Lee .223 neck sizing die?

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yoteslayer77

New member
I am having trouble Neck sizing with this die. I cant seem to get the neck sized down enough to feel like the bullets are getting locked in place very well. With some pressure applied to some of the rounds on my reloading bench i can push the bullets down into the brass. Should i just full lenght size every one? I was hoping to just be able to neck size my cases. These rounds will be fired in my AR.
 
You only need a couple of thousandths of an inch. Measure after fired and after sized. See if you get that. I say load some and shoot them. The .223 doesn't have any recoil to speak of and in the AR even less. Shoot a few and see if the bullets move. Bet they don't.
 
I would recommend always Full Length sizing any rounds to be shot in an AR. The Collet neck sizer is great for bolt guns but you may run into chambering problems if you try it with the AR due to the fact you do not have a bolt to cam the tighter fitting rounds and force the action closed like a bolt gun. Now as far as the collet die goes first make sure you read the directions very carefully because collet dies are not installed in your press the same as other dies.
One thing once you have your die in the press correctly is to put the recommended 25lbs of pressure then lift the handle rotate the case 180 and lower the handle and put the 25lbs again and see if that does not help.
 
Originally Posted By: venaticI would recommend always Full Length sizing any rounds to be shot in an AR.

Yep, I neck size and bump shoulders on my bolt gun brass, but all my AR stuff gets the FL sizer.
 
Originally Posted By: yoteslayer77I am having trouble Neck sizing with this die. I cant seem to get the neck sized down enough to feel like the bullets are getting locked in place very well. With some pressure applied to some of the rounds on my reloading bench i can push the bullets down into the brass. Should i just full lenght size every one? I was hoping to just be able to neck size my cases. These rounds will be fired in my AR.

Yoteslayer,
Funny you mentioned that! This may sound odd and I can't explain it for the life of me, but the same darn thing happened to me today. I was reloading and had some Winchester Brass sitting around. I normally use Lapua casings, but since I was loading to do some testing, I figured what the heck, I'll use both manufacturers brass and see how things turn out. Because my Savage Model 12 VLP bolt gun has a tight chamber, I usually only have to neck size half the neck. As before, I used my Wilson Neck Sizing Die. When it came to loading the bullets, most fell through the Winchester Brass, but the Lapua's were perfect. Go figure????? I then tried running the Winchester casings through my Redding Neck Sizing Die and guess what...cured the problem and the necks tightening up on the Winchesters and away we went. Mission accomplished. I have NO FLIPPIN clue other than it could be that the Winchester brass is thinner and my Wilson dies (even though they have the identical size bushing as the Redding expander ball) just aren't compatible. Maybe that's one of the mysteries of reloading. But now at least I know the fix if it happens in the future.
 
Originally Posted By: ShynlocoOriginally Posted By: yoteslayer77I am having trouble Neck sizing with this die. I cant seem to get the neck sized down enough to feel like the bullets are getting locked in place very well. With some pressure applied to some of the rounds on my reloading bench i can push the bullets down into the brass. Should i just full lenght size every one? I was hoping to just be able to neck size my cases. These rounds will be fired in my AR.

Yoteslayer,
Funny you mentioned that! This may sound odd and I can't explain it for the life of me, but the same darn thing happened to me today. I was reloading and had some Winchester Brass sitting around. I normally use Lapua casings, but since I was loading to do some testing, I figured what the heck, I'll use both manufacturers brass and see how things turn out. Because my Savage Model 12 VLP bolt gun has a tight chamber, I usually only have to neck size half the neck. As before, I used my Wilson Neck Sizing Die. When it came to loading the bullets, most fell through the Winchester Brass, but the Lapua's were perfect. Go figure????? I then tried running the Winchester casings through my Redding Neck Sizing Die and guess what...cured the problem and the necks tightening up on the Winchesters and away we went. Mission accomplished. I have NO FLIPPIN clue other than it could be that the Winchester brass is thinner and my Wilson dies (even though they have the identical size bushing as the Redding expander ball) just aren't compatible. Maybe that's one of the mysteries of reloading. But now at least I know the fix if it happens in the future.
I am also using winchester brass and winchester FMJs. I will have to get some different brass i guess. But since other more experinced guys are telling me i should full length resize for the AR I would rather be safe than sorry.
 
Don't neck size for a AR or any auto loader. You will have problems sooner or later. On the Lee neck sizer die,you can do 1 of 2 things. If you set it up to let the press cam over,it will get the neck sized the same every time. When we first tried them we would get various results (no one had a scale built into their arm to know for sure we were putting 25lbs. pressure on the press arm every time)! 2 You can set the mandrel/depriming rod in a drill press,or lath and reduce the size by .001,at a time,until you get the neck tension you want. We quit using neck sizer dies years ago,as we found that you can use your full lenght sizer die,and set it up to just bump the case sholder back .002 of a inch,and get better accuracy. Ron
 
Originally Posted By: rks1949Don't neck size for a AR or any auto loader. You will have problems sooner or later. On the Lee neck sizer die,you can do 1 of 2 things. If you set it up to let the press cam over,it will get the neck sized the same every time. When we first tried them we would get various results (no one had a scale built into their arm to know for sure we were putting 25lbs. pressure on the press arm every time)! 2 You can set the mandrel/depriming rod in a drill press,or lath and reduce the size by .001,at a time,until you get the neck tension you want. We quit using neck sizer dies years ago,as we found that you can use your full lenght sizer die,and set it up to just bump the case sholder back .002 of a inch,and get better accuracy. Ron

How do you set to bump that shoulder back 0.002" ? does it require any extra tool?
 
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