Working with neck lube as a means to reduce SD/ES

[ireload2]

I have shot a lot of groups with cast bullets in BPCR rifles that I finish seating with just thumb pressure. The results are excellent but do require careful handling of the loaded ammo.
The light seating pressures prevent seating damage to the cast bullet bases.

I've shot matches at 600 through 1000 yards with only a few ounces of bullet pull. Extra soft seated long to set back when chambered. Very accurate, but needed special handling as jarring a box of them easily displaces the bullet in its neck.

 

[Richard Coody]

I have a question for you benchrest guys, what more neck prep steps can be done besides, trimming, turning and annealing?

I have noticed on some of my 6x47 necks with the above prep done that still there are different seating pressures when I seat bullets with a Wilson/arbor seating die. I turned .0005 off after 6 or so firings which helped, then after that I separated the brass that wouldn't play nice.

Most are pretty well the same now but I just wanted to find out how far you guys go with this neck prep thing?

neck prep:

i like my necks long but consistent. don't trim until necessary and the only to the midpoint between trim length and max. some of my 40 degree shoulder brass never requires trimming for its entire life.

neck turn new brass cutting slightly into the shoulder. Do 100 cases at a time to the same neck thickness and always keep them together. that batch could easily last the life of the barrel. after fully fireforming turn again just to clean them up.

anneal every firing, leave the carbon in the necks, if sizing with a bushing die use the k&m expander mandrel for final neck sizing, they come in .0005 increments so finding that magic neck tension is possible.

use an arbor press and in line dies for bullet seating. a force indicator is a great tool to see just how consistent your neck tension is.

i like very light neck tension but let your target tell the tale. Some find using a crimping die gives them more consistent neck tension with corresponding improvements in accuracy.

of course some

 

[steve123]

neck prep:

i like my necks long but consistent. don't trim until necessary and the only to the midpoint between trim length and max. some of my 40 degree shoulder brass never requires trimming for its entire life.

neck turn new brass cutting slightly into the shoulder. Do 100 cases at a time to the same neck thickness and always keep them together. that batch could easily last the life of the barrel. after fully fireforming turn again just to clean them up.

anneal every firing, leave the carbon in the necks, if sizing with a bushing die use the k&m expander mandrel for final neck sizing, they come in .0005 increments so finding that magic neck tension is possible.

use an arbor press and in line dies for bullet seating. a force indicator is a great tool to see just how consistent your neck tension is.

i like very light neck tension but let your target tell the tale. Some find using a crimping die gives them more consistent neck tension with corresponding improvements in accuracy.

of course some

Even though I officially started with a single shot benchrest rifle, an RFD 6mmPPC... One day I loaded up 75vmax for it, went out on a super calm morning at 1000Y, and hit a MGM mini popper/4" wide, much more than I would have thought possible, I've been hooked since then on accurate rifles.

I'm shooting mostly repeaters right now so I need or want 2-3 thou neck tension for reliably's sake. It sucks when a bullet gets crammed into the case during a stage lol, which I've learned about the hard way.

I plan on having built some nice single shot benchrest rifles in the future and when I do I want to try out these advanced reloading case prep methods. A big reason I'm hanging out here again is to learn/glean info and to hopefully someday shoot a 1" group at 600Y or 3" at 1000Y.

Thanks for sharing

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Even though I officially started with a single shot benchrest rifle, an RFD 6mmPPC... One day I loaded up 75vmax for it, went out on a super calm morning at 1000Y, and hit a MGM mini popper/4" wide, much more than I would have thought possible, I've been hooked since then on accurate rifles.

I'm shooting mostly repeaters right now so I need or want 2-3 thou neck tension for reliably's sake. It sucks when a bullet gets crammed into the case during a stage lol, which I've learned about the hard way.

I plan on having built some nice single shot benchrest rifles in the future and when I do I want to try out these advanced reloading case prep methods. A big reason I'm hanging out here again is to learn/glean info and to hopefully someday shoot a 1" group at 600Y or 3" at 1000Y.

Thanks for sharing

You still got that rfd?

 

[steve123]

You still got that rfd?

No, I sold both RFD's, I had two BTW, to finance the tactical rifle builds. Dodd pissed me off and owes me money.... I don't like the guy and don't mind saying so.

 

[L W P]

I am running some experiments over my Magnetospeed to see if lubing the neck of my brass will reduce my SD/ES. I have some dry neck imperial lube (with the loading beads) that I am trying as a first pass at the experiment. I dipped the neck in 3 times, tapped the neck on the container to shake off any excess and wiped the outside of the case to keep my hands clean when handling the load.

Has anyone had success doing this? Should I be using another means of lube? Should I worry about powder contamination? I'm using a satern funnel specific for my 6.5 creedmoor when loading my powder so hopefully that might help in powder touching the inside of the neck when going into the brass.

Don

I've done this same process on my new Lapua SR 6.5 Creedmoor brass, after I've expanded the inside of the necks with an oversize (.264") mandrel. Really makes the seating process much easier. Buy that I mean a lot smoother consistency in the force to seat them. My first test showed decent E/S and S/D, but I think it could be better. I will say that I will be doing more testing the next time out with the same process and a little more powder. Hope to see the same or better E/S and S/D with the virgin brass. Good luck to you and we'll check out your results. The Imperial Dry also works great on SS washed brass that comes out so clean that it needs some type of lubricant inside the necks to help with a smooth seat.

 

[Hrsmn51]

"ME" I totally agree powder will stick in the neck if using lube other than the graphite.

 

[BoydAllen]

There are lubes that dry so that powder will not stick to them. One shot and Lee case lube come to mind. There probably are others. A friend puts a little carnuba powder in walnut media in his case cleaner. It prevents cold welding when cases have been cleaned using stainless pins.

 

[JimSC]

if you use a wet based lube then lube the bullet and wipe the base clean before seating. That way the lube gets pushed to the front of the bullet. Put in the neck and as you seat the bullet you are forcing it into the case. I tried several commercial and home brews last summer both wet and dry. In some tests the SD and ES was actually worse than non lubed and in none were they improved. Each to their own though, if you are doing something and it is working for you then go for it

 

[L W P]

if you use a wet based lube then lube the bullet and wipe the base clean before seating. That way the lube gets pushed to the front of the bullet. Put in the neck and as you seat the bullet you are forcing it into the case. I tried several commercial and home brews last summer both wet and dry. In some tests the SD and ES was actually worse than non lubed and in none were they improved. Each to their own though, if you are doing something and it is working for you then go for it

Yep, I've done the same application on some bullets before seating. Dip the base of the bullet about 3/8" in Imperial Dry lube 2 to 3 times and wipe off around the taper, then seat in cases that are ready with powder. Not much contamination there, but I could be wrong. My targets seem to like this method and my S/D's are 4-6.