Lee collet dies, why is mandrel made to exact bullet diameter, kinda loose...

[Fort_Bragger]

10-4, I've been using LCD's for so long I had no recollection of having ever gone by their directions but reading your post jogged my memory. I vaguely remember counting turms the first time I bought one, ripped a couple necks off the cases, threw the directions in the trash and found the Valentine article. All has been good since

Ditto. It's all about consistant repeatability, and I think the LCD does the best at that.

 

[fyrewall]

Fotheringgill/Valentine right on. Covered all essential aspects. I might add that I have modified a .260 Lee collet die to size 6.5X47 L. I shortened the Lee mandrel and cut off the bottom of the collet and adjusted accordingly. A small amount of lube helps to prevent the collet from sticking inside the top cylinder that squashes the collet shut for all Lee collet dies- I use 3 in 1 lock lube. The .002 undersize Lee mandrel has not presented a bullet tension problem provided brass is annealed. When using Lee collet dies I generally decap cases in a separate step before running the collet die. I have been using my Lee collet dies for years with a .308 Win and 6.5-.308 (AKA .260). I use a .308 body die. Not having a body die for my 6.5-.308 I use a 7mm08 F/L die without the decap pin/expander button then run the cases thru the .260 Lee Collet die. I only load 50 cases per session. When the collet squashes down the neck around the .002 undersize mandrel the inside diameter of the neck is independent of neck wall thickness - not so with a bushing die.

Sometimes you got to read lots of stuff to make something work good.