Disappointment with Lee Collet neck sizer

[H1500308]

Purchased a collet die to neck size (only) .308 brass for one particular bolt rifle. No matter how I adjust the die I can't seem to get considerable neck tension. I can seat the bullet using my fingers, albeit with considerable pressure. FWIW, I'm placing plenty of pressure on the ram, per the instructions, anymore and I may break it off the bench. My full length sizing die does fine -- plenty of neck tension, enough that I'm comfortable not crimping.

I took the neck sizing die apart and everything seems to be in order. Anyone else have this problem??

 

[BoilerUP]

I too had that problem...not nearly enough tension on the bullet.

I then realized my bench top was flexing, so I added a couple reinforcement boards and screws and now I can feel the collet "bite" into the case just a little at the bottom of the stroke.

Now I have plenty of tension when seating, excellent accuracy, and the brass isn't being worked NEARLY as much.

 

[flashhole]

A couple of things you might look at ....

Did you measure the diameter of the mandrel? Compare that to the inside diameter of the neck and to the outside diameter of the bullets you are using. You would not be the first person to take emery paper to the mandrel to reduce the diameter to imrpove neck tension.

What do the inside of the case necks look like prior to sizing? You might try cleaning them out with a bore brush prior to resizing. A layer of crud on the inside can cause problems if you have a mandrel that is on the cusp of being too large.

How many times have your brass been fired? They may be work hardened to the point they need to be annealed before they will size properly.

I have had to do some major polishing on some of my collet neck dies but they all work well. I had a brand new one for my 25-06 that had a warped die body. That one went back to Lee and they replaced it for free. You could send it back to Lee with a fire formed case from your gun. They may re-work the mandrel for you.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Lee has an Unconditional Satisfaction Guarantee on their Collet Neck Dies and they will return your money within 30 days if you aren't completely satisfied. I use a Collet Die on my 30-06 rounds and I get outstanding accuracy when using it and fire-formed brass. Either the die is defective or you are doing something wrong because they work.

 

[Ceemack]

Had the exact same issue with mine.

If you check the documentation, you'll see a note that says you can order an undersized expander from Lee. They say it's free, but they'll send you a bill for $5 or so.

This cured the problem for me, and I get great results now.

 

[dagger dog]

H1500308,

What press are you using the collet die in ?

I set mine up in a Rockchucker and I set my collet die in with the shellholder against the bottom of the die then screw it in till my ram handle is level, the lock the die with the ring. This seems to give the best feel. I have my press mounted on an old 3 drawer chest of drawers, and I put so much pressure on the handle it lifts the back 2 legs of the chest off the ground. Then I rotate the case about 180 degrees and give it another press.

If you dont want to send the mandrel off, do as Lee suggest and chuck it up in a drill press and do it yourself with emory cloth, just dont go too far as you will then just be sizing the case neck with the bullet .

 

[kennedy]

mine in .308 works great, once I seat the bullets I can not move them with my fingers, even tryied rapping them on workbench as a test, and still no movement.

 

[steve4102]

Hold on there. Do not force the Collet die! It takes very little pressure on the press handle to size the neck. If you continually force it you will eventually ruin the die.

Your neck tension problem is a very common one. One that can easily be fixed without damaging the die. The do-it-yourself method is to chuck the mandrel in a drill and polish it down with some fine emery paper. The other way is to call Lee and order a reduced mandrel. The reduced mandrel will cost you $5. It will also come very rough, so polish it before you use it.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

After you "turn down" the mandrel and you get it to where you like it you might want to add a Factory Crimp Die if you don't already have one. I've found I get much lower SD numbers when I use a FCD because the neck tension is the same on all rounds.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Another Lee neck-sizer...

I too had problems w/neck tension w/certain bullets. Really didn't want to mess with changing the diameter of the mandrel. However, in the course of checking out the possible factors in the problem, I checked the diameters of the bullets I wanted to use.

Sure enough, the bullets I'd been using successfully were a thousandth or so more in diameter than the bullets that weren't getting enough neck tension.

Having a drill press to hand, I chucked the mandrel in the press and ran the drill, then looped emery cloth around the spinning mandrel. This holds it steadier and does a smoother job than doing it freehand, or using a hand-held drill. As per Lee's instructions, I stopped now & again to check the diameter of the mandrel--you don't want to reduce it any more than "just enough."

Anyhow, took the mandrel down only a couple of thousandths, IIRC, and that did the job. Put die back together, neck-sized some cases, and Voila! the slightly smaller bullets seated nicely, with sufficient neck tension to hold them in place.

FWIW, the larger bullets still seat perfectly well. Their neck tension will be more, I'm sure, but it doesn't seem to be enough different to affect accuracy, so I'm happy.

Bottom line: Lee's suggestion for reducing the size of the mandrel to increase neck tension works fine. If you do it, go slow and check periodically. Oh, and you have to reduce the mandrel over its entire length--if you only reduce it at the upper end where it does its work, the larger diameter lower part will just re-expand the neck as it pulls out of the case. And if you can get the use of a drill press, or a lathe would work fine for this, too, it's not just an easy process, it's really easy.

Good luck!

 

[04JRB]

My Lee neck sizers were like the ones mentioned above, I took a few thousandths off and they are close enough in neck tension as the FL sizers that I cant tell the difference. I didnt mind the little extra work for the money saved. Are they designed to be different, or are they just polished less from the factory?

 

[Jake in TX]

They are designed to be different, in that they are designed to neck the case down to give .001" of neck tension, and about no more.

Jake in TX