lee collet dies?

[robbor]

Ive heard a couple of recomendations about better concentricity with lees collet sizer/neck sizer anybody have any good or bad experiences with them?

 

[ReedG]

PLUS ... don't overlook the fact that they use no lube of any kind. What a joy to resize without having to lube even the necks.

Concentricity is as close to perfect as you can get because the necks are formed around a mandrel that is held centered in the case by the flash hole. If you need to, you can put the mandrel in a chuck and turn it down a thou or two to get a little more neck tension.

The Lee Collet Die is the best neck sizing there is. I plan to get a custom die made for my new 30 BR once I determine the neck tension it likes.

Also, if you are using a toggle linkage press like the Rock Chucker that has lots of power it is possible to drive the whole sizing assembly right out through the top of the die. The retainer is made of soft metal as a safety factor to protect the die. If you try to get too much "feel" when setting up the die you can ruin it. Follow the simple instructions and you won't have any problem,I know, I know, who reads the instructions!!?).

 

[amamnn]

They're excellent for hunting/plinking loads, and I use them for such, but there is too much play in the pin that may or may not go through the flash hole to make good concentric match rounds. If you are reaming/turning necks for a custom chamber the chances of setting the neck right is a matter of luck. This can easily be verified, using a gage like the casemaster. Also, they do nothing to control the shoulders, which figure in determining case volume.

 

[yotebuster]

Anyone have any experience sizing belted mags with these dies and with what sucess?

 

[ken4570tc]

I don't have a problem using my Lee collet die for match amunition. My rounds are all running under 0.0015 in runout. I re-anneal the necks after three firings which keeps neck tension consistant.

 

[tripcrow]

yotebuster, I’ve used them on 7 & 300 mags with great success. But I did have trouble once with them hanging up on the belt. Think I just used a Dremmel on that one.
Use them on all my factory match rifles. Even had a custom set made for a 284 Hart barrel. Neck runout is very low and there’s less of a need to turn necks because it pushes the excess brass to the outside where it does less harm to the bullet. Unlike a bushing die where any excess brass is pushed inside forcing you to turn necks precisely.

There is a little tension adjustment you can make on them by adjusting the die depth. I’ve also ordered some custom mandrels from Lee to use for different tensions.

Like ReedG says, the plus of never having to use lube on your cases is the nuts. No lube in your tumbling media. No lube crusting up inside on your case shoulders from using dies with buttons that require inside neck lubing.

And just because they look cheap don’t do what I did for years and ignore the seating dies. They seat some bullets like VLDs with less runout and more uniform depth than my standard Redding, Hornady, or RCBS seaters. Lee has lost a lot of money by not coming out with a high quality made line of his Collet die and seaters. But then those of us that know how good they are, are happy a lot of folks pass on them because of how cheap they’re made and look.