Bullet Tipping and Neck Turning worth doing?

[markl323]

I don't have a benchrest gun and I'm not planning on getting one. I reload for a 300 PRC AXSR and it weighs about 20lbs with all things attached.
Should I even bother with bullet tipping and neck turning? Or I would need something like bench rest setup to see the difference in grouping? Assuming distance is 1000 - 1500 yards.

 

[TheOE800]

I don't have a benchrest gun and I'm not planning on getting one.

Solved this one quick!

 

[straightshooter1]

I don't have a benchrest gun and I'm not planning on getting one. I reload for a 300 PRC AXSR and it weighs about 20lbs with all things attached.
Should I even bother with bullet tipping and neck turning? Or I would need something like bench rest setup to see the difference in grouping? Assuming distance is 1000 - 1500 yards.

Though I like to turn the necks of all my brass to get the minimal benefit of consistent neck tension, I don't feel it's really all that "necessary".

Tipping your bullets requires a lot of work and can really help with getting consistent BC's, which helps with that that distance you're assuming. If you were to use bullets that are already tipped, like 169 SMK's or 177 SMK's, than can save you a lot of work. . . if you happen to like those particular bullets.

 

[Ledzep]

Unless you find it therapeutic or care to test it to prove the difference to yourself you can probably skip both.

Tipping is going to uniform at the expense of net drag. Most of the time within 800yd it's hard to detect the variation without a really expensive radar head. If you're trying to routinely shoot past 1200yd for score it may be something worth looking into/testing?? But it's going to be a trade off between variability and net drag. Net drag increases in a big way as you cut back and increase meplat diameter.

Neck turning... I wouldn't do it even if I was going to compete in F-class or BR. Sue me.

 

[markl323]

Solved this one quick!

my question amuses you? bored with nothing to do on a Thursday night? go play in traffic or something.

 

[TheOE800]

my question amuses you? bored with nothing to do on a Thursday night? go play in traffic or something.

I’ll let you know tomorrow night!

 

[markl323]

I’ll let you know tomorrow night!

wow you got me there! great job kiddo

 

[Rust]

Only reason to neck turn brass is a custom tight chamber where brass has to be turned so the loaded round will fit. I use Lapua brass which so far has been uniform enough not to worry about in a no turn chamber. That is a chamber tighter than SAAMI spec which works with the particular lots of Lapua brass I have without turning.

If you're just banging steel at 1,000, any quality brass and bullet will get you there. Wind will be the larger problem.

 

[kthomas]

No.

 

[sinister]

No to both.

Buy bullets already tipped (Sierra and Berger, depending on the bullet SKU).

 

[memilanuk]

As someone who has more than a little experience with both neck turning and bullet pointing for F-class...

a) Unless you are shooting a KD sport like F-class, LR BR or ELR at a pretty serious level i.e. you're already *in* the winner's circle on a somewhat regular basis, and are looking to keep that edge... there are too many other things that will overshadow the potential benefits. In F-class terms, unless you're already shooting 'clean', with a high X count... you've got bigger things to concern yourself with. If you're shooting anything positional, where the shooter is the biggest influence on your score - whether it's Palma/Service Rifle with a sling, or PRS off a barricade... you'll be miles ahead practicing that positional stuff.

b) It's surprisingly easy to fuck up both of these (DAMHIKT). Bullet tipping *especially*. Too many people get too greedy, and instead of aiming for 'better' (more consistent) they get stupid and start trying to make them 'perfect' i.e. little f'ing needles. I've seen people mangle the nose cone, collapse the boat tail, etc. etc. etc. Just... don't... unless you really, really need to. And if you think you really do, go back and read part a) again. Several times.

On the other hand, if you're just that type 'A' / OCD sort who can't stand not making things 'better'... like a lot of people here... knock yourself out

 

[Rocketmandb]

On my 300 PRC, when all you could get was Hornady, I made high-quality cases using 8x68S brass from RWS. I got ~6 SD out of it. When ADG came out with its 300 PRC cases, I decided to switch so I wouldn't have to go through the hassle of transforming 8x68S. ADG yielded ~8 SD. I neck turned the ADG and brought it back down to the 6ish range. Once Lapua came out, I was quite happy. I consistently get ~6 SDs with minimal prep after the first firing.

 

[Dstoenner]

I don't shoot rounds as big as 300 PRC but do shoot 30-06, 308, 6BR, 22BR and 223. I turn all of my necks except for the 30-06 used in my M1 Garands. But I do turn necks for my 1903A3's because it does make a difference. I turn the necks for consistent neck tension release and concentricity. I load in batches and sort my loaded rounds for concentricity.

I only go to 1000 yards in F-Class. I don't point my bullets but use either Berger LRHT that are supposed to be 2% banded for BC per box or Hornandy A-Tips which have very consistent BC.

Another advantage for turning necks is that you can get Forster sizing dies custom honed to what you need to size them down without a button to pull through the neck. This gives then almost perfectly concentric cases to start the reload process.

David

 

[18Echo]

I neck turn when I neck down cases for wildcats. I ream the inside neck as well to get rid of the donut. For non-benchrest guns with tight chambers the biggest benefit is uniform neck tension. Do I shoot well enough to see a difference, probably not, but I find it relaxing to be at my bench doing any type of reloading routine and turning 50 or so necks really doesn’t take too long.

 

[markl323]

No to both.

Buy bullets already tipped (Sierra and Berger, depending on the bullet SKU).

Are Berger 220 LRHT bullets one of those?

 

[Long Range 338]

In one word YES it is worth doing. But only in certain context. If you are looking for the ultimate in accuracy and it makes a difference in your shooting - such as rankings, percentage of hit probability, or some other need. This assumes that all other variables are accounted for and not affecting your group sizes.

For 99% of us, we would benefit more from practice and constructive criticism more than the difference we would see in performing neck turning and bullet tipping.

FWIW I just built a load using the new tipped 230 grain SMK and it is worth buying the tipped bullets just for the confidence factor.

 

[misser]

i do/have turned necks . not always ,depends on the brass . no reason to turn if its only 1-2 k out . did get some starline in 6.5 grendel brass checked it, of ten that i checked the needle showed .001 out on 3 . have had some 308 that i did turn

 

[markl323]

For non-benchrest guns with tight chambers the biggest benefit is uniform neck tension.

What would happen if the chamber is not tight? How do I find out if the chamber is tight?

 

[18Echo]

I should have phrased that better, my fault. What I was trying to say was if you just have your normal chamber, not a bench rest tight necked chamber, then the benefit is uniform neck tension around the projectile. You would know if you had a tight neck because you would probably had to have ordered your own reamer with your own stated neck clearance. Sometimes looking at pictures of the caliber markings on custom guns you will see the caliber and the neck measurement engraved on the barrel.