7-30 Lee Collet Die

[MnMike]

Has anyone spent the money to get Lee to make a collet die in 7-30. I use them in 220 Swift and 223 and they add a lot of accuracy. I think they want $65 and five fired cases to make a custom.

mike

[MarkA]

Sorry to butt into your post.  I just bought and ruined a Lee Collet die in 223.  I am NEW to reloading.  Got an RCBS press and a Lee Collet die cuz I heard they were GREAT.  Read the insturctions and set the die at TWO turns past the point of holder/die contact.  They, Lee, said you could 'Feel' the collet sizing, I could not.  Moved the die to only one turn, pressed down and something in the die snapped.  What am I doing wrong.  Ordered a new die and have seen some stuff about going in 1/4 turn increments past the TWO turn point.  I am lost, should I 'feel' something, go past the two turns, how do I know if it is working?

I am sorry to ask so much, but you obiviously know A LOT about this and was hoping for some HELP, PLEASE!

[Tad Houston]

Sorry to butt into your post. I just bought and ruined a Lee Collet die in 223. I am NEW to reloading. Got an RCBS press and a Lee Collet die cuz I heard they were GREAT. Read the insturctions and set the die at TWO turns past the point of holder/die contact. They, Lee, said you could 'Feel' the collet sizing, I could not. Moved the die to only one turn, pressed down and something in the die snapped. What am I doing wrong. Ordered a new die and have seen some stuff about going in 1/4 turn increments past the TWO turn point. I am lost, should I 'feel' something, go past the two turns, how do I know if it is working?

 
sometimes i can feel it and sometimes not. Sounds like you camed over on it with the rock chucker- you can create a lot pressure with the press that way. It doesn't take much to neck size with that collet die, like i say sometimes i can't feel it. the press arm just stops. I probably apply way more force than i accually need to, all your doing is crimping the neck around a mandrel.

[Alaninga]

never run the press ram up without a case in the shellholder. And camming over has GREAT mechanical leverage, plenty enough to ruin any die.
Always use a case,,test fit bullets until you get a tight enough fit in case neck.
You can set the press/die up to 'cam over', but it is easy to use too much pressure if not set correctly. If you want to 'cam over',,,begin with almost no sizing/effort. Screw die down bit by bit testing at each setting. When you feel some effort in cam over,,stop. Test bullet pull at this setting.
Setting the press/die for 'stop' action [not quite to the 'cam over' point],,will give more feel for what's going on with sizing action. It takes more pressure on the press handle, but if you don't 'cam over', it is harder to damage the die this way. Much less leverage when the die is set down low enough to 'come up tight' before the cam over action begins.
Confused now?!
Alan in GA.

[MnMike]

I assume that "cam over" is a RCBS thing. I don't have that much money to put into reloading. I set up the die in both my single and my turret press (both Lee) by the instructions. With a little adjustment for bullet pull they have worked fine.

This has given me an 1/8th" improvement in group size (1/2 to 3/8) on the Contender (with my bad eyes and shakey hands). I never used another die on the 220 in a Ruger bolt, but the groups are near 1/4" (all at 100 yds).

mike