How do I know how far down to set the Lee Collet neck sizing die on my Forster Co Ax press? The instructions (for a Lee press) say to turn the die down until it hits the shell holder , & then a bit more. With the Co ax, it is pretty hard to tell when the die contacts the shell holder because of the "give" in the jaws that hold the cartridge case. The Co Ax also "cams over" a bit before the end of the stroke. I am concerned that I will over compress the collet and ruin it. Any suggestions from someone who has used the Lee Collet in a Co Ax press?

My rockchucker cams over as well. Just start with light contact and increase it until you get the amout of neck compression you need.

Thanks for responding Paul - "light contact" may be a bit more tricky with the Forster/Bonanza press. The shell holder is a set of jaws with a little "give" as you screw down the die, but I guess I can start by favoring the lightest resistance, & screw the die down a bit further if I'm not getting enough tension to hold the bullet well.

This is why I have two Co-Ax presses. One is set up with the Co-Ax regular shell holder. And the other I have bought the little plate that replaces the Co-Ax regular clamping shell holder and allows you to use regular shell holders.
Mac

I Co-Ax shouldn`t "cam over" at all, the press should simply stop when the die hits the shell holder. I have used the Lee ciollet dies in mine and just played a little with the die adjustment until I get the desired results. The factory crimp die likely will work the same. I don`t know that for sure though, I don`t have one and never crimp anything but handgun ammo.

To be honest I prefer the old Lyman or RCBS Jr I have for the collet dies and use "feel" for operating with them in place of adjusting.

quote:

I guess I can start by favoring the lightest resistance, & screw the die down a bit further if I'm not getting enough tension to hold the bullet well.

Correct. Cam over, as such, is irrelivant.