SmallCaliberCentral

I just bought a die set with a custom gun. The gun has a .230 No Turn Match Chamber and the Neck die I received with the gun was a Lee Collet. I know I need my finished ammo to match the guns chamber and understand the use of a bushing Redding type die to accomplish this. Will the Lee Collet Die work as well or do I just need to go with a Redding Neck Sizer and correct bushing?

Sigfla wrote:Will the Lee Collet Die work as well or do I just need to go with a Redding Neck Sizer and correct bushing?

The neck OD of your loaded rounds will be a function of 2 things. The starting neck OD and the neck wall thickness. The only thing you might gain with the Redding bushing die is a smaller neck OD before bullet seating. If your Lee collet die isn't making the neck OD small enough, just sand down the decapping rod where the neck is during sizing. Easy to do.

I have found neck thickness can vary a lot based on the manufacturer. So if you are having clearance issues, consider trying a different make. I also assume you are using some type of brass manufactured for .224 diameter bullets. How you size your neck down might impact uniformity of neck wall thickness. Your Redding die will be very useful for doing this in steps.

Most of my 20 calibers have 0.233 necks, and I have lots of room. Never an issue with brass make or fouling.

The Lee sizes based on ID, the Redding based on OD. There's an inherent problem sizing to OD, which is that your neck ID and bullet shank OD won't necessarily match when you change brass manufacturers (or lots, or even piece to piece). Too, non-uniform brass will cause the bushing-type sizer to push the neck slightly off-center.

The Redding dies are quality pieces, but they're unnecessarily complex and expensive, and they don't do the job as well as alternatives.