Sinclair mandrels

[G. Neely]

Can you polish the SS mandrels or are they pretty slick to begin with

Yes, pretty easily. Either spin them in a lathe or hand drill and use higher grades of abrasive papers. But mind out that you don't remove material from the mandrel that you reduce its diameter. You can also try buffing compounds like tripoli to get the finish you want. The beauty of the ss mandrels is that at $10 or so apiece, you can afford to experiment.

 

[MLN1963]

With this and an excess neck clearance trend, it's no wonder so many people are finding benefit in constant annealing..
I suspect they're overworking necks.

I'm intrigued by the excessive clearance trend. What are you considering too little, just right and too much neck clearance? What types of shooting are these based on?

Thanks!

 

[Mikecr]

I consider any more than needed as excess, and nothing is free for that.
I can think of no way that 'type of shooting' changes reloading concepts.

On brass in general (entirety):
There is no such thing as too little clearance. ANY is clearance.
Too much clearance allows excess yielding of brass, which has memory, and will seek where it's been. You can't really undo that without changing character of the brass, which is counter to consistency and possibly planning. This is where most reloading issues are sourced.
Opening pockets, difficult bolt turn, popping extraction. high runout, thrown shots, higher ES, creeping out of node, constant trimming, frequent annealing, carbon ring, donuts, cracked & failed cases, inconsistent tension, higher case turnover...

On neck clearance, I consider just right as minimal. I prefer bushing sizing within 5thou at most, so I can get by with 3thou clearance.
With my favorite chamber, necks are turned for 1/2thou clearance. Given this and sufficient spring back, I do not have to size necks -ever.
In fact, that whole chamber is 'fitted' to new cases. 80+ reloads now with no sizing, trimming, or annealing. Pockets are tight as new, and matched H20 capacities remain so. Runout arguably too low to measure. It doesn't get easier.

 

[QuietTexan]

I can think of no way that 'type of shooting' changes reloading concepts.

Mike I hear what you're saying and it's all true - you're 100% correct that the concepts don't change regardless of what you're loading for.

But I read "kinds of shooting" to mean a variety of practical applications. Some situations might call for placing functionality over accuracy and precision. I don't think a case fit so tightly into the chamber it doesn't need resizing after firing would be practical anywhere the case could get wet or dirty, or where the action could get wet or dirty. Cutting a chamber that precisely to be used in a direct impingement action that coats cases in crud, rams them in and out at high velocity, and doesn't have any camming action to close the chamber could induce failures to load.

The concepts don't change, but I will argue that less precise loading techniques should be used in certain situations specifically to put in large enough tolerances to ensure functionality, even at the cost of accuracy.

I'm intrigued by the excessive clearance trend. What are you considering too little, just right and too much neck clearance? What types of shooting are these based on?

Thanks!

There are a lot of chambers cut in production rifles that have so much neck clearance there's no way to resize the case back down to the point it grips a bullet without overworking the brass. Spec chambers have to be sized to accept a variety of brass dimensions - if you're using thin necked brass (or even thick brass if it's bad enough) in a loose chambers even the most precise loading techniques you're going to be moving the necks too much to avoid the litany of issues Mike pointed out. But everything short of perfect is a compromise, and you have to decide what compromises you'll make for your situations.