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I just received a new Lee Collet Die for my .233 Remington and found that the collet appears to be seized in the die body and has to be driven out with a wooden dowel. Is this normal? I notice on Youtube the collet drops freely into the die body. Does it free up with use, or should I send it back?
they will do that is you try it empty. or if it came that way it may have been dropped during shipping.
You might try taking it apart, cleaning it, deburring it, lightly lubing it, then reassemblng it
I presume you're trying to disassemble the collet die, and the collet itself will not drop free after you remove the other parts, it has to be driven out. Is that correct? I have had several lee collet dies, most were like that when new.
Ditto w/ Blue & Smokey, All the die manufactrers tell you to take them apart before use and clean them up good. Once you get it loose don't press it in without a casing in it. Been using them for years. As with any others it doesn't hurt to strip 'em down and clean them once in a while. If you haven't used them before I think you will be satisfied once you put it to use. Good luck, Quick
Thanks LG, I tried using the die and it seems to work O.K. so I guess all's well and it will probably free up more with use.
Max, when I took mine apart for the first time it was much like you described. After cleaning it (mine had quite a bit of oil from shipping) it seemed better. Next couple of times I took it apart and it was even easier - if you watched the vid on ammosmith, recall he said his was pretty old so it would slide apart pretty easy.
Here's a very good post on how to clean, debur and set a Lee collet die.
http://www.benchrest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49899