Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles School me on the use of a neck sizer die

Will do, thanks.



P

Don't screw up your results with the collet die with the next step...seating the bullet.

Yep. I follow up my inexpensive Lee collet sizers by seating bullets with Redding Competition and Forster Ultra dies.

I follow up my inexpensive Lee collet size dies with my inexpensive Lee Loader straight line bullet seater.

Probably so, but why doesn't this happen with non-belted cases?

I use Hornady Custom seating dies.

How good is the seating die that came with the neck sizer?



P

The Lee "dead length" seater can be pretty good, particularly in dealing with compressed loads, but sometimes Lee QC isn't the best.

The 90 degree corner there? I don't have a real good answer.

tag

Usually they will be more accurate. Of course, the brass is dedicated to the rifle that first fired it. It probably won't fit in any other gun.

Actually, now that I think about it, accuracy was about the same with the collet die as the fl die I replaced it with.

Guys,
Are the custom collet dies from Lee worth it where you send a few pieces of fired brass? Are they supplying a die with a mandrel that best suits the supplied brass? Trying to learn...

Larry Willis makes another collet die, one that sizes a belted mag case just above the belt. Sometimes even a FL die doesn't completely size there very well. Google his name.

That's not an uncommon problem with belted cases.

DF

P, pay particular attention to what Woods said above (highlighted in red). Work hardened brass will SPRING AWAY from the mandrel more than soft brass or new brass and results in less sizing and changes the tension on the bullet. If this is happening you need to anneal the necks or discard and begin with new brass.

If you choose to anneal, sometimes the freshly annealed neck will drag on the mandrel and in this case I apply a little dry lube to the inside and outside of the neck. This does not happen very often, but is just something to be aware of.

Another thing to be aware of is neck thickness. Case brands vary in this regard and can vary within the same manufacturer by different lots. For example I find Remington cases to be thicker than Winchester in most cases. All this can change the case tension on the bullet.

Round oak, do you turn down the necks of the brass that is too thick?

I'd like to add this is one of the most informative threads, on a topic of which I have little knowledge, I've read on the board. Thanks to all who share their knowledge. It is much appreciated!

With the Lee Collet Neck Sizer, neck turning is less critical, IMO. There is no expander to pull a slightly asymmetrical neck crooked, the mandrel keeps is aligned.

Concentric ammo isn't that hard to achieve with this die, in fact this is about the slickest way to produce very good ammo with min. case prep.

But, I'm not a bench rest shooter...

DF

I only turn the necks of my two 22-250 rifles, my big game hunting rifle cases don't get turned. In dealing with neck thickness, I first adjust the die, if that is not satisfactory, I polish down the mandrel and one occasion, as a last resort, obtained a custom mandrel from Lee Precision.

I agree, DF, neck turning is not that critical with the collet for concentric ammo. The main reason I turn the 22-250 necks is because I shoot those rifles the most...prairie dogs and assorted varmints.

With uniform necks, once the die is adjusted and the correct mandrel diameter, it is just about a one time deal and minimizes neck thickness variables of manufacture brand or lot numbers.

I turn some, like my 6.5-284.

But in most cases, these guns shoot better than I can hold them, just with simple reloading techniques.

I don't prep primer pockets, I throw charges with the Uniflow, don't weigh each one. I don't do a lot of trimming or annealing. But, I don't shoot thousands of rounds each year, either.

DF