I use Lee dies and have no issues..sub moa groups also.
But it really does not matter how far in you twist the die once the shell holder contacts it..bottomed out is bottomed out.
I use Imperial sizing die wax...get it you will not regret it..1 container has lasted over 4000 cases
Like was stated swab some on the inside of the necks..one roll of a Qtip in that wax will d o 10 cases easily.
Or the mica will work also.
You need to clean the brass well before sizing it..any carbon or dirt will create friction and scratch up the dies.
Now here is a test for you..polish the outside of the case with 0000 steel wool and then take a cleaning bore brush and apply some 0000 steel wool to it and chuck it up in a drill or something to make it spin...
Now clean the inside of the neck.. blow it off
Now lube inside neck and outside case...then try and resize it...Bet it is much easier.
Now you can remove the center decapping pin from the die and clean it...it will have circular machine grooves around it.
and possibly scratches long ways from dirty brass necks.
You can take 1000 1500 or 2000 grit sand paper and a little soap and water on the sandpaper and spin the decapping pin with your fingers and slightly polish that expanding area..
Or use some brown paper sack and auto polishing compound that is clear coat safe..
Or paper towel and some toothpaste....
just a little polishing makes a huge difference..
You do not want to polish away the machine grooves....
just put a slickness to it...
And keep the neck insides clean.
Try the 0000 steel wool...You could possibly spin the decapping pin and polish it with 0000 also..but never tried it.
I use meguiers mirror glaze machine glaze #3 and a bounty paper towel to polish all my dies and decapping pins.
I use a bore swab with #3 on it to polish inside my dies...
oreilly's sells it..It is a final finish after painting a car (besides wax) this has no waxes in it or anything else that will contaminate a paint job..sure makes that paint shine..and no swirl marks...good enough for me.
But it really does not matter how far in you twist the die once the shell holder contacts it..bottomed out is bottomed out.
I use Imperial sizing die wax...get it you will not regret it..1 container has lasted over 4000 cases
Like was stated swab some on the inside of the necks..one roll of a Qtip in that wax will d o 10 cases easily.
Or the mica will work also.
You need to clean the brass well before sizing it..any carbon or dirt will create friction and scratch up the dies.
Now here is a test for you..polish the outside of the case with 0000 steel wool and then take a cleaning bore brush and apply some 0000 steel wool to it and chuck it up in a drill or something to make it spin...
Now clean the inside of the neck.. blow it off
Now lube inside neck and outside case...then try and resize it...Bet it is much easier.
Now you can remove the center decapping pin from the die and clean it...it will have circular machine grooves around it.
and possibly scratches long ways from dirty brass necks.
You can take 1000 1500 or 2000 grit sand paper and a little soap and water on the sandpaper and spin the decapping pin with your fingers and slightly polish that expanding area..
Or use some brown paper sack and auto polishing compound that is clear coat safe..
Or paper towel and some toothpaste....
just a little polishing makes a huge difference..
You do not want to polish away the machine grooves....
just put a slickness to it...
And keep the neck insides clean.
Try the 0000 steel wool...You could possibly spin the decapping pin and polish it with 0000 also..but never tried it.
I use meguiers mirror glaze machine glaze #3 and a bounty paper towel to polish all my dies and decapping pins.
I use a bore swab with #3 on it to polish inside my dies...
oreilly's sells it..It is a final finish after painting a car (besides wax) this has no waxes in it or anything else that will contaminate a paint job..sure makes that paint shine..and no swirl marks...good enough for me.
Reloading generally sucks and not for everyone.
I guarantee it's not the lube or the dies - it's how you use it.
Experienced reloaders keep recommending Lee dies for their value. Lee gets a lot of bad rep because that's what newbies starts with it. They run into problems and blame the dies/press/lube etc. - and then confuse "value" with "cheap". IMHO only Wilson and Forster make objectively better dies - here I said it, Lee makes better dies than RCBS, Lyman, Redding and Hornady regardless of the price.
A lot of times people buy something and it works, they stick to brand name - nothing wrong with that. I've tried them all and tested them. Everybody is entitled to an opinion - mine is based on actual testing (both with mic and at the range).
I have the carbide floating expander button in my neck dies. Works very well. Doesn't really expand the neck, but it helps with dings and stuff. But yeah, the regular expanders are trash.
I can get the 308 to work perfect, but the 270 just won't cooperate. I played with it last night in every configuration I could think of. I cleaned the case necks (id and od), I polished the expander a little, lubed the expander, lubed the case neck id, played with the die depth and with all of that about every 3rd or 4th case would get stuck. I even tried to vary the amount of lube and that led to dented cases from lube being trapped in the die. Oops. I think I might call Lee to try and make sure the die isn't out of spec.
You can single pass form 243 from 30-06 with nothing "sticking" - you got a setup problem.
The result you want .002-.005 neck tension, aka .272-.275 neck ID
1) Run a case through the die without decap/expander - measure neck OD. If it doesn't measure .280-.310 you do have a bad die.
2) What is neck thickness? You want it in .010-.012 range, some brass has very thick neck and needs to be turned; just mind how the die is ground from your neck OD measurment
3) Measure expander OD - you want it in .272-.274 range - it should barely touch on the way up. If the neck is ground on the tight side - the expander will have to do more work.
The result you want .002-.005 neck tension, aka .272-.275 neck ID
1) Run a case through the die without decap/expander - measure neck OD. If it doesn't measure .280-.310 you do have a bad die.
2) What is neck thickness? You want it in .010-.012 range, some brass has very thick neck and needs to be turned; just mind how the die is ground from your neck OD measurment
3) Measure expander OD - you want it in .272-.274 range - it should barely touch on the way up. If the neck is ground on the tight side - the expander will have to do more work.
I use a Lee Press too, but I use RCBS lube on the cases. I too reload 308. I just ordered some 7.62 x 39 Brass. The shoulder angle is a bit different on the Russian than the 308, I might see the same issue. I will probably invest in RCBS dies and purchase LEE insert locks for the die set.
Thanks for all of the info. I will check all of this tonight.
Ok, I took everything apart and cleaned it all very thoroughly. I also chucked the expander in a drill and polished it with scotch brite and the od is within tolerance. I ran a case through the die without the expander and it came out with the tolerance (id, od and neck wall thickness). After doing all of this I put everything back together and gave it another try, and wouldn't you know everything is working fine now. It is difficult getting the right amount of case lube on each case without getting too much though. Thanks to everyone who gave suggestions and advise. I really appreciate your help.
