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Posted: 3/29/2011 10:53:24 AM EDT
| Which neck turner manufacture have you used to do this with. From the feed backs on midway it seems none of them work well. |
| Great question! I am also very interested. Sinclair appears to have three different models (NT-1000, NT-1500, and Premium), any thoughts on them as to which on? The other related question I have is what other accessories are essential in terms of neck turning, specifically “neck micrometer”, “wall thickness gauge”, etc? |
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You need the neck turner, expander die and mandrel, and some sort of neck thickness gauge, I have this ball Mic and I also use Redding Neck thickness gauge which is much easier to use than the ball mic, Sinclair also makes one thats easy to use and not to expensive.
More info before starting to turn necks on brass that might not be worth your time. Uniformity of case neck wall thickness is an indication of the quality of the cartridge case itself. Any large variation (over .0015”) in neck wall thickness will generally indicate a similar or greater variation in the body and shoulder of the case. This variation cannot be corrected and may lead to concentricity and bullet runout problems. Most competition shooters that have been forced to turn necks to properly fit “tight neck” chambers will confirm the following: “Turning the necks of poor quality cases will not solve the problems associated with the poor uniformity that remains within the shoulder and body of the case.” |
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I use the Hornady tool, and find that it's easy to set for different calipers with the mandrels. The cut depth is also easy to set, and remains steady. I use a Lee lock-stud w/ appropriate shell plate on a power drill, and hold the neck turner while spinning the case. It works very nicely, and I get a smooth cut every time. I only cut to get uniformity, and can usually get case necks to stay within 0.0005"~ variance after turning. |
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This is the turner I use and is one of the better deal on a fine tool, it comes with the case holder which removes from the handle for use in a drill and is similar to the Lee but doesnt come loose near as easy, just add a pilot and expander assy for the caliber you want to turn and get something to meassure the necks with and you'll be GTG.
All thats needed K&M neck turner w/carbide pilot Expander assy window rise for expander for easier use good ball mic Imperial wax |
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Thanks for the great info! Much appreciated!
I think I understand most of this but perhaps some questions will help. First, one should use the ball mic/neck thickness gauge to survey the brass to cull out the ones with poor uniformity in wall thickness i.e. variations >0.015”. The ones that pass can then be neck turned? I don’t have a “tight neck” chamber, but my thought is that turning the neck will uniform the neck tension to produce more uniform rounds – does that make sense and is this worthwhile? If it does, then one would strive to have all the cases to not only have uniform thickness within the case but also across the cases? If this is the true then one would have to find a minimal thickness that would work for all the cases? Am I still on track? 
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Yes your on track, the reason for checking the neck first is because if the neck has a thin spot it's not only in the neck but usually all the way down the case so even if you turn the neck to an even thickness the case will still be weak on that side and it will expand first/faster on that side than the rest of the case pushing the case off center in your chamber when fired, so really it's no better off than before you turned it.
The brass that is good will benefit from even neck tension and bullet release regardless of the chamber, just don't turn off any more material than needed to clean up the necks. |
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I only turn cases for use at 600 yards or longer. I only remove the high spots from the neck, I never turn the case neck so it's cut 360 a full degrees. Uniform neck tension can be achieved with mandrels and you'll never need to turn a neck. Unless your rifle requires neck turning (custom benchrest chamber) you actually increase clearance which does not help anything. This is especially true for AR15's or other semi-auto rifles.
I have has several rifles built lately using a no turn neck chamber, typically .004" larger in diameter than my loaded Lapua brass. This makes for a great fit without the headaches of neck turning. |
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Thanks for all the info! You guys are great!
Borderpatrol – I will check the www.accurateshooter.com site out – thanks for the head’s up. Yes, this will be an AR-10 for 600 yards shoot – high spots only! So the mandrel that comes with the kit for neck turning will uniform neck tension? Good to know! Sounds like you have a some really nice rifles, can’t, shouldn’t, be jealous as I feel lucky to get my own new rifle  !
EWP – yes the bad ones makes sense to cull. Will be conservative in the amount of material I take off. |
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