I like the idea of sizing just the neck when reloading medium rifle calibers such as .270, .280, 7X57, etc. Anyone care to share their experience with LEE collet dies that size just the neck? Thanks. CB

I have many Lee dies and I find them to be quite uniform in good quality, unlike some other makes that can be spotty. And I have every US die brand made in the last 50 years. I do not have any Lee collet dies.

The Lee collet die makes some seriously straight ammo. I can maintain 0.001 case runout pretty easily in the .308 Win.

The only thing I've done is polish up the surfaces of the parts that squeeze the neck back down w/ 0000 steel wool. You can see and feel the transverse tooling marks.

LEE dies are very well made.

I have many sets of Lee dies including the collet type in 17 Rem, 223, 308, 243, 25-06, 30-06, 8x57 and 375 H&H, I also have other brands in the same cals, sometimes 3-4 sets in some...I also have some of the OLD "hammer in " type going back to the late 50's in rifle and shotgun. I still use the 12/20 ga shotgun "hammer in" today to do slug rounds a few at a time.

I really like the 17 Rem, 223, 308 and 375 H&H collet dies as I don't need to trim as often, no "case stretching" as in the drag through button type and once the case is initially formed and after maybe 2-3 firings and I get the sizer polished to fit the chamber, stretching seems to slow down very quickly...I also use many bushing type dies, used without the sizer button, for the same reason.

RGB Lee dies are a very cheap alternative for intermediate case forming, necking down etc. I use many of the factory crimp dies also which work VERY well, and the 50 cal, 577-450 and 577 Snider dies at half or less that the "other guys" dies are priced at.

I doubt you will never wear out a set before you wear out many, MANY rifle/barrels.

Lee is very accommodating for free or a nominal charge to polish, adapt, fix etc their products.

All in all I've found that Lee dies are like the Energizer Bunny...they just keep on going and going and going.

After all is said and done I use bushing dies more often than not because of stretching issues and ease of fitting the necks, Hornady Elliptical buttons, Lee dies for simplicity and specific applications, ANY that are on sale for the values and really cheapo, off the scrap table for open sighted military weapons that are not all that accurate to begin with to produce the most "bang for the buck".

Luck

I like them, the Collet Die and have them for every caliber I shoot.

I like their collet dies and many of their other dies. Though I have had far more problems with them than any other brand of dies. If they work great, if not I throw them in the trash if they don't work as they are pretty cheap. On the collet dies I have had quite a few times where the mandrel is too big and does not allow the brass to size small enough to grip the bullet.

I guess I am the lone dissenter on this thread. I don't like Lee dies. That being said, I admit that I do have a few sets. One reason is because I could not find a particular cartridge set of dies from another make at the time I needed them. I think that Lee dies are cheaply made as some short cuts have been taken in order to keep them less expensive. There is no knurling on the die. The rubber O ring lock nut is not as precise and is harder to set up. I also do not like the collet held depriming pin. This pin comes loose way too often. They don't hold their value and are difficult to resell. Just try to sell or trade some at a gun show. No body wants them. I don't like the collet neck sizer at all as it is hard to adjust and is not consistent from case to case. But, not all is lost as some Lee products are very good. I like their universal depriming die, their safety scale, and their powder dippers. As far as dies go, I really do like RCBS, Redding, Forester, and Hornady. The Redding neck sizing dies are great and first rate. This is just my take and my experience, not necessarily yours.
joe

Funny, knurling and o-rings have nothing to do with the precision on the inside, where, after all, is the only part that matters. You can buy solid locking rings if you wanted.

I love the collet die

It does need the two internal angles polished and the 4 slots debured

I sand the mandrel for .002 fit over the factory .001

Also size and hold the handle down tight for a 2 count then index 45° and repeat

Best quality ammo in regards to total indicator runout I have ever made I made with these dies

Yeah...well I got no use for Lee lock rings either...OR the seaters for that matter and I usually just toss the lock rings but keep the "O" ring and use the seater for other purposes...Except for the "non-existent accuracy" military stuff where I replace the lock rings with hex or split rings.

I have on occasion used two Lee rings locked/glued together just to see how that worked...not great but passable. I have a small drawer full of lock rings I keep acquiring...I think the little boogers multiply in that dark drawer.

I use three sets of Lee Collet dies. Work fine for me. I also press, turn, repeat and doing so get away with not adjusting for "max" sizing. I am just "twice" sizing quickly to fight spring-back of the case. The mandrel is easy to polish if you need a tighter bullet pull. I really like them for sizing for Cast loads in my Whelen and '06
I also use and like the Lee Factory Crimp dies.

Good stuff here. Thanks for all the experiences so far. I do appreciate it. CB

Collet dies are on order. Thanks. CB

quote:

Originally posted by Joe R. Lock:
. I also do not like the collet held depriming pin. This pin comes loose way too often.
joe

I agree with that. But it is the only thing that I really dislike about them. But with that said, most of my dies are RCBS. I use a lot of Lee stuff. Some of it I have come back to after attempting to "Upgrade" only to find the Lee wasnt so bad after all. But for dies I prefer RCBS hands down. I like the quality, the design and the customer service.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
I love the collet die

It does need the two internal angles polished and the 4 slots debured

I sand the mandrel for .002 fit over the factory .001

Also size and hold the handle down tight for a 2 count then index 45° and repeat

Best quality ammo in regards to total indicator runout I have ever made I made with these dies

Well said, and excellent suggestions that mirror my own experience. Turning the case 1/8th turn and sizing a second time is quick and nearly effortless and results in even more consistent case necks.

Lee collet dies are very cleverly engineered, although inexpensively manufactured and not necessarily made of the best materials. They are all I use for bottleneck rifle cartridges for bolt action rifles, so long as I am reusing brass in the same rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
I love the collet die

It does need the two internal angles polished and the 4 slots debured

I sand the mandrel for .002 fit over the factory .001

Also size and hold the handle down tight for a 2 count then index 45° and repeat

Best quality ammo in regards to total indicator runout I have ever made I made with these dies

Well said, and excellent suggestions that mirror my own experience. Turning the case 1/8th turn and sizing a second time is quick and nearly effortless and results in even more consistent case necks.

Lee collet dies are very cleverly engineered, although inexpensively manufactured and not necessarily made of the best materials. They are all I use for bottleneck rifle cartridges for bolt action rifles, so long as I am reusing brass in the same rifle.

+ 1 on both these posts,although I have to full length size after about 4 to 6 loads.jc

There is nothing wrong with Lee Die Sets. It is excellent quality, but if you want to spend a few bucks more, I would recommend RCBS, Foster and Redding.

I have great results with Lee Collets. My only dislike is the seating die that comes with them. The Dead Set seating dies don't have the roll crimp option. I always order the regular seating die that does. Lee is very understanding of my quirky old self.

I have found the collet dies to be of good quality and load straight ammo. There are only two issues to be aware of:

1. The die may not size the neck down as small as you might wish to provide the neck tension you are looking for.

2. Any neck sized brass cannot be expected to fit in any chamber other than that in which it was originally fired.....this isn't a Lee problem, but has given me fits since adding some rifles to the fold! Loaded ammo can sit for years....so label and segregate by rifle if you are going to neck size.

Cheers,

Dan

Dies work fine as they are, no tweaking necessary. Thanks. CB

Dan, I have had to work the mandrel to get additional neck tension to match my full length resizing die. It was very easy... I measured the resizing "button" diameter on my FL die, then I measured the mandrel, decided how much I needed to remove. Spinning the mandrel at a medium speed in the chuck of my drill, I took some emery cloth evenly across the mandrel, measuring till I got the diameter I wanted.