Lee full length sizing die/Lapua brass

[bergcomp]

Iam not familiar with lee dies, but recently I got new .308 Lapua brass which has pretty tight neck so I run in through Lee full lenght die without touching shoulders I got neck size of .3365" Approximately on few measured cases, loaded round is .3375" so neck tension supposed to be .001"

My question is, anybody else with lee fl die getting also .001" or ? Is there a way to increase tension with lee dies ?

 

[FishDr]

Measure the diameter of the sizing button with a micrometer. Chuck it up in a drill or press and polish with very very fine grit paper or compound. Remove whatever amount you want to increase neck tension and reinstall.

 

[bergcomp]

Measure the diameter of the sizing button with a micrometer. Chuck it up in a drill or press and polish with very very fine grit paper or compound. Remove whatever amount you want to increase neck tension and reinstall.

I understand, I'll look at diameter ... but in that calculation which I mention in previous post, is there springback .0005 or .001" on .3365 expanded neck , after that will be aprox, .336 or .3355 ?

 

[FishDr]

There will be a bit of spring-back. You will have that regardless of die brand or brass brand. It’s usually about .001 depending on how many times reloaded / annealed or not / thickness etc.

 

[918v]

Why increase tension ??? Don’t you have enough grip on the bullet? The amount of grip you have now is considerably more than you would get from .002” using a bushing die.

 

[bergcomp]

Why increase tension ??? Don’t you have enough grip on the bullet? The amount of grip you have now is considerably more than you would get from .002” using a bushing die.

Just interested how it works with Fl Die, light tension .001" is fine for me....for more tension as the "FishDr" say : polish expander

or use Collet Neck Size for wanted neck tension !!!

 

[918v]

A FL die takes a .308 Win neck down from .346” to .328” and then the expander opens it back up. The direction of brass spring back is toward the bullet. You have a lot of grip. But it works the brass a lot.

 

[Ryridesmotox]

I use lee dies on my stuff. I recently started using the Lee FL die without expander and then running the brass into the collet die with the size of mandrel I want. Think of it like a poor man's Sinclair mandrel die.

I'll deprime with a lee universal deprimer, then tumble, lube, size both FL and collet mandrel, then tumble again, prime and load.

 

[FishDr]

I use lee dies on my stuff. I recently started using the Lee FL die without expander and then running the brass into the collet die with the size of mandrel I want. Think of it like a poor man's Sinclair mandrel die.

I'll deprime with a lee universal deprimer, then tumble, lube, size both FL and collet mandrel, then tumble again, prime and load.

What kind of accuracy and consistency do you see with that process? Ive done something similar but not sure about my results. It worked on the 260 but seemed to not work as well on another caliber. Just wondering how your results were.

 

[Ryridesmotox]

What kind of accuracy and consistency do you see with that process? Ive done something similar but not sure about my results. It worked on the 260 but seemed to not work as well on another caliber. Just wondering how your results were.

Around .5-.75 moa. I'm shooting a factory Howa 1500 in 308

To be honest, I've got like 1 hole groups but that's probably more luck than anything. Consistently its half moa with the right load of 175 smks and IMR4064. But I'm always experimenting.

 

[supercorndogs]

Those three charges all have a different POI. Not where I would want to be for a long range load. I don't understand the point of removing the expander ball from a lee die. Standard dies are made to drastically oversize the neck, and then expand it back out. The Lee collet dies are made to squeeze the neck back down, not expand it back out.

 

[Ryridesmotox]

Those three charges all have a different POI. Not where I would want to be for a long range load. I don't understand the point of removing the expander ball from a lee die. Standard dies are made to drastically oversize the neck, and then expand it back out. The Lee collet dies are made to squeeze the neck back down, not expand it back out.

Those were when I was trying to find the top end of my load. Just a random ass group. The better node for me is 42.8ish

The center to center on em is roughly the same. It's the spread that you're seeing that is bad. But that's 45.6 of IMR4064. The tighter groups are much lower.

That group was a collet only sized group I think. I have stacks of targets that I didnt take good notes on. Mostly because I wasnt goingnto use that load, but kept it anyway. I'm a hoarder I guess.

The collet mandrel seems to be doing alright so far. I am going to get a Sinclair though. I like the carbine mandrel. They pretty much never wear.

 

[bergcomp]

A FL die takes a .308 Win neck down from .346” to .328” and then the expander opens it back up. The direction of brass spring back is toward the bullet. You have a lot of grip. But it works the brass a lot.

This is useful information, thanks
After all, what would be correct way to treat brass after firing in your opinion ?

 

[Ryridesmotox]

Full length size with a neck bushing and get proper neck tension with an appropriately sized bushing.

I'm working with what I got, not ideal

 

[918v]

This is useful information, thanks
After all, what would be correct way to treat brass after firing in your opinion ?

I think the best thing to do is to use a custom FL die matched to your brass. Forster will open up the next up to .335” in their dies for a moderate price. I paid $20 on top of the die a while back.

I like .334-.335” for thick neck brass like FC and Lapua. A standard die is perfect for thin neck brass like Winchester and Remington.

 

[Brux]

I think the best thing to do is to use a custom FL die matched to your brass. Forster will open up the next up to .335” in their dies for a moderate price. I paid $20 on top of the die a while back.

I like .334-.335” for thick neck brass like FC and Lapua. A standard die is perfect for thin neck brass like Winchester and Remington.

My thoughts exactly,thats what I did and it sixes my cases like butter and don't over work it. I am going to do this with all my dies.