Lee loader and poor neck tension

I am loading 7.62x54R with a Lee loader and can spin the boolits when they are seated in the case. I am using twice fired PPU brass and the Lee 312-185-1R mold. Boolits are dropping at .312-.313 and lubed with Alox. Even after I crimp the boolits they still feel a little loose. After sizing, inside of case necks are measuring(caliper) .309-.310.
Forgot to mention I am not using a gas check on these.

Not hunting with these loads just plinking.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Measure the inside of the sizing die and see what the diameter. Then measure the wall thickness of the PPU brass. You might find that the PPU brass is a little thin in the neck wall. I ran into this problem with a .30 M1 carbine Lee loader set several years ago with civilian brass. Had to go to military brass to cure the problem. my experience anyway, james

Is your Lee Loader an old,worn one? I had an old one that probably never saw a lubed neck, and it never sized as tightly as I would have liked, the base of the neck was 2-3 thousands larger than the mouth after sizing. I finally bought a new one which worked properly. Are you flaring the case slightly so the plain base is not getting shaved by the case mouth, sometimes I use a tapered punch to put a bit of flare on the mouth when using cast, usually not needed with jacketed. Jim

It is a new set. Only loaded 20 or so rounds. I do use the flaring tool from the 38 Special Lee Loader to put a slight flare on case mouth


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I had the same problem with some .38 specials with jacketed. One brand of brass I had was too thin and would not size right. All other brands were OK. That batch of brass went to make Toyotas.

Did some experimenting this morning and think I have found the problem. I mostly load for revolvers so instinctively seat to the crimp groove. This doesn't work for this cartridge and boolit. I lengthened OAL to 2.823,which exposes a lube groove and neck tension is good.
Made up 5 dummy rounds loaded at 2.823 and they a cycle great through the action and boolits are held in place solid.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Glad you found your solution. I really like the little Lee Loaders. They are what I started reloading with back in 62. james

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TNsailorman

Glad you found your solution. I really like the little Lee Loaders. They are what I started reloading with back in 62. james

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I also like them quite a bit.

I've had similar problems with a new 45 acp Lee kit. Still like the Lee Classics. I de-prime all my brass using the kit punches & bases. It's faster than a press and I can clean my brass before sizing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TNsailorman

I really like the little Lee Loaders.

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Me too.

I have just 'discovered' them, and have been reloading for 25+ years!

Knowledgebase

Classic Lee Loader- Case neck not tight enough on the bullet
Posted by on 18 November 2011 11:27 AM
It is possible to tighten up the neck on a case by simply driving the case a little deeper into the resizing die. Take a dowel that is no larger in diameter than the rim of the cartridge, and drive the case into the die just below flush. This will further reduce the case mouth diameter and hold your bullets a little tighter.

There may be a variation in how tight bullets are held in place. This is due to the case being sized from the outside of the case. If the case has a thin wall, the inside diameter ends up being a little larger, than if the case has a thick wall. Sort your cases, and resize accordingly.http://leeprecision.net/support/inde...-on-the-bullet

Good information 243winxb, I never had much of a problem with loose neck tension but on one occasion with .30 M1 carbine commercial brass. I went to military brass and the problem went away. I never thought about your solution but I bet it would have worked had I tried it. Does make sense. james