Neck Turning

[richhodg66]

Worth it? Honestly, I have never done it and I have always been of the mind set of avoiding things that don't really give a return on the time investment.

Lately I'm working with one cast bullet target rifle and want to get one lot of brass to use only in it and try to wrench all the accuracy out of it I can. Flash hole deburring and uniforming is a given. I suppose weight segregating all of it would help too. Just wondering how much trouble is worth it.

[Sig556r]

It was a necessary evil for me (manual rcbs neck turner) converting .308W to 6.5C when the latter wasn't mainstream yet.
Not really fun but satisfying not to give in to then expensive ammo or brass.
Haven't done it specifically to reduce neck tension on milsurp brass, I use VLD chamfer tool which is always enough for my use. YMMV.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Just don't overdo it, I saw one batch of brass that was too thin in the neck after turning.

[Larry Gibson]

With the target rifle and what you want to achieve ["to wrench all the accuracy out of it"] neck turning is a beneficial step. As Mr Sheesh mentions; just don't over do it.

[NSB]

I'm not a bench rest competitor, but I do like to see how much accuracy I can wring out of the ammo I load and use in my hunting guns. I spend a lot of time at the bench since I'm retired and I really like to shoot. I used to turn case necks and it is an investment in time at the loading bench. To be honest, it's pretty far down the list of things for me to do in order to pick up any additional significant accuracy. It's one of those things to do that might give you an additional improvement if you can measure to the third decimal place over time....in other words, it just isn't going to leap out at you. If you're doing all the basic stuff correctly and know what you're doing you're not going to get a "big bang for your buck". I quit doing it a long time ago. Just my two cents....

[popper]

I use converted 223 for BO and need to turn necks. Easy. Get a large chuck variable speed drill and chuck up the case head first. Hand turn tool in the mouth and go to it. Do NOT attempt manually - you fingers will wear out. At minimum it will even out neck thickness - some stuff is really out of round. The mic adjustment thingy is kinda worthless and spring loaded just means you dig deeper when it stalls on really thick spot. Use a feeler gauge to set and lock it down good. Doesn't hurt to resize and do again for best concentricity.

[country gent]

I have to neck turn 243 for my model 70 NRA coarse gun. Its tight necked at .268 neck dia of a loaded round, I neck turn brass to .267 loaded round dia. This chamber was designed for this. Out to 1000 yds it **** sub minute until I put 2600 rds thru the tube . I have neck turned wildcats that are sized down since the brass thickens. My one wildcat thickens brass so that I can ream necks then neck turn he outside. These cases are very uniform in thickness normally under .0001, normally my set up just neck turning only is with in .0002. On my tight necked rifles accuracy is very good, brass life is improved and founds are more concentric.

A guick test to tell if you rifle will benefitis to by a ball mic or indicator gage and sort 10-20 cases that are exactly the same as to thickness and concentrically, ie .011 thick and only .0002 run out in thickness. You may sort thru 100-150 cases to get this. Load and shoot groups with these cases against random cases same brand and lot. This will be a slightly optimistic test as it dosnt add the extra clearance to the factory chamber that neck turning will. Usually neck turning removes .001-.002 from the neck

I believe the gains with a factory style chamber are much less than with the true tight necked chamber. The added clearance makes it harder to maintain alignment of the loaded round where as the tight neck chamber holds it much closer with only .0005 clearance on a side. Also neck tension can become an issue with neck turned brass, Here bushing die are a plus and can be utilized to find the optimum neck tension also.

My set up is made to be used in a drill press. Cases are trimmed deburred and chamfered. I size the cases in bushing die to zero head spac. I have die I made up that holds the mandrel used in the turner and expand with this, The spring back gives a ideal fit for turning the brass. I then turn the necks to size and do the rest of the case prep.

In my 243 with the fitted cases prep and done this way I have loads that will hold a 3/4" paster at 200 yds.

Also when neck turning you need to be aware if and make sure you arnt leaving a doughnut at the shoulder neck junction of the case.
A light coat of sizing lube in the neck inside and out improves cut and accuracy. I simply dip the case mouth lightly is a tin of Imperial sizing die wax. The lee water soluble lube works well also.
A properly sharpened and honed cutter makes a big difference.

[BK7saum]

On a factory chamber and run of the mill brass, I have selected a small handful of cases and played with depth/neck thickness to turn an average of 50% off the case. So...about half of the neck will get turned and the remainder will not. This removes the high spots, but doesn't thin the neck to much that there is excess clearance slop in the chamber neck area.

Also, if you take too much off, a standard FL sizing die will not work. Then you will be required to use a FL bushing die with a small enough bushing to get the neck tension required.

I have turned necks for tight necked chambers.

I'd rather purchase Lapua or other quality brass and just go shoot, not worrying about uniformity of the neck/thickness, etc.

Brad

[txbirdman]

Bk7saum nailed it for me. Buy Lapua; Peterson or Norma brass, anneal it for longevity and don’t worry neck turning. YMMV

[beemer]

I turned for a different reason, my 30-30 has a tight neck and I needed the clearance. I bought a cheep tubing mic, did a lot of measuring and turned the high spots. The 30-30 has a thin neck anyway and I had to be careful.

[Rcmaveric]

I do it. Does it help? You would be surprised how inconsistent neck thickness is. It makes me feel good atleast. I won't swear by it because it won't fix an inaccurate rife and/or load. It won't turn a 2 inch group into a clover leaf. But it will tighten up a group a little.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[GBertolet]

I neck turn my 220 swift brass. After a few loadings the neck thickens, as well as length increases. After sizing it is hard to pull the expander ball out of the case, due to the thicker neck walls. Measuring with a tubing micrometer showed .002 increase over previously turned diameters. .002 X 2, for both sides of the neck showed a .004 total increase. In many of the cases it was difficult to even get the pilot in, of my Forester case trimmer with OD turning kit. Might of been easier to ID ream first, but you have then no control on how much brass you remove, or concentricity of wall thickness.

Outside of case forming, the pressure of the loads you shoot have a direct bearing on the neck thickening. Turning or reaming can also have benefits, if you have an oversized throat, and want to shoot abnormally large bullets, that would not normally fit in the case neck.

[country gent]

GBertolet; The last few hundred new ww 220 swift I bought needed turned right from the bag, Loaded they wouldn't fit in the chamber in my Number 1 V. Yook a light pass and all was fine. But if I havnt checked the first couple rds I would have had problems.

[richhodg66]

Thanks all for the advice. I like the idea of segregating some cases that have the closest neck wall thickness and trying that, might just do that before diving in whole hog.

[country gent]

Another thing to look at on the worst cases is to section a couple and measure wall thickness along the body and at the head. I have found it ends to grow more as the case thickens. What may be .002 at the thin neck may be .008-.010 closer to the head. This can make banana shaped cartridge

[lotech]

I have to turn case necks (slightly) for my Model 70 .30-06 if I use .311" cast bullets, the ones that shoot most accurately in this rifle.

[DHDeal]

A central theme to your answers seems to be those that neck turn do so because they were wildcatting and had to reduce neck diameter (my case). There were a few "accuracy nuts" thrown in too (my case too). Another reason would be to lessen the chance that a donut forming at the neck/shoulder junction of certain prone calibers.

I went as you said, whole hog with a 21st Century brand turner as it's what I do. My main reason was to turn down some Lapua Palma cases to 6.5 Creedmoor before Lapua began making 6.5 Creedmoor cases. After I had the turner, I naturally used it for more calibers. Not once has turned brass hurt accuracy but sometimes it didn't make any real big improvements either. As I was a 600 yard benchrest shooter, I would test at that range to see. Not one of my rifles is a factory stock gun, so my expectations are possibly a little different, but it applies to what you are wanting to do.

For your intended application I don't think it will hurt, but annealing is also a "consistency" trick that makes a difference. I became an annealing believer and purchased a Vertex machine to make that process easy, fast, and consistent (there's that word consistent again).

I may me telling you that water is wet here, but keep in mind the quality of the turner is also directly related to the quality of the cut. I had a Lyman kit I added to their trimmer and it could cut brass, but it couldn't begin to compare to the 21st Century turner. Mentioned by another poster was how case necks can be very inconsistent when taken out of the box. A truing cut (call it a 50% clean-up) can give you very consistent brass without making it where you need to use a smaller bushing in your sizing die if you use bushing dies.

This is a fine Rabbit Hole you've found....