A little while back I was reading a thread on these dies and someone touched on the cleaning issue w/ the Lee Collet dies; I was wondering if some others among you could speak to that for a second. I have a Collet die that I used w/ my .308 Winchester, and got absolutely phenomenal results from using it, but it was a bit of a bother to use, as I had to periodically take it apart and clean it, or it would start getting a little sticky and then the next thing I'd know, it'd shove the case neck down inside the shoulder. Instant ruined case. Once I figured out the stickiness was what was causing it, I started disassembling the die and cleaning it whenever it'd start getting sticky, and hit the mandrel w/ 0000 steel wool to be sure.

In and of itself, that wouldn't be a big issue; what was vexing was that it had to be taken apart and cleaned fairly often, say 50-100 cases max. MAX. Didn't matter if the cases were straight out the gun, or had been sitting in the tumber running all night, or if I'd explicitly brushed the case necks (not something I normally do). For small batches of cases in a single-stage press, it was manageable, but I was kind of wondering if it would cause problems in a progressive (kind of throws a monkey wrench in the loading rate if you keep having to pull a die and clean it or risk destroyed cases). As it is where I'm doing several hundred cases in a single stage press it's a PITA.



Anywho, I'd be curious if anybody else out there has seen this rear its head or not.

Thanks,

Monte

Monte, I have not experienced what you have, but your description of the ruined cases makes me suspect that you might be running into your collet being closed from time to time. See the die instructions. A closed collet will cause a collapsed case shoulder.

Apparently, the collet can close if you use the die without a case in it. I know it sounds crazy, but is it possible that you work your press without a case from time to time?? Having then proceeded to collapse a case shoulder, you then take the die apart to clean it, opening the collet at the same time?? Just that I have never experienced collapsed shoulders from a Collet die unless the collet is closed, and it is easy to inadvertently close it, if you don't know what to watch out for.

I lightly grease the outside of my collet, don't know if that makes any difference?? You have to watch not using too much grease, otherwise it will gradually appear at the mouth of the case, ensuring greasy fingers during sizing - which you otherwise avoid with the Collet die (no lube). Sometimes Collet dies are a tad rough inside, is it possible such a roughness could cause the collet to stay closed from time to time??

Good luck finding your gremlin.
- mike

Mike,

I'm familiar w/ the closed collet from operating the die w/ no case, and no, that's not what's causing this. It just starts getting a little sticky, and then all of a sudden shoves a case neck into the shoulder. I normally lube the inside of the die w/ white lithium grease, which is what someone recommended to me. It almost feels like the mandrell is what is getting sticky from the carbon in the case necks. I've chucked the mandrel in a drill press and ran both 0000 steel wool and 600grit wet/dry paper on it to polish it up.

Thanks,

Monte

I've not experienced this with my .308 die but then I always use mica on the necks. Midway has a little kit with brushes and I use that. I think your suspicion about carbon inside the necks binding up on the mandrel may be correct. You could clean and lube the inside of the necks with your favorite case lubricant using a plastic bristle bore brush as an experiment and see if the problem goes away.

The Lee collet dies have a different way of operating and if you're like me and have been doing the same thing, the same way for 25 years it's hard to get used to them. I started using the collet dies for the first time recently and probably made every mistake that you could make with them. I've pushed the slide part up with my finger just to play with it and crushed the next case I put in it. I've lubed all of my cases and ruined a bunch of cases when the die got sticky. I then read the directions, cleaned the die out and have only crushed one shoulder in the last 500 or so cases that I've done.

I have taken my collet die apart and lubed it with never sieze wiping off the excess where it might contact the case. The thing with never sieze is that some of the compound is so fine it gets right into the poors of the metal so even after lightly wiping off the mandrel ect. a small amount remains embedded and prevents any type of binding.

I don't have much experience with collet dies but I did have a problem with the primer feed on my 550 Dillon. It would jamb up something terrible after about 100 rounds this was very aggravating considering the press was rated at 550 rounds an hour. I found out when I called Dillon that my problem had been that I was using hopes to clean the slide with and it would cause it to collect residue from the fired primers. They said to clean it with denatured alcohol and the problem was solved. What do you clean your Collet dies with?

The same problem visited me and I used the polish and lube the collet process. But I don't use a progressive tool and make more than 100. Sometimes the need and requiement is for the collet die.

Never hqd that problem, and I have 2 sets of collet dies. Never took them apart toclean or grease them either - they just work. And if you see how they work, there is little or no need for any lubricant. Just dont adjust it too deep, and all is fine. In my opinion, the best QPR in dies there is... And the best die for a .22 Hornet too!
Did 1000+ rounds in 25-06, no sticking probems whatsoever.

Hmmm... seems like either nobody has had this problem, or the few that did seem content to take the die apart and clean it periodically. Not good. BTW, for those who mentioned it, yes, I have read (and followed) the destructions for the dies, and yes, I do understand how they work. I am getting a new one for my 6.5-08 and my .223, so hopefully it was just something defective on the .308 one. I'll look into the NeverSeize, though.

Thanks,

Monte

Well, I was hoping that a miracle cure would appear for this particular complaint, as I have a die that sufers with it. It is not an exactly timed problem, the number of "operations" between crushed cases varies considerably. My present way of dealing with it is to wait until I can feel the stickiness feeding back through the press, then I take it apart and do the steel wool trick. It only happens with my Hornet die, my .243 seems OK and I also have one in 6.5 which I have yet to use.

I am still hoping for a cure

John

Hey Monte, It appears no one here has an answer for you. And this is also the place I would have started.



You might want to email or call the fine folks at "Lee" and see what they think. If it is not unique to your Dies, they may have a good suggestion on how to cure it. Or if it is unique to your Dies, they might want to swap them out for you.



I don't have any Lee Dies, but I do have some of their other products which work well for me. And since I don't have any, this question might not apply to them at all. Does having the Cases "trimmed" to the same length make any difference with them working properly?

I've not experienced this with 3 collet dies and thousands of rounds. NO LUBE! Ever, anywhere, anytime. That's my M.O.

Monte,

I have experienced the same situation at about the same time (about 75 cases). I have a 22-250 die with about 7,000 rounds through it so far. What has been working for me is to take the die out of the press, turn it upside down and spray case lube into it. Turn the die right side up and shake (or fling) the excess out. It is usually good for another batch of about the same number and then I have to do it again.

In my press (when the die needs the treatment) I can feel a slight resistance when the neck enters the fingers. When I start feeling this I stop and spray the die as above. I have run as many as 10 more cases through after feeling the resistance but haven't pushed it much past that.

I don't know why this is. My thought is that the metal Lee is using for the die case should be harder (??) Regardless, I really like the collet die and as I wear them out I will try to get Lee to go good for the replacement die or I will just get another.

Hope this helps. pdhntr

I have run into this problem with the Lee Collet Dies. Now understand that I have used these dies to load some very good ammo over the years,usually my best comes from the Collet Die. But I've also run into the case collapsing problem you mention. This is what I do.
First, these dies are poorly made of poor material. Why, I don't know, but if Lee made it out of some real hard stuff and polished it properly, He'd have a world-beater. Anyway. take it apart first and polish the collet with emery cloth, then wash or blow it off with compressed air. Grease it LIGHTLY with a good synthetic grease. Put it back together.
Next. Make sure you don't thread it too far into the press. This is the big problem I was having. I believe 9 out of 10 Collet die problems stem from the fact that the instructions are unclear. If you are using a Rockchucker or similar press,problems occur because this press is designed to toggle over at the top of the stroke. I don't let my Rockchucker get to the top, I thread the die in an extra turn. I rely on feel to tell me when the case has gone far enough into the die.... it will only go so far, and then it doesn't want to go any further without a lot of force. Stop right there, back it out, you're done. Takes a little practice, I equate it to the feel you develop when seating primers with the Lee AutoPrime.(You do use the AutoPrime, don't you?).
Anyway, examine your die adjustment instructions carefully, and just back the die out one turn more than he tells you to and you'll be OK.

I called Lee about this problem a long time ago. It sort of made me feel stupid when I got their answer.

Crushed cases happen for a simple reason.

The collet die works on a shock absorber type of system ( for lack of any other way for a dopey guy like me to explain).
When you push a case into the die, the die collet area rises until it sizes the neck.

At times we will tip the die and the collet piston ( or whatever it is) and it is sitting in the die as we lift the ram and it is all the way down in its lower position and it will crush the case neck.

Just simply take the die out of the press and turn it upside down and the piston will fall back into its normal position.

NO more crushed cases.

I cursed the collet dies for crushing cases until I got off of my fanny and went and called Lee about it.

So far I have not had to lube mine at all. Maybe I am just lucky, who knows. When I do resize brass with the collet die, especially used on 22/250 cases, I tumble the brass first.

I use Walnut media. I also tumble the cases over night. Works for impatient people like me.

Give Lee a call if it is a problem. What has amazed me about any of the Die Makers that I have ever finally got off of my buns and called: Customer Service. It is too bad that the other businesses in this country don't have the level of customer service and customer orientation that ALL rifle die makers seem to have. Things like that make me proud to be a shooter. Some good people with old fashion morals and ethics are attached to the firearms industries.

Cheers and Good shooting
seafire

I have had that problem on occasion when I adjusted the die to tight, and sometimes for no reason I could fathom. Anyway what has worked for me so far is to 1st clean die very well in whatever solvent you have. Then I tumble all parts several hours, next clean again. Finally I tumble all parts in my moly coater, tap any excess moly off and reassemble. This has worked for over two years at this point, with the 6 dies I have. I would not use any liquid type lube on these dies, due to the tendency of all liquid lubes to attract dirt, carbon,etc.

Count me among those never having any problems. I use the collet dies for .308 Winchester, .223 Remington, .22-250 Remington, and .375 H&H Magnum.

Russ

Monte,

I understand your frustration. I also have a 223 collet die that has been used quite a bit. I usually do a "run" of 100 cases at a time and have been lubing the die (like the 22-250 die in my post previously) before I do the run. I have just been doing it because I didn't want to crush any cases. I have never really "pushed" the die to find out if the same thing would happen. Your post got me thinking so I am in the process of running several hundred cases through the 223 die to see what will happen. I will report findings asap.

From all of the posters, (and my personal experience) it may be IMHO you (and I) got a die that needs "special attention" for what ever reason.

My guess is the dies you have coming will be just fine. Once again, even though my 22-250 die needs special attention, I will replace it with another one as soon as I wear this one out.

Hope this helps. pdhntr