a lot of trimming? Redding body die and the collet die work for me.

 

[Tesoro]

Doesn't the LCD mandrel would like a neck mandrel?

neck mandrel = you shrink down neck with a bushing and then run mandrel inside it to expand to desired diameter. ( factoring in some springback)
LCD = mandrel is size of desired finished neck diameter and smaller than fired case neck. It slips into the case neck and then a 4 leaf collet slips over the neck and compresses the neck onto the mandrel. You can change neck tension, or finished diameter, by using different size forming mandrels.