SCJ429 wrote:I agree John and I recommend neck turning but for the average reloader who doesn't turn I would still recommend using these types of dies. You are more likely to produce bent brass using an expended ball to push the brass to the outside than the bullet being a couple of thou off centre because the bush pushed the excess brass to the inside of the neck. For quality brass like Norma or Lapua the runout in the neck is usually pretty small.
As for Collet dies, anyone can learn to use them, they are cheap and you can produce some extremely high quality loads using them.
I find Lapua cases very good also . For a factory chamber if your going to turn necks then you only want to skim turn and clean up about 75 % of the neck , that's all you need .
Then partial neck size . So after the first firing when you partial size again it leaves a slight second shoulder which the body die never touches .
That way you have retrieved the lost neck thickness and neck centering is better than it was before turning . This is the system I have used on several of my bolt guns for a long time . Some people struggle with the Lee Collet die because the Lee instructions are all wrong . The way they advise is for a Lee press that does not go over center and you apply constant force . People go crazy and apply too much force . The best way to use the die is in a press like an RCBS Rock Chucker that goes over center and you adjust the die to get the sizing done just as it goes over center and locks . That gives a constant amount of force each time and an exact stopping point . Adjusting the die to find that sweet spot in an over center press requires very tiny movements of the die . Which is not catered for in Lee's instructions .