Neck turning

[amyjane]

I would be interested in people's views on neck turning please.

I have a stash of .308 RWS and HPS (mostly Lapua) ammo that have all been fire formed in my TR rifle. I don't plan on doing a lot of reloading and will probably only use the cases a few times.

At the moment I am neck sizing with a bushing.

Would you recommend neck turning as well?

Many thanks

[Steve E]

In a standard target rifle chamber I would consider it a waste of time and effort. What do you think that you are going to achieve?

I did do it to a batch of Lapua cases about 10 years ago and all that it did was shorten the case life as longitudinal cracks in the neck appeared after a couple of resize's. I have the rest of that batch that was not neck turned and they are still going strong on 10+ reloads.

[The Gun Pimp]

The point of neck-turning is two-fold. Firstly, it eliminates any inconsistency in the case-neck. This is good, however, the downside is that it will increase the neck to chamber clearance - which is exactly the opposite of what you are trying to achieve (assuming you are looking for accuracy!).

Secondly, providing you start with a chamber with a below spec neck-diameter, neck turning will allow you to decrease the 'case neck to chamber' clearance, which is generally believed to be an aid to accuracy. For example, most 6PPC benchresters will run a 0.262 chamber-neck. The Lapua brass before turning will be around 13 thou. thick in the neck. We generally turn to 8.5 thou - giving a clearance of a thou. all round. Remember though, benchrest is shot in controlled conditions with most shooters cleaning every 10-15 shots - thus keeping the chamber-neck clean. Don't forget, that black residue deposited on the outside of the case-neck also builds up on the inside of the chamber and that one thou. can soon disappear!

If your chamber is a standard neck, neck-turning will obviously increase the clearance - counter productive!

Honestly, good quality brass from manufacturers like Lapua is so concentric in the neck area that I no longer bother neck-turning but spec. a reamer with a reduced neck diameter.

if you want to get the best out of your brass, buy a tube (ball) mike and check your case-necks for brass thickness - cull the odd ones which are uneven.

[amyjane]

Thanks folks.

Interesting points - it seems the consensus is that it is a waste of time and would possibly reduce accuracy!

Maybe like The Gun Pimp says, I should invest in a micrometer or gauge and bin the cases that are uneven.

[GazMorris]

Interesting points - it seems the consensus is that it is a waste of time and would possibly reduce accuracy!

Steve and Laurie are right on the money here. With a standard TR you're unlikely to see any significant increase in accuracy.

Gaz

[amyjane]

Thanks all - very helpful.

[Stuck]

if you want to get the best out of your brass, buy a tube (ball) mike and check your case-necks for brass thickness - cull the odd ones which are uneven.

Sorry for the hijack but i've just purchased a tube mic for this very purpose & was wondering what is regarded as excessive variation in neck thickness?

Thanks,

Mick.

[meles meles]

Sorry for the hijack but i've just purchased a tube mic for this very purpose & was wondering what is regarded as excessive variation in neck thickness?

Thanks,

Mick.

Ask a redneck?

[Stuck]

Thanks for the helpful answer badger :55:

Going back to the original question I've just measured the neck thickness of a dozen new Lapua cases and get a maximum deviation case to case of 0.002"

Measuring a dozen 8 x fired Lapua cases I get a maximum deviation of 0.003"

Would a deviation of 0.003" case to case make any difference over a 1000 Yards?

[The Gun Pimp]

How are you measuring the thickness of brass in the neck area? Are you saying that the brass is 0.002in thicker/thinner on one side of the neck or are you saying the brass thickness is even all the way round but varies from one case to the next?