Is it Okay just to neck size and not worry about Turning necks.

[sambokills]

I've found a good load for my .223 using Hornady brass,and at this point all my brass has been shot in the rifle it will be used for. Now I would like to just neck size the brass but it seems that every time I read about neck sizing they also talk about neck turning. Its just a Coyote rifle and yes accuracy is important or I wouldn't be on this website but what would turning the necks do for me? I could see consistency being one of the benefits but what else. The rifle is just a Ruger American Predator "wanted something my Son could hold and shoot too" in .223rem. It will cluster 5 rounds in a nice little group I can cover with my thumb and thats with Factory Hornady 55gr Vmax! So, what's your thoughts?

 

[Marksman63]

You don't need turning your necks

 

[NorCalMikie]

Somewhere down the line you'll have to full length resize as the cases start getting snug in the chamber. Other than that, neck size and have fun. 8)

 

[Catfish]

I turn neck for several rifles because I have to. They all have custom chambers with tight necks. I tried neck turning for a couple of factory chambers. The accuracy was no better but it did shorten the case life a bunch. The only time you may need to turn necks for a factory chamber is if you are forming brass for it from a much larger cal., and then probably not.

 

[Dave Brown]

You don't need to turn the necks for your application. However, you will need to use a body die to size the cases eventually.

 

[Homerange]

With my 223 (Mod 7) and Hornady brass, I've only neck sized with Lee collet dies and got ~ !/2" groups.
As the brass grows there is some loading of the lugs but I've found the camming action on closing the bolt easily stong enough to close. I keep a close watch on brass length and brass has had up to 20 firings.

 

[LHSmith]

With my 223 (Mod 7) and Hornady brass, I've only neck sized with Lee collet dies and got ~ !/2" groups.
As the brass grows there is some loading of the lugs but I've found the camming action on closing the bolt easily stong enough to close. I keep a close watch on brass length and brass has had up to 20 firings.

If one always loads on the mild side, you may never have to FLS.....venture up the charge ladder and it becomes mandatory.....the higher pressure the load the more frequent FLS is required.
The rifle action is not designed to be used as a press, take a close look at your lug abutments and you will likely detect galling even if the proper bolt grease is used. Exasperating this problem is the trend to add oversize bolt handles which diminishes any "felt" resistance the case has to offer.
Another point to consider is the FLS to NS rounds may very well shoot to different POA and accuracy will not be the same between the two.......so in essence you are constantly having to fireform rounds to your chamber -perhaps requiring you to throw those FLS rounds at paper instead of at varmints depending on your accuracy standards-which is why I advocate FLS EVERY time.

 

[Homerange]

With my 223 (Mod 7) and Hornady brass, I've only neck sized with Lee collet dies and got ~ !/2" groups.
As the brass grows there is some loading of the lugs but I've found the camming action on closing the bolt easily stong enough to close. I keep a close watch on brass length and brass has had up to 20 firings.

If one always loads on the mild side, you may never have to FLS.....venture up the charge ladder and it becomes mandatory.....the higher pressure the load the more frequent FLS is required.
The rifle action is not designed to be used as a press, take a close look at your lug abutments and you will likely detect galling even if the proper bolt grease is used. Exasperating this problem is the trend to add oversize bolt handles which diminishes any "felt" resistance the case has to offer.
Another point to consider is the FLS to NS rounds may very well shoot to different POA and accuracy will not be the same between the two.......so in essence you are constantly having to fireform rounds to your chamber -perhaps requiring you to throw those FLS rounds at paper instead of at varmints depending on your accuracy standards-which is why I advocate FLS EVERY time.

You read my load well.
50gr BT @ 3250.
In this case the bolt camming is quite mild, just the last third of the bolt throw, any more and I'd be doing a FL bumb back.
Thanks for the advice.

 

[searcher]

I'm a self-confessed neck-turning nut - I turn the necks on anything I want to make more accurate for the job at hand. While I do turn most necks on my .223's for "medium range" ground squirrel shooting, I'd stop at coyote loads with a .223 though, assuming you can get 1/2 to 3/4 m.o.a. with your load and you are not pushing the envelope for how far a .223 can still anchor a coyote. While you will eventually need to full-length re-size, unless you are pushing warm loads and/or heavy bullets, you can often go many firings without having to full-length re-size when neck sizing is your normal method. In a lot of bench-rest chamberings, one can get very reasonably priced full-length dies from Harrel's Precision and others that offer the benefit of neck dies without the over-sizing that occurs with most factory full-length sizers. I'm not familiar with who might make one such as Harrel's in a .223 chambering from a sample fired case, as I don't believe Harrel's does. Perhaps someone who does know can chime in if such does exist at a reasonable price. I'd be interested in replacing a few of my .223 neck dies when I re barrel. That all said - if you want to get the most out of your .223, turn them. Lots of people downplay turning on such small cartridges, especially those with factory chambers. The fact is, .002" in variation in a .223 will affect the velocity spread more than in larger cartridges such as .25, 243 and .30 cal. I get my biggest improvement not with my PPC's or 6BR's, but with my .17 Hornet. Turn and you will be rewarded with a result that only you can decide whether it is worth your time and expense of the equipment if you don't already have a turner.

 

[ireload2]

If you have the normal big sloppy factory chamber turning does little good unless you have a horrible lot of brass.

I have had a bad lot of brass that I turned because the neck thickness variation was about .004.

Other than that I only turn for benchrest chambers that are too tight to chamber factory brass and

I do turn some brass that has the case mouth beat up because it was peened during the factory tumbling process. This peening hammers the case mouth leaving the edges badly burred. I expand this brass so all the burr material is forced to the outsize. Then I turn the burr material off.