Neck Turning

[GLTaylor]

Yes, both mandrels fit in same die. I use Sinclair.
21st Century mandrels used to fit in same Sinclair die (guess they still do). You buy mandrels based on job to be done. Not trial and error.
Sinclair sells one 22 mandrel for neck turning , another for applying neck tension.
21st Century offers them in .001 increments if you want diff neck tension.

 

[Orange Dust]

Also depending on how your process is.....but you also expand for the perfect size for neck turning, you don't want it too tight or you will guald the id othe brass necks or too loose and it'll be a sloppy neck turn.

Correct. I was just referring to loading, didn't go into prep.

 

[Orange Dust]

New brass I chamfer, size, expand, turn necks, do primer pockets and flash holes, trim, chamfer, weight sort, size again, expand again, prime and load. Lots of work, and with cases $3 each, I take care of them.

 

[Mikecr]

What Sinclair offers is a turning mandrel and an expander mandrel. This is part of their turning system.
The turning mandrel is smaller than the expander mandrel.

Mandrels are not actually for setting tension. Your bushing sizing does that (with LENGTH of neck sizing).
I guess I could keep saying it until the world ends, but here we go again:
INTERFERENCE FIT is not TENSION. Various mandrel sizes set interference fit, not tension.
Your seating bullets simply undo whatever interference fit you set.

Neck tension is spring back force gripping an area of seated bullet bearing (PSI).
Spring back force is affected by several things, but you can adjust the area with which it applies, through seating depth and adjusted sizing length.
Your powder tuning is accounting for this, and it's the finest of all tuning (to the kernel). So you might as well just choose a reasonable interference and sizing length, that holds variance and detriment to minimal.
Extremes are never reasonable

 

[texasgunner]

Gentleman thanks, love this message board. Always guys here with good knowledge of subject!!!!

 

[IHFarmer07]

New brass I chamfer, size, expand, turn necks, do primer pockets and flash holes, trim, chamfer, weight sort, size again, expand again, prime and load. Lots of work, and with cases $3 each, I take care of them.

That's pretty much how my process is.....minus the weight sort.

My process for new brass- expand, 3 in 1 trim/chamfer/debur, uniform primer pocket, debur primer flash holes, neck turn, lube, fl size, mandrel size, prime, charge, seat.

Fired brass-deprime, ss clean, anneal, lube, fl size, expand for 3 in 1 trim/chamfer/debur, uniform primer pockets, debur primer flash holes, 3 in 1 trim, neck turn, fl size, mandrel expand to set neck tension, prime, charge, seat.

I do this for every firing/reloading.....keeps things consistent for precision shooting for 400 yards and beyond. I don't go through this all for hunting rifles up to 300 yards.

 

[Orange Dust]

What Sinclair offers is a turning mandrel and an expander mandrel. This is part of their turning system.
The turning mandrel is smaller than the expander mandrel.

Mandrels are not actually for setting tension. Your bushing sizing does that (with LENGTH of neck sizing).
I guess I could keep saying it until the world ends, but here we go again:
INTERFERENCE FIT is not TENSION. Various mandrel sizes set interference fit, not tension.
Your seating bullets simply undo whatever interference fit you set.

Neck tension is spring back force gripping an area of seated bullet bearing (PSI).
Spring back force is affected by several things, but you can adjust the area with which it applies, through seating depth and adjusted sizing length.
Your powder tuning is accounting for this, and it's the finest of all tuning (to the kernel). So you might as well just choose a reasonable interference and sizing length, that holds variance and detriment to minimal.
Extremes are never reasonable

This is why neck turning helps ALL chambers. Consistent neck tension. The by product of straighter cartridges doesn't hurt either.

 

[Mikecr]

It depends on some things.
Runout hurts only when it exceeds your clearances.
With tension variances, the hurt is tied to load sensitivities to it.
Most of the time this is easy to manage without neck turning.

If your chamber clearances are not excessive, then you'll move brass thickness less, making straighter ammo.
And you can carefully measure NEW neck thickness and variances of it. Culling out offenders.
I don't turn for a 223Rem barrel, that produces no worse than 3/8moa to 500yds. The lapua brown box cases for it have quite a few reload cycles, and so far no issues or even need of re-annealing. It's a Cooper, I think Wilson barrel.
I measure & match pre-seating forces with each neck -using instrumented mandrel expansion -before bullet seating.

With pretty much every other gun/chamber for the past 30yrs, I've designed and held the reamers. I go tighter than most folks, requiring neck turning, and my sizing overall could be described as 'barely'. I've yet to see it not work out really well, but this is with smaller & improved cartridges.
Nothing 30-06-like

So I guess what I'm saying is that with a factory gun (like my Cooper) I don't neck turn, and it hasn't hurt me.

 

[Orange Dust]

The higher the powder to bore size the more it matters. 90 to 100grs in a 7mm or 30 and they become sensitive to everything. I don't turn small capacity stuff unless it's a bench gun.