Lee "collet dies"??

[NorCalMikie]

Got the Lee dies set today. Did a little checking but the results arn't what I hoped for.
(1) The extended shell holder will not fit up in the bottom of the collet assemble and the collet isn't long enough to cut off for shortening. You cut the length and you loose the strength of the collet fingers.
(2)The OAL of the extended shell holder isn't big enough to cut down.
Best laid plans and all. On to plan B but at this point there isn't a Plan B.
Thinking more like a bushing die from Redding, RCBS or one of the better known die makers. Might have to think more about Whidden. A little "cash outlay" is in the future for sure.
The 1" case length is a killer.
(3) And on top of the extended shell holder not working on the collet, it won't work on the seater die either. That's 3 strikes!!

 

[20 TAC]

Got the Lee dies set today. Did a little checking but the results arn't what I hoped for.
(1) The extended shell holder will not fit up in the bottom of the collet assemble and the collet isn't long enough to cut off for shortening. You cut the length and you loose the strength of the collet fingers.
(2)The OAL of the extended shell holder isn't big enough to cut down.
Best laid plans and all. On to plan B but at this point there isn't a Plan B.
Thinking more like a bushing die from Redding, RCBS or one of the better known die makers. Might have to think more about Whidden. A little "cash outlay" is in the future for sure.
The 1" case length is a killer.
(3) And on top of the extended shell holder not working on the collet, it won't work on the seater die either. That's 3 strikes!!

After doing some measuring on my LCD, I respectfully disagree that it can't be done. Base to neck/shoulder length on a 204 is 1.650". Base to neck/shoulder on a 20 TCM is roughly .850" from my mocked up piece. So we need to make up about .800". A couple ways to go about this.
1. Remove about .200" from both bottom of collet and collet die body. Remove .600" from extended shell holder , reducing to about .515" to allow holder to fit up inside die.
2. Buy longer extended shell holder and remove .800" from it, reducing to .515".

The only issues I see with this is your mandrel will obviously be very short in length. Care will have to be taken when running brass up inside so mandrel is aligned with brass and flash hole. The only other issue is eventually you will need a method to bump shoulder back and require the use of a body or FL die.

 

[NorCalMikie]

Buy longer extended shell holder and remove .800" from it, reducing to .515".

which will have to be "machined". That means a LATHE. Biggest problem is, not every one has a lathe to use on a whim. Plus, you either have to be able to cut (machine) the top to fit the case rim OR cut (machine) the bottom to fit the press ram. (and a file won't do either of those jobs) I do know there's non hardened shell holders out there because I have one in my stash, somewhere. I'am guessing you're talking OD??
By removing only .200 from the bottom of the collet body, you might get by. Any more and you may loose the strength of the collet fingers? Work them enough and they snap off??

Take any length off the bottom of the die body and you need to replace the built in step that you just removed. That's what keeps the guts from falling out the bottom.
The OD of a "non hardened" shell holder will have turned down so it will fit into the bottom of the collet. My RCBS shell holders are .588 OD and HARD AS A ROCK!! Either grind or carbide cutter for that.
Custom made body die can take care of the shoulder bump issue. Primer punch (mandrel) at about 1 1/2" long. All it takes is $$.
When you get it all figured out, tested and find no issues, let me know and I'll pick it up.

 

[GrocMax]

I see three different style of RCBS extended shellholders, the ones called 'competition extended shellholder' for the seater appear smaller OD and black, and state they are 'hardened steel'. The two other RCBS models look larger OD and no claims of hardened. Suspect the example above of the cut down extended shellholder is the larger OD non-hardened version.

 

[GrocMax]

You could also use one of these with a std short shellholder, its just an extended shellholder adaptor (if it is long enough)

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/225116/hornady-universal-extended-shellholder

 

[NorCalMikie]

(Precision machined from solid steel, then heat treated to perform flawlessly for the life of the press). If it's heat treated, it's hardened!!
And it's just an EXTENDED SHELL HOLDER. Takes the place of the standard, just longer. It snaps in the ram like the others. Does not fit onto the standard SH.

 

[Toolbreaker]

The collet die has to actuate off of the top of the shell holder in order to function: i.e. the shell holder pushes upward on the collet to close it around the sizing mandrel, so I wasn't thinking an extended shell holder would work, here. A pedestal could be made to slip inside of a regular shell holder to move the case further up in the die while still actuating the die, though. Looking at prints for both the 204 Ruger and the TCM, it looks like the difference in body heights are about .804". The pedestal just needs to move the case that much further up into the die. At the same time, the sizing mandrel would have to be shortened by the same amount to clear the inside bottom of the case. I drew up a quick drawing to illustrate what I'm talking about...



It's not a very elegant solution, but it should work with your existing 204 die and be easy to turn if you have someone with access to a lathe and a little bit of time

 

[NorCalMikie]

if you have someone with access to a lathe and a little bit of time

You can do just about anything.

 

[GrocMax]

Done deal.

That is the 'extra tall' RCBS #10 extended shellholder. Std carbide tooling will cut it just fine, its not anything unusual or special. Since the shellholder has no decap hole I shortened the mandrel. Zero modifications to the rest of the 204R die parts.

 

[NorCalMikie]

How cool is that?? Looks like "You're THE MAN"!! Amazing what you can do with the proper tools/machines and a little thought.

 

[Skunce]

I modified a Lee 204 collet die just like GrocMax and 20 Tac described and it works good. But I prefer to full length resize so I ordered a custom bushing sizer from Whidden last week for $114. In the mean time I'll be using a Hornady FL die.

 

[Art Dirindin]

I understand Lee will manufacture a Custom Collet Die, You may want to check with them to see if they will produce one for your 20 TCM. ??

Like he said,I would email Lee they have excellent CS in my experience and have made me custom collet dies in the past.