First time collet neck sizing

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michaelsabre

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I always use full length die. I decide try neck sizing to improve accuracy.

the die I am using is Lee 7mm mag collet die. Funny thing is I don't feel any force when I press the handle. And the bullet is so loose than I can use finger to pull the bullet out.

What's wrong?
 
Assuming you have the correct die & it is working properly, then you do not have it all the way down. The die should be all the way down, touching the shell holder in the uppermost position & then about another quarter to half turn.

What happens is that the case goes all the way into the die & the final effort ( Lee says about 25 lbs ) is the collett inside the die squeezing the case neck inward from all sides.
 
I ended up turning about .001 off my mandrel with a drill and some very fine sandpaper. It now takes very little effort to get the necks to size.

I also set my RCBS press up with the die so that the press over cams just as the shellholder meets resistance so that I am getting a constant pressure on the neck.

Proper Link to the above video:
http://www.leeprecision.com/html/HelpVideos/videos/Rifle/collet die install-1.wmv
 
I actually find the collet dies a pain to use. I have broken several of them, the aluminum threads like to separate from the steel body on the top cap, sometimes they work sometimes they don't. Hard to get a good feel for how much pressure is required. I switched to redding neck dies and all my problems went away...It's not like I'm a novice reloader either, at least 10,000 rounds a year...
 
If your press is a toggle-over type, screw the die at least a full turn past touching the shellholder.

When using them, I also press the lever all the way down, raise it, turn the case a half turn, and lower again.

Given that it's a new die, did you disassemble it and clean it to ensure there were no machining leftovers in there? Sometimes if there is a burr or a bit of flash it will cause the collet to stick.
 
now I dont have a lee collet die, I have the redding comp dies with bushings, but there is NO way im using 25lb of force to neck size my 300wm brass. maybe 5lb, its hardly any resistance at all.

FL is another story, defn more force required there. I got some brass off EE that the dude must have had one hell of a loose chamber cause I was applying so much force I broke my desk haha.
 
updatelee said:
now I dont have a lee collet die, I have the redding comp dies with bushings, but there is NO way im using 25lb of force to neck size my 300wm brass. maybe 5lb, its hardly any resistance at all.

FL is another story, defn more force required there. I got some brass off EE that the dude must have had one hell of a loose chamber cause I was applying so much force I broke my desk haha.
Click to expand...

Your Redding dies use a bushing that the neck slips up into to force the neck smaller. The collet dies uses 4 "prongs" (similar in looks to a collet bullet puller with tighter gaps) to squish the neck against a mandrel requiring more force than a bushing die.

I use a collet for my .223 but the same Redding Comp Bushing dies as you for my 6BR.
 
That's why they need no case lube. Set up as per instructions, they work great. Check the sections are not stuck together and are good and clean.
 
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