Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
I’m going to toss in here.
Neck turning is something I do but I do it reluctantly. The goal (for me) is to ensure a safe bullet release and to improve consistency (read consistency as “accuracy”). However, it has often been effort that has produced little measurable results.
If you have variations in neck wall thickness that is so pronounced that it affects accuracy BUT a chamber that is so sloppy that it will accept that bad brass – I’m not sure neck reaming will make enough difference to notice.
If you have a tight chamber, I can see the benefit of neck turning to improve bullet release and consistency, but I think there’s a practical limit to those efforts.
As for reaming verses neck turning – A reamer will follow the hole and you may end up with a perfectly round opening but still have varying wall thickness. Is it enough to matter? That will probably depend more on your individual chamber. (Although I do like the idea of reaming the case with it supported in a trim die)
Neck turning with a mandrel will likely result in more uniform wall thickness, but you are sort of struck with the lowest common denominator in terms of that uniform wall thickness.
Bottom line: There comes a point when time, effort and money is better spent on replacing bad brass than attempting to save bad brass.
Neck turning is something I do but I do it reluctantly. The goal (for me) is to ensure a safe bullet release and to improve consistency (read consistency as “accuracy”). However, it has often been effort that has produced little measurable results.
If you have variations in neck wall thickness that is so pronounced that it affects accuracy BUT a chamber that is so sloppy that it will accept that bad brass – I’m not sure neck reaming will make enough difference to notice.
If you have a tight chamber, I can see the benefit of neck turning to improve bullet release and consistency, but I think there’s a practical limit to those efforts.
As for reaming verses neck turning – A reamer will follow the hole and you may end up with a perfectly round opening but still have varying wall thickness. Is it enough to matter? That will probably depend more on your individual chamber. (Although I do like the idea of reaming the case with it supported in a trim die)
Neck turning with a mandrel will likely result in more uniform wall thickness, but you are sort of struck with the lowest common denominator in terms of that uniform wall thickness.
Bottom line: There comes a point when time, effort and money is better spent on replacing bad brass than attempting to save bad brass.