I'm reloading the .22 Hornet. Question is can I put too much force on the lever when I resize? How do I come up with the right amount?

.22 HornetP: If you have your die adjusted correctly, and installed in your press correctly, your cases lubricated correctly, the amount of pressure on the press handle does not matter. Just make sure you complete the stroke, in other words, all the way down, but stop at the end of the stroke. I had a friend who felt he just had to finish each stroke with almost standing on the handle. I cannot answer this question if you have one of those collette dies. I will, however, stress, that it is important that you campher the inside of the case neck and the outside of the case neck before trying to resize. If you don't, you will find that you crush the cases time, after time, after time.

7x57 - thanks, but as a matter of fact I am using a Lee Collet die. I believe it is installed and adjusted correctly but if I just go up and down with press lever nothing happens, it doesn't size unless I really lean into it. Any thoughts?

I was almost afraid you were going to say that. I had a Lee Collett die in 7x57mm that I just could not get to work right. I followed factory directions to a T and still, the neck was not sized enough to hold a 7mm bullet firmly in place. I contacted Lee about it, they said that possibly I needed a smaller-diameter mandrel (the decapping assembly)so they took another 7mm mandrel and machined a few thousanths of an inch off of it. AFter that, I'd get stuck cases. I got pissed off one day, went to Midway, bought a Forster die set with the full-length sizing die and micrometer competition seating die and have not looked back since then. The Lee die stayed around on my bench for a few months, then went into the trash. Others on this site and other sights swear by them, but not me. I loaded some .22 Hornets up for my brother for his Ruger heavy barrel, and to do it got a set of Lyman dies when I bought my Orange Crusher reloading set from Cabela's a few years back. The .22 Hornet cases are very thin cases and I discovered extreme care was needed in case prep, otherwise, I ended up with crushed cases. Used H110 if memory seves me right, and oh yes, also used a CCI small pistol primer instead of a small rifle primer. It seemed to work a lot better and my brother was pleased as hell with the reloads. I would highly recommend contacting Lee Manufacturing. The customer service people are very friendly and seemed eager to help. If a smaller mandrel willl not help, then I suggest you buy Redding dies, forget the collett die, or sell it on e-bay. Sorry I could be of no help to you. Good luck. Tom Purdom

Lee has some really great designs, with the collect die being one. It's too bad that they aren't quite finished.


The first thing with the collect die (or any die, from what I hear) is to take it apart and clean it. When you do you will notice that the tapered cone is quite rough. Smooth the cone surface so it can slide easy. Now put some good grease on the cone (I used gun slick last time).


Now if the bullets aren't tight enough, Lee says that annealing the case necks will help (that is it will reduce the spring back in the brass).


If annealing isn't to your likeing, Lee also suggests that a smaller mandrel will let the case necks be made smaller. You can spin the mandrel in a drill press & polish or call Lee and for $5.00 they will make one to a reduced diameter. If you make yours smaller, it must be reduced all the way to the bottom, or the case neck may grab the mandrel and jam everything as the case comes out. I also smooth the ridges on the end so the mandrel enters the case without catching.


I found that the case neck needs to be clean both inside and outside prior to being resized. This was new to me as I had been resizeing pistol cases with carbide dies which would wipe any powder grains off the case. The collect dies just pinch the powder grains into the brass of the neck.


After the above, I set the dies so the handle doesn't go over center. I can feel the cases snap as they resize. I then rotate the case an 1/8 turn and resize it again to squeeze the ridges left by the first sizeing.


PS. When you drop the handle on the die you may cause the collect to close up and mangle the cases as you try to resize them. Just remove the collect and spread the fingers with a knife blade. I spread them enough so they drag on their houseing.



JerryO

On my 270 Win collet die the instructions say to exert about 25 lbs compression...it made all the difference in the world. You might recheck yours to see if it is similar or the same.