lee collet die

[Redfox]

Nearly right Mildot, but there is a steel cone below the cap which holds the mandrel and is what closes the collet onto the neck. The force required to close the collet onto the case neck is not great, so the upward pressure you mentioned does not require to be great either.

To strip the Aluminium thread based on a quick calculation would require a combined force of 970lbf which is quite a lot, not forgetting the leverage advantage given by the press is considerable. using up to 25lb as the required handle force and the approx leverage it would provide 450.5 lbf which is half the required stripping force so giving a good safety margin. Less porridge more feel is the answer.

All figures are approximate based on T4 aluninium alloy and a rockchucker press.

redfox

[Andrew]

Grant: Good for you. Lee has video instructions on their web site, too.

 

Red: I can close the collet enough to size my 308 cases by letting the lever on my A-2 press (a Rockchucker forerunner) down and using mostly gravity to close the collet. I thihk most people don't realize that by the time you feel the collet close the neck is already sized. From this point it's a matter of a few degrees of turn-in on the die to get what you want.

 

One thing that few folks play with is neck tension using the collet dies. I shoot quite a bit of cast bullets in my rifles. These are generally .001" to .005" larger than "nominal" diameter for the caliber and the collet die allows me to adjust tension on these bullets which accounts for some of the fine accuracy I get, I'm sure. ~Andrew

[bigun]

you buy cheep gear and you buy twice ,redding dies are good for the money .i dont think i own any lee gear at all got warned off at the start ..

[Andrew]

you buy cheep gear and you buy twice ,redding dies are good for the money .i dont think i own any lee gear at all got warned off at the start ..

 

I can't even remember how many calibers i reload for and don't think I own a single set of Redding dies. I don't know why; Maybe years ago I got "warned off at the start..." I do own about 20 sets of Lee Dies, though. ~Andrew

[Streeker59]

Hmphh. Thought i had it sussed..

When i reset up the collet die and got it to work, i was using RG brass, lovely thick necks.. Tried the same on a batch of FMN Target cases and i still have the same prob, next to no neck tension,, Could it be that the cases are old and tired ? I bought em so called once fired but you never know do you..

I'll have to try some new commercial brass and see what happens i guess...

[Redfox]

They may also have been neck turned, in which case they will not work as the dies are made for std brass. If it were the case that these were your main supply and you were going to use them exclusively Lee offer a service to mod the mandrel if you send about 3-5 cases and the die over to them they will tailor it to the brass but in this instance just use new std brass and it will work fine.

 

Bigun, Lee dies are not cheap either in price or manufacture, they do make starter presses and scales which would not be my choice but the dies work fine and are made using up to date methods and materials which are capable as Andrew says, of excellent accuracy given the user knows how to use them ( not always the case) and follows the makers advice.

Redfox

[Andrew]

Hmphh. Thought i had it sussed..

When i reset up the collet die and got it to work, i was using RG brass, lovely thick necks.. Tried the same on a batch of FMN Target cases and i still have the same prob, next to no neck tension,, Could it be that the cases are old and tired ? I bought em so called once fired but you never know do you..

I'll have to try some new commercial brass and see what happens i guess...

 

It's hard to tell with "mystery brass", for sure. I once bought 1000 pcs of (US Military) Lake City Arsenal Match 7.62 Nato brass that had been "once fired". Unfortunately, they had been fired in an M-60 machine gun and the heads were blown out so far that they defied resizing! Find some newish commercial brass and have a go at it. ~Andrew

[IanF]

My immediate reaction to the neck tension issue was to suggest that Streeker was attempting to resize work hardened cases.

 

If in doubt - anneal the necks before attempting to resize, it will save much frustration. Keeping a track of the number of re-loads is then worthwhile, and will indicate how often your brass needs to be reconditioned to ensure effective sizing.

 

Rgds Ian

 

(who has never ever missed a target because of the 'quality' of Lee dies - missed a few when I screwed my eyes shut and yanked the trigger though! )

[Guest magwa1962]

hi guys,

just being given a lee set of dies in 308 which included a collet die so set up as instructions and was impressed by the results and accuracy of the neck forming then after the fifthtenth case bang the cap threads go .

 

strip it down and can only say what a rubish piece of work the cap thread is so out to the work shop to identify said offending thread finall find one to fit and low and behold its 3/4 unf so at machinery dealers today aquire a said threaded set bolt and come home and nip to neighbour to borrow his lathe face off end and use a milling cutter to form centre hollow and mimic dimensions come back and fit and back to work . the bolt 3/4 unf by 1.5 inch plus nut cost 1.90 and a pint for the lathe use bet it dont go again .

 

mext mod will be to get rid of the crap lock nut arrangement on all the dies in the set got the nuts in stock just got to drill and tap a locking allen screw in side then they might be half decent why dont they just do the job properly in the first place like other makes

 

yours graham.

If you contact Lee they will replace them free of charge, lifetime warrenty, they changed mine ie: they posted me a new set and told me to dispose of faulty ones.

 

regards Jimmy