A special collett Die

[Beekeeper]

I fear I will get the dreaded "read the stickies stupid" but am going to ask anyway.
I load for and shoot a couple of 1888 Commission Rifles with a 318 bore.

Standard 8MM collett neck sizing die sizes to .322
Need one to size to .317

Was thinking (bad for me) about buying a .323 spud and putting it in my drill press and filing it down to .317.Or would it be best to simply wait until Lee is accepting special orders and order one!
Will it work?


beekeeper

[nhrifle]

Not sure if the collet fingers will close far enough to make that work though they might be. My thought would be to get the sizer collet for the .303 British and open that up with an abrasive and make an appropriate mandrel.

[Harter66]

I have a few expanders that I turned on my drill press just for these situations. They can be made for most sizing dies or a universal decaping die . This doesn't help really w/a collet sizer but I use the method for 50-75% neck sizing in FL dies for most of my rifles due to their unique chambers.

[joesig]

That's only five thousandths. I don't see the collet having a problem with that.
I would just caution to insure the mandrel is round and smooth (wet/dry paper will work well)

[geargnasher]

If the mandrel's too big, it can be sanded down. If the collet fingers bind, the collet can be removed from the die and the slots enlarged slightly with Emery and a popsicle stick.

Gear