We've talked about the Lee Collet Neck Sizing Die before, but questions still come up about case neck reaming and case neck turning and bushing neck sizing dies...
I love my Lee dies, I get similar results every time. Btw , I was using a Lee Loader in the beginning for the same reasons ,which you know is a bushing type die and a hammer, for my hunting rounds because the first shot is usually all you get. Now all I use in several cal. is the Lee Collet neck sizing dies. They're great. I really like the simplicity with which you explain and show things in your videos. Teach on man, Teach on. lol
Mr. Fortune Cookie you did such scholarly job with this video, you would be a very special professor if you taught firearm and Ballistics ,ammo loading. Sir you are such a natural. Great work!!!!
Thanks for the information and videos. I have just started using the fire formed brass with my new bolt gun. I have had the lee dies for years and never used until now. I have watched all of your videos on the collet dies and many of your other videos. Again thanks
Always learning more with your explainations. Thank you and looking forward for your next video. I've just started loading 30-06 this year and you've helped tremendously. Will test my latest adjustment soon.
Sand Hollow Homestead - Congrats with your 30/06..a fine all around caliber. And also congrats on reloading - a very rewarding activity... Good shootin' to ya, Steve
I buy Lee collet dies for all my bolt rifle calibers. Press the brass into the collet die, turn it a 1/4 turn, and press again. Results in a smooth neck with no collet squeeze lines. Super accurate ammo for each individual rifle. Thanks for the video!
Very well shown! ( as always by the great teacher fortunecookie45LC! ) Thanks for everything you do. You have taught me so much I could never repay you if I wanted.
Initially I was happy with my new Lee Collet Die but after I see what it can do for the neck thickness I am very very happy. I was looking into neck turning but now can forget about the costly & time consuming step.
Purchased a neck collet die for my 7.55 swiss. Had lots of trouble with full leagth. Got this die used it first time on fire from brass load a round slide in perfect. Check the shell with LE Wilson. Proceed to load the rest. Perfect. Thank for info
Thanks for this video Cookie. I have three sets of these ultimate dies got 30 odd 6 I've got 7 millimeter Remington mag and I've got Winchester 270 they work very well! I have found the same results and I love to use these dies for my reloading purposes for my bolt action rifles.
Bob Wiese - You and the rest of us Lee Collet Neck sizer fans really like these dies - in fact, I have found that if a bolt gun is in a caliber that Lee doesn't make the collet neck die for or that Lapua doesn't make brass for, I simply am not interested in that bolt gun. Have a great day, Steve
FC45LC, I have really appreciated your videos. I am brand new to reloading and have accumulated several pieces of equipment, mostly Lee products because of affordability. I am starting to make my .300 Blackout brass from .223 cases. Some other videos on RU-vid show cutting down cases, trimming (prepping), lubing and pressing, loading and crimping. No mention of checking the neck thickness; until the last one I viewed. He used a reamer from Forester to get to the neck thickness desired, then he pressed it again and trimmed for overall length. I started searching websites and found Midway had the neck deburring stuff. I just happened to notice that Lee CNSD was listed so I found out FC45LC had a video, Thank God! Will the Lee CNSD work for the .300 blackout for newly formed cases from .223? Thanks for all of your videos and sharing your knowledge. By the way, Lee Precision owes you BIG TIME! Bing
I use this die for all my rifle cases. I pair it up with a Redding body die if I want to resize the rest of the case. I love the results, and I love not having an expander ball stretching my cases. Great video Mr FC!
the baddest - I don't currently own any semi auto rifles. If I did, I'd probably still use the 2 die combo though. I install them next to each other in a turret press.
Loads of Bacon - Yes, the expander balls in rifle resize dies are infernal...really infernal. I first came to realize the infernality of the usual rifle expander balls while watching David Tubb tapes on High Power Shooting and Reloading. He was mentioning that he always turned down his expander balls by .001-.0015". And I realized that he was increasing his bullet neck tension, but also reducing the drag / stretch caused by the expander ball pull. And companies like Hornady were advertising elliptical expander balls to "reduce" the neck pressure. And the precision shooters use tuned bushing neck sizing dies without the expanders at all. Then Lee comes along with their Collet Neck Sizer and everyone wonders why nobody thought of it before. This is a subject that many reloaders never give any thought to, yet is very important to our reloads...Your hybrid idea of using the Redding and then straightenoug the neck and getting the neck tension right with the Lee Collet is a good way to go - I bet your run out is really low...Good reloadin' to ya, FC Steve
@@FortuneCookie45LC I am not fully understanding this discussion yet but appreciate it. I am loading 6.5 CM in my Lee Die set and only FL sizing at the moment with just their dies. I have been researching the Sinclair Expander to get ready for neck turning when I stumbled upon a discussion on Lee's Collet Die and need to check this out. Thanks.
I have been loading for 30 years & you are a mile ahead of me on tools / use . Don't take this the wrong way >> I buy in bulk & don't shoot enough to RELOAD 308 so far , mostly use new cases & bulk ammo . I have only done the min amount of prep to new pre primed win cases , my ammo with A max & Sierra match bullets as well as SST & Pro Hunter shoot as well as factory ammo . I do like to watch & learn all the possible tools/use . I think in RIFLE Clint Smith & Mike Vent. did a bit on No Fuss ammo for 308 ?? It shot good for the use they put it to ( not match grade ) , but like me , my rifles shoot well with all the ammo I feed them for the most part . This from a guy that cleans ALL primer pockets every time due to mis fires 1/50-100 rounds in 38 special when I didn't . That change in case prep was in 1990 . I only have a 550 Dillon & hand tools ( 308 are Lee dies ) . Thanks !!
Question Sage of the Brass: wouldn't it be possible to apply just enough tension on a fire - formed brass as a trst round for load development, whereupon said round (woydnt require powder nor primer) could be fed into the chamber and the bullet "pressed" back into that shell. If enough tension was applied where the bullet could retain the OAL at the point it contacts the lands, that would provide the exact and accurate COAL for my rifle, with that particular bullet yes? Thought you mentioned that in a video, but cannot locate it now and I was considering procuring one of these dies just to use for load development. I'm running ar platforms and fl sizing appropriate . Thanks in advance Sir.
I also have the RCBS Mic that you discussed. I have fire formed brass from my rifle. All I have to do now, is to review your vid on the RCBS Mic. Then I should be able to start. Thanks so much for the lessons. :-)
L Krueger - You are doing it right...When reloaders simply run cases through a full length sizing die, they have very little idea of what is happening with their headspace. Headspace is a bit confusing because there are compartments to headspace - one is the headspace of the rifle - how is it set up; and then there is ammo headspace - a rifle can have perfect headspace, but the ammo has excessive headspace and can blow the head off when fired. The RCBS Precision Mic allows us to set up our headspace by deliberation and understanding for the safest and best ammo we can make. Best to ya, FC Steve
@@FortuneCookie45LC I am definitely in the boat of people using a FL sizer and not really sure what it is doing. Looking more into this however. Thanks for the education and great info.
DO you have a video, FC, on lubrication of rifle cartridges in the reloading process. Never to lube the neck and shoulder I'm told yet the Hornady spray One Shot is administered over the entirely of the casing and in the mouth, which you might think effects the bullet tension. I hope not too many ignorant question on my part. Just want a good product from the start. Thanks, FC for your prior responses and great videos.
I have 50 BMG API. Armalite has recommended not shooting them in the AR50 due to excessive case pressure. Do you think it would be feasible to pull the bullet and reduce powder load? Thanks
Man your vids are helping so much! Yep precision reloading, titan, lee, natchezz, bpi. Just wanted to say thanks again. 7/8 slug @nd .690 round ball👏👏👏 about to start doing 9mm and 40. Have a old lyman press. Load all 2, mec super 600, and roller. Your videos made reloading easy thanks FortuneCookie45LC all info is 100%
Mason Larre - And, as you are well aware, reloading really is easy - we just have to pay attention to what is being done...plus the more we understand what is being done, the better and safer our ammo is going to be... Continued good reloadin' to ya, FC
I am starting to reload 223 now. I've been reloading pistol calibers for a few now. I purchased the 4 die set from Lee, which includes this die. But if i read these instructions correctly, i can use this die if i am re-using and reloading brass from my AR type rifle. Am i correct or am i missing something?
fc45lc - Thanks for this review. I have been preparing to reload some 308, for the first time. I have the Lee Deluxe Die Set (4) which includes the Collet sizing die. I also have
L Krueger - You've got a great die set. When you use the Neck Size Collet die, watch out for the instructions that tell you the need to have the collet close with so much force the press is bending off the bench. You only need enough to size the neck until a bullet is too tight to be able to be seated by hand. Plus, you don't want to feel any resistance when you are pulling the case out of the die - if so, grease the collet - it needs to release. Best to ya, FC
I hear a lot about FL sizing for lever actions, but one thing almost nobody mentions is neck sizing for the Savage 99 lever action. Mine uses the old brass rotary magazine, and I'd like to try neck sizing only after forming to my chamber. What say you @FortuneCookie45LC ?
Rich Brungard - The Savage 99 is a lever gun apart from most others...no tubular magazine meant that 1) Spitzer bullets could be used 2) no magazine tube to disturb barrel - more like the arrangement of bolt actions - barrel attachment to action and fore end. Problem with only neck sizing is that the lever still does not have the camming action of bolt guns so to asure feeding, you'd probably have to bump the shoulder back say .002 - .003". And if it didn't work out, you could always go ahead and FL. Have a great day, FC
Jason Wallwork - I've been told that before...and it would be a good thing if that were true. It's much preferred to being told that I sound like Kermit the Frog. Best to ya, Steve
@@FortuneCookie45LC I thought the default wise remark was that you sound like Yogi Bear? ;) Honestly, I love your videos: well thought out, clear, concise enough and with a touch of humour. Please keep it up!
I remove the mandrel, and use the die to straighten the necks on my 30-30 when seating .312 pistol bullets. they ALWAYS seat crooked this straightens them up and allows them to chamber/shoot
FC, displaying my ignorance in rifle reloading & a little confused. If it's desired to return the rifle cartridge to factory specs, one uses only the (first) carbide sizing/decapping die or do you use both the sizing die and the collett die always ?? And in the event, you only wish to resize the neck, use the collett die only leaving the expanded, fire formed body for your gun. Reason I ask for clarity, I've resized straight walled cases, and the tapered rifle cartridge is a bit foreign and I'm somewhat uncertain as to procedure. Thanks as always.
Walter Palmer - This Collet Neck Size Die is designed to work with bolt action rifles. Once we have fire formed brass, we don't want to full length resize the round. Rather we want to neck size only to hold the bullet. The Lee CNSD creates a concentric neck for our bolt guns. No other sizing needs to be done with this die. After about 5-6 firings, we will need to full length size again. When we shoot our lever guns, slide actions, and semi-autos we need full length sized brass... best to ya, Happy Thanksgiving, FC Steve
interman 77 - All cast bullets need to have mouth belling to seat or lead shaving will occur. If the neck tension is just right, belling may not be necessary for seating of jacketed bullets. But if there is any shaving of copper, or any doubt at all that shaving is happening, just the slightest belling will be needed for those jacketed bullets also. Good reloadin' to ya, Steve
Great upload . I am a bit late maybe but have 2 questions. Does the 4 markings on the case neck caused by the die disappear after it has been fired . And do you get consistent neck tension on all cases as you rely only on feel and human error can occur. Thank you kind regards.
There are no marks left on the Case Neck after using the Neck Sizing Collet. It comes out smooth as silk. And the set up instructions , if followed correctly , leaves no room for human error. I know you asked this 10 months ago and have already received an answer , but I hate it when someone doesn't respond to questions on the instructional videos they post.
Yeah I love my Lee dies too, however I do have a question that I have not found a satisfactory answer to regarding case length and case trimming. I see and hear and understand the the importance of correct case length, but I also know the importance of head space. Now I may be missing something here but would it not make sense to shoulder bump or resize for correct head space before measuring and trimming the case? I'm new to reloading and I have not seen this point raised any where. If one trims the brass to correct length and then adjusts for head space, would one not run the risk of under sizing? I'd love to see a video that could clear this up for us newbs. Thanks.
This is a year old but I will throw in my two cents anyway for others who may have this question. Technically it is correct to resize the case prior to trimming because you may squish the brass to be a tiny bit longer or the expander ball may stretch the neck a little longer on removal during resizing. Additionally, it is possible that through sizing (neck or full length) that the case neck could become slightly uneven in length. (i.e. the case neck might a tiny bit longer on one side of the case as opposed to the other). But in practice it makes very little difference. The dangerous thing is having brass that is too long. A case that is 2 thousandths under the "trim to" length is not going to present a hazard however a case that is over the maximum could. So if I had cases that seemed to be right at the maximum length already, and I was hoping to avoid trimming, I would resize first and check them all and make sure they didn't grow at all. But the reality is, if I have cases that close to max case length, I am just going to trim to the recommended trim length anyway. But for exact uniformity in your cases, I would do my resizing operations first, then trim, chamfer and deburr.
The Lee collet dies, the forester neck bushing die paired with the forester co-ax press and the must have RCBS Precision MIC gauge which I use to set the lock ring on the neck die all combined produce extreemly accurate rifle ammunition. To see this I use a Sinclair concentricity base to measure runout.
Hey FC, greetings from the Black Forest / Germany. Can you tell me why my collet die does not "squeeze" enough? The inner neck dia is slightly above the bullet dia, roundabout .0005 to .0008 wider, so I get zero neck tension. Am I doing something wrong, or is there a method to help me out? Best wishes, Ouw.
Turn it 1/8, not 1/4 turn. That way the collet fingers cover the gaps, not the area that was just covered previously. Also, would you advise to use the Lee Collet first, then neck tune, or vice-versa?
JS - That turn thing makes a great deal of sense... Since the Lee Collet Neck Size Die squeezes onto the mandrel, turning the case neck (outside turn) before using the die would seem to be the logical way... otherwise we would be doing all the manipulation involving the pilot while turning that could disturb the neck we've straightened. We would want to straighten the neck and then go right to powder charging and bullet seating for best consistent ammo. Good reloadin' to ya, FC Steve
toy collector - You've hit on a very interesting concept...because of the full length sizing, lube would be necessary, but the neck being concentric with the case axis would be very welcome...That die might be on the expensive side to produce though, and I suspect is the reason Lee never went to the next level with their collet concept. Best to ya, FC Steve
Just another thought ... this seems like it would be really hard on the case necks when you compress the brass like that ... like hammer forging the neck. Your thoughts?
Paul Watterson - It's more like a gentle swaging action than hammer forging, same idea though. Can report that it's not hard on the necks, no additional neck splits using the die, plus we can still anneal as we desire. Best to ya, Steve
Neck tension is generally considered a function of the ID of the neck and the hardness (annealed, worked, work-hardened). IF the collect die forms to an unchanging mandrel, there would appear to be a consistent attainable max tension to be had with this die. If you adjust for the max tension based on the mandrel (and w/o deforming the neck), that would be the sweet spot, in my opinion, for consistency. Based on that, wouldn't it be wise to get the custom mandrels (or modify the default one) in order to adjust the neck tension and adjust the die for max tension for repeatability? -Thanks,
Dan Steven - The factory mandrels have worked well. Certainly we can turn down the mandrels a bit if we need more neck tension, but I haven't found that to be necessary. Your point is well taken...Lee should have additional mandrels available for us. That there hasn't been demand probably is why Lee doesn't offer them. These collet neck size dies are a source of company pride for Lee. Best to ya, and a great 4th to ya..!! FC Steve
Alan Bycroft - No, Lee doesn't make the 54R Collet Neck Size Die - Why not is a mystery. The 303 is a longer, narrower case...I have not used the 303 die on the 54R case so I would not tell you to get the 303 die to try. If you already have one, then the try is easy. But if the source is good (means they have actually used that), then you might go ahead. With all the Mosins around, Lee should have made the die... Best to ya, FC
Have you had any problems with some brand bullets not fitting properly after using the die? I was using Speer 165 gr BTSP for my 308, and they were shooting excellently. Then when I started using my collet die I can't get proper tension on them. Hornady BTHP bullets are no issue whatsoever. When I hold my Speer bullets in my calipers, lengthwise like, the only spot the calipers touches is right at the bottom where the boat tail need the bearing surface. So it's like the bearing surface is tapered instead of parallel. I seat them and they can spin around! So now I can only keep using those bullets full length sized:(
Dan O'Neill well now that's a good question. I will have to open up a new box and check them! Thought of that but just didn't bother opening all my brand new ones! The bullets shoot great even from full sized cases anyway.
You could also use a Lee undersized mandrel until you work through that box of bullets. They're pretty cheap: leeprecision.com/custom-undersized-mandrel.html
Dustysa4 I thought about that, however I'm in Canada and it's expensive to get anything from Lee themselves. Shipping and duty makes it not feasible. Also, I don't know that it would work, since only the very base is the right size as it goes in the case it would expand the neck, leaving it still not in contact with the undersized section up near the front of the bearing surface. If I seat the bullets out long they are tight. But if I seat them where they should be they end up loose and can even be pushed right into the case. Although...they DO seat into full length sized necks no problem. It's weird... and maybe just that box of bullets is the problem.
Dave L I had the same problem. Out of 60 cases about 10 of them when using Federal GMM cases and Hornady A-max 168 gr bullets I too found that they were loose in the necks after using the Lee collet die . The problem I believe is that those 10 cases had thinner neck walls than the other 50 cases that held the bullets nice and tight in the neck, they were around .001 to .002 thinner . You can fix this problem by either measuring the neck wall thickness or simply looking at all your case sitting in a loading block from above, normally you will be able to notice which cases are thinner than the thicker ones in the neck wall thickness. My solution to this problem was to firstly seat the bullets in the thicker case first after using the collet die for a tight fit, then I screwed in the collet die a little more to give tight bullet fit in the case necks with the thinner neck walled cases .
Hope this isnt a silly question.: I see where the collet sizes it perfectly around the mandrel. My question is how dies it keep the case neck in concentric alignment with the case body? THank you and keep up the ggood work"_
medhist2006 - Thanks for the comment and question...The mandrel goes all the way through the case and there's a decapping pin at the bottom that deprimes the case as the collet is squeezing the neck onto that mandrel...The mandrel is therefore held in perfect axis to the case thereby straightening the neck to that axis. Thanks for your question..Have a great day, .FC
falcon19x - Great question - and it is an important question since we don't want to blow the head off any of our cases. As with all things reloading, it is a matter of degree. Once the shoulder has been set back too far (excess headspace), we cannot bring it back out without firing it or fire forming it...and to do so will invite brass weakening in the critical web area of the case head. The order of events in internal ballistics is as follows 1) firing pin drives case fully forward in chamber until headspace stop (shoulder or rim) engages, 2) round fires 3) case body grips the chamber 4) head of case is driven back against the breechface 5) brass at web stretches and weakens. If 5) is huge enough, case head separation occurs, if not huge enough, brass stretches there and weakens so might blow next shot. The telltale ring around the web is a sign of impending head separation. But if no ring, that doesn't mean that the case has been saved...it has been compromised, but to a degree yet undetermined. On our bolt guns, if a round is fired and a little puff of smoke comes out the pressure bleed holes in the receiver or around the bolt shroud, watch out - you've just had a partial head separation of that brass. And luck is with the shooter because there's not much difference between a partial and a full head separation. Sorry to be long, you probably know all this already to even be asking the question, but other readers may benefit.... Best to ya, FC
Cookie, I believe that I said this before, However, Richard Lee get's up on the other side of the bed than the rest of the reloading industry, It is flattering to be copied, however, when they are copping something that Lee still produces all day at a cheaper price? That to me is inovation and product management of a sucessful company. people can say what they want about Lee products, But Nobody can beat them at their quality and price. a fine example is their factory crinp die, it's a must fo AR guys or any auto loader such as the M-1, Fal, CMET, M-1A and so on. Dave.
Todd Newsome - Ha, ha, har, ha, Todd - That's a good one...:) but come to think of it, there should be a way we can rig that... Best Regards to ya, FC Steve
Great video! I have always used these, but I only did it because I didn't have to use case lube. Good to know the benefits. I do have a question. What is the grease you use internally on the collet? I have a 308 Lee neck die that is causing all kinds of vertical gouges on the neck of the brass. I clean up the collet, it works fine for about 6 shells and then back to gouging. This has not happened on any other Lee Neck dies I have used (30-06, 223, 30wcf). Perhaps the grease will fix the problem?
DimnerDoesIt - The grease is Shooter's Choice Gun Grease, but its use is to facilitate release of the collet so that the tendency to grab and stretch the case shoulder is prevented. Your gouges have to be from irregularities in the contact surfaces the collet makes with the case. Problem is if you do much polishing , it will affect the neck squeeze that is the basis of the die effectiveness. Sounds like you need to return that die to Lee for a replacement. Good reloadin' to ya, FC Steve
I never understand why people badmouth the Lee Dies ! The only problem I have with them is I can't use the RCBS lock rings on mine because the holes on my Lee die heads are to close together to turn them down on the die !!
As an avid Lee collet die fan, I’ve a few tips to add: 1.) You can get a custom turned mandrel for their collet die to make the neck tension exactly what you want. 2.)To set it up for consistency, start loose and keep going until it bottoms out on the bottom of the stroke. (On my Forster, it doesn’t cam over much) If you crush the shoulder, back it off until it doesn’t. The reason I like it that tight is because it actually uniforms the neck thickness this way (find a funky casing, check for yourself) 3.) Take the die apart. Get a Work Sharp knife sharpener. Rotate it around while buffing off the machine ridges on the mandrel shoulder. This will make sense when you take it apart. Work your way through the belt grits until you polish it with Flitz on a used 6000 belt or on a leather stropping belt. Use a dab of moly grease. You will not believe how slick it works after this and how consistent the feel is! 4.) Rotating for a double working is really helpful to uniform the neck, plus, it will push out any thick spots. Again, almost as good as neck turning. 5.) You can make awesome precision semi-auto ammo with the Lee Collet die. I sent my .308 Forster die back to Forster with three used casings. I asked them to make it so that it bumped back the shoulder three thou and had them take the neck away until it didn’t touch the neck. You full length size the brass, then use the .308 Lee Collet die to set the neck. A bit more work for sure, but worth the effort and works the brass a LOT less than any other way! 6.) I really like the Lee. Other dies monkey with the brass so badly. Think about it; other dies squish the hell out if the neck on the down stroke. To see just how bad, take the sizing ball out, press one and measure the poor crushed misshapen neck. Then, after you have this done, the ball gets dragged unsupported in any uniform way back through the neck to stretch it back out! The brass springs and stretches any old way it decides to compared to the uniform crush of the Lee against the mandrel! The proof is in the runout. Worst thing of all, regular dies work the brass far far more than a Lee Collet die. I get a lot more firings from brass with the Lee. I propose that the hardening is as much done by the extra working done by the ball sizing dies than the firing. But I could mistaken.
VE - The Lee FCD provides 1) crimp to the loaded round 2) elimination of bulges or irregularities in the case as a result of seating and crimping operations that might impede functioning and chambering of the completed rounds. The Lee CNSD provides 1) proper inside neck diameter for neck tension to hold the bullet 2) sizing of the outside of the neck to allow chambering 3) a concentric neck with low run out 4) less working of the brass for longer case life 5) no lube case sizing Good reloading' to ya, Jeff - FC Steve
Thanks Steve I understand what you are saying but doesn't the FCD change the neck diameter when it crimps ? Maybe the reason why I don't use one is that I hand anneal my rifle brass after 5 firings. I have a cheap system for that with a drill.. so I full size case size. Also I don't fire form brass because I use it in several rifles. Mosin-Nagant vs Fin M39 for example. But I will take your word for it. After all I just bought I nice Tipton guide rod after seeing you use one... nice talking to ya -- VE Jeff
VE - That is the one thing that the Lee FCD is accused of doing by many - and the problem is that it can definitely do that - there is a carbide ring that if the round is really big, the FCD will indeed size the case down and also swage the underlying bullet to boot - then the brass springs back slightly off the bullet when the round is pulled out of the die causing loss of neck tension. There isn't a reloader around that appreciates that - hence the negativity on the FCD. But the Lee FCD was not designed to do that - only to provide momentary spot sizing to eliminate excess bulges from seating or crimping that would hang up feeding. You can easily feel the difference when you use the die. If you are getting wholesale sizing with the FCD, then the bullets you are using need to be sized before loading - simple as that. If used as designed and intended, the Lee FCD is a wonder and a technological coup of Richard Lee. My recent work with low standard deviation in the single digits was all done using 44 cal FCD. As for FL sizing for reloading brass for different rifles, that is a good recommendation. Also, unless my memory fails, Lee does not make a collet neck size die for the 7.62x54R - why they don't is a mystery. Have a great day, Jeff...always interesting posting threads with ya, FC Steve
FC- Thanks again for the great discussion. Your years of reloading have helped me many times over. Yes I used to reload back in high school in the 70s but I have only gotten into it for the past seven years. Which to some may seem a long time... but you are never to old to learn ! PS. I personally am a resizing fool... I have many bullet resizing kits. ... Why ? Well to test which is the most accurate... for example I have resizing dies to my new .45 colt in .456 , .454. and .452. The bullets drop out at ..457ish so I size to .456 which makes it easy to size to .454 and .452. Why do that... well to compare... several authors swear by .454 vs .452 even if our chambers are set to .452. See Mike Venturnio's work on Six guns for example. So I will see for myself and test it. ... But as you know its been raining here off and on for the last two months.. so I am dodging rain clouds to get all my bullets powder coated and ready... by for now..
VE - Thanks for the thread again, Jeff... If cylinder throats are .452", then 454" bullets would work just fine...Ideal is .001 over so .453", but an additional .001 will be handled just fine...However, if bullets are really hard, then the pressures would be a bit higher from that. Reminds me that I want to get a .460" sizer for my 45/70... Best to ya, FC Steve
Paul Watterson - This would be true if the Lee Neck Size Collet Die only sized the neck. It does more as the case is held in the die as the collet mashes the neck onto the centering mandrel. Non concentric necks are not concentric in two manners 1) axial (the axis of the neck is off angle from the case body) or 2) positional (the axis of the neck is off axis from the case body) or a combination of both 1) and 2). The Lee Neck Size Collet Die can correct both within reason. The neck concentricity gauge tells the story. Good reloadin' to ya, FC Steve
John Murdoch - Yes, John - logic would dictate that we need to turn or even ream our case necks to get that cherished uniform thickness. Many shooters are not aware that neck thickness uniformity can be achieved by swaging as well as reaming or turning - until they think about the possibiities. If the Lee Collet Neck Size Die is cranked up just a bit, and the neck is run into the die repeatedly with some rotation of the case between strokes, the neck will be swaged to uniformituy. This is easy to test for yourself...why turn the neck when you can swage it? Even neck turning, the recommendation is often to get some turning marks - but unless the turning marks are 100%, there are still some high and low spots. But by then, the neck has been thinned too much. The Lee Collet Neck Size die will do all the thickness uniforming we need with our stock chambers - and even if I had a custom rifle with tuned chamber neck with matched neck size die and recommendation to turn necks to a certain thickness, I'd still use the Lee Collet Neck Size die in addtion to have the necks concentric to the axis of the case using that die. That Lee die is one of the several major innovations that Lee has given us. Continued good shootin' to ya, Steve
Lee dose not make all the cal. you can size some of them by putting a washer over the shell holder an case to take up the lenght to move the collet die up an down the neck of same cal.
I hope you don't honestly think that the Lee collet die takes the place of neck turning. You have to neck turn if your chamber requires it, no collet is going to fix that. When you reform brass from one caliber to another you'll more than likely have to neck turn as they will be too thick as well.
Eric Johnson - If I had a Rifle with a custom chamber with a neck matched for neck turning, I would neck turn my brass. But for factory rifles, I prefer to use good consistent brass (Lapua) that my Lee Collet dies do indeed true up in more than one way. I also have preferred to load my brass 5-6 times only to avoid needs for annealing or formation of donuts. But then again, I am perfectly satisfied with getting 4/10ths MOA from my 223 And 1/2 MOA From my 308. Those shooters who demand more should definitely shoot the works in their reloading... Best Regards, FC
For the price it is a great neck sizing die.... but it will not uniform neck thickness, I just spent an hour trying to duplicate this video with 20 cases all being 12/14. I finally got them all to 12....after I turned them.😁
