Neck Turning

[Ben]

Jim,


Another variable to add to the list!

As long as the testing is done with 10 rounds that have the same cast bullet with 1 ring filled with Ben's Red, and the next 10 rounds will have 2 rings filled with Ben's Red. All other factors on the 20 rounds being identical.

If there is a marked difference in performance and the above is the only difference in the 2 loads, it will be easy to isolate the best performer.

Ben

 

[35 shooter]

I've always been told it was best to just turn the high spots on the necks to get all the cases real close to concentric but...

I had some rem. 7/08 brass that was all over the map in thickness like yours when i was shooting jacketed and didn't really know much about neck turning at the time.

I took a measurement of the next to the least dia. and turned all the brass to that thickness. The thickest brass necks were completely turned as was the next thickest and then down to just the high spots on the least thickest.
Anything that didn't show signs of being turned was seperated out for full length sizing and hunting loads.

The brass that was turned was all neck sized. The moral of the story is i had every bullet in the Sierra line shooting 1/2" or better 5 shot 100 yd. groups before turning necks in that little hunting rifle...except the 160 gk....it had never shot better than 3/4", which is why i tried the neck turning.


The 160 gr. load averaged just under 1/2" after turning and neck sizing. Some of the other loads that were already 1/2" tested stayed the same, but others tightened up a couple 1/10th's more on average.

Most of those necks were overturned to say the least lol, but they sure did shoot well and were still shooting when i sold the rifle.

I could never tell any difference in the brass that just had the high spots knocked off and the brass that was "hard" turned as far as groups were concerned. I shot them both together and separated. The group averages were the same in that rifle with both. Of course this was just a hunting rifle not bench grade.


All the turned brass shot better than the unturned brass of the least dia. though.
In the case of the 160 gr. bullet it shot much much better.

I had an oversize neck area in that rifle so neck turning certainly didn't improve that. I do think it got bullet pull evened up and along with neck sizing it worked out great even though overturned for sure.

 

[Ian]

Comparing the effects of neck turning between jacketed and cast bullets is like comparing apples to baseballs, very little commonality.

 

[35 shooter]

Haven't tried neck turning or even neck sizing with cast yet myself.
So far i've been partial full length sizing with pretty good results.

Just saying overturning the necks a bit isn't always a bad thing...at least in the rifle i had.

You know, the funny thing was i tried just neck sizing alone before turning the necks and ALL the groups opened up just a bit from full length sizing in that same 7/08 rifle.
Once i turned the necks though it all came together...funny how things work out sometimes from rifle to rifle.

Of course a powder tweak with just the neck sized brass may have done the same thing, but i didn' try it back then.
I'm interested in seeing Ben's results with this test.

 

[Ben]

My curiosity got the better of me, I had to go to the range to see what effect the neck turning would have on the SAKO .222 Rem.
I cannot see that any harm was done, if anything today, it shot even better !

 

[JWFilips]

Ben,
Nope! No harm at all! Very nice indeed!
Jim

 

[35 shooter]

Nice Ben! Looks like you have another very accurate rifle on your hands.

 

[sundog]

Ben, there's another monkey wrench caused by major neck turning: Concentricity. Your cases are formed, fired, and resized via outside forces. This pushes "excess" metal to the inside. When you trim the thick side off of the neck while piloting off of the inside, the outside and inside both are then no longer concentric to the case body and shoulder. It takes at least one good firing and resizing to correct this, so the first go after a turn should be considered a "fireforming" expedition at best. Don't draw conclusions until the second or third firing, and be careful even then as the necks are growing harder each time. Hard necks at low velocity/pressure can improve accuracy considerably if the loaded chamber neck clearance is extreme, provided of course that the inside of the neck is concentric with the throat upon firing.

Prexactly my thought - concentricity. Fire forming after neck turning is essential to 'reset' the shape of the case. For a good barrel with a good chamber, neck turning can certainly gain dividends. Also, for those chambers and leads that can accommodate a fatter cast bullet (fit is king, right?), reducing neck thickness is a plus, giving you more room for a bigger bullet. I use a Forster hand held outside neck turner, and it does a dandy job. I chuck my brass in a cordless drill to turn it - takes a lot of the work out of it. I'm finishing up on 2K once fired 5.56 LC brass that I use for high power. That 'lot' is dedicated to a specific match AR that is used only for high power. Yeah, lot of extra work and kinda time consuming, but it's something to do while the boob toob is blaring. My '06 brass for military bolt matches was outside neck turned many moons ago. It has been length trimmed only once and annealed only once after 25 firings. It is still in excellent condition. Now, if I could just get my eyes fixed, so that I can see like I did when I was 20....

 

[Ben]

This is my Horandy neck turning system.
I also use a cordless drill with slow rpm.
( I never use the hand held device you see below to hold the cartridge case )

Ben