Posted: 12/11/2015 6:28:02 PM EDT
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As I venture into the 260 world I am becoming more interested in perfecting my loading techniques. So far I have only made fundamental changes to my process. Those changes include:
Lapua brass Berger bullets BR4 primers Redding deluxe dies (neck sizing brass) Forster bench rest seating die Flash hole deburring Primer pocket uniforming Magnetospeed Now I am adding: K&M neck turning tools Weighing and sorting brass What I would like to know is: Are you turning necks completely (360) or partially? Is there a better trickler than my ribs? Is there a better scale than my robs 10/10? What other loading tips can you provide to myself and others looking to advance? |
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Nobody turns necks 360 degrees unless they have a custom tight neck bench rest chamber that requires it. Simply remove any high spots when neck turning, approximately 50% of the neck gets touched when adjusted properly.
All tricklers work about the same. Polishing the interior threads allows the grains to flow more easily. The RCBS 10/10 is an excellent scale that will serve you well. Concentrate on uniform neck tension of .0025" to no more than .003" and don't crimp. Neck tension on new Lapua brass is too tight and it needs to be opened up right from the factory. K&M, Sinclair International and probably other's all sell expander mandrels that will allow you to fine tune neck tension. Polishing standard neck sizing balls with 1000/1500 wet/dry paper will smooth them and reduce diameter slightly. Go slow, metal can't be replaced. |
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Tight necks for those chambers used in bench rest is one reason for neck turn. Their ammo won't fit unless they turn.
In precision rifles, you should know your chamber dimensions. Brass neck wall thickness has lots of variations when the spread of brands and lots is considered. To make sizing consistant, necks are cleaned to a constant maximum thickness. They don't have to be completely cleaned up but the ones with lots of wall thickness variation have a thick side that is over that average goal and once cleaned up a little will fall into the average. For example, say a goal or 13 to 13.5 mils thick for a .30 cal. This way, once turned for clean up and fired, the same bushing or die will handle the sizing no matter what lot or brand because they will all be 13 mils thick. You don't really need to do this at all, but then you would want to sort out the ugly ones and you would also have to watch thickness variations between batches. You shouldn't over do this since the chamber doesn't need it at all, but it helps with minimizing the variation of the processing and the brass too. |