I've heard of using a washer on the shell holder when reloading the .22 Hornet so the Lee Collet die sizes only a portion of the neck. Can someone please give me more info on this technique?

My question is, why?

Yep... or back the die out 1/4 turn.. this is called neck sizing.... the washer, well, i've seen washer over 1" thick, so that's not an exact science

jeffe

Neck sizing is what a Lee collet die does. Backing it out 1/4 turn will only make it not size down fully. It doesn't affect the length of neck sized. The question asked is how to size only part of the length of the neck with a Lee collet die. My point is, I don't think there's any advantage to that. I'd use the Lee die with its provided instructions.

The original post on using a washer came from a reloader trying for the very best from his fickle Hornet, and his logic is that sizing only the necessary portion of the neck will give him a better chamber fit for his loads. Sounds feasible, and with reloading sometimes weird stuff works well!

I use the "Washer Trick" regularly for my Lee Collet Hornet Dies. Just keep adding to the pile of washers on top of the Shell Holder until the Neck Sizing extends down the neck the distance that you want. I do not know if this practice helps accuracy or not, but with the shallow shoulder angle of the Hornet it may. I use the "Washer Trick" because it allows me to use the inexpensive Lee Collet Die to Neck Size my improved 22 "K" Hornet cases. If you have a Lee Collet Die set, you will never have to buy Dies for an improved version of the cartridge. rollinghills.

I`m with Ricochet on this one. The collet die only sizes the neck so the case body and shoulder are (should be)a good fit in the chamber. The cases should be as well alined as it`s going to get and leaving a unsized portion of neck won`t improve it. IMO you`re not going to see any notible gain in accuracy, especially in a factory chamber.