Looking to get a re-sizer die to go with the Lee Collet die.
Should I get a body die or a full length die? Redding has both for the 6.5x55. The goal is to work the brass the least I can and minimize run out.

There's no sense in pairing a FL die with the collet die, as it will resize the neck, which is the Lee's job. The Redding body dies work great.

I bought my first Lee collet die last year (for a 270 Win) and use a Redding body die and Forster seating die with it. I like the combination so much that it will be my first choice for any new guns I get.

That's a pretty good combo right there cept I use Redding neck dies with bushings when I can.....
Forster seating dies rock...they're all I use....

Lee Collet neck sizer/Redding Body die is a hard combo to beat and a good value for the money.

DF

Should have mentioned in my post they are great value for the money.

Fieldgrade, I'm really enjoying that Forster seating die a lot.

Almost all of my die sets are Lee collet - Redding body die - Redding competition seater, but the last one I put together used the Forster seater and I'm thinking I will go that route in the future. It does the same thing as the Redding comp seater for considerably less money.

Only drawback is that it doesn't fit neatly with the other dies in the Redding die boxes...

This was one of those forehead smacking "DOE!" comments for me.

I've always kept a standard FLS die around for all my cartridges, but never had to bump shoulders in my 30-06 or 257 AI which both have brass that has been cycled through >8x.

If avoiding runout is your goal the body die/LCNS pair is perfect.

The only downside there is that when (if??) you do have to bump shoulders you'll have an extra step vs. the FLS which can do it all in one stroke.

MD: I understand the redundancy of the Collet and FL sizer. The collet will be the mainstay and sizer only when any significant expansion occurs. Or am I still out in left field?

Sounds like the body die will do as a bump die. I was concerned that their might be an area untouched by either at the base of the neck right in doughnut land.

Will try to limit the body die use to every 3rd to 5th or more loading but it will depend on the chamber and how hard I lean on it. I will reserve it until I get resistance in chambering. Otherwise neck size with the Lee only.

So Forester Seater, Lee Collet, and Redding Body die it is.

The problem there is nine times out of ten the FL die will work the neck more than necessary.

Why not just get a 4 die Lee set ?

Collet, FL, Crimp and seat ? 48 bucks.

Work just as well in my 308 Match rifle as anything until you get into Redding Competition Bushing Neck Die set @ $440 w/bump die and carbide kit. The Lee comes with a shellholder and load data.

Even then the differences are in 10ths of an inch.

What kind of match rifle?

Lee dies are great for the price and can load some consistent ammo. But I am the type that would second guess if they were the best and end up adding Forster or Redding dies later so there would go any cost savings.

Maybe not as good as a Redding Body Die, but I made a body die out of a Lee FL die that wasn't doing right. I ground out the neck with a Dremel so the only contact with the case is body and shoulder. Seems to work OK.

You only have to use the body die when bolt closure starts getting a bit hard. I get several reloads with the Lee Collet neck sizer before needing to use the body die.

DF

Df: That will work.

No question I am over thinking this. Now my mental debate is whether to just get a type S FL die and use it without he bushings or expander as a body die. Then test to see if it will do better than the Lee Collet Die alone.

Only problem is the Forbes rifle as a platform and me as the shooter resulting in no conclusive results.

I guess the main point is not to order every die out there in the hopes it will make me a better shooter. A consistent 1-1.5" shooter can take a lot of game.

The price of the loading equipment doesn't always equate with producing the most concentric ammo. I like to go simple and get the most performance for the buck, as I reload for a number of rounds.

The Lee Collet neck sizer/body die combo is about the best value for producing concentric ammo.

Good seaters like the Wilson, Bonanza BR, Hornady, RCBS Competition, etc. that keep the bullet aligned, are an asset.

And a Sinclair or similar concentricity tool to see what you're doing.

Add a TruAngle tool to tweak runout and your're headed in the right direction without breaking the bank.

DF

Yea...they're great....especially if you reload any of the 17's....

Based on my Hornady concentricity (?) tester, the Lee crimp die does a lot to reduce runout.

Pretty much sums up most of my reloading....

but instead of a ton of REdding Body Dies, I pull the spindle out of a larger bore die based on the same case...

for instance a 260 die, makes a good 243 body die...

the 30/06 die makes a great 270 body die... and so on...

When you consider the cost of a set of dies can cost the price of one or two boxes of bullets, or 50 pieces of brass, they really are some of the cheapest investments with the greatest return on your dollar of about anything else involved with reloading...

why skimp? I have several sets of dies for each caliber I load for, different brands as one might have a feature that is a little better than the other...

Interesting. How do you suppose that works?

The case neck comes out of your chamber concentric unless you have the very rare chamber that was not reamed concentric. Don't believe me put a concentricity gauge on a fired/unsized neck. It will be perfect

The Lee Collet has a floating mandrel. You can reach up under the die when screwed into the press and toggle it around. That means the mandrel will not push the neck around when the collets close around it.

Also there is no pulling force that can pull the neck one way or the other like an expander has when it is jerked back through the neck.

The neck concentricity after using the Lee Collet will depend upon how much of a variation you have in neck thickness from one side to the other but concentricity on the bullet will be very good, if you exercise good seating procedures with a good seating die.

Also the Lee Collet typically does not give you much bullet grip since the mandrels are .001" to .002" below caliber. You can order smaller mandrels for more bullet grip and I usually do to try for .003" bullet grip. Anything more and the seating force will increase and could cause more runout.

For more case neck grip on the bullet, you can chuck the mandrel in a drill and cut it down a bit with emery cloth.

Go slow, measure often. It's easier to take it off than put it back on...

If you mess up, you can get another mandrel from Lee.

I think you can order an undersized mandrel. I never have; I just cut'em down to suit.

DF

He wrote crimp die.

I've sized many thousands with Lee collet dies, and I know how they work quite well.

Ooops

We were talking about the Lee Collet so I glossed over that

My bad

Savage 12VLP

I love using body dies in conjunction with Lee collet dies.... and the Hornady headspace gauge kit.
I've sanded all the spindles on my collet dies to reduce them in size for a little better neck tension.

One feature of the body die that nobody really has brought up but I have used it for a quite a bit is reclaiming ammo that was set up for one guns headspace so that you can actually take a loaded shell and reduce the headspace so it can fit in a gun with a tighter chamber.
I recently bought a match-grade 308..... I had a bunch of hand loads here from another gun that were about 10 years old.... I ran at least 200 rounds through the body die so that they would fit in the new gun and it worked perfectly.

The only danger there is squeezing them enough to make the case length go out of bounds.

I guess I never thought of that as a possibility but will watch in the future. I ASSume (we know what that means) there will be basically no effect since the brass was already sized and loaded. Usually my redding body dies move the brass the least of any of the other ones I own. As a matter of fact in this 308 most of the brass had been fl sized before in a hornady fl die that is so aggressive that when I run that brass into the body die it doesn't even seem to touch the sides of the die. Basically the body die is a shoulder bumper in this case.

I keep a Hornady FL die in 308 because it's aggressive about putting a "like new brass" taper on the case bodies, but it does it without moving the shoulder back too much. It's just the ticket for turning once fired LC, WCC, PMC, PPU etc. fmj ball range pick ups into suitable fun time gong ringing ammo with a universal fit across the chambers of nearly a dozen rifles.

The Hornady 223 FL die I have is far too aggressive though.

Yup... it seems to me that Hornady is about the most aggressive downsizing standard FL die brand out there!
At least all my sets are. My little 308 bar spits out Hornady sized brass like hot butter!

I tried running loaded ammo that did not fit rifles chamber and stuck one!!

Threw body die away could not see any good out come out of that. And for $30 was not worth the risk.

Redding did not want to help either, can't blame them.

I like the Lee Collet die, and have been using it for a long time in 223, 308, and 30-06.

I use the Redding body dies if I want to bring the case back to spec from the shoulder to the web. Mostly for range pickup brass, or once-fired stuff.

If I just want to bump the shoulder, without working the body/web area, I use a Forster Bushing Bump Neck Sizer die, with no bushing in it. This works well for brass that is already dedicated to a particular rifle.

The only thing I can conclude is you had a defective die... unless the previous die changed up some crazy dimensions on that ammo.

Bad die setting,lock ring slipped which ruined brass for my chamber. Foolish mistake trying to resize brass on a loaded round.