204 to 240

Looking at lee collet neck sizing 223/5.56 die. Will it work?

to get the job done. Forget the neck sizing, you want the opposite anyway. .223 are shorter than .204 and messing around there you'll crush one. New brass should work without any other goofing around.

It’s just for saving old brass gone hard. Start with fresh and you should do fine. Steps with lube, minimizes splits. It’s worth it.

I de-primed some older brass and put in a pan with water up to the just under the shoulders. Should have been a little higher. I got the heat into the shoulders and when the oversized expander ball hit the tight neck it telescoped the shoulders into the cases. FUBAR! A little higher heat sink and she would have been ok. A dark art. You just put the flame on it to turn it silvery blue, just a couple seconds.

If you want to ruin some brass, and learn something, give it a try some day. But you can make it work. Has to be de-primed or cases tip, trying to float and heat sink is not effective. FWIW. It’s an advanced trick for special times.

I had some fired 2-3 times, had sold the rifle so why not. That’s another kettle of fish. Maybe sage advice should be “always begin with virgin brass”. It sure has more elasticity.

Playing with some old discarded .30-30 brass of varied types and ages (30 yr. old some of it) I can feel the difference in my press handle, if it’s going to split or not. Also trimming in the lathe, you can easily tell the workable brass that pulls smooth fine curls compared to harder brass that chunks and throws tiny chattery chips. It’s interesting, and can be age/storage related as well as work hardened from multi firings. FYI

I’m no machinist, just dangerous, but interesting to note.