Modifying Lee Collet Die

[BudRow]

I have a Lee .308 Win. collet die that I use for that cal. and others by shimming between the shellholder and the die. For instance I use a .160" washer stack to size my 7.5 Swiss and there are other .308" cals. that I have and by using different shim combos, can neck size them too. Now if I plan to neck size for cast boolit loads only what do you guys think of this idea? Take the collet part out of the die, chuck it in a lathe and turn off about a 1/16" to 3/16" of the closing fingers. Now when you resize the case you don't have to flare the mouth to prevent lead shaving because it wasn't resized. Perhaps I can eliminate the extra step of "belling" case mouth. Of course this die is now to be used for this purpose only. What are your thoughts? Bud

[Buckshot]

............I'd say it may be enlightened tinkering. So long as the portion removed doeen't have an effect on the collet fingers closing sufficiently, it might just work.

................Buckshot

[BudRow]

I might try it. I can always order a replacement part from Lee if it doesn't work.

[1hole]

Bud, I really like your idea, think I will try it myself.

Rather than cutting it off, I think I'll try boring the collet's mouth about .050" deep and maybe an additional .015" in diameter though to insure I don't change its fit into the die's "forcing cone" tapered piece. That should allow seating cast properly and still have little or no impact on its normal use with jacketed stuff. In fact, it may permit straighter seating of jacketed bullets, as Lyman's "M" expander dies do! ???

[BudRow]

1hole, I work out of town and I leave very early Mon. morning. I will not have time to try this until some time after two weeks. If you should try it as you propose, I'd be interested in your results. I like your approach and you could spare me some experimenting. Please post on this thread or start another. Thanks for your input.
Bud

[1hole]

Will do. I don't have a four jaw, will have to turn a mandrel to hold the collet but that won't be too hard.

I had a BIG PINE TREE fall on my roof this morning, from the passing wind storms! Removing it and fixing my roof and the ceiling will get most of my time this week. Thank God, it hasn't rained!

[Dale53]

1hole;
Do they have pine trees in North Carolina? Yeah, I know. My son is stationed at Ft. Bragg and lives in Southern Pines (for those outside this experience range, there is nearly nothing BUT pine trees in North Carolina)

Dale53

[castalott]

45 2.1 showed this to me a few months ago....we modified my 30-30 collet die. Works wonderful. I like it. Saves time and brass....

[drmaynard3235]

Guys
How do/did you get the collet out of the die body, mine is held in by a captive spring clip that stops against a sharp shoulder?
Pres

[hivoltfl]

Dale53 I KNOW I saw a Tulip Poplar in Cherokee, down by the creek at that big park, not all pines in NC, at least one other hehe.

Rick

[1hole]

Bud, I did get to it today. First, all you jokers talking about my living room pine, yeah we got a few other kinds up here in the mountains. All but one of them are outside my house!

Ok, what happened this morning is the insurace folks asked me not to do any more than neccessary before an adjuster could get here to see it all in the morning at 8 am. Seems they have a rash of other folks around here with tree damage too. No rain is predicted for a few days so I said ok.

I sawed off a few limbs hanging over the front door and then worked off my frustrations in the shop, lathe modifying Lee Collets. Finally did a combo of Bud's idea and mine. First task was to make a snug fitting mandrel to hold the collet, used a simple screw-on hose camp to squeeze the fingers tight around the mandral and started cuttin'.

First effort was to taper bore my -06 collet the way I thought would work. It turned out ok but it was hard to determine exactly how much to bore the relief taper. So, I went a tad further than I really wanted. Just had to figger a more controllable way.

So, I cut my .243 collet square off at the length of the case, meaning the full inserted length of a case with a shell holder in place. Then I cut a 35 degree taper at the mouth of the collet, about .030" deep. That left a slight flare in the sized case mouth, exactly as I had hoped! Now I can neck size cases normally but still leave enough bell to be perfect for starting cast bullets, and jacketed too, just as Bud thought.

A Lee Factory Crimp Die removed the flare and crimped the bullet as well as my old way (using a Lyman M die to expand/bell) but without the extra expander step! And there was no difference in jacketed bullet run-out from normal limits.

I did my .308, .35 Rem and .22-250 collets to complete the days work. I like it Bud, thanks for sharing the idea!

[1hole]

[quote: Guys How do/did you get the collet out of the die body, mine is held in by a captive spring clip that stops against a sharp shoulder?"]

It sounds like you may be thinking of the Lee (Collet) Crimp Die. ?? It's been along time since I disassembled one but I think you just remove that circular spring and drop the inner sleeve. I'll check one tomorrow and let you know if it's different from that.

Disassembly of the Lee Neck Sizer Collet requires unscrewing the aluminum top cap and pushing the guts up and out the top.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Thank you Sirs for the collet engineering. It seems that collets and boolits go together like grits and greens, cornbread & fried chicken. But to continue the FORCE, as to the tree situation here in NC, our state is as far south as the last Global Freezing reached, thus forcing northern trees to live southwards over eons, to the effect of hemlocks and spruce in the mountains, and some ground vegetation in the central part of our state. Of course when Neandertals introduced their version of Global Warming, the glaciers and ice sheets retreated northward and the Southern types of vegetation advanced northwards over eons, giving us cypress in the east for example. Our state remains a geological/climatological boundary area where local conditions still have a North or South effect on the survival of TREE , shrub, and plant types types.

[1hole]

[QUOTE: Guys How do/did you get the collet out of the die body, mine is held in by a captive spring clip that stops against a sharp shoulder?"]

OK, I was wrong, you don't remove the spring. The circular "clip" spring is held in a wide slot in the sleeve and follows it out. Just push the inner sleeve (crimping collet) straight down and it slides out.

[andrew375]

Actually I've just made a collet to for 7.62 x 54R for use in an existing body. They are not difficult to make as there are no critical dimensions or angles on them. Just drill the major dia. to clear the body, I used 1/2", followed by drilling the neck which is just a slight clearance. The only part of the collet that should touch the case is the bit that sizes the neck as the collet is actuated by it bottoming on the shell holder, I originally thought it made contact with the case shoulder but obviously, as the instructions make clear, it doesn't.

Differences in case length is set via the collar that holds the mandrel and has the mating angled (20 degrees more or less) surface for closing the collet. This too is easily made, but the Lee part is easily machined if you go that route.

I made these parts from mild steel and they work fine.

BTW, the Lee collet die works fine without the mandrel, you just have to be very careful in adjusting it. One mod I always do to the mandrel is to turn down the portion that fits the case neck by roughly .004" so I can get more adjustment range on neck tension and then turn down the rest the shaft to the decapping pin so there is no chance of it dragging in the sized case neck. Leave the top of the mandrel as is, as this bit functions to keep the mandrel centred to make sure the decapping pin goes into the flash hole.

[lurch]

1hole;
... there is nearly nothing BUT pine trees in North Carolina)

Dale53

And they turn everything in sight yellow for two weeks every spring.

[BudRow]

I just got back in town. I want to thank "1hole" for his pioneering and experimental work on this project. I will go with the 35 degree taper and .030"deep cut. This should be a step saver for all who try it. I also like the fact that it is useful with "J" boolits too. Bud

[1hole]

Bud, hope you had a good trip.
Share your thoughts after you get your Lee collet sizer modified.

[drmaynard3235]

1hole
You are correct I was thinking of the crimp die. Tried your suggestion and the
collet came out. I guess I didn't apply enough BFI the first time I looked at it.
Thanks
Pres

[georgeld]

Ok, how many of you guys have made new bushings for Lee's bushing dies?

I made a full set of neck sizing bushings from half inch down to .196" to size case's down to .17 cal outside neck size.
Works slick.

.700" dia, 2" long, bore the smallest hole all the way thru, drill out half the length for the largest dia desired.

make these in .010/.015" steps so they dont' crunch the case and you can size the body of an '06 down to what ever you desire.

Haven't looked at the collet dies yet. Thank for the fresh idea, as if I need more things to do.