Neck Turning In A Lathe

[SHRTSHTR]

I have been gathering everthing I think I need for Long Range Handloading. Does anyone know where I can get a case holder keyless chuck to hold the case in a lathe? I have a Hardinge Tool Room lathe and would like to hold the cases in the lathe to turn necks and perform other operations. I will be loading a 300Weatherby, 300Win and 338 Lapua.

2nd. question. I notice that most people do not use the expander ball when sizing there brass. I have 200 pcs. of new 300 WW brass and the neck are deformed. I need to straighten these necks but not sure what tool I need. I watched a video of Darrell Hollands and he mentioned a "Case Neck Uniformer" made by sinclair. I cannot seem to find it on there site. Can someone point me in the right direction, or tell me what I need to use? Thanks for looking.

 

[LRHWAL]

There is a K&M and a Sinclair expander mandrel available. They round out the necks nicely (and are matched to their own neck turning pilots).

You can get them through Sinclair and the other precision reloading suppliers.

 

[EddieHarren]

I made my own shellholders, for turning necks, and if you'll send me your e-mail address, I'll send you some pictures. You can make these on your lathe.

 

[SHRTSHTR]

LRHWAL,

I called Sinclair and was able to order everything I need for uniforming case necks.

EddieHarren,

That is very generous of you and I Thank You kindly. Check you PM for e-mail address.

Thanks Guys,

Ray

 

[boomtube]

I guess anyone with a lathe will want to try it on necks. I used a brass 3C collet turned to .475 to hold my cases for neck turning. But, doing it on my old South Bend 9" lathe was too much work and too slow for what was being done so I went back to my Forster hand held neck turner.

 

[heikki02003]

Here is a great article on the subject

Neck-Turning with Lathe or Mill

 

[SHRTSHTR]

You are right, having a lathe makes me think I should use it, but that is not the main reason for using the lathe. I believe, as I'm sure most do that the bullet should be as concentic as possible to the outside case diameter. I believe that the I.D. of neck should be checked as well as the O.D. for runout. Then and only then could a evaluation be made on what operations need or don't need to be done.

If the case body is concentric to the neck O.D. and you have lets say .002 neck wall thickness variance, in my mind the I.D. of the neck should be bored, not the O.D. of neck. I think by doing this that you would then have a case with zero or near zero runout on new brass.

I could be totally wrong here, but it is something I am experimenting with and trying to learn about. I want my cases perfect and I believe it can be done. It may not be practical but just something I am pursuing. I have not been able to find any article or reloading videos that address any runout isses on the I.D. of neck. I am sure someone on here can set me straight on this subject and it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ray

 

[boomtube]

"... the bullet should be as concentic as possible to the outside case diameter."

Understand fully. And agree in concept. Share my experience just for food for thought.

What I did for a holder was to counter bore a (3/8") brass 3C collet about .475" wide and .25" deep, leaving a sharp shoulder to index the case head against. That part worked good.

I then chucked a tapered pilot into my tail stock's high grade 3 jaw drill chuck. Used that pilot as a guide to align the case before securing it firmly in the collet. Removed the pilot and inserted a conventional (Forster) neck reamer. Slowly fed the reamer into the centered necks (which had already been sized and expanded to leave the interior slightly tighter, maybe a thou, than the OD of the reamer). The interior cut worked good and, as you note, that made sure my neck was both smoooth and the center line was in direct alighment with the CL of the case. lightbulb

After boring the neck, and without moving the case, I swapped the reamer for a snugly fitted (and well lubed) pilot as a work mandrel and then just turned the necks normally. lightbulb

It worked pretty well but, for me anyway, annealing and using a conventonal outside turner, followed by a couple of hot firings, has done just as well.

It was fun to try but with no real gain for all the sweat and tears on the lathe, I did not repeat it! Maybe you can improve on it?? If so, I'd love to hear your method and results.

Good luck!

 

[SHRTSHTR]

Nice read Boomtube,

I agree that doing what you did would be very time consuming for very little gain. I also believe that cases are inheritely very concentric and well made with very little work needed to make them shoot very well.

For my own peace of mind, I plan on building a quick change collet system that will only leave the neck portion exposed. I can eliminate several operation if I do not need to remove case each time or need to support it.

I have a large machine shop and just need time to make some prototypes for my own use. Collets are the most time consuming part of all.

Thanks to all for the suggestions and well informed input.