Neck Turning Questiion

[Jayhawker]

Hello:

Should I fire brand new Lapua 6 BR brass before turning the necks?

 

[JRS]

What kind of chamber dimension do you have?

 

[Jayhawker]

Re: Neck Turning Question

I can give you an approximate diameter-.272". This is a PacNor barrel with a stock Savage action that I'm just trying to squeeze every bit of accuracy out of as possible.

 

[JRS]

With a .272 neck diameter, you don't need to neck turn Unless you just want to.

 

[Jayhawker]

I realize that this is a "no turn" chamber but I thought turning would make for a little more even neck tension. As you can tell, I'm no veteran rifle shooter and am looking at all my options.

 

[fredhorace77]

It may just be my ignorance but Ive never seen any reason to outside neck turn unless you plan on also reaming the inside of the neck..the way I've always seen it is if the outside of the neck varies in thickness so should the inside of the neck...so outside neck turning only cures one problem..am i wrong in thinking this?

 

[halfmoanut]

Well I 'll try to hit two birds with one stone here. When you use a no turn chambered rifle you would be completely at the mercy of the quality of the brass(neck diameter consistency). If shooters had trust not many shooters would turn necks.( I don't know of many serious benchrest shooters who don't turn necks)I also don't know of any who turn the inside of necks either. JMTC.

 

[243winxb]

FL size the brass, expand the neck, turn. No inside neck reaming. Load & Fire. Using Lyman turner.

 

[timeout]

I expand my new Lapua 6BR brass necks before resizing, but do not turn them. If you do not have a neck thickness micrometer, get one. IMO the only reason to turn with the .272" would be if you have uneven neck thickness. I had some brass of a different caliber and brand awhile back, that the neck thickness around the circumference of the neck varied big time. I outside neck turned it and it still varied. My only option then, as far as I could figure out, was to inside ream the neck. I did that with a Wilson case trimmer and their inside neck ream tool. If I ever run into that problem again, I will simply throw the brass away.

 

[Jayhawker]

Timeout:

I do have a neck thickness mic. How much leeway do you allow on the neck thickness measurement? And if you did feel it was necessary to turn, would you wait until after firing?

 

[timeout]

The Lapua 6BR brass I have checked was pretty well spot on all the way around. I have converted Lapua 220 Russian brass to 6PPC. That requires neck turning before firing, due to the neck chamber size of my rifle. That process did not create any problems that I can see. So in my limited experience, I see no reason to fire the brass first. I have a 21st Century lathe turner. I like the 21st Century cutters being ground to the shoulder angle of the particular cartridge being turned. I hesitate to promote my methods as "the correct way". I hope that some others with many years more experience will add their comments. Others have already commented on your neck chamber dimension. I prefer .001" clearance per side with loaded rounds or .002" total. Removing too much OD from your brass will alter that. Wish I could help you more. One more thing is I feel annealing every time is helpful in creating equal neck tension. Perhaps some will disagree with that?

 

[khennessy]

Jay,

this article is well worth a read -
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.ie/2010/12/basics-new-brass-preparation.html

 

[Jayhawker]

Coincidentally, my Lapua brass arrived just awhile ago. I took out about 20 pieces and ran them over an expander. Then I checked them with a neck thickness gauge. I'm not sure what should be right, but almost all were within .0005" of each other. There may have been 1 or 2 out to a .001. With those kind of tolerances it would seem the turning would be a moot point. I know that folks who know more than I do recommend full length sizing. The new brass has shoulders pushed back enough that it has no effect on the shoulder i.e. no bump. It does however, reduce the diameter of the neck enough that I'd end-up way over the usual neck tension I usually use of .002" making me think that using my bushing die would be best. Any comments here?

 

[JRS]

Fire them 2-3 times, give the brass time to flow and conform to the chamber. If the chambering job was performed correctly, you'll find the brass to be far more than acceptable. More and more competitors are using no turn chambers. Tension, you can set yourself, via bushing, Forster modified, or custom dies.