Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Another ? on the Lee Collet Die

I just received a 7mm LCD and proceeded to set it up with 1 plus 1/16th turn after touching the shell holder.
The necks of the cases are marked by the collet so I backed off the 1/16 turn but, they still show marks and too little neck tension. I use the collet dies in 3 other calibers and none displays this trait at all.
So, what is your best guess? Thanks

Open up the die. It sounds like the collet may be stuck closed on the mandrel.

Have you measured the diameter of the mandrel?

Are you referring to the straight lines left by the collet? Mine all do that, it's just alittle less visible on certain brass or certain cals. Some folks will size, rotate the case a touch, and size again. I've always given them one firm squeeze and rocked on.

Mine all do that. It's cosmetic only. It's harder to see on turned necks, but still present. I always have good luck with them.

Bob

mathman, the mandrel is .282".
Reloader 7RM and Bobcape, Yes, I was referring to the lines left by the collet. I didn't want to induce stress lines in the neck causing premature neck splitting but, I'm probably being concerned over nothing.
The other calibers that are not making any marks are used primarily for cast bullets and sized just enough to hold the bullet firmly.
Thanks fellows!

I usually put the mandrels of my collet dies into a drill and spin them against some sandpaper to try and get a little more "grip" out of the case mouth. It also seems easier on the die as you don't have to put nearly as much pressure on the handle of the press.
I wish like heck lee would take their excellent idea and make a die out of some really good materials and give a guy a couple sizes of mandrels. I'd gladly pay $40 for a high quality die that would last a long long time than $20 that's kind of a tin can.

You might consider annealing the case neck. Sounds like you might be getting too much spring back from work hardened brass.

You can order mandrels from Lee cheap (used to be $5 each) as long as you hit the minimum dollar amount to justify shipping



kraky must be a better machinist than me since my attempts to sand down the mandrels met with less than superlative results. Hard to get a 100% consistant diameter from tip to top (remember it has to go in and then come out not just be right where the collets work and be perfectly round)

Like someone said the longitudinal marks are just cosmetic.

For adjustment I run the lock nut all the way to the top of the threads



which puts the press lever at the most horizontal and makes it easier to gauge the amount of downward force (Lee says 25#)




YMMV

I'm a spinner, using a hand press.

I squeeze, spin it about a third, squeeze, spin it a third and squeeze again.

It's tedious, but given my 222 groups, I am apprehensive to change my routine. Not that I'll have to for a while, having about 600 rounds loaded that way.

My arms look like Popeye's.

I do the half turn method, as well. Size, rotate, size again. I like Woods suggestion about putting the die in deeper and using the longer lever for a better feel, I will try that. Always seem to learn something around here....

No....Woods I'm sure you beat me by leaps and bounds in the machining dept. I will admit a couple of my dies "drag" a bit upon withdrawl. Thats when I know I have the necks right where I want them with about another .001 grip. Doesn't affect runnout a bit....and does a last minute cleaning on the inside of the neck....ok last comment is my humor.

Though not how Lee says to adjust them, I like to adjust their collet dies so they cam over. First, I replace all the Lee lock rings with Forsters. I don't like the way the rubber o-ring on the Lee lock ring allows me to screw the die down to an inconsistent depth. I adjust by lowering my press handle all the way so the ram is fully extended then screwing in the die until it touches the shell holder and a little more, maybe 1/8 turn. I then size a case and see if I get the neck tension I want. If not, I screw the die in a little more and recheck. If the required force required is excessive, I go with a smaller mandrell. I feel what this method provides that Lee's method doesn't is a more consistent force to squeeze the neck down because the press cams over exactly the same every time.

John

I make an index mark on the top of the die cap with a Sharpie. Then I can turn it to one of several reference positions I've established for different thicknesses of brass.

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/RM3512.pdf

" ADJUSTMENT FOR LEE PRESSES

Screw the die in until it contacts the shell holder, plus one turn more. Run a case into the die. You will feel the primer being extracted, then the lever will come to an abrupt stop. At this point, the lever must be pushed firmly (min 25 lbs.) to close the collet and size the neck. Extra bullet grip may be obtained by screwing the die in an additional quarter-turn.

Other brands of presses that toggle or snap over at the end of the stroke provide no feel and can damage the collet neck sizing die if adjusted as above. We suggest the die be screwed in until the die contacts the shell holder, plus 2 FULL TURNS This will prevent the press from toggling over center and give the operator feel of the collet closing.

OPTION Even greater accuracy can be obtained by rotating the case one-half turn and sizing the case a second time."

The collets are squeezing brass onto an stell mandrel and only so much force is needed. It would not matter if you put 30 pounds or 100 pounds downward force on the lever, the brass will not compress and neither will the mandrel. All you are doing is putting extra stress on your die and your press. The cap is aluminum and they will pop (don't ask me how I know )

If you adjust it per instructions the press will not come close to toggling over. By raising the lock nut and thus the lever, you are operating the same, just at a more comfortable position.

You should see how badly I "belled" a couple of those sleeves in the past. I sent em in and they replaced it. I still think they'd be better off to do slightly smaller spindles as standard equipment.

I understand completely and have tried both methods and prefer my method for the reasons I stated. As long as you're careful to not adjust the die so that the pressure is excessive when camming over, it works great. If you screw the die down too far, and still cam over, you could blow the cap off as you mentioned.

John