Neck sizing issues..

[Shooter98]

I'm having a bizarre issue. Lee collet dies, 25-06, Lee press. It doesn't matter if I use winchester or remington brass but about 1 in every 20 or so loads thru the decapper and neck sizer the neck doesn't get sized down enough. Of course I don't recognize this until I put the bullet in the brass and it just falls thru. In a 90 round batch tonight I had 7 that did this. I ended up popping out the primer and resizing (without readjusting the die) and then they work fine.

Any ideas?

Read More

 

[Throckmorton]

all I can say i neck sizing,in general,for me,has never been very satisfactory.I did read this week that Lee ns dies,you must turn the die in 1 full turn past hitting the shell holder,and apply 25 pounds pressure for best results.Do ur directions mention this.?

 

[Shooter98]

all I can say i neck sizing,in general,for me,has never been very satisfactory.I did read this week that Lee ns dies,you must turn the die in 1 full turn past hitting the shell holder,and apply 25 pounds pressure for best results.Do ur directions mention this.?

That's for the standard dies yes, not the collet dies.

 

[Shooter98]

Nope, challenger.

 

[AMProducts]

there are two things I would check... since you are using one of the collet type dies, which does have some advantages over standard neck sizing, how many times have you reloaded this brass? What could be happening is the brass is getting hard and is springing back more than it should, when this happens the only solution is case neck annealing. However, there are two other possible issues... first, your brass is thinner than the die is capable of resetting, or your collet isn't getting small enough.

I have used these collet dies before, and they do work ok, I usually use them for my oddball projects that require the greater flexibility of these dies. CH4D has a very nice replaceable bushing die that's fairly cheap compared to RCBS. For most centerfire rifle cartridges, you need about 2-4 /1000ths to maintain proper neck tension without crimping.

 

[Shooter98]

Well I figured it out. I took the sizing die apart and it was gunked up pretty good. I cleaned it thoroughly and lubed the out collar. Reassembled it and tried it again. All the brass sized perfectly this time. Thanks guys.

Mike.

 

[motoman98]

I have a set of those dies. Whenever they are not working properly, I clean them thoroughly. Voila, they work again!

 

[AMProducts]

Excellent! Funny how 90% of problems with guns come down to something being dirty.

 

[iusmc2002]

That's for the standard dies yes, not the collet dies.

Even though you've fixed it already, the directions Throckmorton gave you are for the collet neck sizing die. A die WITHOUT the collet shouldn't have 25 lbs of pressure put on it for any reason, really.

 

[Shooter98]

Even though you've fixed it already, the directions Throckmorton gave you are for the collet neck sizing die. A die WITHOUT the collet shouldn't have 25 lbs of pressure put on it for any reason, really.

Sorry but that's wrong. The standard dies without the collet require the 25 pounds additional pressure. Collet dies get rotated from 3/4 to 1 1/2 turns depending on desired neck tension. Thanks though.

 

[iusmc2002]

<broken link removed>

Hope this helps

Click on "FAQ", then "Die and die questions" then scroll down until you see these sections

Collet Mandrel
Collet die adjustment
Collet die explanation
Collet die pressure

 

[Shooter98]

<broken link removed>

Hope this helps

Click on "FAQ", then "Die and die questions" then scroll down until you see these sections

Collet Mandrel
Collet die adjustment
Collet die explanation
Collet die pressure

Re read the faq. It says it will take up to 25 pounds of force to resize the neck with a collet die. Not to adjust the die then torque to 25 pounds.


"This will stop the press before it gets to the toggle over point. With a press without having an over center feature, apply about 25 lbs. of pressure to the handle once it bottoms out to resize the case. On most presses, this translates to over 600 lbs of pressure on the ram."

 

[iusmc2002]

What are you "torquing" to 25 lbs? I disremember anyone saying to torque anything to 25 lbs.

The whole concept is for the collet itself to be open when there is no brass in it, and when the brass is run up into it, the shellholder comes in contact with the bottom of the collet (bottoming out, as referred to by Lee) and THEN you give it an additional 25 lbs or so of force downward on the handle; which forces the collet UP into the die body which is tapered towards the top, to force the collet "fingers" to close on the neck and squeeze the neck against the mandrel which is .002-.004 smaller than the caliber to account for the "springback" of the brass/neck when it's removed from the collet.

Regular dies like the dead-length bullet seater, the FL sizer and whatnot don't require anywhere near 25 lbs to be used correctly. They should only have enough pressure put on them to take all the play out of the die's threads or the Breech Lock bushing so you get the same result with every round run through it.

Anyway, I was just trying to help by explaining the manner of how I use my dies, and how I interpreted the directions that came with them. Apparently we've interpreted the directions differently. I'm glad you got it fixed, and it was no big thing

 

[Shooter98]

Anyway, I was just trying to help by explaining the manner of how I use my dies, and how I interpreted the directions that came with them. Apparently we've interpreted the directions differently. I'm glad you got it fixed, and it was no big thing

Much appreciated, thank you.

 

[Spitpatch]

Excellent! Funny how 90% of problems with guns come down to something being dirty.

This is the most valuable piece of information, concisely presented, that I have seen on this website. The only modification I would submit is an increase in the stated percentage.