Lee dies NOW I AM PI**ED

stanimals2

stanimals2

New member
I bought a set of LEE Collet and dead length bullet seater dies in 233. I set them up like they said and after about 20 rounds they began to grow in length and you could pull the bullet out with youre fingers. I called Midway USA and the were great, sent me another set ASAP Well I loaded about 10 rounds on the new dies and POP same thing AGAIN they say to turn the die until the lever comes to an abrupt stop and it should take 25 pounds at least to complete the action. Problem is the collet sizer cap is made out of aluminum and when you put 25 pounds or more of pressure it strips the cheap [beeep] aluminum threads in the cap. I tried my best to find a number to call LEE because Midway shouldn't eat sh*t for some [beeep] at LEE who decided you could use aluminum in threaded applications instead of stainless for precision reloading dies. NEVER AGAIN FOR ME ITS HORNADY ALL THE WAY or any thing that doesnt say LEE anyway

Pissed off in preditorville
thanks DR Kill
 
What type of press are you using them in.If its a RCBS or a style that can camover at the bottom of the stroke then you may have the die adjusted incorrectly it seems to be a common problem.That may not be the case but if it is go back and reread the instructions they will tell you to adjust the die until it touches the shellholder then turn the die down two more full turns then apply the 25lbs on the press handle and it works perfectly at least mine do.
 
ive had great luck with mine. i dont use the direction that are sent with the dies. set it up so it gently cams over and thats the sweet spot. give it a try! lee
 
Lee will send you a new cap, no charge. It sounds like the die is working properly.....you have it set up wrong, and the cap strips (easy replacement) without ruining the entire die.
 
used lee for two years no problem with them at all. I also found the directions alittle useless found out how to work it in about 30 minutes of playing with the set of dies.
give im a call and tell them your issue.

PH22
 
I will just offer that the RCBS, Redding and Old Herters dies I use are very good...RCBS is tops for service...I have tried other brands....thos have all been sold off and are all gone now, and I don't even look at other brands.
 
try a different brand of dies...a decent set of redding's run about $32 buck's it's not a "lotta" money in the big picture..if you still have difficulty's sizing your brass..then perhap's it's on you..it can happen..the lee's feel "spongy" to me..just my thought's
 
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try a different brand of dies...a decent set of redding's run about $32 buck's it's not a "lotta" money in the big picture..if you still have difficulty's sizing your brass..then perhap's it's on you..it can happen..the lee's feel "spongy" to me..just my thought's



+1 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif I only buy Redding and/or Forster dies any more.
I tried the Lee Collet and Crimp dies on a 77/22 Hornet that I was having fits with. Several guys told me the Lee dies would solve all of my problems. They didn't solve the problem but they did give me enough insight into Lee dies to keep me from buying any more. That O-Ring locking nut is about as dumb as any thing I've ever seen, and I'm not sure how anyone ever gets consistant neck tension with the collet sizer. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
I know lots of guys like them and if they can get them to work, good for them. To each his own.
I finally sold the Hornet to a guide over in Oregon who runs Bobcats with Hounds. His shots are very close so the accuracy is good enough for him.
He now ownes the rifle and dies and I don't,,,, we're both happy. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Oh Yea,,,,,He told me the first thing he did was buy a set of Redding's 22Hornet dies.
 
Its not the dies fault. You do not have them adjusted correctly. TO shear the threads you have to seriously be over working the dies and the press, didnt this feel "un right" at the time? Nothing is fool proof to the persistant fool.

I use the collet dies and turn out very acceptable ammunition. I recently picked up a high dollar neck sizer for a song and a dance. Ammo is loaded up, its gonna be interesting to see these go head to head.
 
When I use a collet die, I run the ram all the way up (handle down all the way). Then I screw the collet die down until it touches the top of the shell holder. Then I lower the ram and screw the die down about 1/2 turn more. Sometimes I have had to turn it down 3/4 turn, after some bullet seating trials.

One thing that you have to remember is that the die works best on brass which has not be reloaded a lot of times, or which is softer in the neck. Brass can vary in hardness. For my .22-250, I found that Winchester brass was harder than Remington brass. Where this hardness becomes important is that as you fire and resize the cases, they work harden.

The harder the brass gets, the more it tends to spring back toward the original, unsized, condition. That's why some brass, after being reloaded several time with the collet die, may suddenly start to not grip the bullet firmly enough to hold it. It has hardened enough that the brass is springing back more than when it was new. I used to take care of that problem by annealing the case necks. The harder Winchester brass needed neck annealing sooner than did the softer Remington brass.

However, Lee will send you a slightly undersized decapping pin/mandrel, which will allow the collet to size the case down just a bit more. This usually will clear up the problem of the brass springing back and not holding the bullet properly.

When I had access to a lathe, I just made my own slightly smaller OD sizing mandrel for the die.

PS: I also found that the collet die sometimes works better with cast iron presses like the Rockchucker, than the aluminum framed presses, like Lee uses. The cast iron presses have less press spring and that sometimes is a problem with the collet die if you are sizing a hard brass case, as it requires a lot of force to size it down enough to properly hold the bullet. That's where the annealing process avoids the problem of "press spring".
 
After reading the Lee brochure, I thought the collet dies would be the ticket for loading my .308 target ammo. I have chosen Lee for my introduction to metallic reloading.

I read the posts on BRC and it seems to me that Lee would improve on the instructions for the collet dies. I have already planned to get a different brand of locking nut.

Should I reconsider the Lee collet dies?
 
again i'm not "bashin" the lee die's only sharing opinion's..while i'm at it..i do have a opinion on the "cheezy" lock nut..look's to me like that should be replaced with a decent one..like a forster..or..hornady..again more money spent that could be applied to another brand of die's..
 
I've been using the collet dies for my .223 and .308 with good success. They have required me to learn how to use them as I had some bumps initially too. The link above from benchrest central has a good post from Valentine that should help anyone here.

If you've stripped the threads in the cap then you used too much pressure. You can order new caps from lee.

I've found polishing the mandrel and the collet helps too as well as periodic cleaning of the mandrel intermittently during sizing brass is also helpful.

They take a couple of steps and some practice to understand how to use but they sure save a lot of time and produce good ammo when used correctly.

I use the Hornady lock nuts BTW. the extra $4 on a $18 dollar die is a good investment.

Bottom line these dies save you time, save your brass, and produce ammo plenty accurate for most needs.
 
Quote:
After reading the Lee brochure, I thought the collet dies would be the ticket for loading my .308 target ammo. I have chosen Lee for my introduction to metallic reloading.

I read the posts on BRC and it seems to me that Lee would improve on the instructions for the collet dies. I have already planned to get a different brand of locking nut.

Should I reconsider the Lee collet dies?



They are good dies, but they do require you to learn some new techniques which are not things which you learned on the more conventional style dies.

I like them, but they are not idiot proof. And, you have to be prepared to anneal the case necks if you want to get the best case life when using them. Cases can last for quite a long time with a Lee collet die, if the necks are annealed occasionally. But, you have to learn how to do it.

Here's a link on how to do it.

http://www.gun-tests.com/performance/jun96cases.html
 
I have nothing but good luck with mine, sorry to hear about everyone that has had problems.

I use the LEE collet dies in .22 Hornet, .223, 7mm RM, and .270. Use them with my 26 year old LEE 3 hole turret press. They do have some getting used to, but the accuracy they give over my FL dies is worth it!

Tim
 
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