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.

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

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.

Originally Posted by dannyb

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.

yep that's what I do when my brass needs a tune-up after being reloaded 6 or so times

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.

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.

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 Micky Duck

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....

Hi Micky... pleased to hear from you again.
I'm certainly not going to turn down his help , you are right there. Just seems a bit over the top what he is saying to do , but being a comp shooter I guess he wants to do as much as possible for accuracy and consistency.
And he told me if you want to learn , learn how it's done properly then decide what you want to do or not after you know the full process.... and you can't argue with that logic.....
I really appreciate his helping me out and I am trying to take in as much as possible . I am also lucky he has the appropriate tools for 338 as he shoots a 338 edge so I am counting my blessings there also .
And as for the denting still not conclusive but the boss thinks something to do with ejection of the case. I won't worry to much about that until all the brass is done and sized and will cycle a few through then and see what happens.

If you're just going for gongs then i think this may be past yhe point of diminishing returns for you. But if you're hunting for a .2" reduction in your 100m groups then this can help
I do it on all my brass, including unmentionable 243 range finds. I get bored you see

so far I have only turned .308 cases, it made a measurable improvement. I probably would not bother for a hunting rifle. I was blown away how irregular my Hornady brass was- I have yet to do my Lapua cases but I'm hoping they leave less shavings

Ah, the old "putting your time into trigger time" whilst is non arguable trigger time for me is weekends so nothing wrong with practicing the best reloading techniques, in preperation, during the week.

Crap ammo is always crap ammo no matter how much trigger time.

And good trigger time is getting out the humble 22 and firing off bricks off hand.

Oh, and I neck turn, where appropriate.