Neck Turning advise needed

[marmot]

I've been reloading for about 25 years for my hunting rifles and it seams there are only a few things you can do to improve on a factory case.

One of these things is turning down the necks so the wall thickness is even. I know it won't help a lot under hunting circumstances but I would like to see tighter groups at the range.

My question is which neck turner is the best? I only do small batches (50 or less) so a manual setup would do. Sinclair, Foster and Wilson are some I have seen advertised but there may be others.

(Edited by marmot at 11:33 am on Dec. 27, 2001)

[songdog]

I use Sinclair. ###I only do it some cases though as I haven't seen the real benefit with others. ###I do it primarily on my .17 Mach IV.

[marmot]

It does seam like the affect would be greater on smaller calibers.

[huntducks]

I use a Forster and have seen little effect on accuracy except in my 22-250, 220swift and 225win, it also seems to me that the larger calibers show little effect of outside turning as the smaller one's.

[marmot]

I ordered one of the new Foster hand held turners. They look simular to the Sinclair model.

Report to follow.

[marmot]

I got the Foster neck turned and it was a mickey mouse looking deal. I sent it right back and ordered the RCBS neck turner with all the fittings and the required case trimmer (mine was an older model but works good so the new trimmer will be dedicated to turning set up)

It works great and looks heavy duty. I have identified some casses with uneven walls and corected them but I do have a question.

The trimmer instructions say to remove as little neck brass as possible when turning them but nowhere in all the literature I have been searching does it say what the minimum neck wall thickness should be.

Does anyone know? Is it a big secret? What?

[Bou]

marmot,
that's a good question!!! I really don't know what the mim should be but I generally take off enough brass so that 75% the case is new brass. btw i also debur the flash hole and uniform the primer pockets and on most hunting rifles that seems to help more than turning case necks. even on my PSS i generally don't turn case necks anymore, but i will debur the flash holes and uniform the primer pockets. evry rifle is different so have fun!!

[lonwen99]

marmot , i was making some 7.62x25 tork. cases from 223 brass , cut brass , formed in fl die , then trimmed to proper case length .chamfered the case mouth , seat the primer , poured in the powder . seat the bullet . guess what , the round whould not chamber all the way . now what , i knew it was not my dies because they work great with s-b cases . so after talking to this person and that person for about a week , after all kinds of this and that , guess what , i bought me a out side neck turner . turned the necks down to s-b thickness . know i make my own 7.62x25 tork cases . so yes neck turners do work , takes awhile to get use to them. i have made hundreds cases this way . just stay off the shoulder of the case. lonwen99

[BigBob3006]

Marmot,
The case drawing in the various manuals usually indicate the Max S.A.A.M.I. neck diameter specs. Tolerances are +.000" and -.008" from that measurement. That measurement should be made with a bullet seated in the case. It seems that I remember minimum thickness is .009". I turn my neck thickness to the chamber demensions less .002" This allows the neck to expand to release the bullet but still minimizes how much I have to work the case during resizing. I use bushing style neck sizing dies which lets me size to the exact demenisions I need.
My experience has indicated the if the neck thickness varies less than .001" then turning will not help. If they vary over .001, then you may have unexplained fliers. I hope that this is of some help. Good luck. http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-banghead-yellow.gif