I would like to get into neck turning but have no personal experience with the process. I have watched several videos on the subject. I would appreciate suggestions on an appropriate tool. I would be loading for .222, 22/250, .243, 6mm, 6xc, 7mm08, 7mm mag. & 30.06. It would also be a plus if the cost didn't break the bank. Thanks in advance, everyone.
Neck turning recommendations
- Thread starter Topwater
- Start date
JohnW...ski
Gold $$ Contributor
JohnW...ski
Gold $$ Contributor
I went with a K & M neck turner and built a lathe out of a power screwdriver. I have turned necks on .14/221, .17 Mk IV, .20VT, .221 Fireball, and
6 PPC. I can't speak for other brands of neck turners but I couldn't be happier with the performance and customer service of K & M.
John
6 PPC. I can't speak for other brands of neck turners but I couldn't be happier with the performance and customer service of K & M.
John
Like most things associated with our sport, the 21st Century Lathe and cutter head are just expensive enough to make you choke a little bit. However, once you use it, you will quickly forget the pain to your wallet. The design is very good as is the quality.
Repetitive tasks, like neck turning, quickly gets tedious so spending a bit more for a nice piece of equipment in order to make the job easier and/or quicker makes sense. Plus, unlike some turning equipment, the 21st Century lathe is accurate and repeatable. It's easy to make very fine adjustments in the depth and length of cut and easy to repeat it later on if you happen to want a new batch to match your old batch some time in the future.
Changing calibers isn't difficult nor is it too expensive. I power mine with a cordless drill motor. It's very quick to operate and I highly recommend it.
You can buy just the hand held cutter head, but I think it's well worth it to buy the lathe assembly. It removes any operator induced error which might be caused by holding the cutter head a little differently from case-to-case. They have a very clever way of mounting the cutter head so that it floats and self aligns and that helps produce consistent results. Plus it speeds up the operation.
Repetitive tasks, like neck turning, quickly gets tedious so spending a bit more for a nice piece of equipment in order to make the job easier and/or quicker makes sense. Plus, unlike some turning equipment, the 21st Century lathe is accurate and repeatable. It's easy to make very fine adjustments in the depth and length of cut and easy to repeat it later on if you happen to want a new batch to match your old batch some time in the future.
Changing calibers isn't difficult nor is it too expensive. I power mine with a cordless drill motor. It's very quick to operate and I highly recommend it.
You can buy just the hand held cutter head, but I think it's well worth it to buy the lathe assembly. It removes any operator induced error which might be caused by holding the cutter head a little differently from case-to-case. They have a very clever way of mounting the cutter head so that it floats and self aligns and that helps produce consistent results. Plus it speeds up the operation.
Unless you are loading for a tighter than SAAMI chamber neck, don't waste your money and time. All you will be doing is increase the slop in the case to chamber fit which is counterproductive accuracy-wise. Investing, instead, on a quality case trimmer, annealing machine, or case headspace tools would be tools which would result in dividends -accuracy-wise and in case longevity.
What I have found is that even with factory chambers, I would reduce overall runout if I skim-turned my necks. When I 1st bought a Ball micrometer to measure neck thickness, I was astonished by the thickness variation. Reducing the amount of that variation has been helpful in increasing the consistency of my hand loads. I also believe I get more consistent neck tension. I'm not talking about turning to tight-neck dimensions - just enough to clean up any excessive thickness variations.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Shynloco
You can lead a horse to water, but ........
As the others have said, unless you are getting into Precision Shooting and reloading, don't waste your money or your time. However, I learned the hard way when getting into Precision Reloading and Shooting, I bought two hand turning tools before settling in on the 21st Century Case Turning Lathe which is the type of case turning (using a Lathe) that offers the most precise neck turning. And as LH Smith wrote, IMHO, unless you have custom chambers, neck turning is a waste of time and money on a SAMMI spec (across the counter rifle/chamber) UNLESS you want to "clean up" your brass with a slight cut that may improve concentricity for better accuracy. But unless you have the proper equipment to check concentricity, you would be guessing as to whether your brass is so far off to warrant "cleaning up". And again that may not be needed if you are NOT loading for critical accuracy such as that sought in competition. In short, hunting loads do not need necks turned to accurately hit your prey. Consistent groups of 1" (5 shot groups) make no difference when hunting is the purpose to reload your ammo. Also, consistency and accuracy means what you do to one, you do to all.
Alex
Alex
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One that hasn't been mentioned is the PMA cutter. I am totally satisfied with the one I have. If you are going to trim a high volume of cases, definitely invest in the carbide mandrel.
JohnW Like the handiwork on the improvised Lathe. I haven't gotten so fancy, just chuck it in the old drill!
JohnW Like the handiwork on the improvised Lathe. I haven't gotten so fancy, just chuck it in the old drill!
Thanks for all your responses. I am trying to improve the accuracy enough to be competitive in our club. This change in direction from just producing effective hunting ammo has opened up a whole new world of detail of which I was unaware. As a "newbie" here, I'm learning a lot. Thanks again.
"Stitch"
"Stitch"
Spot On!!!!
#1 hands down shortest path to achieving accuracy is windflags.......and learn what they are telling you.....which means shoot and shoot alot taking meticulous records of load changes and conditions during testing and practice. If you can't get your gun to shoot with repeatable results after load work up using the same load under the same conditions you will be spinning your wheels and never learn anything. Bottom line - you need an ACCURATE gun to learn with.
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what he said!
improves runout and consistency in neck tension. if you are looking for 0.10 improvements in group size it will show up on your target.
this is the one i like. get the cutter that matches your shoulder angle
http://www.pmatool.com/pma-neck-turning-tool-model-a-30-degree/
jimmymac
Jim McGregor
At the speed he's feeding those cases in, it's no wonder he needs the power of a corded drill. That to me looks like the brute force method of neck turning. I wonder if the end result produces consistent results.
True, you can go the extra mile and potentially gain a bit more loaded round concentricity with the proper dies, but remember that the typical neck clearance on a factory rifle is 0.008" to 0.014". When the loaded round is chambered, there is nothing to prevent the bias imposed on the round by the ejector, or gravity if one would remove the ejector. This means the bullet is not true to the bore centerline ......meaning it enters the throat off-axis....no matter how perfect the neck wall thickness.
ImBIllT
Silver $$ Contributor
If you neck size or partial size, then the unsized portion of case will improve alignment in the chamber. If you only size a portion of the neck, then even the neck of the case will improve alignment in the chamber.
Luv my PMA Tools. All of them!
Pat's Customer Service is second to none, and He's a Shooter.
Pat's Customer Service is second to none, and He's a Shooter.
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