26 March 2006, 10:51
safariLee dies, o-ring lock
When you set one of the lee dies in a press, after removal, do you have to reset the die everytime you put it back in the press. Comparison to lock rings that have a screw lock in the side.
Thanks
Good Question. I don't know as the few Lee Factory Crimp dies I have got the lock ring changed out.
26 March 2006, 17:05
Dennis113I mark all my dies with a sharpie marker, just a spot where the ring meets the threads is all it takes. I can tell at a glance if the ring has moved on the die. I filed a little index mark on my press that points to a corner on the ring nut when the die is just tight enough not to move. Lee dies are designed to work best just finger tight, they say this allows everything to line up under pressure from the ram and reduce runout. I replace the rings on some other brands of dies with Lee rings and "O" rings for this reason.
26 March 2006, 17:23
onefunzr2quote:
Originally posted by Dennis113:
I mark all my dies with a sharpie marker, just a spot where the ring meets the threads is all it takes. I can tell at a glance if the ring has moved on the die. I filed a little index mark on my press that points to a corner on the ring nut when the die is just tight enough not to move. Lee dies are designed to work best just finger tight, they say this allows everything to line up under pressure from the ram and reduce runout. I replace the rings on some other brands of dies with Lee rings and "O" rings for this reason.
Yup, magic marker and a reference point on top of the press frame. Sometimes too much handling will start to wear the black line thin. Oil or lube will do the same. Just refresh with the marker again. Not rocket science.
27 March 2006, 07:14
BigJakeJ1sLee's instructions say to always insert/remove the die by the lock ring, not the die body. FWIW, I don't like them either. For my money, the Hornady clamp-style lock rings, with wrench flats, are the best one going; I put them on all my dies, Hornady or not.
Andy
27 March 2006, 08:20
cummins cowboyI don't like the lee lock ring, so I changed out to all RCBS dies, no problems now, the lee dies also left marks on the nose of every bullet they would load, I didn't like that