Well after messing with this some more last night I've come to two conclusions:
1. Lee resizing lube really does suck.
2. The Lee dies I have really do suck.
What you meant to say was "Get some bushing dies" - expander ball is the devil (accuracy wise).
Reloading generally sucks and not for everyone.
I guarantee it's not the lube or the dies - it's how you use it.
Experienced reloaders keep recommending Lee dies for their value. Lee gets a lot of bad rep because that's what newbies starts with it. They run into problems and blame the dies/press/lube etc. - and then confuse "value" with "cheap". IMHO only Wilson and Forster make objectively better dies - here I said it, Lee makes better dies than RCBS, Lyman, Redding and Hornady regardless of the price.
A lot of times people buy something and it works, they stick to brand name - nothing wrong with that. I've tried them all and tested them. Everybody is entitled to an opinion - mine is based on actual testing (both with mic and at the range).
You can single pass form 243 from 30-06 with nothing "sticking" - you got a setup problem.
The result you want .002-.005 neck tension, aka .272-.275 neck ID
1) Run a case through the die without decap/expander - measure neck OD. If it doesn't measure .280-.310 you do have a bad die.
2) What is neck thickness? You want it in .010-.012 range, some brass has very thick neck and needs to be turned; just mind how the die is ground from your neck OD measurment
3) Measure expander OD - you want it in .272-.274 range - it should barely touch on the way up. If the neck is ground on the tight side - the expander will have to do more work.
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