lee collet neck sizer die!

[cjmac]

So i just got 2 lee collet neck dies one for 223 and 308. Iv been reading on some people using a little grease on the collet . What kind would be best ? Maby do a little polishing? Just enough to shine it up a little. Im thinking of using some flitz , or oil and a red 3M pad like the ones used in auto body shops. Witch might be the better of the 2 ?

 

[357Mag]

CJ -

Howdy !

On the LEE " Collet NS Dies " I've recently worked with... what I at first thought was the collet dragging inside the die " body ",
was simply due to the collet' " petals " being splayed to right @ inner die diam. This happened to be on a .270WIN collet,
that was being co-opted into use ( modified die set-up ) on 6.8SPC brass.

I didn't really realize what phenomenon I was in-fact dealing with, until after I had buffed the outside straight sections of the collet
using #0000 steel wool + " 3-IN-1 " oil. No harm done.... at any rate.

If your collet' petals are splayed excessively... and you have not yet adjusted/operated the die as LEE recommends... then by all means...
do so. A couple of squeeze downs of the collet brought the .270WIN collet right into smooth operation... something LEE claims their dies are famous for.

In-use, it's theoretically possible that insertion of the brass' necks into the collet might make enough contact to spread the petals a wee bit; however...... not so much that they would drag on the inside of the die body. The upper hole ( that accepts the necks ) in the collet, are pretty generous in their clearances... and LEE's chosen dimensions still allow for adequate squeeze-down; even w/ undersized mandrels.



With regards,
357Mag

AS it turned out, the buff didn't hurt anything

 

[XTR]

I've used lee collet dies on a whole lot of brass. My 308 dies give me 2 thou neck tension on either WW or Lapua brass; however, you have to set the die up differently for each. If you have your die set up for WW and run a Lapua case in it you'll figure it out, you are putting WAY to much pressure and things will get grabby, and if you have it set up for Lapua and you run a WW in it you'll be soft seating your bullets (i.e., they will fall out)

> You don't need or want a lot of pressure on the bottom of the down stroke, fiddle with it till you get it right, but on my Redding Turret the weight of the handle will perform the sizing operation.

> New Brass, the necks need to be expanded and the collet die is not the best answer, in fact the drag down on the mandrel will cause the die to bind. If you are sizing new brass, especially Lapua run it over an expander mandrel first

>don't stick 308 into your 7-08 die. It won't work. (so as a side note you can't use it to size your 308 into 7-08 either)

> I've never lubed mine. I did wear notches in my first one putting to much pressure on the downstoke, it doesn't take a lot.

> if you have vertical lines on your necks from the collets then you are probably putting too much pressure on it.

I have them in 308, 7-08 and 223. I like them a lot.

 

[stinnett1981]

I've used lee collet dies on a whole lot of brass. My 308 dies give me 2 thou neck tension on either WW or Lapua brass; however, you have to set the die up differently for each. If you have your die set up for WW and run a Lapua case in it you'll figure it out, you are putting WAY to much pressure and things will get grabby, and if you have it set up for Lapua and you run a WW in it you'll be soft seating your bullets (i.e., they will fall out)

> You don't need or want a lot of pressure on the bottom of the down stroke, fiddle with it till you get it right, but on my Redding Turret the weight of the handle will perform the sizing operation.

> New Brass, the necks need to be expanded and the collet die is not the best answer, in fact the drag down on the mandrel will cause the die to bind. If you are sizing new brass, especially Lapua run it over an expander mandrel first

>don't stick 308 into your 7-08 die. It won't work. (so as a side note you can't use it to size your 308 into 7-08 either)

> I've never lubed mine. I did wear notches in my first one putting to much pressure on the downstoke, it doesn't take a lot.

> if you have vertical lines on your necks from the collets then you are probably putting too much pressure on it.

I have them in 308, 7-08 and 223. I like them a lot.

+1

I do use 1000 grit sandpaper to get the outside of the collet and the inside of the die smooth as glass. The design is awesome, but the quality is awful! Just holding a Lee die next to a Redding or Forster die you can see the quality difference. When screwing a Lee die into a Press it is sloppy unlike a Redding die. Im sure the collet could be made of some other type of metal designed for metal to metal contact. I guess Lee's sales approach is to sell dies half the price as their competitors instead of building a quality die.

 

[bsekf]

Been using Lee Collets for some time. I do not polish the die, just the mandrel, and I spin the case 180 and size a second time. I have never figured out just how to polish the inside of the die , the part that squeezes the pedals, without the possibility of upsetting the concentricy. (is that a word?)

Bill

 

[amlevin]

The only real gripe I have with Lee Dies is their lack of finish.

When I buy a new Collet die I remove the collet, clean out all the chips and burrs that remain. I polish the tapered surface with some 2,000 grit wet/dry or crocus cloth if I have any on-hand.

I clean the rest of the die body then before assembling I apply some "Never-Seize" anti-seize compound. A thin layer to make sure the collet doesn't stick in the body.

That's the only lube that die gets from me.


A comment on Lee Collet dies. They're great for getting straight cases and not having to use lube but it's almost a requirement to anneal the cases if they've been fired a few times and you want uniform neck tension. I've had "spring-back" issues with cases that were so work hardened they wouldn't give much more neck tension than "finger tight". Anneal and they were right back to the .002"-.003" I desire.