How many of you folks turn the neck of your brass?

[Joe Portale]

Hi,

Yep, I have caught the accuracy bug. Was considering all that is involved to squeeze that last bit of hair splitting out of my gear and was wondering: how important is it to turn the neck of a rifle case?

Thanks.

 

[Gewehr98]

Haven't started yet...

But I'm not a benchrester, looking to go from the 2's to the 1's. Since I've been using Lapua and RWS brass for my serious accuracy rifles, I haven't felt the need to go the extra step, but I know that the temptation is there one of these days.

 

[Target Shooter]

I use a K&M neck turner. Works great and you can chuck the base in a battery operated drill for smoother and faster cutting.

TS

 

[echo3mike]

I'm not a benchrest shooter, nor do I play one on TV. However, the only reasons I've heared of to neck turn brass are when it will be used in a rifle with tight throats, or when the brass has variances in neck wall thickness, like around >.0015".

Even if you find a few cases in your batch like this, it may even be better just to toss them rather than to try to salvage them by the added prep involved.

 

[Target Shooter]

echo3mike,
I agree with you that neck turning isn't for everybody and it is a time consuming task. But if you have a rifle that is shooting extremely well and you want to squeeze a little more out of it you might want to try it.
I have turned necks on brass that was used in a Remington PSS and accuracy improved. (.308 Win) Loved it too much and now the barrel is shot out!
My Remington PSS is now at my gunsmith waiting for its new 28" Kreiger barrel with a 1/10 twist and custom cut chamber.
Match cut chamber with a .340 neck.

One thing about neck turning is you only have to do it once to your brass. I now shoot Lapua brass and turn the necks to .015". .308 + .030 = .338". This leaves .002" expansion for the neck to release the bullet. If you want more expansion just turn the necks down more.

TS

 

[Turk]

Benchrest shooters say it tightens the groups. As a High Power Service Rifle shooter I want X ring accuracy. BR shooter want a one group one hole. My M1A Super Match shoots where pointed I'm the hinderance when my groups spread out.

Turk

 

[Steve Smith]

To further what Turk said, you REALLY have to need the difference in order to do it. BR shooters are looking for 1/2" groups or better at 200 yards. Highpower shooters are looking for slightly less than 1 MOA (be it 2" at 200, 2" at 300, or 6" at 600 yards). Why so much difference? BR shooters, well, they use a bench of course. In HP, your hold and your practice will produce much of the needed accuracy...it's said that a 1 MOA rifle can win any HP match in the country...and it can. All this is especially true with the Service Rifle division.

If you are competing in BR competition or you have the right bench equipment and the right rifle to get this kind of accuracy, you may see a difference with neck turning (assuming that the rifle has a tight neck in the chamber).

If you are not "into" it this much, than maybe neck turning isn't for you.

 

[Tshoes]

Unless.......

You have a custom tube, and a tight neck, turning necks usually is of little value...................

 

[Bogie]

Well, I _am_ a benchrest shooter...

I turn all the brass for my 6PPC, to a neck thickness of 0.0087".

I really like the Ken Markel's tool - Mine is fitted with a carbide mandrel from Ron Hoehn, which is long enough to chuck in a slow-running drill press.

That said, for a factory chamber, you probably won't see a lot of improvement - If your brass has enough runout that you need to turn it, that runout will extend down the case, affecting the whole case. I'd recommend going with Lapua or Norma brass. If you can't get that, get a Neco gauge, and go through your brass looking for the ones with little runout. Then, adjust your turner to where it just takes off the high spots. ONLY the high spots - it'll look funky, but heck.

 

[Michael]

Hello,

My name is Micheal.....and I'm a neck turning addict.

I'm also one of those guys that lays on the dirt and tries to shoot real small groups from far off.

I did some experimentation with several brands of brass and found that even with a standard neck dimension factory rifle barrel a marked improvement was seen in velocity, standard deviation, and accuracy, even at ranges as close as 100 yards.

Using Winchester brass I could measure a 0.191 inch decrease in 100 yard group size, and with Lapua, a group reductiojn of 0.107 inches. At increased ranges the difference is remarkable.

A note when turning foSAAMI standard dimension necks.....you have to do it twice, because brass flows into the neck just enough after the first firing to upset your groups. The 2nd time is no big deal, you just put it back on the lathe and cut away that extra 0.001 that flowed on one side of the neck.

Short version, neck turning is worth doing if you load your own.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.