How do you set your lock rings

[6pakzak]

I've been using mostly lee dies which have a o ring under ring, switched to better dies and continued using o ring under lock ring, bought a bunch of o rings, well decided to ditch the o ring on Forester seating die, tried it and noticed once I tightened the set screw on ring I could not spin the die out by hand and had to use pliers to loosen die, not really hard but couldn't do it by hand, so screwed die in again and lightly snugged by hand. I used new Lapua brass and just neck sized it and my runout went from around .001 to over .002, then I tried Hornady lock ring on die cause it's steel compared to aluminum Forster came with, same results, could not unscrew it by hand and runout about the same, went back to Forster aluminum ring and put o ring under it and runout went back to .001, so why is the die without o ring causing more runout?

 

[Tac-O]

The idea behind Lee's lock ring using an oring is that it allows a bit of play in the die's alignment so that the die can align with the brass more squarely. Play in the die and shell holder work to let the likely square casing line them up.

 

[6pakzak]

Yes I get that but I'm talking a seating die and my necks are definitely low tension, I also put quite a bit of squash on the o ring under the die so I really can't see it moving from seating.

 

[DoneNOut]

I use channel locks.

 

[257 STW]

Not uncommon for a die to tighten down when you adjust, and lock the ring for the first time. Just remove the die with a bench wrench. Should be GTG after that with hand tightening.