Lee Collet Die Adjustment

Swifty,

Once the top is taken off the mandrel, collet and the collet closing piece should all come out. You may need to push the collet out from the bottom, press it on the table with the cap off the die. Sometimes they can press on the sides of the die a little but should come out without undue effort.

A small amount of grease on the tapered outer area of the collet where it presses into the recess on the collet closer.

While it is apart make sire there are no machining dags anywhere that might jam things up.

Bryce
 
Don't over do it

It is easy to use more pressure than needed with a collet die. My Forster press will easily reform the die until it will not work properly. The way to set up for the max resize is to measure the neck as you screw down the die. When it no longer gets smaller it's time to actually raise it until it start to get bigger and be happy with the least force to get the smallest neck. If still too large the mandrel needs to be made smaller. No "feel" required, just measure it!
 
IanRobertson said:
It is easy to use more pressure than needed with a collet die. My Forster press will easily reform the die until it will not work properly. The way to set up for the max resize is to measure the neck as you screw down the die. When it no longer gets smaller it's time to actually raise it until it start to get bigger and be happy with the least force to get the smallest neck. If still too large the mandrel needs to be made smaller. No "feel" required, just measure it!
Click to expand...

You are assuming that all users have micrometers or calipers and know how to use them .
I have used neck diameter at times to indicate amount of sizing taking place and considered it for my instructions . However I opted for an explanation that will also work for people without such tools.
 
A workable set of dial calipers costs $20-30 USD... far less than most people spend on dies, press, etc. It's considered minimum standard equipment. Someone who doesn't have a set of calipers has no business reloading with anything more sophisticated than a Lee Loader (the one that uses a powder scoop and a mallet), IMO.
 
removing the collet

The way I remove the collet is to pull it out from the bottom of the die . By pressing it up with the cap and mandrel removed , still presses the collet into the taper of the die . The collet is held in place by a floating ring that pops past a slight lip in the bottom of the die body . Just pull down , by hand and slightly twist and it will come right out . You don't even realy have to remove the mandrel at all .

I also , every so often , like every 4 or 5 rounds sized , slightly twist the collet a little . This keeps the collet from getting a wear pattern inside the die body .

And lastly , do use a good grease on the outside of the collet / inside of the die body . The ones that I have gotten are coated with a rust inhibitator that does nothing for lubricating the contact points between the collet and body . These dies work very differently than standard dies . On the standard dies the case is slid inside the die doing the sizing , and you do not size the case dry . On the collet die the die itself is what does the movement , collet sliding on the die body . Every few hundred sizings it is also a good ideal to pull the collet out through the bottom and clean and re- lubricate the die .This can be done without removing the die from the press.

Doug
 
My bad

I was recently convinced of the benefit of not dropping primer crud on my good press, so I deptime in a separate step, something I haven't done for all that long. It's not totally incorporated in my loading routine yet &, as a consequence, I have one extra mandrel. That one is set up with a short decapping pin - one that doesn't quite protrude out of the bottom of the flash hole but still aligns the mandrel- which allows me to neck size when I've already primed the cases.

I've only done that twice, but boy, was I sweating until I nutted out a workaround.

While I'm in the confessional, should I say that my depriming die is a Redding Competition neck die with the bushing removed? Well, you have to amortise that cost somehow when the Lee does a better job.
 
John,

Another way to contain all the nasty primer crud... Forster Co-Ax press... all the nastiness goes down the pipe into the spent primer cup, and unlike other designs... there are no 'escapees' ;) The Lee Collet die does work in there, but I think a Forster die ring might work better on it than the Lee o-ring affair. Haven't tried it, but planning on it.

Monte
 
milanuk said:
John,

Another way to contain all the nasty primer crud... Forster Co-Ax press... all the nastiness goes down the pipe into the spent primer cup, and unlike other designs... there are no 'escapees' ;) The Lee Collet die does work in there, but I think a Forster die ring might work better on it than the Lee o-ring affair. Haven't tried it, but planning on it.

Monte
Click to expand...

Speaking of which, where can a guy buy a few replacement locking die rings. I don't need anything fancy, heck an RCBS type locking die ring would work, but like you said the o-ring deal on the lee dies doesnt really fit my fancy. I like to be able to lock them so I can just screw it in the press or unscrew it and put it away whenever I want.
 
milanuk said:
Another way to contain all the nasty primer crud... Forster Co-Ax press...
Click to expand...
Monte,

Yeah, but I had the bubba press & I'm figuring to spend my spare cash on a nose former & a new stock - besides, I don't think we see many in Australia since they lost the Bonanza brand.

John
 
Swifty,

Midway USA sells spare die lock rings for several brands... I dislike the set-screw type lock rings that Redding/RCBS use almost as much as I do the Lee rings... a while back I purchased several packs of Hornady split-clamp rings - they have a wrench flat built in, handy for conventional presses and such.

John,

Gotcha. Well, Lee's classic cast press (the one built kinda like a Rockchucker) happened to nab that particular feature from Forster/Bonanza as far as I can tell... its another option, depending on how bad you want to keep the primer crud contained. I never realized how bad/annoying the mess was until it was *gone* and I had a clean press...

Monte
 
Collet Die Use

I have been using collet dies for about 2 years and always wondered
how much pressure was enough to apply. After reading Mr. Valentine's article,
and making the advised adjustments, sizing necks has been a breeze.
Thanks for a great article!

T. Bear (Ted)
:)
 
Swifty said:
Speaking of which, where can a guy buy a few replacement locking die rings. I don't need anything fancy, heck an RCBS type locking die ring would work, but like you said the o-ring deal on the lee dies doesnt really fit my fancy. I like to be able to lock them so I can just screw it in the press or unscrew it and put it away whenever I want.
Click to expand...

I like Hornardy locking rings. The style that are cut and an allen head locking screw clamps them for a positive lockup, but is very easy to unlock.
Nothing goes in against the 7/8 x 14 thread except the thread of the lock nut.
 
Ted Winterman said:
I have been using collet dies for about 2 years and always wondered
how much pressure was enough to apply. After reading Mr. Valentine's article,
and making the advised adjustments, sizing necks has been a breeze.
Thanks for a great article!

T. Bear (Ted)
:)
Click to expand...

Thankyou Ted , You are most welcome.
 
Changing decapping pin in a Lee collet die?

I came around this forum when Googling Lee collet die, and have learned a lot about the adjustment of them, thank you!
I only do not know, how to change the decapping pin in the mandrel in case it breaks or bends- looks to me, I need a new mandrel then.
I bouht 2 sets of Lee collet dies, one in .222Rem., and one in .308W and use them in my Forster press.
First thing I did was discarding the locking rings and put on Forster rings.
After taking the die apart I totally cleaned it, removed some burrs and added a high grade Teflon grease at the inside of the forcing cone and on the lower sliding part of the collet unit.
I also worked my way up to sufficient neck tension by gradually lowering the die, seating a bullet and removing it with a kynetic bullet puller.
Within these attempts the play of the mandrel in the hole of the forcing cone already made the decap pin almost break down on the bottom of the case, and I cured this by taking the mandrel out and slipping an O-ring over it which forces the flat end of the mandrel against the top-cap, thus semi-locked but still movable due to the elasticity of the O-ring.
I really like the concept of these dies, just a pity, the finishing of the parts is not what it could be!
Regards,
Paul T.
 
I know what you are saying Paul , the decapping pin in Lee Colet die is a tad short. I have had the same trouble with some old brands of .308 cases that had a thicker base than newer brass some time back .
This could explain how dies get damaged to the point of stripping the top cap as one poster has explained.
I have not broken one yet " touch wood ".
You have raised a very good point . I had forgotten about this potential problem because I have not had a problem with it for some years.
Another way around the problem of a case with a too thick base is drop a thin washer over the case and onto the shell holder then size on that . It will reduce the length of neck sized and give more room for the mandrel to miss the case internal base .
The pin appears to be pressed in or crimped someway.
The only way I can see to repair a broken pin would be , drill the broken pin out and press in a new one or buy a new mandrel.
 
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About coming off the top-cap; I heard sometimes talking about this, but some folks seemed to try to fine-adjust the die by unscrewing this cap, which should not be done,because the allumin cannot take to much force at the tread, thus screwing the cap as tight as muscle-power applied with bare hands can bring is the thing to do and adjusting only can be done by screwing the die downward/upward in the press.
I had no trouble yet with the decap pin being too short, always use Lapua brass for my .308W.,which is really good brass, and R-P in my .222Rem. which is OK too.
If it happens a decap pin breaks, I will buy a new mandrel, because drilling the old pin out will be difficult because everything has to be concentric afterwards.
The only thing I can imagine is making a mandrel in a lathe, drilling the pin hole and drilling another hole from the side, threading it and put in a maggot screw to keep the pin locked in its place, and if this hole is located half-way at the end of the decap-pin hole, there is an opportunity to push the decap pin out in case it broke just at the junction mandrel/decap-pin, which leaves nothing to be gripped with a pair of pliers, or, even simpler, decap with an universal decapping die as an exta stage is an option to consider too.
In the .308 this can be done easily, but with the smaller .22 mandrels there might be not enough material left to accomodate a maggot screw.
If the mandrel is kept concentric in the die, however, and some care is taken in placing the case in the shell-holder and during the upward stroke of the press, the decap pin should almost last forever.
Greetings from a rainy Holland,
Paul.
 
Ted Winterman said:
I have been using collet dies for about 2 years and always wondered
how much pressure was enough to apply. After reading Mr. Valentine's article,
and making the advised adjustments, sizing necks has been a breeze.
Thanks for a great article!

T. Bear (Ted)
:)
Click to expand...

You are right!
I can perform the act with 2 fingers on my Forster press!
Regards,
Paul.
 
I decap separately these days, because I was convinced that I could save wear & tear on my good press by not dropping all those abrasive residues over it. While I use a separate die mounted in one of those kiddy Lee pot metal minipresses, it wouldn't take much to make up a simple lever to activate one of those base & pin style travelling decappers.
 
John Kielly said:
I decap separately these days, because I was convinced that I could save wear & tear on my good press by not dropping all those abrasive residues over it. While I use a separate die mounted in one of those kiddy Lee pot metal minipresses, it wouldn't take much to make up a simple lever to activate one of those base & pin style travelling decappers.
Click to expand...
Hi John,
My Forster press does not get fouled by decapping, everything is dropped down a metal tube and collected in a small plastic container, should have bought this press 25 years agoo, wanted too, but could not afford it-raising children isn't cheap.Things are changed now-children are on their own, my daughter is preparing to make me a grandpapa, ha ha!
An extra press on my bench is nice, but I already have the Forster, a Dillon 650 and a Redding turret installed.
I could however decap with the old steel built Lyman 310 tool I have with complete dies in several calibers, but there is no need for me.
Good to hear, these pot-metal presses can be used anyway!
I think, a press should be made of steel, if one wants to perform other things on it than neck-sizing/seating bullets.
Regards,
Paul.
 
Die adjustment

With all of this good information on setting up the Lee Collet die, it would be good (perhaps) if a copy of some of this thread be sent to Lee. I'm sure they are looking for better ways to explain setting of their products.

Just a thot,
Dew
 
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