Thread: Correct Neck Tension

On one of my earlier posts on powder measurements of beam scales vs Electronic one of the guys made an interesting comment that's been rolling around my head for a couple of weeks now.
He thought a few grains of powder either way had less influence on accuracy than correct neck tension.
It's an interesting thought and observation.
So what is considered the correct neck tension?

2-4 thou

Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

2-4 thou

And a pedantic determination to achieve absolute consistency from round to round.

Think of it as the positive side to OCD

Cheers
Pete

Originally Posted by P38

And a pedantic determination to achieve absolute consistency from round to round.

Think of it as the positive side to OCD

Cheers
Pete

Yes yes and yes

Hmmmm.....well been of a non-mechanical nature and talking of 2-4 thou is of little meaning to me.
I am using Lee neck Collet dies and seem to achieve good accuracy with them but have just followed the manufacturers set up advice, I guess it is ok / acceptable .

Originally Posted by viper

Hmmmm.....well been of a non-mechanical nature and talking of 2-4 thou is of little meaning to me.
I am using Lee neck Collet dies and seem to achieve good accuracy with them but have just followed the manufacturers set up advice, I guess it is ok / acceptable .

Yes thats ok / acceptable

I don't reckon it matters as long as it is consistent.
You should also be able to feel any inconsistencies during seating and rectify it by binning or resizing.

And would also depend if you need to jam your projectiles for accuracy. I am lucky with my barrels as they seem to be able to be seated anywhere as long as they have a bit of jump.

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I've recently started annealing, and it's been the best thing for consistency of neck tension and improved accuracy.

Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

2-4 thou

Brass can be a variable though, I had one batch of Norma brass that wouldn't hold a projectile until it was sized to 7 thou under after the first firing.

I remember reading something along the lines of there being only a set amount of tension you can get out of a given piece of brass also. For example if I sized a .284 down to .275 then seated a projectile and pulled it the brass could only spring back to say .281? Not sure if it made any real sense.
I just full length size, non bushing die, now. No real world disadvantage for a hunting rifle.

Originally Posted by K95

Brass can be a variable though, I had one batch of Norma brass that wouldn't hold a projectile until it was sized to 7 thou under after the first firing.

I remember reading something along the lines of there being only a set amount of tension you can get out of a given piece of brass also. For example if I sized a .284 down to .275 then seated a projectile and pulled it the brass could only spring back to say .281? Not sure if it made any real sense.
I just full length size, non bushing die, now. No real world disadvantage for a hunting rifle.

Depends how far you're shooting