Nielsen/Pumpkin neck turner - help needed!

[JustinP]

Gents

Not long ago, I acquired a Pumpkin neck turner. Today was the first time I've used it. It isn't an intuitive piece of equipment, IMHO and I futzed around a fair while adjusting it. I seem to have got the depth of cut correct,only wasting one case so far..)

However, I note that the carbide cutter has a beveled/angled leading edge and when I turn my new Lapua .223 cases down to the stop, this leading edge cuts into the shoulder area and I've ended up with some brass removed about halfway down the shoulder to roughly where the datum point is. I've attached a picture.

Have I screwed this up? Have I got the cutter the wrong way around?

Any and all help appreciated.

Regards

Justin

 

[Forum Boss]

On many of the better cutters, such as the Pumpkin and the K&M, the cutter has and angle leading edge. This IS designed to cut slightly past the base of the neck. Ken of K&M suggests going about .030,roughly 1/32") down past the end of the neck. The purpose behind this is to avoid the build-up of brass right at the neck-shoulder junction which can lead to doughnuts.

You are doing the correct thing, but you just turned too far. Many cutting tools have a stop control so you can't turn too far down into the neck. Of course, for this to work, the cases all need to be trimmed to the same length first.

I would like to hear from other experienced reloaders who neck-turn and hear how far down they prefer to turn their cases.

Here are PPC cases, fire-formed from 220 Russian and turned with a Pumpkin by Speedy Gonzalez, when he ran S.G.&Y. and was offering neck-turning services for a fee. Ron Hoehn also will offers formed, neck-turned PPC brass.

 

[Cheechako]

IMHO, Mr Moderator got it right. You have to adjust the depth of cut until the bevel just barely touches the shoulder. When the case is fire-formed the bevel will blend into a smooth transition from neck to shoulder and should preclude the build up of a donut,for a while at least).

Make a case like he said and fire form it. Then you can see if you need to make any more adjustment. Cutting into the shoulder as much as you did could very well weaken the case and cause the neck to seperate.

Ray

 

[JHardy]

+1, exactly as you say. Just touch and the rest will be taken care of when fire forming.

Jim

 

[JustinP]

Thanks guys

Thank goodness I only did a couple and then stopped, prior to posting.

The problem I now have is that the .224 mandrel is pushed into the tool as far as it will go - the mandrel stop is virtually up against the trailing side of the cutter - and this length of cut was the result. Obviously, if I open that distance, the length of cut will be even longer...

This means that I can't turn these cases all the way to the stop - so will have to 'dead reckon' each length of cut with every case. This will be time consuming and not-very-accurate way of doing it, I suspect?

 

[JustinP]

All my cases are trimmed to the same length, BTW.

 

[Forum Boss]

Suggest you call Don Nielson, the pumpkin maker. I think there is a pretty simple solution, but I don't have one of his turners here in my hands.

Don Nielson - pkin [ a t ] sbcglobal.net
20456 Hart Street - Winnetka, California 91306
Phone,818) 883-5866 - Fax,818) 883-0414

 

[JustinP]

I'll shoot him an e-mail. Thanks. Will come back to you with any results.

 

[Cheechako]

Justin

The cutter is .250" in diameter and the neck on a 223 is only .203" long so it's easy to see your prediciment. I believe Don makes a cutter especially for the short neck cases. I'm sure he'll help you with your problem. You could eyeball the stopping point and with a little experience it works fairly well but in order to get them all exactly the same you really should have the correct set up.

Ray

 

[JustinP]

Thanks Ray

I've just fired an e-mail to Don Nielson and Jim Kelbly to see if they have one available.

Cheers, Justin