Neck turning

[Win.308Stealth]

Been reloading for about 8 years, and want to squeeze out some extra accuracy out of my loads. My question is. How much accuracy improvement should I expect when outside neck turning?

 

[J E Custom]

Been reloading for about 8 years, and want to squeeze out some extra accuracy out of my loads. My question is. How much accuracy improvement should I expect when outside neck turning?

Improvement is hard to quantify but consistency is not. You may not gain very much accuracy at 100 yards but the process will add to better accuracy at longer distances if all other aspects of loading quality are used.

I normally find the accuracy is improved and the standard deviation when the necks are annealed
and turned. Case length and bullet seating accuracy plus concentric loads also contributes to the overall accuracy.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[dok7mm]

It depends on a lot of things, one being how capable your rifle is. I started turning necks about 12 years ago for factory rifles and the results were not worthy of the time it took. A slight improvement, at best, on one rifle. As time passed, I began going the custom rifle route, with most chambers cut with minimum or tight necks. I began turning necks for .003"-.004" neck clearance because I have to. A lot of the improvements are most likely due to the quality of the smiths I chose and the quality of the custom barrels used. That being said, I am a strong believer in making every case as consistent as possible and neck turning is a part of that, for me. A case with the same wall thickness, all around, has a distinct advantage over a case with .002" or more variation, as far as getting consistent neck tension and less than .001" run out. Now I know that many members here are shooting tiny groups with brass that is very high quality and they will say neck turning is a waste of time, but I shoot a lot of Lapua brass and have improved my groups fractionally by turning it also. It comes down to how you feel about the rewards versus the time and cost of the equipment you will need to get set-up. I use all of K&M's turning supplies and it is very high quality. Google accurateshooter/ German Salazar/ neck turning for info, if you decide to try it.

 

[Win.308Stealth]

I have read German Salazar articles before, lots of good info. Never read his article on neck turning. Thanks for the help, I think I will read Germans article. I pretty much decided to turn necksnalready, just wanted to see what people's thoughts were.

 

[Gene]

Don't waste your time - German has departed shooting and took down his web site.

 

[Mikecr]

There is no SINGLE attribute that will 'give' you an accuracy improvement.

Think racing engine design. This allows that, which combines to enable another.
In other words, your working with combinations, toward a best.
If you change a cam without matching exhaust and intake, you lose ground. If you change clearances without managing oil (cleanliness, pressure, volume, case vacuum) you could lose it all.
Many fools change design without a plan.

A cartridge is a racing engine that begins with a bullet. You form the engine driving it with your chamber, which would be of best design you can maintain.

 

[Team Roper]

Here is my experience with neck turning. Factory chamber or custom barrel all have benefited to some degree some more than others.
Neck turning without inside neck reaming seems to be a wast of time energy and effort.
Combine the 2 and we have a winner.
This is my procedure:Anneal all of your cases, size cases either neck or FL, expand the necks with appropriate size K&M expander mandrel, ream inside necks, turn outside neck of 1 case cleaning up outside 80 to 90 %, run case thru neck size die and check for how much neck tension you are getting keep adjusting until you end up with between 2-3 thousands of neck tension, trim all cases to uniform length. Then procede with the rest of your cases. Annealing your cases first is very important as to prevent varying spring back of your cases.

 

[Win.308Stealth]

Thanks for all the input. Sounds like alot of work. Just might skip turning. Just not enough time, with work and trying to raise 6 kids right. I would rather spend my extra time either out on the shooting range or on the lake fishing with the kids. Thanks for all the responses.

 

[codyadams]

Thanks for all the input. Sounds like alot of work. Just might skip turning. Just not enough time, with work and trying to raise 6 kids right. I would rather spend my extra time either out on the shooting range or on the lake fishing with the kids. Thanks for all the responses.

Very good point. Family first, always. But....

Some of my best childhood memories come from spending hours sitting next to my dad in the garage at the reloading bench, chamfering while he was trimming, seating bullets while he was dumping powder, cleaning primer pockets while he was sizing/depriming, starting about when I was 5 or 6. The more I helped him, the more rounds we could load, which ultimately meant I could spend more time shooting with my dad.

I sit at the reloading bench by myself in my adult life, but wish at times I could still be reloading next to my dad. If at all possible, if you don't already, try to involve your kids at the bench, they may just enjoy it as much as you

 

[flashhole]

Lots of good advice so far.

6 Kids!!!!!

I am the oldest of 6.

Dude, your priorities are correct. Spend as much quality time with them as you can.

Rewards will come back to you 10 fold for having done so.

 

[bullelk6]

why not try it and join the rest of us that have found it to be helpful in some but not in others.I have found in my smaller calibers it helps with consistancy.

 

[Win.308Stealth]

Well I went ahead and bought a Sinclair neck turning kit. Going to do my .308, .300 rum, and 7 SAUM. What made me decide was that if I can get ANY extra accuracy out of my rifles, just might as well do it. Thank you all for the wise words, everyone's opinion was used to make this decision.

 

[bullelk6]

i believe you will get a better understanding of what the benchrest guys go thru to get all the accuracy they get once you start turning and pocket uniforming and allt he rest of the time consuming things that will help achieve that perfect group. It is and addiction and i have it bad i recommend that you find a group of shooters that are this far in and do it as a group. I have a few buds that have the addiction and we get together and on certain days and bs while we load for our pet calibers.When you buy your annealer that you will get next dont go cheap. Good luck in the neverending hunt for the perfect group.

 

[frostop]

I realize that this is an older post, but I want to be clear.
I am having a rifle put together in 270 wsm, I just received 100 lot of brass that I was going to start working with. From what I have read I should anneal and neck turn before firing any, correct?