Neck Turning

[Nude nut]

Hi Guys,
Im just about to have a crack at neck turnin have a couple of questions.
1.I only size my necks halfway down the neck with bushing die as no bullet below that point so is it still neccessary to turn beyond this point into the shoulder of the case.
2.Do I only neckturn once or run cases through turne every firing as I have read different opinions so abit unsure on that one.
I have practiced on old brass to get familar with the 21st century turner so no probs there the main reason for neckturning at this stage is my sons 223 rem his cases the whole neck gets sized but with fired brass I cant slide a projectile down the neck the barrel was supposed to no nk turn so its the brass a bit thicker or the neck diameter is on the tight side.

Cheers Trev.

 

[amlevin]

If it was my brass, I'd turn the entire neck the first time and then only partially size necks after each firing. As I see it if you don't turn the full length you have a point in the neck where it will be heavily worked when firing. The un-turned part of the neck will contact the chamber first and then the turned portion will expand with a slight "shearing" action at the point where the turning ended. Repeat this a few times and you could find your fired cases being extracted without the forward portion still attached.

As for your son's .223, try annealing the brass and see if the problem continues. Sounds like there might be a lot of spring-back after firing.

 

[BoydAllen]

Although turning part way down the neck is a bit unusual, as long as the bullet does not go into the unturned area, I see no reason why you could not. You might want to consider that as cases need trimming, the thick part at the bottom will advance up the neck and give yourself a generous allowance for that. I would adjust the length of sizing so that it extended beyond the part of the neck that you intend to turn, size, expand with a die and mandrel supplied by your turner's manufacturer, and then turn.

No, you do not have to return for each firing,

For your son's rifle, what is the OD of fired necks compared to loaded? Generally, I estimate that the neck diameter of a fired case is about .001 smaller than the chamber neck in which it was fired. If you have not fired any rounds yet, and are worried about clearance, you can turn a case, load and fire it, and use its dimensions to evaluate what you have, to be better able to decide how to proceed. You can also make a chamber cast to confirm the chamber neck dimension. Do you have access to a print of the reamer used to chamber his barrel? That would be a handy reference.

 

[Fotheringill]

BTW- Redding Competition Bushing dies don't size all the way down. This is from Redding rep and my own observations before I called Redding.

 

[Nude nut]

B

Although turning part way down the neck is a bit unusual, as long as the bullet does not go into the unturned area, I see no reason why you could not. You might want to consider that as cases need trimming, the thick part at the bottom will advance up the neck and give yourself a generous allowance for that. I would adjust the length of sizing so that it extended beyond the part of the neck that you intend to turn, size, expand with a die and mandrel supplied by your turner's manufacturer, and then turn.

No, you do not have to return for each firing,

For your son's rifle, what is the OD of fired necks compared to loaded? Generally, I estimate that the neck diameter of a fired case is about .001 smaller than the chamber neck in which it was fired. If you have not fired any rounds yet, and are worried about clearance, you can turn a case, load and fire it, and use its dimensions to evaluate what you have, to be better able to decide how to proceed. You can also make a chamber cast to confirm the chamber neck dimension. Do you have access to a print of the reamer used to chamber his barrel? That would be a handy reference.

Boyd thanks for your reply I dont have a copy of reamer print but will ring gunsmith that chambers all my barrels we have fired about 700 rounds through the 223rem it shoots well no ill affects I only noticed last weekend the the projectiles would not go in the case after firing.
Im waiting for better measuring tools before I procced any further.

 

[Nude nut]

If it was my brass, I'd turn the entire neck the first time and then only partially size necks after each firing. As I see it if you don't turn the full length you have a point in the neck where it will be heavily worked when firing. The un-turned part of the neck will contact the chamber first and then the turned portion will expand with a slight "shearing" action at the point where the turning ended. Repeat this a few times and you could find your fired cases being extracted without the forward portion still attached.

As for your son's .223, try annealing the brass and see if the problem continues. Sounds like there might be a lot of spring-back after firing.

Hes just annealed his brass today so will check this weekend I think it maybe better to just turn then size most of the neck may be less hassle and thanks for your reply.

Cheers Trev.

 

[Nude nut]

BTW- Redding Competition Bushing dies don't size all the way down. This is from Redding rep and my own observations before I called Redding.

Yes your right I should of said most of the way down.

Cheers Trev.

 

[Nude nut]

As boyd has said I only have to turn once this I cant get my head around as I understand it when you full length resize and bump the shoulder back brass moves up the case into the neck therfoe the need to trim cases.
So if this is so how can neck thickness remain consistant or am I missing somthing.

Cheers Trev.

 

[/VH]

One thing you might check, if you haven't already done so:

.223 case mouths can easily get out of round (flattened) during extraction (especially if the rifle has a stout ejector) or upon ejection, if the case impacts a hard surface.

An out of round, or slightly flattened case mouth may be what is preventing a bullet from sliding into a fired case and you might not have a neck clearance issue at all.

Some ejectors tend to cause the case mouth to strike the inside of action rather sharply as the mouth of the case exits the chamber.

 

[Terry Altom]

When you full length size, you're squeezing the case just a little so it will chamber easily. As you can imagine, when the case gets thinner, it gets taller. You can measure this very easily before and after sizing.

 

[Nude nut]

One thing you might check, if you haven't already done so:

.223 case mouths can easily get out of round (flattened) during extraction (especially if the rifle has a stout ejector) or upon ejection, if the case impacts a hard surface.

An out of round, or slightly flattened case mouth may be what is preventing a bullet from sliding into a fired case and you might not have a neck clearance issue at all.

Some ejectors tend to cause the case mouth to strike the inside of action rather sharply as the mouth of the case exits the chamber.

Ejector spring has been lightend you basicly have to take the case out of the action by hand.
This was done so cases didnt fly over to the next competitor as not to disturb them or have my lad chasing cases instead of concentrating on his shooting.

Cheers Trev.

 

[Snuggie]

One thing you might check, if you haven't already done so:

.223 case mouths can easily get out of round (flattened) during extraction (especially if the rifle has a stout ejector) or upon ejection, if the case impacts a hard surface.

An out of round, or slightly flattened case mouth may be what is preventing a bullet from sliding into a fired case and you might not have a neck clearance issue at all.

Some ejectors tend to cause the case mouth to strike the inside of action rather sharply as the mouth of the case exits the chamber.

I experience this exact thing with my .223 cases. I run them through the mandrel again before resizing. Good point VH!

 

[/VH]

Thanks for the backup, Snuggie but it looks like I mis-guessed in the OP's particular case.