Lee rifle dies issues. Please help

Ccctennis, learning how to adjust dies so they can perform optimally applies to ALL brands, not just Lee. One poster said you shouldn't have to work on dies before using them. By that statement, it is clear the man did NOT read your post or mine, (and is not aware of what "sticks" a collet die). Adjust each die as Lee says and they will work for you.

To the poster that throws dies away, PLEASE tell us where your trash can is located and immediately when you throw these fine dies out. At least give us the oppurtunity to put back into service what would not "work" for you. Start a thread in the Trading Post. SInce you were going to "throw them away", maybe you wouldn;t want to sell them, but might settle for the cost of shipping paid by the recipient. Reloaders are tinkers. As such, they can usually understand how things work and make them do just that. Remember when we tried to put things together on Christmas eve, only to find we wished we'd paid more attention to the instructions before we started? Read and follow Lee's instructions.

I'm reloading for 12 calibers right now (13 when I can find the right 260Rem rifle). The only other-than-lee dies I own is a Redding neck sizer for 300 Savage. Yes it's handsome and it works as it should. Unfortunately, I paid twice or three times what its worth. And....since I understand" how the die works, I am confident that its design is probably not near as accurate as the result when using a Lee collet die. Should I throw it out? Not a chance and I won;t bash it and say I did.

Now, I do understand that the high cost goes into Redding's account as "insurance", in case I call someday and say" Listen, I was throwing some Lee dies away yesterday, and I didn;t see my Redding neck sizer among them. Can I please have another?" They'll send a new one. I already paid for it so they should. Or "I was using my RCBS die as a lure last month, and the line broke. By the time I could dive around and find it, it had rusted up on the inside and elsewhere. Can I have another?" They'll send you a brand new one, because you paid for it when you first bought the die!

Originally Posted by jaguarxk120 A box of 20 Remington cases from Midway is $15 and you have squashed how many cases with the junk dies?

Won't take long to pay for a set of good dies at that rate.

Jaguar, did you read Ccctennis' first post? During the seating process, what mangles the case neck. The dies or...... the operator?

Ccctennis: By reading your first post, there were two problems:
- the collet die wouldn't sufficiently reduce the diameter of the case necks;
- a bullet seating die mangled a couple of cases

The bullet seating die, as every one of these experienced reloaders know (which makes it strange that it would be overlooked after so many posts!!), is NOT going to mangle your cases, not Lee, Redding, RCBS, Lyman, or any of them. What does that is improper bullet placement during operation of the die, and/or innsufficient or too much flaring of the case mouth on cases that require flaring.

The reason the Lee collet wouldn't squeeze the neck down is one or a combination of these factors:
- THey are adjusted improperly,
- The collet die is stuck (as I explained earlier),
- The cases have been fired to the point that annealing is necessary. (My bottleneck cases are annealed and full-length sized after every fifth firing).
- the reloader is not raising the ram with enough pressure (as Lee explains in the instructions)

Stick with your dies. They're fine. What's not fine is being talked into buying dies with insurance policies that work no better than the Lees. Lee sells reloading equipment, not insurance. I can understand guys wanting you to buy what they have. What I can;t understand is the dogging of Lee equipment and the constant reference to "throing things in the trash". This makes me doubt the reloaders experience or..... willingness to follow instructions.

It's ok to buy other brands - if you want to pay the price of die and insurance. They're fine. Just please don;t fall into the trap of, in the furture, blaming Lee dies when some other reloader asks a question about his Lee dies. You will cause that reloader to doubt his otherwise fine equipment, run to the shop for something more expensive, and probably never answer his question in the first place. There will be cases where a specialty die (for an operation that the Lee dies will not perform) is recommended. It is for this legitimate reason that I own the Reddng neck sizer. Lee didn;t have one, it was cost prohibitive to have them make one special, and I wanted it quickly. There are other circumstances that guys will run into that require the purchase of a Redding, or RCBS, or whatever, but none that have applied to my reloading needs.

!!!

ON EDIT: Ccctennis - you do NOT need to "rework" Lee dies before they'll perform for you. Just follow the instructions. On the collet neck sizers, polishing and lubing the collet can help, but is not usually necesarry. When they get stuck, it is usually what the reloader did that I described in the previous post. Also, after using it on many cases, you may find that it will require some lubrication in the collet, whether you want to or not. The symptoms are a "clicking" sound when crushing the neck, and....the die will show signs that it wants to stick.

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