mounting man

I bought the Lee 30-06 collet die to try out . I got it maybe 4 years ago but never opened the plastic box it came in.
Yesterday i decide to see how it works. I opened the box and the part that slides in the housing is jammed inside of the housing and i had an awful time trying to get it apart . The inside of the die where the collet fingers slide is so ruff with ridges it has it jammed? I got it apart and after trying a little grease it still is like unmovable !
I figured i would just contact Lee so i went to their site ? What a nightmare their site is !
I hope i can get them on the phone and talk to some one to help me ?
Any ideas on what to do ?

bronko22000

I'm curious as to why you wanted to remove the collet from the die. As I understand the die/collet is only used for neck sizing a case. Have you tried running a case or two through the die?

mounting man

Here is what LEE told me ?????
Sometimes when the collet die is assembled they have to put them together wit a NYLON HAMMER !!!
So i was told to just put it into my press and run it up and down until it get loose ?????
I just could not get them to understand that it is so jammed together it won't [the insides] move. I said perhaps from them beating it together with a nylon hammer ?
I just could not convince them to replace it !
I had dealt with LEE over the years and they were very good at replacing item that were not as they should be ? That is not the case now !
Well i am never going to but another thing of theirs again and this one goes into the junk bucket.
Evidently Old Man Lee isn't running the company anymore .

bronko22000

Did you try soaking the die in a jar of evaporust or even kerosene? Let it soak over night and then give it a good cleaning. Or try sraying the guts with PB Blaster to loosen it. Seems like it may have gotten rusted tight.
Not having one of these dies I'm not sure what I'd do.

mounting man

Bronk, Why i wanted to take it apart is the collet part will not move inside of the die ? The insides don't move much to use them to size the neck of a brass case but this one is stuck in side of the channel it is to float up and down in !
I did get it apart and the channel looks like they machined it out with a broken drill bit. It is in no way machined so as the collet part will move freely ??? It jams and sticks on the ridges inside .
My other ones are loose [from the time i opened the box] that you can shake them and they are loose like a Hornady bullet seating die,if you know what i am saying ?
No there is no rust in it.
After i had seen how it was stuck i figured to get it apart and put a little grease to it. That's when i found out jut how tight it is stuck and i got hold of LEE for the run around they gave me .

bronko22000

Too bad you bought it a while ago otherwise you could have called you CC company and disputed the charges. I recently got a few sizing dies from Lee and they wore fine

Berserker

I load 30-06 with Lee. Plus others. I have got my sizing die jammed when I didn't use enough lube. I have ordered lots of stuff off their site. I keep lots of spare parts. Never thought it was bad.

Lee is the only brand I have used, for the fine print. I recommend Lee, seems good price and works. Not all my gizmos are Lee though.

204_ruger

I have Lee rcbs and Redding. Most of my neck sizing dies r Lee. I had that happened a few times. Not hard to fix it. I too keep spare parts. Lee has treated me good. Rcbs has too. Broke my bullet puller hammer 2x. I took a picture of it email to rcbs. Then few days it came in the mail.

Seth2170

I have dealt with Lee for a very very long time and they have some of the best customer service in the business. their products work extremely well for most of the time the best price some of their equipment isn't as precise as other companies but get the job done. Now you probably got a defective product which every company has had but to not deal with Lee again for a product that was defective and you didn't check for 4 years I think is kind of a mistake