shawnhu

Thanks Bob, appreciate it. I had pretty good results with both the neck sized(.242) and the crimped. I did find that even on a crimped round, I had play on the bullet. On the .242 sized neck, I wasn't able to move that bullet at all. I might not be crimping it hard enough, but I'd like to at least start off on the right foot by having the neck sized to .243 or smaller. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

I have the Hornady micrometer. It's inexpensive, but IMO accurate enough. I usually measure things 4-5 times and it'll be off by .0005 at most. Well within MY tolerance. As for the brass, this is happening with all my brass. Winchester, federal, Herter's, as well as JJB's brass from R-P, Federal, and WW Super. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

The mandrel in its entirety measures .240. I think the sizing actually happens as the case goes up the press, and the ram is pushed on the collet and forced into the collar cylinder. This does happen as the press handle goes down. When pulling the case back down(out), the friction should flare the inside of the neck out if its too small, which should never happen because the entire mandrel is the same size. I can see it happening if the top portion is smaller than the bottom though. Chucking the mandrel in the drill is probably the best option as recommended by a few guys I've read. But I am very curious as to what your mandrel measures and the actual resized ID of your necks. Would you have thy info handy Bob? X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

I just did a test, and ruled out the cap as the problem. So I'll focus on the mandrel. As for lube, no, not currently lubing the neck sizing. Lee said it wasn't necessary, but I can try it. The mandrel diameter is .240, in spec according to Lee. Many have turned this down and has solved the problem. Some have ordered smaller mandrels from Lee to solve this problem. I'm only left with the thought that maybe the spring back properties of metal is causing this problem. The .240 size of the mandrel is just not small enough to allow the collet to squeeze down enough to allow the necks to be at a rested position of .242. By reducing the diameter of the mandrel, the collet would be allowed to squeeze to say, 237, and allow the neck to spring back to 242, my guess. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

Yes, I've read the instructions several times and made adjustments even outside the instructions, no go. I am only able to neck size if I remove the mandrel. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

Discovered a problem with my Lee Collet Neck Sizing die. It won't resize the neck properly. I called Lee to see if we can find a solution, but they insist its good and asked me to send the die in along with some casings. Turn around time is more than I want for a brand new toy I'm exciting in using. Before calling, I researched this issue, and most say its the mandrel that's responsible. So I removed the mandrel and used the die and it worked. Sized the necks down to .242, and a couple down to .237 by accident, whoops! I'm convinced that either the mandrel size of .240 is too thick, or the center of the die cap is not machined deep enough and the mandrel is bottoming out on the case flash holes. Anyone with experience with this problem? X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

I compared the data from Nosler's IMR 4350 to Hodgdon's 90gr and it also lists IMR 4350 at the same powder charges for min and max. After confirming that, I went and used the H4350 data from Hodgdon's and applied it to the Nosler 90gr AccuBond. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

Working on 5 shot .5" group next. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

Shooting 5 or 10 shot groups doesn't mean that I intend to shoot that many shots at my intended game target, it's just a matter of making sure that load is consistent and not just a fluke. Take for example, I got lucky and 3 shots happened to be under 8" at 100 yards. That's Minute of Deer at 100 yards. But when the true moment arrives, my 4th shot is outside of that 8" group my 3 shots gave me the confidence I was looking for. 3 out of 4 shots was minute of deer, but that 4th shot wasn't. That's 75% success, and that's not enough for me. Take a 10, or 20 shot group and each shot fell within minute of deer at 100 yards, that's 90%+ success rate, and I'm more comfortable with that. Obviously, 1/2 MOA is 99.9% success at 100 yards, if I do my part. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

Primer didn't ignite. Probably mishandling on my part. I did drop one and picked it back up and loaded it. It's sitting here waiting to be taken apart one day. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

This might help in deciding. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

Wow, what a cold day at the range today! Wish I could have taken some pictures today of the targets, but the range I go to isn't that great when it comes to target recovery, so I'll just have to guesstimate the groups. I shot a total of 38 rounds today, one being a dud. So 37 rounds went down range. I fired a couple of fouling shots, followed by a few odds and ends to fire form them. Then the groups. First group 4 shots of Hornady 100gr, H380 34gr 2-3" Second group 5 shots of H380 35gr 1.5-2" Third group 5 shots of H380 36gr 1.5-2" with 2in1 hole Fourth group 5 shots of H380 36.5gr 1" These were all fired from full length sized brass from JJB. Next up is Nosler 55gr BT Varmint 3 shots of H380 46gr 1" 3 shots of H380 47gr 1.5" 2 shots of H380 50gr .5" 2 shots of H380 51gr .75" And finally, Nosler 90gr AccuBond 2 shots H4350 42.5gr 2" 2 shots H4350 44.5gr <.5" These Nosler all fired from once fired neck sized winchester brass. I'll have to play with the loads a little bit, but looks promising! X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

Just loaded up 30 or so rounds of Hornady for the range tomorrow. Seated them at the lands to increase pressure to facilitate fire forming these once-fired brass I full length sized. Maybe I'll use them to break in the gun a little more before doing groups. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

Solves, not loves, lol. I just full length sized the 100 or so cases JJB sent me, what a workout! I wasn't putting enough lube on the first, but after I got the hang of it, it was quite smooth. Something I discovered. If you remove the de-capping pin from the collet neck die, you can crimp it down further than .2415-.2425 or so. I had to remove my de-capping pin to redo my primed cases. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

Just redid some cases, and adjusted my die to collet the neck to around .2415 or so. Hope that loves the loose bullet issue. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

Turns out my ID is quite large. .243 and sometimes bigger. That might explain why I'm able to move the bullets by hand. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

Great, looks like I'll be listing my factory ammo for sale once I figure out a good load for my 243. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

I think he meant "thought" and not that. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

I felt the bullets were easily moved, and that could be dangerous. I'll check the ID next time. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

I understand what you're trying to say, and it sure is a possibility if I made a mistake in my measurements. I ONLY measure with EMPTY loads, no powder no primer. I did have to pop it back out with a cleaning rod the first couple times because it was jammed when pushing in with my figures. Swapped to a looser crimp and that fixed that. I may have been able to use the bolt to extract, but I didn't want to Jane it in an further to damage the bullet. I would think that the friction required to move the bullet back into the case would still be there when extracting the bullet from the hard jam, allowing a safe extraction of case and bullet. Has this type of thing happened before where the bullet is left in the chamber and powder spilt all over? X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

I'm able to slide the bullet by hand. Not a hard crimp at all. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

If I was given a .223 for deer hunting, I'd probably make it work, after lots of practice with the round and ballistics testing as well as trajectory drop charts all figured out. Probably 50-200 rounds later, I MIGHT take it out for a hunt. Since I wasn't given one, I went out and did the next best thing, I bought a .243 Win. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

But there's no smoke.. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

I don't have any special tools for it, as I'm just starting out. It takes me much longer than if I had a tool for it, but he method described seems to be reliable. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

Originally, I set the seating depth to just at the lands, but was advised to give it some jump. I re-seated those to the standard the books recommend. I determined the seating depths by crimping a fire-formed empty case to give each bullet type a perfect grip so that it can slide back as I push the cartridge into the chamber and close the bolt. I did this several times, each time measuring the OAL. From there, I use the same test cartridge to set my seating die and recheck several times. X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems