Lee Collet neck sizer problems

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Sheep Hunter 7

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Hi All,
I am borrowing a neck sizing Lee Collet die from my friend to try out, I hear that they are really good and easy to use. I also bought 100 new Norma brass which has not been fired yet. The issue is the new brass is really tight in this die no matter how I set it up. Tried setting it up just touching the shell holder and many other different positions from there. In, out you name it I have tried it. It's tight going over the de priming pin and its tight going into the mandrel part of the die. So now after resizing I have marks on the neck of my cases from the mandrel, they are almost like scratches on the neck. Also I have watched how people set this die up and they usually start with the die just touching the shell holder then they Check with a bullet for neck tension. Some of the bullets will fall right inside the case so they screw the die down till they get the right neck tension. I can't get my cases to do this at all, it's tight right off the start there is no way I can push the bullet into the case by hand after resizing. Like I mentioned I have tried numerous positions with this die and I can't seem to find the sweet spot. Any ideas on this matter would be appreciated.
Thx.
 
Sometimes the collet fingers bind in their seat and don't release when the ram is lowered. This causes the neck to be forced between the collet and mandrel on the upstroke. Pull the die apart and if the collet comes out with the seat and stays attached then add a little lube to the seat. If the ram was raised and the collet compressed without a case in the die, it bends the collet fingers in and they stay bent in until you expand them. A tapered punch gently hammered in to the collet just enough to fix the issue is the solution. The other possibility is that the case necks are already sized for 2 thou or more neck tension. The Lee collet die is designed to provide 1 thou so if case necks are tighter than that then they may have trouble accepting the mandrel.
 
Part of the problem is that new cases have necks that won't slip over the mandrel loosely. They are already sized to hold bullets, which is also the reason why you can't push bullets in by hand. Scratches on the inside of the neck are from a rough mandrill being used as an expander for necks that are already smaller than it is. I don't know where you are getting your die setting instructions but they don't even resemble the factory instructions for collet dies. If you are camming over on an empty die you may have already wrecked it. A collet die properly set will only let the handle go part way down and you press down on it in that position useing a portion of the power off the press and only with a case in it.

If by some miracle you haven't bananaed the die beyond recovery take a fired case and it should fall in until the decapping pin touches the primer. If it doesn't, the collet has been over extended by running it empty. If the housing isn't so distorted that you can't take the die apart, get it apart and take the collet out. The collet should be able to take the case neck, otherwise it can be opened with a tapered punch.
 
Read the factory instructions, they cover proper setup and troubleshooting.
I would suggest full-length sizing new cases to keep everything consistent.
 
So do you guys think I should just load up the rounds without any resizing, since they are resized already from factory. Then after they are fire formed they should work in the collet die.
 
Dogleg said:
Part of the problem is that new cases have necks that won't slip over the mandrel loosely. They are already sized to hold bullets, which is also the reason why you can't push bullets in by hand. Scratches on the inside of the neck are from a rough mandrill being used as an expander for necks that are already smaller than it is. I don't know where you are getting your die setting instructions but they don't even resemble the factory instructions for collet dies. If you are camming over on an empty die you may have already wrecked it. A collet die properly set will only let the handle go part way down and you press down on it in that position useing a portion of the power off the press and only with a case in it.

If by some miracle you haven't bananaed the die beyond recovery take a fired case and it should fall in until the decapping pin touches the primer. If it doesn't, the collet has been over extended by running it empty. If the housing isn't so distorted that you can't take the die apart, get it apart and take the collet out. The collet should be able to take the case neck, otherwise it can be opened with a tapered punch.
Click to expand...

Damn, the lapua brass I neck sized last night has those scratches. I followed the instructions, screw down until contact, lower ram, turn once and lock the nut. I also disassembled the die and all is well. I guess that the lapua were sized then annealed, I had made a dummy round (without necksizing) and it took like 20 wacks with the bullet puller to release the bullet. So I won't size lapua unless the neck is out of round now, or after fire forming.
 
Sheep Hunter 7 said:
So do you guys think I should just load up the rounds without any resizing, since they are resized already from factory. Then after they are fire formed they should work in the collet die.
Click to expand...

I always run new brass through the neck sizer, because there are usually some cases with small nicks or dings in the case mouths from handling. Chamfering the case mouths, may or may not remove them all.
 
I always take a file to my new collet dies and make sure I get rid of any burs on the fingers of the collet. I use a file in combination with a scotch brite pad and then polish with 00 steel wool. I also add some white lithium grease to the internals much like you see on many of the YouTube videos. After I am done with all of this the dies run smooth as butter and all of the scratches on the necks dissappear.
 
Neck sizing should only be used with fired brass, that is going to be loaded for the specific rifle that it was fired in.
New brass should always be full-length sized, unless the manufacturer specifically states that it has been sized, (like Nosler) - then a light run through the die may be all that's needed to remove dings in necks.

I have several Lee Collet dies, and all have required some degree of polishing to get them to work perfectly, and stop scratching.
On my first set (223 IIRC), the conical area that the collet fingers bear against was so rough, it looked like a blind drilled hole. And there were burrs/sharp edges in the collet fingers. A bit of time with emory cloth was all it took to get it running right. The mandrel needed a thou or so knocked off of it, and polishing. The newer ones have been better.

Lee makes innovative stuff, but many times their implementation (QC?) is a bit lacking due to the fact that their niche is the low/value end of the market - but you get what you pay for, and you need to be willing to tweak some stuff sometimes.
 
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