Lee Collet Die Adjustment

[Hosted]

I was getting ready to load some 223 for my bolt action last night and wanted some advise on the neck tension. When screwed it in 1 1/4 turn as the directions say and sized I can take a bullet by hand and pressing fairly hard insert it into the neck. Do I make another 1/4 turn and use my best judgement to see if it feels right? This is the first time I've used the collet die so I wanted to make sure I was on the right track. Thanks

 

[mssmith44]

It has been awhile since I used mine but the bullet should be a tighter fit than that
The adjustment as I recall was screwing the die down to the shell holder until it touched
then going 1 1/4 turns beyond that for the proper squeeze. That was too much for
my press. I turn it down until you get a good resistance on the press handle.
Sometimes I will turn the case slightly and hit it again.

 

[BGDave]

Check the diameter of the mandrel. If it is to big it will never hold a bullet. I've been known to polish the rod down to size. Go easy. You can't put metal back on.

 

[gabrigger]

You have to adjust this type of die to get the collet to close. You will feel when the collet closes. Depending on your press, 1 1/4 turns may not be enough. You can adjust it down, but be advised that you may not need to make a full stroke on your press in order to get the collet to close, so don't put a ton of force on the handle.