Thread: Neck turning...is it worth doing ?

So as the title asks...is neck turning worth doing to the brass and just how much effect does it have on accuracy compared to not doing ?
Any thoughts ?

Pandora's box

Like most things, the answer is "it depends"...

If you want to eke out the last bit of accuracy and precision, then neck tension is the holy grail, and turning does help with consistent neck tension.

Do you batch weigh your brass ?
Do you anneal ?
Do you uniform your flash holes ?
Do you trim ?
Do you batch weigh your projectiles ?
Do you clean and tumble your brass ?
Probably a whole heap of other stuff I'm yet to learn about
It all makes a difference but how far fown the rabbit hole do you wanna go ?
What's your end goal ?
If I can get consistent 1/2" groups without doing most of the above I'm pretty happy but I load for hunting not competition.

Greetings Ftx325,
Not generally thought to be a good idea on factory chambers. Makes a loose neck fit even looser. Only called for if the rifle has a tight neck chamber. These are cut that way by the gunsmith so the brass can be turned to get a precise fit. Buying decent quality brass is a much better idea. Sometimes if brass is necked down, especially if the shoulder is set back so the shoulder forms part of the neck, it may be needed. I have struck this twice in 40 years and was solved by a change in brass make.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by dannyb

Do you batch weigh your brass ?
Do you anneal ?
Do you uniform your flash holes ?
Do you trim ?
Do you batch weigh your projectiles ?
Do you clean and tumble your brass ?
Probably a whole heap of other stuff I'm yet to learn about
It all makes a difference but how far fown the rabbit hole do you wanna go ?
What's your end goal ?
If I can get consistent 1/2" groups without doing most of the above I'm pretty happy but I load for hunting not competition.

As you all may know I am learning the art of reloading for the 338 and my boss who is a keen long range competition shooter has taken me under his wing.
As a comp man he has me doing things to my brass I had no idea was required or even possible.
As I write this I am currently resting my hands from neck turning 40 odd of 150 ish cases and also reaming off the flash hole scrag internally. And yes I will apparently be annealing the brass along with several other things.
And after seeing the amount of brass in the container catching the offcuts from the turning I am feeling a little nervous as to whether it is really necessary and worth doing....
I have not seen anyone else mention this procedure or any reloading you tube vids that mentioned it so was curious to know if others do it and whether it actually makes a difference in performance. And it's a hunting rifle which kinda seems a little over the top going to this extent if no real benefits.

Originally Posted by Ftx325

As you all may know I am learning the art of reloading for the 338 and my boss who is a keen long range competition shooter has taken me under his wing.
As a comp man he has me doing things to my brass I had no idea was required or even possible.
As I write this I am currently resting my hands from neck turning 40 odd of 150 ish cases and also reaming off the flash hole scrag internally. And yes I will apparently be annealing the brass along with several other things.
And after seeing the amount of brass in the container catching the offcuts from the turning I am feeling a little nervous as to whether it is really necessary and worth doing....
I have not seen anyone else mention this procedure or any reloading you tube vids that mentioned it so was curious to know if others do it and whether it actually makes a difference in performance. And it's a hunting rifle which kinda seems a little over the top going to this extent if no real benefits.

I remember doing it with my fingers, hundreds of rounds till 2am to shoot the next day. Bruised fingers and carry on.

Get a drill adapter or something, anything, mechanical.

Sent from my CPH1701 using Tapatalk

Unless your using bushing dies or a tight neck chamber, i wouldn't bother.

I'm having to neck turn my hornady brass in the 300prc, bushing die with inconsistent neck thickness.

Originally Posted by Ftx325

As you all may know I am learning the art of reloading for the 338 and my boss who is a keen long range competition shooter has taken me under his wing.
As a comp man he has me doing things to my brass I had no idea was required or even possible.
As I write this I am currently resting my hands from neck turning 40 odd of 150 ish cases and also reaming off the flash hole scrag internally. And yes I will apparently be annealing the brass along with several other things.
And after seeing the amount of brass in the container catching the offcuts from the turning I am feeling a little nervous as to whether it is really necessary and worth doing....
I have not seen anyone else mention this procedure or any reloading you tube vids that mentioned it so was curious to know if others do it and whether it actually makes a difference in performance. And it's a hunting rifle which kinda seems a little over the top going to this extent if no real benefits.

Is this just for hunting ammo ?
If so at most I would suggest.
De cap
Clean primer pockets
Anneal (more important for big magnums)
Clean/ tumble if you like post cleaning
Full length size
Trim
Chamfer
And load those bitches up
Others may have other ideas but that is the most I would do for hunting ammo.
It's all I do and for a long time I didn't even do half of that when I started with my 270win.

I use bushing dies and always turn my necks with a K&M turner. I just skim the necks to take high points off and give consistent thickness. Even with Lapua brass there is up to 1.5 thou neck thickness variation. I bump the shoulders to uniform the neck/shoulder junction before turning. I then turn a touch into the shoulder.

Is it worth it? I think so for me, but most would say no. It takes very little time and is easy to do.

I'm using the federal brass I kept from my 250 gr hunting rounds and after measuring the brass and especially after seeing how much brass is being removed during the neck turning process and the vast majority of that from just one side of the neck I am starting to realize how much variation there is from one case to the next even if all the same rounds , from the same box even.
I am certainly starting to understand why reloading can have the potential to improve accuracy simply through consistency , let alone load development....
I never would have thought there would be so much difference from case to case.
These are about the cheapest 338 rounds to begin with but still....

Originally Posted by mimms2

Accurateshooter.com

semi-defunct,
but these people put bullets very consistently, very far away.

Never neck turned in my life. (Never had a 338LM either)
I would say there's a long list of things ahead of it that will improve consistency.

Yeah, well up until the buy back the largest I had owned was a 308 . But I guess the 338 and 45/70 were my way of saying "oh really... we'll see about that" after having my 'to powerful' 223 taken from me... and I have grown to love them both.

Originally Posted by Ftx325

I'm using the federal brass I kept from my 250 gr hunting rounds and after measuring the brass and especially after seeing how much brass is being removed during the neck turning process and the vast majority of that from just one side of the neck I am starting to realize how much variation there is from one case to the next even if all the same rounds , from the same box even.
I am certainly starting to understand why reloading can have the potential to improve accuracy simply through consistency , let alone load development....
I never would have thought there would be so much difference from case to case.
These are about the cheapest 338 rounds to begin with but still....

Out of curiosity how accurate are the factory rounds ? That will tell you a lot about how necessary the other stuff is

this is just my opinion but if i were you id just concentrate on making basic ammunition and testing it in your rifle first. you may not need to bother with neck turning. Id just use good brass uniform the primer holes and experiment with different wieghts of powder and seating depth

you need to trim to length and debur inside and out first...... but if your reloading guru who is teaching you says to do so...it would be downright rude to not do so while still under his tutorage.... did you ever work out what caused the dings on sized case being chambered??? maybe part of reason he is suggesting it for your rifle.
WHEN you buy LEE case length trimmer you will have handy gizmo to hold base that goes in cordless drill......lots of jobs are much easier then....

Originally Posted by dannyb

Out of curiosity how accurate are the factory rounds ? That will tell you a lot about how necessary the other stuff is

Well they are considered to be plinking rounds....
That's not an easy question to answer. On good days I could put three hurried shots into less than an inch. Two weeks later I couldn't hit a 300 mm plate at 400 mtrs. A month after that I walked rounds out to a km at targets 600 mm square at 200 mtr intervals and got 4 out of 4 on the km plate.
The biggest problem I think is most likely me when it comes to accuracy and being consistent in shouldering the rifle. Being full carbon it weighs about the same as a standard hunting rifle and jumps around which makes life interesting. It shoots alot better from the bipod I have discovered. Whenever I rest it on a sandbag it bounces all over the place under recoil.
But hunting every round I have shot has gone exactly where I wanted it to out to 600+ mtrs.
I seem to shoot better when it counts for some reason....