Lee 7mm-08 die problems

[ole shooter]

I have read of lots of different people using .308Win brass to size into 7mm-08 Rem brass . My son won a rifle in 7mm-08 and asked if I could produce a few rounds for him to try. I have quite a few once fires .308s so set forth on a mission. I bought a Lee 7mm-08 set complete with factory crimp die and shell holder. I properly lubed a 308 case and pulled the handle down to cam over like I would sizing any other brass. That went very well. When I tried to lift back up to size the inside the stem would not come through. It is as if there is no room for the case to expand back out properly.  The stem is held in these lee dies by friction fit with a nut on top. There are no threads on the stem. This works fine on my 30-30 set but not this one  .  I was finally able to get the brass out with the stem inside. I ground the brass apart to get the stem out.
 I then sized a round without the stem. Then I put the stem back in and tried to size again .Absolutely no-go.   In my frustration I ordered a set of RCBS dies and hope that solves the problem. As is so often the case my short cut to 7mm-08 brass is getting pricey. lol  The largest dia. on the expander stem is at or near the dia. of some 7mm bullets  I have on hand.
 I'm in a tizzy over what I may be doing wrong to be the cause of the problem. 
Has anyone here been confronted with this problem? 

[lrrice]

I've resized a gazillion 308 to 7mm with lee dies, with out a hint of a problem.  Actually they work better than my rcbs dies.  Hate to mention the obvious, did you lube inside the neck.  The only other thing I can think of is that you may have been using some real thick military brass but still don't see why it would stick that bad.  There shouldn't be external tension on the neck when the sizer comes out and it should just stretch the brass back out.

[ole shooter]

lrrice, Sure appreciate you sharing your experiance. As a matter of fact I did hand apply lube inside the case with a Q-tip on another try yesterday. The brass is once fired Federal. I have some Hornady also. Since the RCBS dies are on the way, but not here yet I'll give it another go later today. Thanks again, ole shooter.

[ole shooter]

Thanks again for the help . Just to eliminate any possibility of lack of lube in neck I q-tiped  engine oil inside the neck . Sizer stem still slipped. I removed it and polished it except for the largest dia.  Next case sized well. They got progresivly better for the next few cases without slipping.  Lubed up 10 with the Hornady spray with nothing else inside, and they sized easily without stem slippage.
 lrrice, you are appreciated!!      ole shooter.

[lrrice]

Glad I could be of some help.  Those stems also take a little more torque than you would think they would need to hold them in place.  Glad it is working for you.