Reaming Necks vs Neck Turning for Milsurp Chambers?

[Petrol & Powder]

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.

 

[Joshua]

Bottom line: There comes a point when time, effort and money is better spent on replacing bad brass than attempting to save bad brass.

My brass doesn’t identify as “Bad”! It identifies as “Thick”! Do you want to know it’s pronouns?


In all seriousness, my main goal is safe bullet release. Doing that in a consistent way would also be ideal.

I have decided to hold off on buying either a reamer or a neck turning tool. I will set up on the lathe later this winter to thin these necks a few thousandths.

 

[Rick H]

Turn it, you have nothing to lose. Many years ago I came upon a seemingly unlimited supply of free once fired Federal Gold Medal Match .223R cases. At the time I owned two Savage rifles in that caliber. A Heavy barreled stainless 110L, and a Savage Model 11L sporter. I decided to fully prep the brass for those rifles. deprimed, sized, primer pockets and flash holes uniformed and necks outside turned. When I turned the necks I only cleaned up 1/3 to 1/2 of the circumference. Loaded ammo was very concentric and both rifles were accurate.
The heavy barrel averaged 9/16" groups at 100 yds. with Sierra 55gr. BT spitzers. That is five, five shot groups at 100yds. The largest of which ran about 3/4" and the smallest 3/8". I can't judge wind well enough to do any better than that. The 11L was my calling rifle, preferred a different load with the same bullet and it too was just under a MOA for 5 shot groups. Largest running about 1 1/4" and smallest around 1/2" for five, 5 shot groups at 100.

I prepped 3300 of those once fired cases after sizing and depriming by hand. I was heading to the Dakota's to shoot some prairie dogs. I can't tell you how good it would have been had I not gone through the effort, and I don't run that stuff through my autoloaders (mainly because it is too long for my magazines).

If nothing else I have great confidence in that ammo. All you have to lose is the time it takes you to fiddle with it.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

"...I can't tell you how good it would have been had I not gone through the effort,...."

True statement. You can't tell because that experiment lacks a control sample to gauge the results against.

 

[Rick H]

It wasn't an experiment, it was developing a load for two rifles with cases as uniform as I could make them.
My results more than met my expectations.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I should have used purple font.