Neck Turning

[jadams]

I was just wondering if any of you turn the necks on your brass? I just turned the necks of a few rounds for the first time this year, but they haven't made it to the range yet. It seems to be quite a bit extra labor and I am more than willing to do it if it will make a difference, but I am wondering how much accuracy it will bring.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[Steve Shelp]

it all really depends on the chamber specs themselves. If this is a factory chamber your probably not going to see much if anything. As a matter of fact your prbably going to have shorter case life from working to the brass so much from multiple firings.
If it's a custom chamber and a tighter neck then the rifle was probably put together very well to begin with so your going to see improvement of accuracy because of the whole system. So how much can neck turning be attributted to accuracy. I don't think anyone has the answer to that one.

but...consistant neck tension from having perfect necks is a very big benefit based on my competition and wildcat experiences for long range shooting. But I've had rifles that I didn't turn the necks on and just sorted my brass to get good even concentricity in the neck area and shot very well with them.

Steve

 

[jadams]

Thanks for the input! It is a factory chamber. I am planning on shooting the ones I've loaded and just "see what happens".

How do you check for cocentricity? Sounds like something I need to start doing...

Rhoman

 

[Coyoter]

I neck turn everything. It's because I use Redding Competition dies for everything. The turned necks allow you to use their neck bushings which size the outside of the case neck without an expander ball inside. Less work on the brass, and consistant neck tension. The dies are also awesome at doing away with neck and bullet runout if you set them up properly. You see, the neck turning is not an ends unto itself, it's a way of accomplishing other goals. If you're using dies with an expander ball, you won't gain very much... your neck tension is already pretty consistant because the imperfections of neck wall thickness are forced to the outside by the ball. The bushing dies force the imperfections to the inside where they have a more drastic effect on the neck tension.

You can check for concentricity with a number of tools. I use the RCBS Casemaster. You can check cases for concentricity, neck runout, casehead separation, neck thickness and bullet runout with this tool.
If you're trying to turn a 2" group into a 1" group at 100y then most of this isn't necessary. If your trying to turn a 1" group into a 1/4" group then by all means... start throwing $ at the sport and have fun!!!
Later, Coyoter