Stiff locking rings

[Captain Quack]

All the Lee die locking rings on my 9mm lee loadmaster rig are REALLY stiff to turn by hand. My fingers aren't as strong as they used to be. Is it alright to use a little motor oil on them? I'd rather not go there with wrenches or vice grips. Also are the rubber rings essential? Only one of all my pistol dies has one.

Captain Quack. (who is fighting with a Lee Autodisk with the charge bar. It's jumping from 2.5 grains to 7.2 grains to no grains if you look at it wrong. I love tinkering so a Lee press is always enjoyable for all the tweekeing I get to do).

 

[ericuda]

A drop at the most out of a dropper bottle will help. I like the rubber o rings as you tighten to them and all is good. Don't need to crank ot down.

Throw the charge car away and use the discs. Way more consistent and you can drill in the side of disc and place a small brass screw to fine tune. I have a few modified this way for common loads.

 

[Blackrock]

The Lee dies with the rubber O' ring can be a little tough but once set do hold. A lot of us fellers have upgraded to the lock rings with the set screw. I always give my dies a drop of 3in1 oil before threading them into the press.

 

[bullseye308]

I have replaced all my Lee lock rings with the Hornady split lock rings with the set screw. I load on a single stage and once I get a load I like, I set the dies and don’t fool with it. The Lee rings worked great for years, but would occasionally move slightly when changing dies, so for me the split lock rings solved that problem. I have never lubed any dies, but I do wipe them down occasionally and brush out the threads on the press.

 

[Captain Quack]

I tried a q-tip dipped in motor oil and wiped most of it off and they've all been wiped and are so much easier to turn. I'll look into those locking rings if they ever become available again. Thanks guy. Made my day easier.

Captain Quack.

 

[cfullgraf]

Dies that I remove and replace on a press or die plate, I like locking rings that positively clamp or or lock to the die. Then the setting does not change until I want to change it.

The Lee o-ring do not stay in place adequately for me. But, if you mount the dies to a die plate and rarely remove them, the Lee lock rings are fine because you can jam them with a wrench and they will stay.

I use the Lee o-ring lock rings on my progressive powder measure and powder cop die. These get re-adjusted frequently and I can adjust the lock rings by hand and the o-ring helps keep the powder measure and powder cop die locked in position. No wrench required.

I've never had a Lee o-ring lock ring that I could not turn by hand but I suppose Lee may have decided to use a different o-ring from years past that is tighter on the die. A little bit of oil probably would help some but do not over do it. It will get messy when it runs.

 

[Bazoo]

Lee rings do get a bit hard to move once they have been locked down. I prefer split rings and generally replace lee rings with them. I only use lee rings on things like a universal decapping die or a push through sizing die if I can avoid it.

 

[Jesse Heywood]

Most any lube will work. The best will be paraffin, beeswax or silicone based. Your case lube contains the paraffin or beeswax and are light enough to do the job.
Like bullseye308, I started buying the Hornady rings, even replacing the set screw style, especially on the crimp dies.

 

[rfwobbly]

The Lee lock nuts are aluminum and they can develop galvanic corrosion with the threads of the steel die. Yes, put 1 drop of some nice oil... or better yet some Kroil and see if you can break them free. Heating the aluminum lock nut with a hair dryer will really help. When you get it to move, the best common thing to put on your dies to prevent that corrosion is the waxy Sizing Lube all reloaders keep around. The wax and/or lanolin will give it some "staying power" simple oil won't have.

Hope this helps.

 

[AJC1]

The split lock rings are the money shot. Rings that lock into the threads are garbage, and I wish rcbs did not come that way. Forester comes with the good rings. I clean and then coat my dies with CLP. Seems to help a lot with corrosion in this high humidity m er Memphis has.

 

[Ranger99]

I replaced my first set of Lee lock
rings with set screw rings, but after I
figured out how good they work and
to not wrench dies down in my press
I did fine. I used subsequent Lee dies
as purchased with no problems

 

[WeekendReloader]

Sounds like the threads on the dies need a good cleaning. Then a little lube to prevent rust.

I removed all the included lock rings/nuts from my dies and replaced them with the split-ring style locking rings. It's an added expense, but well worth it in my opinion.

 

[ericuda]

I like the newer gear shaped ones better. They come with a little wrench to tighten. Yes the key is don't tighten too tight. Just to oring then a bit more. With the turrets though I set all dies and leave and only change charging die to bell the case as lead vs plated need a difft bell for me.

 

[FROGO207]

I have been using the Lee lock rings for years with no trouble. I turn the lock ring over so the O ring does not touch the press. Set the die where I want it and tighten the locknut. To remove I use a wrench on the locknut for about 1/2 turn to losen everything then turn out by turning the die. Never have had the adjustment move and I usd a single stage press.YMMV

 

[Dale Alan]

Lee lock rings are designed to give a little "float" , when used properly they are best . I don't mean large float , I mean finger tight is fine . If Lee intended for those lock rings to be clamped tight they would not have included an o-ring . Also, they would have incorporated a set-screw or other means to mechanically tighten them .

 

[Captain Quack]

This has all been good advice since I can't get the ()*#$*@# Factory Crimp Die to do it's job right and I keep setting it up over and over again.

Captain Quack.

 

[valleyforge.1777]

D i l l o n
Dillon die lock rings are the only ones I use.
I have dies from RCBS, Lyman, Forster, Whidden, Lee, and of course Dillon and I have replaced all of the non-Dillon die lock rings with Dillon lock rings.

 

[Bfh_auto]

I tried a q-tip dipped in motor oil and wiped most of it off and they've all been wiped and are so much easier to turn. I'll look into those locking rings if they ever become available again. Thanks guy. Made my day easier.

Captain Quack.

The lock rings are definitely worth the money. I run a single stage as someone else said. It's a set it and forget it.
On 38/357, I have a spacer washer that my grandfather used for switching back and forth.

 

[W/Vickers1938]

Has been my experience, that split lockrings are somewhat troublesome, and have settled on the black oxide rcbs hex lock rings. I obtained a Williams 1 3/16 service wrench to tighten and remove. I am never in such a hurry that I can't take the time to adjust each die as required. The only experience I have with the Lee product is the lockrings on the Quick-trim dies. BTAIM

 

[Captain Quack]

Looking through my bin's o reloading stuff I found a big pill bottle with locking rings in it. Two were black with a single "set screw" on the side. I'm not sure what the other bits and pieces are. Bolts and so forth. They are going into the pay it forward box.