broke my neck sizing Die

Goose25

Goose25

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I broke my LEE COLLET NECK SIZING Die today.:(

It was my first attempt at neck sizing and I messed up.:redface: I followed the adjustment instruction that were supplied with the Die: I screwed the sizing die until it came in contact with the shell holder, raised the ram to lower the shell holder and then turned the die an aditional 1 1/4 turn. Tightened lockring, inserted a grit free case (inside next lubed only), lowered the ram on the press (primer extracted)... and then lowered some more... CRACK!!!

The caps threads are sheared off and there seems to be similar damage to the threads inside the body of the die.

what did I do wrong? Should I ship the complete die back to lee and ask for a replacement?

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Goose, which way did you turn the die after it contacted the shell holder? It sounds to me like it should have been spun back 1 1/4 ( 1/14?) turns.
It might be the way I read stuff (backwards as usual) but it almost sounds like you turned the die down your 1 1/4 or 1/14th.

That would make a big difference. I cannot see why the die would go like that without some serious force behind it, no matter what quality of the die.
 
The Lee collet neck size is in fact 1 turn down after contacting the shell holder (clockwise). Looks like the cap threads were either already damaged or bad manufacturing. Did your cartridge got deprimed?

Anyway if they are less than 2 years old you get free replacement not questions asked.

Cheers
Gaetoune
 
Goose25 said:
clockwise... I turned it down an additional 1 1/4 turn.

RCBS Reloader Special-5
Click to expand...

http://www.leeprecision.com/html/HelpVideos/videos/Rifle/collet%20die%20install-1.wmv

Stats 1 turn and NOT full pressure stroke. You probably forced it trying to bottom out the die.
 
So you touch the die on the shell holder, then turn it down more??

That doesnt make sense to me?

(Havent used Lee Collet dies myself)
 
mikeelliot said:
So you touch the die on the shell holder, then turn it down more??

That doesnt make sense to me?

(Havent used Lee Collet dies myself)
Click to expand...

It is used like a hand primer. You go by feel, not by full throw of the lever.

Screw down your pistol crimping die and throw the lever full throw in that method (Die touching holder) tell me how well it works :)
 
When they say hold the lever down I'm pretty sure it means full stroke.

I used collet neck size for 2 years now and that's how I adjust then. Once up in the dies you have to apply at least 25 pound of pressure to size the neck.

Cheers
Gaetoune
 
"...down an additional 1 1/4 turn..." That'd do it. The bottom of the die should just kiss the shellholder with the ram all the way up then the die is locked. Call Lee. They'll likely replace it.
 
I'm using the Lee Collet die myself and the instructions say to turn down until the die touches the shell holder. Then, turn down another complete turn. They actually recommend 2 full turns after the die touches the shell holder. This prevents the press from camming over (which is what you want according to LEE) at the bottom of your stroke like regular dies.

Contact Lee and send them back. They're warrantied for 2 years.
 
The LEE collet dies work on an entirely different principal than RCBS neck sizing dies - and for my money, they work a whole lot better.

Did you tighten the cap before you tried sizing? For some reason, they always ship with the caps slacked off....I've always tightened mine down good and snug before I used them for the first time, and I've never had a problem. It seems to me that if the cap was loose, it wouldn't be very good for the threads.
 
Tumbleweed said:
The LEE collet dies work on an entirely different principal than RCBS neck sizing dies - and for my money, they work a whole lot better.

Did you tighten the cap before you tried sizing? For some reason, they always ship with the caps slacked off....I've always tightened mine down good and snug before I used them for the first time, and I've never had a problem. It seems to me that if the cap was loose, it wouldn't be very good for the threads.
Click to expand...

I find this a curious statement in light of all the Lee failures which are reported - to say nothing of the one's I've personally experienced. At one time I was a Lee supporter, but no more.

I had a Lee Loader die which would not re-size .38's small enough to chamber in any of my 3 .38/.357 revolvers. The original hand priming tool with the thread-in shell holders was excellent, but the new plastic one won't seat primers to the bottom of the pocket in good brass. I thought Lee's little C press would be a good range press until I peeled off the ring which holds the die. I got a replacement on warranty but only used it for priming and bullet seating. It worked well for that The Lee Auto Prime would allow primers to stick in the plastic feed slide between the primer tray and the priming die, give it a little bump to get the primers moving again and the top would fall off the primer tray and dump all the primers on the floor. It would often double feed primers, and often seat a primer upside down. The Lee scale I had was just plain scary, and would not give me repeatable powder weights - ever. The expander rod of the full length sizing dies couldn't be tightened enough to stop it from slipping. I still have 2 factory crimp dies for pistol ammo which work well, but other than those, I'm pretty much done with Lee products.

Both Lee and RCBS manufacture dies capable of accurately sizing cases with straight necks, but the RCBS dies won't grenade. When I spend money on dies now, Redding is my first choice and RCBS is a close second.
 
Screw the cap down tight - on your next die. Screw the die down so that the shellholder bottoms out somewhere before full down. I go about 2/3 throw so that I can apply firm pressure without the press overcaming.

The die works by manual sizing. You need to use force to squeeze the collet against the mandrel.

Lee will warranty it no problem. Just send it back to them.

Jerry
 
Lots of good advice,one other thing with the collet dies which I use in several calibers and have been doing so for over ten years,they say the force to sqeeze the neck down is about 25lbs pressure.This is not really a lot,when you get your new die set it up as you did before and try sizing a case with not too much force,then try and slip a bullet into the neck if it slips in easily put it back in the die and push with a little more force on the handle.When you cannot push the bullet into the case by hand you are sizing enough.It takes a little practice but you'll get the hang of it.
 
gth said:
I seem to remember something in the instructions regarding presses that toggle-over vs the lee ones that dont.

might be worth a re-read.
Click to expand...

I have a Lee neck sizer and you are correct about the type of press. Setting up the Lee die in a Rock chucker the same way you set it up in the Lee press will destroy the Lee die. Been there, done that. It's too bad someone doesn't make a die in that design, but with high quality material instead of the Lee cheapie crap. Such a great working design and yet such inferior material... I'd be happy to pay twice as much for the same design in high quality construction and material.

N_R
 
Feel is crucial when using these dies. 25 pounds is hard to judge. I used my 22-250 for sometime, allowing it to toggle over with great results, and the reason was probably because it was set to toggle just under 25 pounds. Perhaps a spring scale might be the answer or some more work by LEE. When I got my 308 dies, I read the instructions, and reset the 22-250 but I have not tried it since.
 
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