my 6 br is coming soon and i need a little help with the brass

[Schandler]

i have a new addition to the family coming soon and it will be a 6 br-- it will have a krieger barrel 10 twist and a nesika action and the smith wanted me to do the .262 neck so i am going to have to turn the necks i know -- i bought 100 pieces of lapua brass and have seperated them and have about 60 sorted out for use -- my question is what are the steps for getting the brass ready -- i dont think turning the brass will be the first step so i thought i would ask before i ruin my brass before ever shooting it -- while waiting i have bought all kinds of measuring and turning gadgets from sinclair so i can do the turning part -- i did get the 060 primer tool for cleaning the pockets and have done that but thats about it -- im not sure on the dies im getting with the gun but i bet im gonna need them before i can do anything unless you fellas suggest something else -- it may be another month or two even before i get to take my first look at it so i have time -- if you suggest buying an extra neck sizing die i can do it if i have to size before turning -- what are the steps i need to take in order to get ready for loading a mess of these up -- just please dont tell me i got to shoot the brass in the gun before i can do anything else or i may shed a tear -- thanks for any suggestions

 

[Forum Boss]

I'd tell the smith you don't want a .262 neck. The only reason some smiths are still pushing .262s-263s is that is the reamer they have.

You can get very, very good performance with no-turn brass,witness Jason Baney's World Open win), and there's really no need to go much less than a .268 chamber to get the advantages of a turned neck.

Turning a neck to .262 is a heck of a lot more work than turning to .269, unless you have a couple of Nielson Pumpkins and a power lathe--just a heck of a lot of extra work for no real gain. Tell your smith to rent a different reamer.

 

[Wild_Bill]

I aggree if you have to neck turn a 268-269 neck is all that is required i would not turn less than that you can also get away with a no turn 271-272 neck with very good results. i would have your smith use a neck reamer or borrow another reamer with a 268-269 neck or go to another smith that will chamber it as most people are now doing. People are also now going to larger necks with their 6mm PPC's as they believe that they are getting more consistant neck tensions and their is also a lot less work in just skiming the necks in one pass than using 2 or 3 turners to take multiple cuts and ger wafer thin necks that are very fragile and easy to ruin a case if it is bumped or droped.

Cheers Bill
Australia

 

[Preacher]

If you go ahead and do the .262 neck you will definately have to turn the brass before it can be safely fired in your chamber. Just run a expander into the case so the cutter has the right tension and then turn the necks a little at a time, usually 3 passes will do it.
If you can talk the smith into it you will be better off with a .269 neck or a full no turn .272 if you don't want to turn at all.

 

[mikecr]

Use a few of the 40 waste brass to practice on. Expand it with Sinclairs E24 mandrel. Turn on the T24 mandrel. Trim if needed, and chamfer the case mouths. You'll probably have enough tension post-turning to just load and seat the bullets for fire forming.
When you get your rifle, you can make yourself baseline go/no-go cases to check your new chamber. Turn a little to a neck OD like .264,unseated) and try to chamber. Continue turning/chambering until it just fits,probably ~ .2620-.2635). No bullet seating needed just to find what your chamber really is, and what your loaded rounds will need to be. Make sure your loaded rounds have clearance, and your good to go.
With this info, you can then turn fitted necks, and reduce or eliminate neck sizing. Like If the chamber neck is .2630, and your loaded neck diameters are made .2620, you may find that the necks spring back to .2615 as pulled from the chamber, after firing. Trial & error will show if that's enough tension for your bullets, and necks which are only .0095 thick. It'll be light tension, and it may not buy you anything. Except nearly unmeasurable TIR off the ogives. Just a thought.

 

[steveyrock]

Mike that is good advice you gave to this fellow if he has the experience and has dealt with tight neck chambers before.

I must add to anyone who has never done this as described by Mike to use caution turning necks to those chamber fit tolerances.Please fully understand what you are doing when loading for a FITTED NECK.Make sure your bullets are from the same manufacture and the same die every time.THEY NEED TO ALWAYS MEASURE EXACTLY from batch to batch for your turned brass in that chamber.You must also keep your brass and chamber super clean in that neck area,you can not afford to overlook anything.
I was down this road before and found it much better to go with .002 clearance.

 

[mikecr]

Steve, these things are true. I always, always measure everything carfully. After seating I check the neck OD and TIR off the ogive. I take alot of pride in my ammo.
It's perfect or trash.

 

[steveyrock]

Mike
I just don't want to see the guy who started this thread get in trouble preparing brass for his first tight neck gun if he does not fully understand how critical those fitted neck measurements need to be to avoid disaster.I have no doubts as to your ability. He is the one I am concerned about

 

[steveyrock]

garrettsdad
as per your question, take the cases you picked and full lenght size them this will get the dimensions all exactly the same.Next measure all those sized cases to find the shortest lenght and trim all of them to that lenght,YOU MUST get them all the same before turning the necks so the cases stop at the same place when the case mouth touches the stop on the cutter mandrel.That way they will all have the same lenght of cut to the shoulder.The link below may help.

http://www.6mmbr.com/jgcaseprep.html

 

[jb1000br]

Fitted necks are a waste IMO...plus I am liking the no-brass-work-involved approach that has been working well for me this year Too much work for all you get back...diminishing returns seems appropriate in the fitted neck discussion...

I'll stick witha .272 no-turn for the forseeable future...tightest I'll ever go with a 6BR would be .269nk...

YMMV,
JB

 

[mikecr]

I haven't won anything. But I think FL sizing, neck sizing, shoulder bumping, trimming, and occasional annealing are a waste of time. My tight chambers and fitted necks eliminate all of this. My brass lasts forever, and my ammo measures near perfect,best I can tell).

I replace the primer,with a hand deprimer & primer seater), charge, and seat another bullet,with a wilson). I clean the cases now & then..
May not be more accurate, but how does it get easier?
If your going custom barrels with turned necks, why not buy your reamers with ideal dimensions? You can choose the dimensions which provide for least sizing. You can choose the neck thickness. And once the brass is initially prepped and FF'd, you can eliminate it as a potential problem, as long as you don't push it too hard.

 

[jb1000br]

Mike -- or get Harrel to fit you a die to your fired brass

I FL size, and I just measured some 3x fired cases last night,with a HOT load and FL sizing via Harrell Die) They measured the same OAL as when they were new!!

My cases have not grown at all in 3 heavy firings,I'm pushing pretty hard...31,2gn R15 for 2 orf the firings, 31.4 varget for the first) with FL sizing!! I WAS IMPRESSED! Cause I hate trimming too!

JB

 

[steveyrock]

jb
what do your loaded rounds measure at the neck? for that .272.

 

[jb1000br]

bout .2695

Will recheck to confirm.

 

[Aussie_bob]

steveyrock,
No good measureing them straight out of the box with out a projectile as they are probably .003" or more undersize.
measure the neck wall thickness and then double it and add to .243" My brass out of the box measures .2675" has a neck wall thickness is .013" so loaded would be .269" so a bushing of .267" would be what i would need and chamber neck of .272" would be fine as you would have enough clearance for those necks that may be .001" over size.
I know it is extra work and defeats the purpose of a no turn neck but for consistancy in neck tension i would skim all my brass to .012" neck wall thickness and use a .265" bushing.

 

[jb1000br]

Aussie bob -- Why would you turn necks?

I just mic'd 10 loaded rounds at 3 points around the circumference...with CLINCH RIVER bullets...these run about 0.2434" OD

min: 0.26960"
max: 0.26985"

these are the numbers my mic tells me...

that is 1/4 of 1-thousandth OD variation with un-turned, weight segregated brass.

JB