I just purchased my first Lee collet die, and I have a question: is the collet supposed to float freely in the die-housing?

From reading prior posts on this board I was expecting it to be as rough a corn cob, and I wasn't let down. The collet slides in and out grudgingly, and sounds like I'm rubbing sandpaper over a really hard piece of oak.

As I understand it the traditional fix is to polish the exterior of the collet, but the collet in mine is actually pretty well finished. The problem is that the bore of the die-body is crudely machined with deep tool-mark rings along its full length. I'm not really sure how to polish the bore because it doesn't have a consistent i.d.

Any thoughts or suggestions on how I should go about cleaning this thing up?

Really, unless the collet is so tight as to not let the case come out of the die easily, then it really doesn't matter. Usually what people are talking about is that the collet fingers leaves marks on the brass case neck, and needs very slight polishing. Also, if the case neck tension on the bullet is not tight enough, then polishing the decap rod down .001" or so will usually cure that.
It takes a bit of pressure to size the case neck, and the collet will push release the case without problems. If however the case is hanging up in the die, wrap some steel wool around a drill bit and polish the inside of the die body.

The case (if I remember right) doesn't fit tight in the body of the die. I think I know the sound you are describing and I always thought it was the sound of the spindle as you withdraw the case rubbing inside the newly "formed" case mouth.

I do like when the collet is free to move a tad inside the die body when the die is fully assembled - as you describe it "float". Not sure it actually matters, but it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
- mike