Hornady neck Turn Tool

[airone46]

Goodmorning everyone,
Can anyone tell me if the Hornady neck Turn Tool works only with Hornaday shell holders?
In fact I tried to insert an RCBS and a Lee Precision shell holder but it was impossible to mount it!
It's the first time I use it, because it has just arrived!
Nothing is written on the Hornaday website.
In addition, the neck of the case (7.5x55 Swiss / K 31) enters on the mandrell .30 with great difficulty, so much so that I could not take it off with just the hands (neck and mandrell had been lubricated!), and I had to remove it by putting the shell holder with the cartridge case in a small vice!
Is all this normal?
Thank you

[EDG]

Turning case necks is not for the casual reloader.
I would recommend you go to the reloading forum at ACCURATESHOOTER.COM. Those guys are benchresters and most of them turn necks. Apparently the center hole in most shell holders is too small to work with the Hornady tool. Some shooters have been known to turn down the Hornady mandrel to fit other shell holders.
I have a Pindel, 2 Forsters, 3 Marquart and a K&M.
The K&M product line includes expander mandrels to expand the case to an exact match for the turning tool pilot.

[Time Killer]

Only works with hornady shell holders.

[airone46]

I suppose that the fixing system of the shell is similar to the Lee system: an axis is screwed to a support and goes to press against the base of the cartridge case, fixing it to the rotating system. In practice, the axle's externalness is like the support of the primers that enter the hole of the shell holders.
The problem is that this axis is slightly larger as a diameter and does not fit inside the shell holder, so you can not screw the axis to the support where the shell holder is inserted.
On the HORNADY price list there is no shell holder dedicated to the lathe (as Lee does, for example, for the primers!).
Friday should arrive the set of 5 shell holder of HORNADY: let's see what happens!
These are the photos of the pieces_



1- [IMG] http://i67.tinypic.com/vp7wwp.jpg [/ IMG]
pieces that make up the whole


2- [IMG] http://i67.tinypic.com/11uc1t1.jpg [/ IMG]
shell holder (Lee) mounted on the lathe shell holder holder


3- 3- [IMG] http://i68.tinypic.com/4i1son.jpg [/ IMG]
mounting sequence: shell holder mounted on the support + axis that SHOULD enter the holder


4- [IMG] http://i65.tinypic.com/28u075j.png [/ IMG]
axis: the section between the two arrows has a larger diameter than the hole in the shell holder in which I should enter


5- [IMG] http://i67.tinypic.com/2j1o3rq.jpg [/ IMG]
as seen, the axis does not enter the shell holder and can not be screwed onto the shell holder

[airone46]

I received the answer from Hornady:
"Thank you for your email." That tool is designed to work with our shell holders. "

If they had written this important warning, I would not have wasted time looking for them at a reasonable price on Amazon.com (€ 17.32 + € 9 shipping = € 26.32), and trying to mount the Holders shells of the other brands I had, Unwillingly, disturbing friends reloaders who live in Alabama to translate the manual (I thought I had made mistakes in translation!), but above all I would have them immediately and at a lower price (but this is not a problem!

So the shell holders bought on Amazon. com will arrive in a couple of days: I hope they work!

I will keep you informed! The biggest drawback was that, at least in Italy, very few have this item and nobody could tell me that Hornady shell holders are different, while all the others (RCBS, Redding, Lee, CH-4) are similar!

[airone46]

SHELL HOLDERS ARRIVED
SHELL HOLDERS MOUNTED !!!






It's really true! This lathe not only needs to work for shell holders: from the photos it might seem that it had a universal mandrell But this is of little importance, since you could use those purchased together with dies. The problem is that in order to work it needs ONLY Hornady shell holders.

So it is good that those who intend to buy this item, take into account that you must buy a Hornady shell holder for each group of cartridges compatible with that shell holder. Fortunately, there is a kit of 5 shell holders (No. 1,2,3,5,16) compatible with the most used gauges!

The only note I make to Hornady, is the failure to inform the customer! I had to waste a lot of time to understand before the shell gengers needed, then the shell holders of the other manufacturers were not compatible, and finally find the Hornady 390540 kit: as I said thankfully Amazon sells it at a great price, especially for those who do not live in the USA, and who have to pay disproportionate figures for transportation.
for example USP gets to ask over $ 100 for the shipment of a simple die from the US in Italy!

[airone46]

I tried to return a couple of brass.
The cases PRVI PARTISAN enter into the mandrell only ... with a hammer! The Lapua are much better, than they come in with a normal force (of course I had sized before the cases at Redding's neck sizing).
I found it very laborious to adjust the length of the neck turning, up to the base of the casing, and the locking method: it would be easier to make on the "neck turn tool spindle" a hole and rotate it with a screwdriver bit. Using a 5/8 wrench on the flats can lead, in my judgment, to losing the original mandrell setting.
It would have been appropriate to lock the mandrell in the body with a screw and then tighten the "neck turn tool spindle" for a final fixation.
With this system you must first trim the neck of the shells, all to the same extent: if a neck is a little shorter than the chosen setting, you risk to sever the neck!
I do not understand why they should not make a tool designed like a real lathe: the case is fixed to the base and the neck and is turned, while the cutting edge is fixed to a support that moves with a straight motion, with an adjustable stop point. In this way, even if the neck has lengthened and we have not made the trim, the shoulder will never be touched!

One last criticism is why not prepare the neck turn body for mounting a dial gauge, to measure both the thickness of the neck and the thickness in the various points of the neck!

A vote? I would give 7, also because that Hornady does not declare that not only the shell holders, but also those made by them (on Midway USA have complained in many!), that does not sell the various spare parts, as Lee does (I would have purchased a neck turn body and try to make the changes to lock the mandrell and to mount a comparator) and finally because Hornady does not respond to the criticism and objections that I sent her.

P.S. Anyone can tell me the type of threading mandrells (are with the American system, different from the Italian metric)?
I would like to make myself a fastening system to the reloading press to enlarge the necks too tight.

[Baltimoreed]

I bought one of these neat Hornady trimmers from MidwayUSA to turn down the crazy thick necks for my 300blkout brass made from assorted 556/223 brass. Sometimes there’s a runout where the cutter cuts one side but not the other and on the next case the cutter makes brass curls. Works great, I’m making them .010-.011 thick so I can use my hand cast .311 boolits. Not doing it for the accuracy, doing it to use the plentiful cheaper than factory mil spec brass from all you 223 shooters. I did tinker with the spring, imo it’s way too strong, found a weaker one.

[airone46]

Putting a weaker spring can, in my opinion, create drawbacks: the case can remain locked on the mandrel when you pull the screwdriver back.

The neck turner is a good item, but like all things in the world, it could be improved, with some small changes.

Absolute perfection does not exist!

P.S. how does the adjustment of the length of the turning work in your opinion? First you go the casing trim and then do the neck turner?

Can someone tell me the diameter and thread pitch of the mandrels? In Italy we have different sizes! I would like to get a support to apply to one of my presses to enlarge the necks with the same mandrel that is used in the lathe.
As I said, some shell casings sometimes get stuck on the mandrel!

[Baltimoreed]

Your case needs to be already trimmed to the correct length. That way you cut the same amount on the case neck as the depth is measured from the case mouth. And you don’t want to cut into the shoulder and weaken the case. The lee case trimmers are pretty much foolproof, put the deprimed case in the shell holder, tighten it up, insert the rod/cutter and turn it until the rod bottoms out against the case holder. If your cases are getting stuck on the mandrel you are using the incorrect shell holder, the case shouldn’t be able to come off the shell holder. Your mandrel should fit inside case without any force, I’m thinking that the case doesn’t need to be a super tight fit as you are only using the side of the mandrel that is against the cutter. It does need to be close to keep everything concentric. You also need a variable power screwdriver or small drill to run it fast enough for it to work right.

[airone46]

that it was necessary to make the trim of the neck of the case before the neck turner I imagined it! The starting point of the turning gives it the head of the spindle!

The fact that the cases lock on the mandrel does not depend on the wrong mandrel: the mandrel is the .30! I only have new PRVI PARTISAN cases and some one-fired Lapua cases. They are only the first ones that get stuck, whether I first step them into the neck sizer redding to bring the diameter of the neck to the right size, and if I return them without doing anything!
The cutter then, is completely raised!

At the base of the neck, a very small step is formed: is it normal?



P.S. I also tried the Lapua 308 casings in the Hornady mandrel: they enter with VERY GREAT effort.
Instead the casings .30 (308, 7.5x55) tested on the pilot .30 (item 06130) of my Redding case gauge enter with a VERY NORMAL force!
I then made the measurements with a digital caliber of the Swiss TESA: the Redding pilot is 0.3045 while the Hornady mandrel is 0.3117 (I averaged between 5 measurements, because the mandrel was inserted on the body, and I did not want to take it away the regolation)

[jj850]

you may have to use an expander die and mandrel after you trim , before you turn. to make the neck fit the mandrel

[airone46]

Yes I know! The problem is because a company like Hornady sells mandrel that says it is .306, and then instead they have a different size.
https://www.hornady.com/reloading/ca...urning-tool#!/
But above all it makes me angry that Hornady does not respond to my e-mail in which I ask for explanations!
I think it is better to have explanations from those who sell, and not rely on courtesy of a forum!

PS as I wrote the Redding pilots work perfectly!
At this point I would like to make a support to fix the Hornady mandrel to one of my presses and use the Hornady mandrel as expanders. But I find it difficult to find the American threads where I live.

Finally I did not understand why the cartridge case that was stuck in the mandrel after leaving, always enters with great difficulty in the same mandrel!