neck turning

[musso]

i want to turn my necks on my lapua brass .308.
i was told you need a non bushing FL die.

I dont have a non bushing FL sizing die. Can i use the die I have (redding FL sizer type S die) or should I get a non bushing die?
If so what FL die would you recommend?

Thank you
Joe

 

[wapiti25]

I don't know why your "s" die would not work. Is this new brass? It could be that the neck shoulder area does not get sized with the bushing and would make the neck thin at the junction when you are cutting. Need more info as who told you that and what was the rest of the conversation. Was this part of preping the brass for turning?

 

[brian427cobra]

In order to completely turn the neck an cut slightly in to the shoulder the brass should be FL sized with a non bushing die so the entire neck is sized, IMHO 308 Win is not one of those calibers that needs Neck Turning, YMMV.

 

[fdshuster]

joe: You did not say why you want to outside turn your Lapua 308 case necks. Do you have a tight, fitted chamber? A no-turn neck chamber? Or, a factory SAAMI spec chamber?

Lapua brass, unlike some others, is very uniform around the neck circumference, mostly within .001" & unless you must reduce the thickness for a tight, fitted neck, there really is no need to outside turn.

 

[musso]

ok i dont have a factory chamber i had my rifle re-barreled and not sure what ream was used to chamber the barrel. im looking in to what reamer the gun smith used. i am assuming it is close to factory size i did not instruct the smith to do anything special chamber wise.

now this is where i'm at. here are the steps i have taken.

1:FL size the brass with no expander (Redding FL Sizer)
2:Expand the neck with the expander mandrel (K&M)
3:Trim the brass to a uniform length (new brass so i skipped this step)
4:Turn the neck to whatever thickness you want (K&M neck turner tool)

ok once i use the expander die (K&M) the neck is to wide for any neck tension bullet slides in easily. do i need to re-neck size it?
i have only reloaded 20 rounds to see if it makes any difference.

 

[ddhunt]

you will need to resize after turning. neck wall thickness times 2 plus bullet diameter. subtract .003 for the corect bushing size
ddgo

 

[musso]

thank you ballisticallychallenged.

 

[Shynloco]

joe: You did not say why you want to outside turn your Lapua 308 case necks. Do you have a tight, fitted chamber? A no-turn neck chamber? Or, a factory SAAMI spec chamber?

Lapua brass, unlike some others, is very uniform around the neck circumference, mostly within .001" & unless you must reduce the thickness for a tight, fitted neck, there really is no need to outside turn.

Great advice! Unless you have a custom chamber where the brass is too tight in, don't waste the time or effort in turning your brass. Like FD says, Lapua brass is consistent in brass thickness and dependable. When you turn the neck, you COULD end up with more than the .002 - .003 recommended spacing between the brass and tha chamber wall, which could allow for pressure blowback and therefore effect accuracy. I just bought a new Hart barrel and PTG Reamer for my .308. The chamber has not yet been cut, but I will have my Gunsmith carefully measure the chamber and if I don't need more space in the chamber, I have NO intentions of turning my new Lapua .308 brass. And that is based upon personal experiences with several rifles my .308 as ultimate accuracy is my thing. Just my opinion.

 

[musso]

i should have looked in to the neck turning before i bought all the tools. i guess better to have them and not need them then need them and not have them.

thank you all for the great advice.

well i loaded 20 rounds and i will shoot them and see what they do. if i dint see any significant improvement i wont wast the time turning them.
you never know.

thank you
joe

 

[joejo]

there is nothing wrong with doing a "clean up" on the necks. all my guns that i turn necks for are non tight neck chambers but i can get more consistant neck tension if i cut the necks to the thinest wall thickness of the brass batch. if i have 50 rds of lapua ranging from 13.5-15 thou, i turn all the necks to 13.5.

 

[michaeljp]

there is nothing wrong with doing a "clean up" on the necks. all my guns that i turn necks for are non tight neck chambers but i can get more consistant neck tension if i cut the necks to the thinest wall thickness of the brass batch. if i have 50 rds of lapua ranging from 13.5-15 thou, i turn all the necks to 13.5.

Yes , lapua brass isn't as consistant as everyone thinks it is. I also turn the necks slightly, Mine ranged from 13 -16.5. I turned them to 14.5.