Adjusting Lee Neck Sizing Collet Die

[308win]

I received a Lee Neck Sizing Collet Die that I will be using on an RCBS Jr. press. The Lee directions say to run the die in until it contacts the shell holder with the ram in the full up position and then run down two additional turns. Is this the best procedure or are there alternatives that work better?

 

[mtnbkr]

That's how I adjusted mine and it's doing a great job on my 6.5x55 loads.

BTW, don't forget to press the lever firmly when sizing cases. The die actually compresses a bit to complete the process.

Chris

 

[ocabj]

You may want to turn the die down more than 2 turns if your press handle "turns over" near the end of the stroke.

The Lee Collet Die has a sleeve which the ram will hit. This is the key to the Lee Collet die. When the ram hits the die, it hits the sleeve which activates the neck sizing element in the die.

 

[308win]

ocabj - It appears to me that the sleeve you refer to extends about the length of a 308 case neck from the die body. If this is the case my press should be adjusted to just slightly contact the die body when it cams over. Is this the optimum adjustment? I have read on posts somewhere (and I can't find them now) that on camming presses if too much camming pressure on the die body "ruins" it, I assume by bending it.

mtnbkr - If you follow the Lee directions and run the die down two complete turns after it contacts the ram in the full up position the press will never cam over, correct?

Thanks to both!

 

[ocabj]

Yeah, too much pressure can ruin the die, which is why you don't want it to cam over or turn over. From what I understand, you want about 25lbs of pressure on the handle when pushing the case into the die. I can't recall where I got this number. Lee states in the instruction manual that you don't want the press to cam over when using the Lee Collet die because that can ruin it.

Here's a snippet from Lee's Web site:

Collet die pressure exertion

All of the sizing in the Collet die takes place at the very end of the stroke, when the ram/shell holder appears to bottom out against the base of the die. If you lean into the handle at this point, you will force the collet up into the die body, and cause the collet to squeeze the case neck down against the mandrel (the very end of which pops out the spent primer). About 25 lbs. of force is sufficient to resize most cases. If you are sitting in front of your press, just leaning your upper body weight into the lever is about right.

A good way to determine how much is necessary is to start the case into the die and feel the die remove the primer. Start using pressure and work up to what you think is about 25 lbs. Remove the case from the die and attempt to place the intended bullet in the case neck. If there is little or no resistance, repeat the process with slightly more pressure. When you have reached a point where there are vertical striation marks on the outside of the case neck or the intended bullet does not fit easily into the case neck, the correct amount of pressure has been achieved.

 

[Delmar]

I've been using the Lee collet sizer for a bit over a year on an RCBS rockchucker. I screw the die in to touch the shell holder and then 3 complete turns to keep the handle from going over center for the above reasons. I can also feel the collet size the neck against the mandrel.