FL die and lee collet, it don't work

6pakzak

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I have read many posts on this forum and others telling people to use you FL body die with the guts removed and then use your collet die after, ok, I tried it, with the guts removed from your FL body die it compresses the neck, without the expander the neck stays sized down quite a bit. Ok so I did that, now on to the collet die, well lots of pressure to get it started, keep going let's get this neck sized, that's what I do and .003 runout on case neck, ok they say use a little lube inside neck, same thing, bad runout. This makes no sense, I'm basically using the mandrel on my collet die to expand the neck and it floats so with all that pressure it will move the neck one way or another, can anyone explain how this works, I have switched to a body die which works great cause the collet die ain't doing anything to the neck till it's actually forming on the collet but I see this posted everywhere, was I doing something wrong?
 
sounds like you are moving the neck too much ((downsizing to upsizing )) , because of the neck wall thickness of your brass

couple options to fix this , cheapest first ,,,,, try the expander button and stem left in the FL die but adjust the expander high , if you are up sizing and down sizing at the same , one function will support/hold center the other function

or add an expanding function between your FL and collet processes

or , get a type s bushing die $$ , so it doesnt downsize the neck more than needed https://www.sinclairintl.com/reload...-dies/type-s-bushing-full-dies-prod38734.aspx
typesbushingdie.jpg


or you could start turning your necks $$$ , if you turn your necks down to match your die , neck turning will help uniform collet function pressure from case to case .... depending on the quality of the brass you are using turning may not be needed


or type s+expander die + neck turning + lee collet $$$$
 
A redding body die should not size the neck at all, even on a fired case. The redding body die is what most folks were using in conjunction with the collet die. The dies with neck bushing removed that people are using will do the same thing as a redding body die. They are taking the neck bushing out. If the die you have isn't made to accept removable neck bushing, then it will size the neck down way smaller than the mandrell in youor collet die.
 
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I haven't heard of a "FL body die" but you could use a full length die with the expander ball removed and then do the inside neck sizing (expanding) with the mandrel. The mandrel die would be used after FL sizing and would expand on the down stroke of the press rather than the up stroke like with the FL die with expander ball installed. So again FL size with the expander ball removed and then set up the press with the mandrel die and inside size the brass. On some FL dies if you remove the expander ball you won't be able to use the decapping pin anymore. So you may need to buy a universal decapping die too.
 
Short action Customs is making a new style bushing and they claim their bushings have improved the runout in every bushing die they tried them in. They fit most bushing style dies like the Redding-s. They don't have .224 caliber available yet but they told me they plan to add to the list. Currently they have bushings .001 apart from 243 to .368.

 
I have no idea how those lee collet dies work but what you are talking about is using a standard full length die with the expander ball removed and then using a mandrel after that to expand the necks
 
The other option is like BB said just use the Lee Collet (neck size only ) die without full length sizing. Or you could continue to use your full length die, which is sizing your neck, and get a "mandrel die" for the inside neck expanding step of sizing.
 
I have no idea how those lee collet dies work but what you are talking about is using a standard full length die with the expander ball removed and then using a mandrel after that to expand the necks
The Lee collet die is a neck only sizing die.
 
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