Collet die problems

[Proutfoo]

I have suddenly started having problems with my Lee collet die after necksizing a couple hundred Igman 6.5x55. Slowly, the neck-sizing started leaving scratches on the neck, and the downstroke and even upstroke is a little stiffer than it first was.

The necks of the brass are starting to look like this, and it has gotten progressively worse (notice the unsightly vertical scratches in the neck of the case):

and for the first time ever, out of 30 brass I resized, I crushed about 10!

I have taken the die apart after every brass trying to figure out what is going wrong. I have tried lube, I rubbed the mandrel with extra-fine steel wool, I have checked the inside of the collet for debris, nothing???

what the frick is going wrong?


HELP!


maybe I have to chamfer the necks _before_ resizing?

 

[enfield p]

what kind of lube

what kind of case lube ae you using

 

[downwindtracker2]

Collet dies don't need any lube The collet slides up and down,on the 30 caliber it looks like it not coming down,it may be hanging up or jammed .Too tight?? Use a wood dowel to knock it down and out,then clean/polish the tapers.Set your depth of the die by the instructions.If you double up those Lee lock rings and jam them together,they don't go out of adjustment. Hope this helps.

 

[Proutfoo]

Collet dies don't need any lube The collet slides up and down,on the 30 caliber it looks like it not coming down,it may be hanging up or jammed .Too tight?? Use a wood dowel to knock it down and out,then clean/polish the tapers.Set your depth of the die by the instructions.If you double up those Lee lock rings and jam them together,they don't go out of adjustment. Hope this helps.

??? tapers? from the outside or inside do I need to polish? I assume you are referring to the section where the neck is forced in?

It is strange, but even when it is outside of the die, the un-resized case does not fit into the collet without a good amount of force. Is this normal?

 

[prosper]

Do you have a press that 'cams over?' These can apparently cause problems with too much pressure on the die, and cause the collet to bind up. I'm not aware of any way to fix this once it's happened, however, Lee recommends setting the die far enough in those sorts of presses that they won't cam over

 

[Proutfoo]

Do you have a press that 'cams over?' These can apparently cause problems with too much pressure on the die, and cause the collet to bind up. I'm not aware of any way to fix this once it's happened, however, Lee recommends setting the die far enough in those sorts of presses that they won't cam over

I have the crappy Lee classic press with the weak links everyone cripes about....

when you mean "bind", is it possible that the collet piece is now too small? Did I break (bend) it?

In any case, when I take the collet out of the die and put a once-fired case into it, the collet does not fit over the neck....is this normal?

I don't think i re-sized more than 200 cases with this collet, if that?

 

[prosper]

no, it should fit. Basically, it seems it has lost it's 'spring.' I'm not sure how to correct that (or even if it is correctable). Maybe polish the inside of it up a tad

 

[grouch]

I've reloaded several thousand rounds of 6.5 x 55 with my lee collet die, and so far it works perfectly. I suggest you phone Lee - they are usually both concerned and helpful if their stuff doesn't function.

 

[Proutfoo]

no, it should fit. Basically, it seems it has lost it's 'spring.' I'm not sure how to correct that (or even if it is correctable). Maybe polish the inside of it up a tad

crap. I guess I might have over-adjusted it interesting mistake.

what can I use to polish the inside?

 

[rodagra]

Assuming correct die adjustment I'm betting your case necks have thickened after several (many?) reloads. Have you tried....or do you have any new or newer brass to try? Also, watch the high temps when annealing.
With everything set up right and good brass your case life is only limited by problems like these using the collet dies.

 

[downwindtracker2]

Other will do this differently or better but I would use a flapper in a drill,a 1/4" rod with a slit on the end and piece of folded over 320 or 400 wet-dry for the inside,for the collet,I would buff them like a shoeshine boy with the same wet-dry.

 

[rodagra]

Other will do this differently or better but I would use a flapper in a drill,a 1/4" rod with a slit on the end and piece of folded over 320 or 400 wet-dry for the inside,for the collet,I would buff them like a shoeshine boy with the same wet-dry.

Why not? Beats buying an inside neck reamer set up. You just have to go a bit at a time 'til you get it right. About this time one may want to think about discarding the brass though. Everything in the world has a lifespan.

 

[Proutfoo]

Why not? Beats buying an inside neck reamer set up. You just have to go a bit at a time 'til you get it right. About this time one may want to think about discarding the brass though. Everything in the world has a lifespan.

this was once-fired factory brass. I need to anneal it because it has a bit of a spring-back memory.

The problem is tho, I am told, the once-fired brass should fit inside the collet when it is out of the die (no pressure on it) and they do not. every piece of brass I have of 3 different brands do not fit inside the collet

When I first started to use the Lee Collet Die I never had this problem. I actually remember the first piece of brass (that actually got stuck in there!) that got all scrached to crap, and since then it has been going down the toilet.

I am probably going to call Lee tomorrow and get a replacement collet.

 

[rodagra]

Ok. Try removing the mandrel and tappling the collet down with a wooden dowel. Then spray with brakeclean and lubricate a bit (the die and collet) with something like CLP.

Sounds like the collet is just jammed all the way up and stuck in the closed position, maybe from goop in the works or setting up wrong.

 

[Proutfoo]

Ok. Try removing the mandrel and tappling the collet down with a wooden dowel. Then spray with brakeclean and lubricate a bit (the die and collet) with something like CLP.

Sounds like the collet is just jammed all the way up and stuck in the closed position, maybe from goop in the works or setting up wrong.

I can take the whole die apart. collet comes out very easily. the problem is the neck of the brass does not fit in to the part it would normally go into, even when the die is totally disassembled!

notice in this pic, the collet does not go farther down the brass:

 

[Dogleg]

Proutfoo,
The problem is that the collet has been pinched shut. The usual reason for this is bringing the ram up without a case in the shell-holder. The collet clamps tighter than it would if a case neck was between the collet and mandrel like it would normally be. It really isn't a big deal. When you have the die disassembled you need to open up the collet. Use a tapered punch to open the slots abit. You DON'T have to hit it with a hammer, just run it in and tap it on the bench a couple of times.You will see the slots spread a bit and you're done. Put it back together and try another case. It should work perfectly, but you may have to go a little more.Its better to take it easy, even if you have to try more than once. If I remember correctly this is all detailed in the instructions that came with the die.
Dogleg

 

[Proutfoo]

Proutfoo,
The problem is that the collet has been pinched shut. The usual reason for this is bringing the ram up without a case in the shell-holder. The collet clamps tighter than it would if a case neck was between the collet and mandrel like it would normally be. It really isn't a big deal. When you have the die disassembled you need to open up the collet. Use a tapered punch to open the slots abit. You DON'T have to hit it with a hammer, just run it in and tap it on the bench a couple of times.You will see the slots spread a bit and you're done. Put it back together and try another case. It should work perfectly, but you may have to go a little more.Its better to take it easy, even if you have to try more than once. If I remember correctly this is all detailed in the instructions that came with the die.
Dogleg

I saw no such instructions when I re-read them yesterday (I got it in the deluxe set so maybe the instructions are not as complete?)

In any case, your method seems to have worked:

I will try a couple of cases and see how it goes

 

[Proutfoo]

it seems to work now. While I was messing with it though it seems I put a burr on one of the collet parts. I had to file it off but it seems to work properly now

 

[Dogleg]

Proutfoo,
There is every chance that it wasn't in the instructions, I may have read about it in an article or something. Perhaps it just looked like it should work? It has happened to me though, and this was how I handled it. Handloaders tend to be the "Do-it-yourself type" by nature, it's kinda our default setting.
Dogleg

 

[Proutfoo]

Proutfoo,
There is every chance that it wasn't in the instructions, I may have read about it in an article or something. Perhaps it just looked like it should work? It has happened to me though, and this was how I handled it. Handloaders tend to be the "Do-it-yourself type" by nature, it's kinda our default setting.
Dogleg

well, I would rather crush 10 cases than overcharge a single one, that's for sure

thanks for the info, I hope I don't have to do this too often Next time I will use a plastic tool instead of a steel punch, the steel on my punch looks harder than the one of the collet since I left a few burrs I had to file off. They were making prints on the necks ...