11 January 2003, 15:50
<Embalmer>Lee Collet Dies
good as they say? They claim the best accuracy or your money back. The 1000 yard record holder used them to get the record.
So what do you guys think?
12 January 2003, 02:12
BossMossFor the price you can't go wrong & they do work well. One thing to remember is they do not but a lot of neck tension with std. mandrel you may want to buy a undersize one or indersize the one you get. It all depends on what your loading for. For paper seating it to lands they are the easiest & work great for hunting I like FL size. If you have a factory gun I don't think you will see much difference in a custom berral the Lee collet will shine. I have done both & this it what I have come up with anyway.
12 January 2003, 03:22
<green 788>If you do get a set of Lee Collets, take plenty of time getting to know them. These are undisputedly the most loved and most maligned dies on the market!
As Boss said, you may want to chuck the mandrel in a drill and turn .001" off its girth to allow for more neck tension. If you do this, make sure you turn it down as evenly as possible. You can measure it at various points to be sure it has been reduced by .001" at every point below the point on which the collet bears. Otherwise, you'll enlarge the neck when you pull the case back out.
It may not be necessary to turn down the mandrel, but it's easy to do if need be.
I adjust mine to close *just* as the press arm cams over. I believe the old instructions advised not to do this, I'm not sure what the newer instructions say. No matter, camming the press arm over is the best way to get even neck tension on all the cases.
There is no need to lube the cases at all when sizing with the Lee Collets. Huge plus, in my opinion.
Once you get used to the very unconventional design, you'll love the Lee Collets. They are tricky to use, and there are more than a couple of pitfalls if you use them improperly, but get it right and you won't look back
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Dan Newberry
green 788
12 January 2003, 03:36
<tula9130>For bolt action or single shot rifles they are great and easy to use if the directions are followed.It doesn`t take a lot of pressure to size the brass and I think that is why some people don`t like them.In the directions it says to size a second time after turning the case,45 degrees works for me.No lube needed.I set the die till it grips the bullet the way I want by turning in the die little by little.The bullet seating die doesn`t crimp like a regular seating die so when it touches the shellholder lightly the bullet is seated perfectly.Some people don`t like to crimp the bullet in place....I like to "snug" the bullet in place for uniformity,not crimp,just snug it in place.I recommend getting the Factory Crimp die and at under $10 is a wonderful tool.I would have to say it improves accuracy.I believe Saeed tested this under controlled conditions,his results are on this site somewhere.It is easy enough to test...shoot 20 rounds uncrimped versus 20 rounds "snugged" in place and then decide for yourself.From batch to batch the point of impact was negligible for me.Case length stretching/headspace has not been an issue at all,I got 8 or 9 loadings on a batch before moving on to new cases even though they are still in very good condition and I plan on using them again.Neck tension is not an issue because the crimp die takes care of that.For the average hunter/shooter that shoots inside 350yds the dies are great.I don`t know about 1000yd shooting but I`m sure some of the other guys here that do long range shooting will give their opinion on this matter.
Mike Berger
12 January 2003, 18:13
<Embalmer>Thanks Guys. And Thanke Mike. You are not Mike Berger from Berger bullets are you?
[ 01-12-2003, 09:14: Message edited by: Embalmer ]13 January 2003, 00:03
<tula9130>No,but I imagine they are relatives somehow.