Novel (maybe) Neck Reaming Method

[KwGoch]

The gist of the process is this: ream the ID of the neck with a reamer while the neck is in a sizing die. The die would provide a pilot for the shank of the reamer, and a bushing die would allow one to adjust wall thickness cut with the same reamer. I think it would produce very consistent wall thickness because the outer diameter is supported in firm contact while the inner diameter is cut.

Thoughts?

 

[mikecr]

Would you be using a bushing that sizes the entire length of the neck?

 

[jds holler]

Would you be using a bushing that sizes the entire length of the neck?

I personally think that would be the way to go. Solves donut issues.

I love the idea. Someone please test. jd

 

[Ggmac]

It was a std procedure in the original Lee Target reloader . I still buy them whenever I see one . I think it was started in the early 70s

 

[Ggmac]

I personally think that would be the way to go. Solves donut issues.

I love the idea. Someone please test. jd

Been testing it for 30 plus yrs . So has every other owner of the original Lee target loader . It came out I think in the 70s
I still buy them when I find them . I have pics I can email ,if you'd post them . Sorry I'm a tech dumb dumb .
Gary

 

[jds holler]

Sorry I'm a tech dumb dumb .
Gary

The correct terminology is "technotard". And I be one too. We're not dumb, we just learn differently. jd

 

[BoydAllen]

Ream dies have been available for many years. I have one on the shelf that was designed to take out part of the thickness required for a tight neck .222 Rem. I got the idea from reading the article about the Houston warehouse. It accomplished exactly nothing except to put reamer cuts inside of the whole neck that took a couple of firings to smooth out. If you want to prevent future doughnuts cut off a die and push your shoulder back. Turn the neck all the way to the shoulder, and then expand with a mandrel the next caliber up. Then size the case so that the false shoulder gives solid feel when closing the bolt. The brass will be the same thickness from the bottom of the neck through the top of the shoulder.

 

[jamesdmock]

It was a std procedure in the original Lee Target reloader . I still buy them whenever I see one . I think it was started in the early 70s

The Lee Target loader did not have a conventional reamer, but rather had an eccentric reamer that allowed one to cut the necks to a uniform thickness. Also, Jim Carstensen made dies with the brass being held in a die for thinning the neck with a reamer. I used one of his for making .22 PPC-short brass. It had a hardened cap that guided the reamer. Good shooting.....James

 

[Ggmac]

The Lee Target loader did not have a conventional reamer, but rather had an eccentric reamer that allowed one to cut the necks to a uniform thickness. Also, Jim Carstensen made dies with the brass being held in a die for thinning the neck with a reamer. I used one of his for making .22 PPC-short brass. It had a hardened cap that guided the reamer. Good shooting.....James

If I understand you correctly the Lee reamer only cuts to one size ? The neck thickness is determined by how much the neck is sized , the smaller the sizing die the thinner the neck wall .
Granted you couldn't get thinner walls , unless you had Lee make the die at a cost of $12 at that time , you could get thicker walls by reaming the Lee die .
It was fairly common to send Lee a case with the neck thickness you needed and $12 and he'd send you a die that will cut to that thickness with the reamer in the kit .
Hope this makes sense .
Not sure I understand what you mean by a conventional reamer but an eccentric reamer .

 

[jamesdmock]

If I understand you correctly the Lee reamer only cuts to one size ? The neck thickness is determined by how much the neck is sized , the smaller the sizing die the thinner the neck wall .
Granted you couldn't get thinner walls , unless you had Lee make the die at a cost of $12 at that time , you could get thicker walls by reaming the Lee die .
It was fairly common to send Lee a case with the neck thickness you needed and $12 and he'd send you a die that will cut to that thickness with the reamer in the kit .
Hope this makes sense .
Not sure I understand what you mean by a conventional reamer but an eccentric reamer .

The flutes of the eccentric reamer were "offset" from the axis. In other words it cut off center. If one looks at the end of the Lee reamer, he can see that it was eccentric. (this is hard to explain without a picture) James

 

[Ggmac]

Thanks for the reply . I just went to the extreme hassle of checking the 8 available on the shelf next to me . Just kiddin about the hassle . Not one is offset or eccentric . It's flutes are the same in depth and when spun centered in a lathe they all have the same touch points up and down the cutting edge .
Maybe yours was dif . But why would Lee go to the expense of manufacturing an eccentric reamer .
another point with the one I just used , it's cutting on all flutes . Some more than others .