Bushing die increasing run-out

[IAHNTR]

I got out and shot 20 rounds yesterday afternoon and resized them this morning. I tried the die in a better press and tried it with the die loose in the press and that didn't help any so I tightened it down like normal and then ran the case in till the primer was ejected (roughly sized half the distance) then spun the case 180 and ran it the rest of the way and by doing that it cut the runout in half. The fired case runout is between 0.0005 to 0.001 and by sizing halfway and spinning 180 and sizing the rest of the way the average was around 0.0015 to 0.002.

Next time I will set the die up a little different to get the bushing so it barely rattles like Greyfox suggests and size less of the neck and try the spin method.

Thanks for all the advice gentlemen.

 

[Unofficial Gun Addict (UGA)]

Heya... A couple of experienced reloaders recommended that I purchase a set of lee collet neck dies some time ago. What great advice. I bought one for my 308 and after using it, I couldn't believe the value and quality of these dies. Produced excellent results for me. Now I have never owned any lee dies... All my dies are redding fl, forster ultra seating, and now... Lee collet dies, for every caliber I reload (except 7mm IHMSA because the custom lee collets would set me back $70+ and it's not a gun I shoot tons of rounds through).

I highly recommend spending the $20 to try it out. I'm pretty sure you'll be surprised by them.. In a good way. If you do decide to pick up one, I would recommend taking an additional 3-4 minutes to polish the mandrel, internal body, and the inside of the metal insert that the collet fingers are pressed into...with a Dremel and some polish compound. If you want to increase neck tension... Then hit the mandrel again with some more polish until you get just the right amount of tension.

Anyways... I always get low runout when used in conjunction with my forster ultras and my group sizes decreased. Very pleased that I was steered towards them.

Good luck.

 

[valleyloader]

I also like the Lee collet neck sizer however try the die before modifying the mandrel. If you are not getting the desired neck tension your brass may need annealed, because of the spring back characteristics of brass you will only achieve about one thou of neck tension no matter what size the mandrel is. Making the mandrel smaller will only only make seating harder on you and your equipment. If you are using brass that has not been neck turned in a bushing die you may have concentric brass on the outside however the bushing transfers any concentricity issues to the inside of the neck because of differences in thickness which results in non-uniform neck tension. The exception to this issue is if you have Lapua brass which runs pretty uniform in my experience anyway. The design of the Lee collet die allows the inside of the neck to be formed around the mandrel which as long as it is round will allow for uniform neck tension regardless of differences in thickness.

 

[Unofficial Gun Addict (UGA)]

I also like the Lee collet neck sizer however try the die before modifying the mandrel. If you are not getting the desired neck tension your brass may need annealed, because of the spring back characteristics of brass you will only achieve about one thou of neck tension no matter what size the mandrel is. Making the mandrel smaller will only only make seating harder on you and your equipment. If you are using brass that has not been neck turned in a bushing die you may have concentric brass on the outside however the bushing transfers any concentricity issues to the inside of the neck because of differences in thickness which results in non-uniform neck tension. The exception to this issue is if you have Lapua brass which runs pretty uniform in my experience anyway. The design of the Lee collet die allows the inside of the neck to be formed around the mandrel which as long as it is round will allow for uniform neck tension regardless of differences in thickness.

^^^^^

Good advice from valleyloader.