Lapua brass neck turning

[andybrock]

I’ve got a 22br with a no turn neck, obviously I don’t need to turn the brass to fit the chamber but is it still worth skimming the brass necks just to even them up or is the Lapua tolerances good enough?
I’m just trying to improve ES, SD and bullet concentricity.

 

[Richard Coody]

Depends on what you expectations are for the rifle. Are you and your rifle capable of seeing the difference on target.

Neck turning certainly helps in consistent neck tension and concentricity

But there are many things like choice of.components, accurate powder charges, seating depth testing, load development type of dies used and many other nuances of reloading that can make a greater difference than neck turning.

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

I'm a neck turner so if it was mine I would. - But as stated, there are a whole bunch of other things to think about as well. - I like having necks uniform, that way I'm not thinking about it as much as some of the other also important things.

 

[dstoenner]

When you downsize a neck it gets thicker. That must be a really large neck in the chamber to be "no turn" I am with LA50shooter, I turn all the necks on all of my cases. If nothing more as a skim cut. In the case of some 6.5X47 resized to 6X47, it was a full cut to get .013 necks.

David

 

[DJSBRS]

The necks do get thicker downsizing all the way to the neck shoulder junction and particularly at the neck shoulder junction. That will be the first place to give you problems chambering after a few fired rounds due to brass flowing forward from the shoulder. At least expand the donut to the outside and turn excess off the neck shoulder junction while skim turning the neck. I recommend after the case has been fired, a bullet will drop back into the neck freely but snugly. If not, you may have problems extraction and with flyers as well.

DJ
DJ's Brass Service

 

[andybrock]

Thanks for the replies so far folks.
Would you recommend neck down to 22 then skim cut the necks or neck down to 22, load, fire then skim the necks?

 

[dstoenner]

I recommend doing all the case work on the virgin brass. My last step is a full case resize after I have turned the necks then load and fire form. That way you don’t have to do 2 fire form cycles to get to brass you can now use to develop loads and reliably tell what is going on. Barrels are just to costly otherwise

David

 

[butchlambert]

I fireform without a bullet the first time. Brass doesn't shorten and no donut.

 

[Fotheringill]

Some people turn on an actual solid lathe, some by hand and some with a power tool adapter. If using one of the two latter methods, you are introducing another variable or two into the list of hand loading variables.

That being said, for the .223 I handload, I use Lapua virgin brass and on measurements of the unfired brass, I have found them to be consistently within acceptable variations for me (and me only).

 

[Rust]

IMO for anything other than a tight neck chamber neck turning is over rated if you have quality brass. Years back I got tired of fussing with brass. So for 6.5 X 284 I ordered 100 pieces of Lapua and measured neck thickness uniformity which ran under plus or minus .001". I then ordered a large quantity from the same lot number. I then ordered a chambering reamer to match for subsequent rebarrelings. Did the same thing subsequently for .223 and .308.

I measure brass as it is fired over time to detect any changes dimensionally which of course would have to be addressed but thus far no problem.

 

[Hengehold]

Depends on what you expectations are for the rifle. Are you and your rifle capable of seeing the difference on target.

Neck turning certainly helps in consistent neck tension and concentricity

But there are many things like choice of.components, accurate powder charges, seating depth testing, load development type of dies used and many other nuances of reloading that can make a greater difference than neck turning.

I use the best reloading tools and components available and agree with the statement quoted above by R. Coody. With that said, I typically cull out the rounds that have a significantly stiffer or significantly looser neck tension when I seat a bullet. I do this by feel rather than measurement with a gauge. When using Lapua brass that has NOT been neck turned, the cull rate is about 10% of the ammo I am loading. If I neck turn the brass then the cull rate based on erratic neck tension drops down to about 1% of my loaded ammo.

By culling out the rounds with erratic neck tension I have noticed an improvement in my X-count for NRA high power prone competition (600yds-1000yds).

Does neck turning make more accurate ammo? In my opinion, yes. However, since you can cull out the erratic neck tension cases and use them for sighters, fouling shots, etc. I feel that it is not a critical step.

Hope that helps,

-Trevor

 

[mikecr]

Lapua tolerances good enough?

Lapua variance is no better than you measure. So measure & decide.

 

[DennisH]

I don’t need to turn the brass to fit the chamber but is it still worth skimming the brass necks just to even them up or is the Lapua tolerances good enough?

I also "skim" the necks on my brass, I just like getting them as perfectly round as possible.

FWIW, I shoot with a person who weighs his bullets,and seats them to his perfected measurement.

THAT"S it! And he is one of the best shooters out there!

He uses SMK's exclusively.

 

[nmkid]

I sometimes use a mandrel and then do a skim cut.

 

[dcali]

I skim them because I already have the tools, and it's not going to hurt anything. All you're really doing is cleaning up the odd thick/unbalanced neck that happens once or twice a box (which happens with Lapua brass). Of all the things we do, neck turning is way down on the list. Mainly, I like to do it because I like to use light neck tension, and if one case is a little thin, that can easily become "no neck tension" for that case. I could just as easily chuck that case, but I don't mind turning, and it may even help just a little.

 

[NorCalMikie]

I’m just trying to improve ES, SD and bullet concentricity.

What does your target tell you? If they're all going in the same hole, forgetaboutit. 22BR with a no turn neck. Nuf said!!

 

[Henryrifle]

Hey Joe R, I enjoyed your video. Very much in agreement with you that brass prep is a process. Once you know what you need your system to achieve, you need to put the processes in place to support that goal.

To the OP, I realize this board has a lot of members that shoot out to incredible distances and you never know who you might be typing too. In my experience, as distance increases and or as accuracy needs increase then brass prep -- or at least good brass (good, in this case, means each pice is very similar) becomes more important. You can do well to very well at a local level in a 600 yard competition with untouched Lapua brass. At a regional or national level oriIf shooting beyond that distance for score then, more work is likely necessary if for no other reason than to give you the confidence that whatever weird things happen, it's not the ammo's fault.

Lastly, as Brian Litz says, this stuff is easy to test and experiment with. Turn 20 of your necks and see if you get better ES, SD and bullet concentricity with those, and, of course, see if that makes a difference in group size on paper.

Henryrifle

 

[butchlambert]

Joe, you do have a good video.

 

[DennisH]

Henryrifle,
You are very kind and I thank you for letting me know that you find the video informative. It means a lot to me.

Out of 622 vies I've only received about 5 or six people saying that it was informative or worth the time to watch it.

I agree with everything you said, a lot of what I mention in the video is really geared for the 1K yard shooters, that's my focus and often times forget that most people don't even have access to a 1K yard range.

Kindest regards,

Joe

Joe, I as well enjoyed watching the video, THANKS for posting!

Dennis

 

[47WillysGuy]

Watched your vid, good job! Many many good points for precision!