Neck sizeing die.How to use.

[Larry G B]

I have a 300 Rum. I want to use a Lee collet neck sizeing die. Which one will work for me?
Also How in the world do you fire form new brass? Thanks for your help.

 

[ol mike]

Larry -do you have the dies ?

If so just place your brass in your shellholder w/ the die screwed in place and slowly bring the case up into the die body.

Light pressure is all it takes once you have the die set right.

Adjust the die by screwing it down until you can see that the entire neck of the piece of brass has slight/small marks where the die made friction marks on the case neck.
She's ready for a bullet........

Fireforming brass is simply shooting it in "your" chamber and it will "flow" expand- and fit perfectly in the chamber.

Good luck ............

 

[Larry G B]

I do not have the Lee collet neck sizeing die as yet. Whigh one do I buy? 300 Rum is not listed. Also I did fire my brass so it is now once fired. I just was not sure as to how much to load it for. I'm shooting 180 Grain Nosler Partitions, 94 grains H1000 powder and fed 215 primers. I have a Bushnell Elite 3200 10X40. With mildot. I am just starting to shoot long and
Realy like it.
Larry G B

 

[johnnyk]

Larry,
I do not use the Lee Collett Neck Dies, but that doesn't matter. Lee usually puts "set-up" instructions in with their dies.
I usually buy Full Length Dies for all my rifles. When I decide to only neck size using these FL dies this is how I do it. I know from experience that in order to FL size my cases, I run the die down until it meets the shell holder (with the press ram in the up position and the press handle all the way down) and then about another 1/2 turn down until I feel that "camming" over effect. So in order to only neck size you have to run the die back up.
First I lube my case up, both the inside of the neck and the body. I wipe any lube off the shoulder so as not to get dimples there. Then I take a Bic lighter and smoke the case from the bottom of the shoulder up to the top of the neck.
Then I start running the case up into the die. I usually start out with the die too far out and have to run it down to the case to start the process. I usually try for about 3/4 of the neck resized. You can see your progress as the die will clean the smute off the case neck and shoulder (if you go to far) as it goes in and gets resized. I turn the die down until I get it where I want it and then lock it in place. I clean the case off and try it in my rifle to make sure it chambers acceptably. Hope this makes sense and helps you out. JohnnyK.

 

[Larry G B]

Neck sizeing

Thanks so much I will give that a try. I have had trouble getting the bullets to seat concentric. Some have been as much as .005 out of round. I use a competition bullet seating die. I'm sure my trouble is in the sizeing, not the seating. Thanks for your help.
Larry G B

 

[geargrinder]

You can get a set custom made by Lee. Here is a quote from their site. Not a bad price in my opinion.

Collet Die Set
A Custom Collet Die Set consists of the Collet sizer and the Dead Length Bullet Seater, a shell holder and dipper. Maximum outer diameter at the base is .555 and the maximum bullet diameter is .375. There are a few exceptions for the larger Ultra Mags and if interested in those, you may want to give us a call or send a case to determine whether or not we can make them.
We need:

1. Payment of $54.00 ($50.00 + $4.00 processing fee)
2. 2 fired cases from the rifle that the ammunition is to be reloaded for
3. 2 sample bullets

Lead time on Collet dies is approximately 90 days depending upon our work load.

 

[Larry G B]

Thank you Sir for the information. Every thing I get will be of help. Thanks again.
Larry G B

 

[Hired Gun]

My buddy had one made for his 300RUM. It works great. Way better than partial sizing with a full length die or fooling with the bushing neck only dies. I use one on my 300Wby with great success. Have Lee build on for you. I would also suggest taking a good look at using 200grain Accubonds.

 

[HOGGHEAD]

300 Rum

I hand load four different 300 RUM's. I would not consider neck sizing only for the rifles I reload for. IMO you definitely need to at least bump the shoulder on a 300 RUM. This is just my opinion, but I think you are opening yourself up to a whole can of worms if you NS only.

Also IMO you run out problem is coming form your expander ball. But then I think the expander ball is the "Root of all evil" when it comes to runout. I use a Sinclair neck mandrel. Tom.

 

[Hired Gun]

Other than suffering with consistant sub 1/2" moa groups from production rifles and almost seemingly perpetual brass life, what kind of issues may we encounter in the can of worms?

I have found to keep consistant neck tension I have to anneal the necks after about 5 firings. The Lee die also stops case lengthening and associated trimming I guessing because the brass is not worked very much. Maybe we are leaving some performance on the table? My 300Wby only runs 200 grain Accubonds at 3130 and the 300RUM at 3200. I am strictly only using the Lee Collets on 22-250, 25-06AI, 257Wby, 7mm RM, 300Wby, 300RUM. Not having to trim or use lube sure speeds up a loading session.

I will also admit that after 5 firings or so you can surely feel some drag when closing the bolt but I keep my lugs clean and greased and in 15 years of use it has never been an issue. Even when I used to use regular dies I alway used them in a neck size mode only. My dad used to insist on at least bumping the shoulders enough so we could interchange ammo in the field. He gave up on that when I had a full head separation in my 7 Mag. My Ruger 77 chamber is a little looser than his Sako Finnbear is.

 

[HOGGHEAD]

Can of Worms

I noticed the author of this post is not running a "Hot" load. But I see no reason to have a 300 RUM unless you want to let the big dog eat.

We load our rifles hot. And I find a definite need to bump the shoulders back on the 300 RUM cases. We use our rifles strictly as hunting rifles, and function is first for me in a hunting rifle. Just my opinion but I do not want to be out in the field hunting and have "sticky" issues with my ammunition because I neck sized only. I have seen it happen too many times. Tom.

 

[Hired Gun]

In my 26" 300Wby I got 3200fps but it was loosening primer pockets more than I like for long case life. At 3130 they just last and last. I never did really get after it on our 300RUM. We just stopped at 3200 because it sounded like a good place to stop. It is a comfortable load for the 26" Sendero SFII it is in.

I'm curious what you are getting out of your 300RUM with 200 grain bullets with what barrel?

Bumping a shoulder only helps with closing the bolt easy. A hot load that is going to cause sticky extraction, not whether it was sized or not.

 

[HOGGHEAD]

I'm curious what you are getting out of your 300RUM with 200 grain bullets with what barrel?

Bumping a shoulder only helps with closing the bolt easy. [/quote]


We shoot the 200 grain Sierra Game Kings in the 300 RUM. We also load 180 Sierra"s(this is our main load). I will have to chrono the 200 grain load.

We use the factory rifles, and factory barrels. We have the LSS, and the BDL rifles.

I am not sure what you mean by bumping the shoulder helps with closing the bolt. To me, in a hunting sitruation, closing the bolt is important.

I do not care to tell the amount of RL25 we put in our cases, but it is a fairly stout load(not sticky stout). But then IMO if you are going to shoot the big dog's, then you should let them eat. If I want to shoot a lighter load I would buy a 300 Winchester, or a 30-06.

I guess my point is that in a hunting situation, function of my ammo is more important than ultimate accuracy. Ultimate accuracy is normally not attainable in a hunting situation to start with. Tom.

 

[happylilcuss]

I may be wrong but I think that what HiredGun is saying is that yes bumping the should is going to help make the rifle load easier but by using a hot load you are setting yourself up for a sticky situation on extraction due to overpressure. Either way "IF" you carry your rifle empty and only NS then you may run into a bolt closing issue. Iin a hunting situation "IF" a follow up shot is needed and "IF" you load hot then you may run into a bolt opening probelm. I guess in the end When you push the edge sometimes you just might fall off.