| Posted: Wed Oct 8th, 2008 10:12 PM |
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Trigger_Puller
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I just got my new RCBS hand Case Neck Turning Tool today!
A few weeks ago I bought the RCBS Case Master Gauging Tool from a friend and proceeded to measure all of my Federal Match and Lapua .308 cases for neck run-out and case neck thickness after running them through my Forster Full-Length Sizing Die and trimming them to the suggested trim length. All of the Lapua brass was either at the recommended 0.002" or smaller. However, with the Federal brass I found that about 20% of the cases were as much as 0.005" out of round at the neck and the neck thicknesses, which should be 0.0175", were off also. That's when I decided to order the neck turning tool.
The kit comes with the cutter tool that has a an adjustable micrometer that can be tweaked to 0.005" and the hand tool which hold the case and will work with case sizes from .17 to .50 caliber. Pilots for specific calibers must be ordered separately so I had order .22 and .30 calibers.
The instructions that come with the tool are pretty straightforward. They recommend that you measure the neck thickness of the entire batch of cases you want to turn and set the micrometer adjustment to the smallest thickness. Next, place the case in the holder, lock it down, insert the pilot into the mouth of the case and start turning. Just like the miniature lathe that it is, the blade cuts away the excess brass (peel) in both the forward direction and then when backing the case out.
When I had finished turning all the cases, I re-measured the neck run-out and found them all to be within 0.002" or less!
This whole process is designed to increase the accuracy of your hand loads by making sure that there is equal pressure holding the bullet in place by having a consistent case neck thickness. Now I have been fortunate enough to load .308 Win cartridges using 168 gr SMK bullets, 41.9 gr of Varget, Federal 210M primers, and Federal Match brass that had only been full-length sized which produced 0.5" groups out of my Remington 700P without performing this procedure (granted that 80% of the cases were probably within the acceptable tolerances but who knows). Needless to say I am anxious to see how much of a difference neck turning will actual make on my group sizes.
Stay tuned for the range report.
Last edited on Wed Oct 8th, 2008 10:12 PM by Trigger_Puller
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| Posted: Sun Oct 12th, 2008 01:11 AM |
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2nd Post |
72coupe
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I bought one of the RCBS neck turners a few years ago. it was a particularly cold winter and on days I could not work outside I turned hundreds of cases.
In my opinion it was all a waste of time. It actually made my groups worse. My standard deviations went from low teens to mid 50s. After calling Sierra to solve the problem I annealled all the cases and my standard deviations went down to the mid 20s.
I will never neck turn another case except when I make one case from another such as 22-250 from 308.
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| Posted: Sun Oct 12th, 2008 03:35 PM |
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3rd Post |
Trigger_Puller
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Did you anneall all the cases that you had turned or just cases in general?
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| Posted: Sun Oct 12th, 2008 06:39 PM |
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72coupe
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I annealled all the rifle cases I had because I had turned them all.
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| Posted: Sun Oct 12th, 2008 07:06 PM |
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Paul Tummers
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If one has a rifle with standard factory chambering, taking away material from the neck can be contra-productive.
The neck aria of the chamber is dimensioned so very generous that it can take the factory ammo with the largest dimensions within specs.
Turning down the neck very well can make a cartridge with minimum run-out.
If one chambers this round, it will be not in line with the axis of the bore, and despite all the work involved results could very well be not as good as when simply ignored the run-out and reloaded.
My experience is, when one wants to turn down case necks for rounds to be used in standard factory chambers, leave the last millimeter above the shoulder untouched, also when neck-sizing,this part then acts as a centrating ring to center the cartridge in the chamber/ rifle bore.
Regards,
Paul.
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| Posted: Wed Oct 15th, 2008 07:43 PM |
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6th Post |
Trigger_Puller
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My experience is, when one wants to turn down case necks for rounds to be used in standard factory chambers, leave the last millimeter above the shoulder untouched, also when neck-sizing,this part then acts as a centrating ring to center the cartridge in the chamber/ rifle bore.
I agree Paul and that is exactly what I did.
Thanks.
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