The Lee collet dies are a very good investment and do a very nice job of neck sizing casings. They accomplish the neck sizing without requiring you to lube the inside or outside of the casings. That alone, is worth a GREAT deal to me.
No lube = no requirement to remove lube!!! My personal experience with these Lee collet dies has been nothing but positive. Lee collet dies don't have the appeal that a die with the name "Redding" has, but they do a worthy job of neck sizing. JMHO /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-006.gif
Lee Precision has some very good information on their Web site about the collet dies and adjusting them. Your RCBS press is one that toggles over the center at the top of the ram stroke. Here is some of the information from the Lee Precision Web site. I just copied and pasted it here:
Collet Die adjustment
If you are using the Collet die in an RCBS Rockchucker press, or a similar design that toggles over center at the top of the (ram) stroke, this applies far greater force than is necessary to resize just the neck of the case, and can damage the die or collapse the case. To correct this situation, adjust the die two full turns into the press after the die contacts the shell holder with the ram at the top of its stroke, rather than one as in the instructions. This will stop the press before it gets to the toggle over point. With a press without having an over center feature, apply about 25 lbs. of pressure to the handle once it bottoms out to resize the case. On most presses, this translates to over 600 lbs of pressure on the ram.
The collet might be stuck in the closed position from closing the die without a case inside. Remove the cap from the top of the Collet die and push the mandrel, collet sleeve and collet out through the top of the die. Open the collet back up with a tapered punch or Phillips screwdriver.
If this occurs with a full length sizing die, the decapper/expander is out of adjustment. The decapper/expander should be flush with the top of the decapper clamp. If it protrudes more than 1/4 inch, the die will be resizing the inside and outside diameter of the case neck at the same time, resulting in a collapsed case shoulder.
Collet Die explanation
The Collet neck sizing die is superior to the competition's neck sizing die design because it squeezes the neck against a mandrel. This results in very uniform case mouth inner diameter, regardless of case wall thickness.
With bushing-type neck sizing dies, one has to select (and usually purchase) the appropriate bushing to get the desired case mouth inner diameter. Uniform case mouth inner diameter gives uniform bullet pull, and as you know, uniformity is what accurate ammunition is all about.
The Collet die set also includes what we call the "dead length" bullet seating die. This die is set up like a full length sizing die, in that one adjusts the die down so that the shell holder presses against the bottom of the die when the ram is at the top of its stroke. This pressure removes any clearance between the shell holder and ram, lever linkage, die threads and press frame, etc. and results in a more uniform bullet seating depth. Note that there is no provision for crimping in this die.
Collet die pressure exertion
All of the sizing in the Collet die takes place at the very end of the stroke, when the ram/shell holder appears to bottom out against the base of the die. If you lean into the handle at this point, you will force the collet up into the die body, and cause the collet to squeeze the case neck down against the mandrel (the very end of which pops out the spent primer). About 25 lbs. of force is sufficient to resize most cases. If you are sitting in front of your press, just leaning your upper body weight into the lever is about right.
A good way to determine how much is necessary is to start the case into the die and feel the die remove the primer. Start using pressure and work up to what you think is about 25 lbs. Remove the case from the die and attempt to place the intended bullet in the case neck. If there is little or no resistance, repeat the process with slightly more pressure. When you have reached a point where there are vertical striation marks on the outside of the case neck or the intended bullet does not fit easily into the case neck, the correct amount of pressure has been achieved.
You would also be advised to clean up the rough edges on the inside of the collet fingers and do a wee bit of polishing of the collar that squeezes the collet shut and also polish the nose of the collet that fits into the collar. Then, apply a small amount of good gun grease to the collar that the collet nose squeezes into.
DO NOT EVER run the ram of your press up into the collet die without a casing in the shell holder. You run the risk of locking the collet fingers onto the mandrel!!! Then, the next time you run a casing up into the die, your casings will look like those in the photo posted below. Don't ask me how I know or where I got these photos /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-006.gif
