Started loading for my 30-06 (m1917). Bought a Lee ultimate set to reload for it. I have a neck sizing set for my .303 and that works perfectly.
This 30-06 one however, so far is not much more than a paperweight. I've deprimed/sized a few cases now and so far it does not size the neck at all, the bullet I'm using is a 150grn fmj and measures at .308". I measured the mandrel inside the die and that measured something around .304".
I'm putting plenty of force on the press so that's not the problem. Really stuck here.
I tried to use the full length sizer in the set also, but so far that's destroyed 3 cases, even though I've lubed them!
Any help would be awesome. Cheers
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Ensure sleeve isn't upside down.
Lube collet where indicated.
Screw cap on tight.
Adjust die body up or down to produce desired degree of "squeeze".
Die is assembled correctly and is lubed. Still. Same thing happens, did also try moving the body down, still not even getting a slight change in squeeze.
Is collet wrong size or mis-marked?
Try inserting fired case into disassembled collet. Does it enter fully?
Is collet being pushed upward by shellholder at top of ram stroke?
Is collet wrong size or mis-marked?
Try inserting fired case into disassembled collet. Does it enter fully?
Is collet being pushed upward by shellholder at top of ram stroke?
Lee video might show something you're missing -
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WPmxtPgJUI[/url]
I've followed those instructions precisely and yes without a car inserted you can see the collet portion moving. I did put an emty case into the collet earlier today, just to see if it's going the full way into the collet. There is maybe a 1/8" gap between the case mouth and the top of the collet. Could this be my problem?
Those cases fired out of your rifle? No neck sizing only if they were not. BNIB and once fired out of another rifle will require FL resizing first. The case mouths will need chamfering too.
"...that's destroyed 3 cases..." The die is probably down too far. Move the expander/decapper up. Then set up the die so the bottom of the die just kisses the shell holder with the ram all the way up. Then adjust the expander/decapper to just pop out the primer.
Brass is from my rifle. And I set up all the dies according to the relevant instructions. Thinking it's the die set as I've never had this many problems.
The collet may be moving, but is it squeezing?
Looking at the assembly components, as shown by Parashooter, it could be that the sleeve is not pushing against the top of the collet to squeeze the jaws together. Maybe the sleeve or the top cap is too short.
Either way, it sounds as if you have a faulty set of components. An extra bushing between top cap and sleeve (i.e. effectively a sleeve extension) could fix it, but you live in the USA, so just send it back and get it exchanged.
P.S. If you ruined a couple of cases, that was probably because you screwed the die down way too low in an attempt to get the collet to squeeze. Always start with the die too high, and work your way down gradually, otherwise the collet is trying to squeeze the shoulder = crushed case. Which is why I did not like the film demonstration, which seemed to go much too far down for a first try.
When neck sizing, lubricate the neck area. If the collet is working you will see a line of squeezed lubricant formed at the bottom of the squeezed section of the neck. This line should be about 1mm/ 1/32" about the neck/shoulder transition. This tiny bit of unsized neck helps to center the resized case in the chamber. Do NOT try to get it down to zero, or you will lose this useful side-effect AND be in danger of crushing the cases.
Last edited by Patrick Chadwick; 09-23-2018 at 05:07 PM.