How many people turn necks?

[Silverbullet2]

Hide Members,

I am wondering how many people lightly turn the necks for their lead slinger. There are a lot of great groups being shown on here, and am wondering how they are doing it. For those that are, mind sheading some light on the amount your taking off, and if you do anything about the dreaded dounut? Thanks, J

 

[Petrov]

Hide Members,

I am wondering how many people lightly turn the necks for their lead slinger. There are a lot of great groups being shown on here, and am wondering how they are doing it. For those that are, mind sheading some light on the amount your taking off, and if you do anything about the dreaded dounut? Thanks, J

Without neck turning the runout on my ammo is less than .0008. On a good day I can do 1.2 MOA groups. I think this is more for the realm of bench rest shooters and custom chambers and such.
The only time I had to neck turn is when I necked down brass, I was playing with converting 308 brass to 7mm-08.

I thought about it but I realized that I just might as well sit in the basement and polish my knob. There is no way that I could theoretically benefit from this in any way shape or form.

 

[James n TN]

Turning necks in a factory chambering is still beneficial by saying that I don't mean do a 100% neck turn but do a 60-70% neck turn. This will give equal hold on the bullet and also give a more consistent seating pressure. Basically all you are looking for is cutting the high spots off the brass. Consistent accuracy comes in small stages and this happens to be one of them. Same with reaming flash holes and deburring them. Yea its time consuming but once you've done all the prep work its done.

sent from my RAZR Maxx HD using Tapatalk 2

 

[427Cobra]

I turn my necks to .0135 for my 260, Rem brass is between 50-100% cut, Win 243 or 7-08 resized to 260 is 40-80% cut, of course the donut is cut away on 243 brass, I use a 21st Century turner, I liked that the blade is angled for the family of cartridges being turned, this ensures not too much or not enough is cut when you reach the shoulder junction.

 

[Fuzzball]

"How many people turn necks?"

About 30 maybe? Otherwise, I dunno.

 

[Bluesop7]

Not me, I have way more interesting and useful things to do. I still get 1/2. MOA groups.

 

[raythemanroe]

Turning necks leads to more consistent tension which leads to better results threw your chronograph and less vertical spread in your groups!! Inconsistent neck tension will effect you eventually the further you shoot the more you will see the difference. Trim your casings within half a thou and debur your flash holes a long with uniforming your primer pockets and you will see some results..I have been told by a few bench rest shooters I know that case prep is important but all for not if you don't tune your rifle load!

 

[insight3b]

Used to then figured out it was an absolute waste of time

 

[gixxer822]

Find someone in your area and do a side by side with turned and unturned. I bought the k&m kit and it's very nice and works good but when comparing the groups I saw no difference in my factory 700. I did not chrono it, my magnetospeed is on order.

 

[Bill Larson]

Turning necks in a factory chambering is still beneficial by saying that I don't mean do a 100% neck turn but do a 60-70% neck turn. This will give equal hold on the bullet and also give a more consistent seating pressure. Basically all you are looking for is cutting the high spots off the brass. Consistent accuracy comes in small stages and this happens to be one of them. Same with reaming flash holes and deburring them. Yea its time consuming but once you've done all the prep work its done.
sent from my RAZR Maxx HD using Tapatalk 2

I do.......... and above info is correct.......no brass is concentric.............

 

[Hoodlum]

I do... I chuck a shell holder in my lathe to do initial trimming, chamfering, and turn the neck at the same time.... Takes about 10 seconds... It is amazing how much difference there is in neck thickness, not only between cases of the same headstamp, but even on the same case from one side to the other... I think it's important, especially if you crimp... I like to put a very light crimp, especially on my hunting loads, with a LFC die, and cases with a thicker neck will crimp tighter than the ones with thinner necks, leading to inconsistent loads..... It is a one time quick process that should be done by, especially anyone that uses military cases or anything shy of Lapua or compatible.... Even then, there are still inconsistency, and it won't hurt a thing....
Hoodlum

 

[oldfatguy]

I do... It is amazing how much difference there is in neck thickness, not only between cases of the same headstamp, but even on the same case from one side to the other...

It is a one time quick process that should be done by, especially anyone that uses military cases or anything shy of Lapua or compatible.... Even then, there are still inconsistency, and it won't hurt a thing....
Hoodlum

Measured some Lapua case necks. Found as much as 0.002" difference from one side to the other of the same case. Some were near perfect but the majority fit the classic bell shaped curve as to wall thickness variation. One time neck turning is worth the effort to me.

OFG

 

[2Shots]

Not me, if I gotta go to that trouble forget it. I think annealing helps as much as anything to make consistent neck/bullet tension. I am assuming your rifle chamber neck is loose enough to shoot a standard wall thickness, most of us don't fool with it from what I can tell. I worry more about my wind read than my neck tension.

 

[jsthntn247]

I think it really helps if you are running a tight neck chamber. If you only have .002-.003 clearance in the neck and one side is .002 thicker than the other, accuracy will suffer.

 

[sniperdude]

when I had my borden rifle in 6ppc it had a "tight neck" and was required for me to turn those necks. on my 308's I have used federal , lapua, and nosler brass. I have noticed that on the fed brass if I cleaned them up to about 60 +/-% the accuracy noticeably improved. that's with the fed brass. but with the others I haven't found the need... so far

 

[Squid284]

I neck turn. More consistency the better, but it won't make up for all the other little flaws that may be present with the shooter/rifle/ammuntion. There might be other issues worth fighting first... depending on how far off your brass is if you can measure it accurately.

As for donuts just cut into the shoulder a tiny bit, I haven't seen one yet.

 

[Temp9]

No neck turning here. I'd rather spend the time loading more ammo so I can shoot more. I've got far more room for improvement in my shooting skills than I do in my ammo. As for donuts, I just load outside of the donut region. I plan on getting a Forster inside reamer, though, in case I have to load deeper.

 

[TRTAC]

In my no turn neck guns I clean it up 75%. On my tight neck guns I give it about 1.5 thow of clearance on each side. Example- 7 mag has a .307 neck. .284 bullet plus .010 brass on each side. Loaded round measures .304 Is it worth it? I think so. You cant contribute all your accuracy to one thing, its a culmination of all the small things you do that make a gun a shooter.

 

[KelsonAK]

I've started turning this year. It helps a little - I think. Reason I say that is because I did a little side by side testing (turned vs. unturned) and saw about .1 inch improvement and my velocities lost a little variation as well. Maybe a skosh less than .1, maybe a skosh more. Was only 10 and 10 - hardly a real science experiment. I just barely clean things up - maybe 50% - and I get into the shoulder a bit so no doughnuts for me.
Have turned necks twice on cases, and don't see any advantage to that other than there is almost always a bit more brass in the doughnut area that comes off the second time around.

It adds about an hour to my brass prep time for 100 pieces. Is it 'enough to matter?' Dude - I need all the help I can get!

 

[judgedelta]

Kate Upton probably turns as many necks an anyone. Especially red-necks...

 

[hamr56]

I only turn necks for select rifles. I have some that perform better with doing this and others that it does not seem to matter. As others have said above I only take off the high spots.

 

[BuzzBoss915]

This thread should be flagged for all the misunderstood & misinformation. BB

 

[old_heli_logger]

Some of this is a repeat from above...

I turn all of my necks. Brass for my factory barrels get about 50% cleanup, brass for my custom barrels get 90% cleanup. You only have to do it once and if you cut slightly into the shoulder, you won’t get the dreaded donut. Neck turning helps align your bullet with your bore. If the neck is not concentric, how can your bullet possibly be aligned with the bore? I think annealing brass does more for consistent tension than neck turning…that’s just my opinion though.
Good luck!
Steve

 

[insight3b]

Some of this is a repeat from above...

I turn all of my necks. Brass for my factory barrels get about 50% cleanup, brass for my custom barrels get 90% cleanup. You only have to do it once and if you cut slightly into the shoulder, you won’t get the dreaded donut. Neck turning helps align your bullet with your bore. If the neck is not concentric, how can your bullet possibly be aligned with the bore? I think annealing brass does more for consistent tension than neck turning…that’s just my opinion though.
Good luck!
Steve

I don't do it because all I run is Remington 700's and the ejector puts so much pressure on one side of the case head that nothing is concentric even if it was perfect before you chambered it

 

[leadbullet]

I do not neck turn cause that would reduce my range time.

 

[Petrov]

I don't do it because all I run is Remington 700's and the ejector puts so much pressure on one side of the case head that nothing is concentric even if it was perfect before you chambered it

So is this remington 700 issue or just a generic loose factory chamber issue?

 

[insight3b]

So is this remington 700 issue or just a generic loose factory chamber issue?

Its a Remington 700 issue but pertains to any rifle that has an ejector that works by pressing a plunger type ejector via 14-22 pounds of spring pressure on one side of the case head.
You can have a trued up Remington 700 action and perfectly concentric ammunition and when you close the bolt spring pressure is exerted on only one side of the case head. We know that our ammunition has to be smaller than our chamber in order to fit inside the chamber. That few thousandths of space around a shell case in a chamber allows the spring power to press the loaded cartridge to one side. and that is why I don't care about neck turning ammo concentricity or any of the other gimmicks I've fallen for in regards to guns and handloading

 

[BuzzBoss915]

I believe the above post has some merit, but in realistic terms; that one or two thousandths clearance, how much influence is exerted on a chambered round, beyond the area of the shoulder which is where the cartridge is headspaced? The answer might be, very little, if any? Or, depends. Or who knows?

What I know, to my satisfaction, is that turning neck to conform to a spec'd chamber has some benefit. How much to turn the necks? Depends. The relative value of turning necks for a factory chamber? Hard to say, hard to quantify. Depends on how much. The more you remove, the less advantage and it will negatively affect case life. BB

 

[Break Bad]

Its a Remington 700 issue but pertains to any rifle that has an ejector that works by pressing a plunger type ejector via 14-22 pounds of spring pressure on one side of the case head.
You can have a trued up Remington 700 action and perfectly concentric ammunition and when you close the bolt spring pressure is exerted on only one side of the case head. We know that our ammunition has to be smaller than our chamber in order to fit inside the chamber. That few thousandths of space around a shell case in a chamber allows the spring power to press the loaded cartridge to one side. and that is why I don't care about neck turning ammo concentricity or any of the other gimmicks I've fallen for in regards to guns and handloading

I would still think having a more uniform neck tension would still be a plus when the above is true. Plus from what I read sometimes when you neck down a caliber or so you can experience 'dognuts' which can be alleviated by turning. So neck turning still has it's uses in non-benchrest environment.

I'm new to turning, and I'm only turning because of the dognut issue I'm getting necking down a 6.5x47L to a 6x47L using Forster FL die. Would like to hear more...

 

[18Echo]

I neck turn LC brass to a consistent .015. I use a K&M neck turner chucked in a drill, thrown into a vise and I can do a batch of 100 relatively quick. I have an RCBS neck measuring apparatus and it shows that even chucked into a drill I'm getting outstanding uniformity. And, once you do it, you don't have to do it again...