Neck turning how accurate

[buzzard]

I have been turning on the Lathe with a mandrel and centering the mandrel at a little under .00025 and getting a neck wall thickness variance of about .0005 is the hand held neck turner more accurate. and what kinda of wall thickness variance do you get with a hand held turner. thanks

 

[222Rem]

I might be wrong but I have read that you need to turn necks 80%-90% around . Unless you have tight neck chamber then you need to turn to specific diameter .

 

[Preacher]

If the mandrel fits exactly, and the brass has been annealed it should all end up the same. The hand held would more apt to be centered than trying to get it perfect in the lathe. I get hardly any variance using the K&M tool by hand....

 

[Cheechako]

Buzzard

When using a lathe, it's best to turn a new mandrel for each turning session.

Ray

 

[tightneck]

Buzzard

When using a lathe, it's best to turn a new mandrel for each turning session.

Ray

Thats the truth...trying to dial in a mandrel within the requirements of neck turning is next to impossible. As Ray has pointed out, turn a new one for each turning session. Of course, you will want to have lots of brass ready to turn. I've all but given up on turning them on the lathe, mainly because my back gets to aching. I annealed and then cleaned up about 75 PPC cases last night while watching the hockey game.

 

[BoydAllen]

Yes, hand held tools do better than .0005 variance. Let us know what yours is with a fresh cut mandrel, using your lathe.

 

[jb1000br]

When I turned necks,I could hold +-0.0001" with a hand-held R.W.Hart turner and drill...

JB