Neck Turning - How far down the neck?

[MVW]

I have been reading a lot about neck turning. I find very little discussion on how far down the neck to turn. However, some say cut slightly into the shoulder to reduce doughnut. Other say stop before the shoulder to avoid neck separation. It seems like opinions vary on almost everything to do with precision reloading, but I am curious if there is a consensus on this topic that I have missed.

Thanks, MVW

 

[SET]

However, some say cut slightly into the shoulder to reduce doughnut.

That's the best way, especially if you happen to be using longer bullets that may impinge on the doughnut if present.

 

[sailhertoo]

I trim into the neck a tad. No doughnuts here and I'm on my 6th loading of these cases. No separated necks either.

 

[memilanuk]

If you look closely at most neck turners, the blade has a slight angle on one side. Oddly enough, that angle is a pretty good match (or close enough) for most case shoulder angles that are not improved/Ackley-ized. It allows you to cut right to the base of the neck, and just touch the shoulder w/o cutting in too deep and risking separation. Some brands have a piloted stop setup so you can make sure you don't go too far. If you do a lot of cases that *are* improved i.e. 40 degree shoulder, etc. you can usually purchase cutters ground to match the shoulder angle of your cases should you desire that.

To me... all the above generally indicates that cutting right down to the neck/shoulder junction is the preferred way to go. Haven't tested it any other way, but I've never had any issues w/ separating the neck because of cutting too far - probably because of the piloted stop setup I mentioned earlier - but I have had issues w/ donuts forming at the base of the neck. I figure its probably easiest to cut down a little further initially rather than have to try and ream the darn things out later.

YMMV,

Monte

 

[Martin52]

MVW,
I agree with the above comments, cut slightly into the neck/shoulder junction.
Prior to this you must FLS using a non bushing die and then trim all cases to the same length otherwise you will end up with varying cut depths into the neck/shoulder junction which may cause problems.
Use a non bushing die on new brass that has not been turned because a bushing die stops marginally short of the neck/shoulder junction, a non bushing die does not if properly adjusted.
Martin

 

[MVW]

Thanks Guys. I use a Redding FL Sizing Die to begin the process on new brass, which works great.

I had seen reference to the 40 degree cutter before, but I hadn't made the connection to the AI cartridges. That makes sense.

MVW

 

[mikecr]

With new brass there should be no reason to do any pre-turning neck sizing, other than mandrel fit expansion.
I pull em out of the box, run the expander mandrel through the necks, and turn up onto the shoulder a bit.
Takes no more effort really than cutting primer pockets, or trimming/chamfering.