Neck turning for factory stock chambers?

deepcore · December 2, 2011, 02:21 AM

Is neck turning for factory stock rifles worth the added work?

Tim R · December 2, 2011, 06:30 AM

Bench Rest people think so, but they do odd things with animals any ways. If your brass is way off, then it might help. Other wise I don't think there would be enough gain with a factory barrel to make it worth your time. You might gain more by weighing cases. IMHO. I do know weighing brass for the 600 yard line helps some. But it's a PITA to keep the weighed brass from the non weighed brass when shooting a match.

IllinoisCoyoteHunter · December 2, 2011, 07:34 AM

I neck turn my 243 brass for a stock chamber. BUT, I do not turn the entire neck. I turn it to knock down the "high spots". When I find I have taken material off of about 60% (surface area, NOT thickness) of the neck I will stop. I do this to ensure I have a more uniform bullet pull out of the case (in other words neck tension on the bullet is more uniform all the way around). The reason I dont take material off the entire neck is that I don't want the neck to be really undersized and too much slop.

243winxb · December 2, 2011, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Is neck turning for factory stock rifles worth the added work?

Only if you do all benchrest prep of the brass. Use Fl sizing bushing dies & size only 1/2 of the neck, allowing the unsized part to center the round in the chamber. Takes about 3 firings in both of my 243win, Rem factory riflles. Turn some brass, load with standard dies, you might ever see an imporovement with this method, but best to sort the brass by weight after preping. Watch neck tension.

Scorch · December 2, 2011, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Is neck turning for factory stock rifles worth the added work?

Not really. Turn the necks to clean up high spots, as mentioned above. Factory chambers are typically oversize, and that includes the necks, so thinning the brass at the neck does nothing for keeping the neck aligned with the bore.

wncchester · December 2, 2011, 12:02 PM

Neck turning for SAAMI chambers isn't highly effective but it can help make the necks more concentric and that's not bad.

BR guys usually have necks too tight to accept 'normal' case necks so they must turn to chamber their ammo, sometimes the necks must be as thin as 8 thousant of an inch. They also strive to turn so there is very little chamber neck clearance, sometimes less than 1 thou. Most factory chambers have 10-15 thou clearance so thinning necks more than the bare miniumum needed to even 'em up just a bit simply makes an already poor fit even worse.

I full length turn my necks but only to skim off enough to make the inside and outside cylinders reasonably concentric, like the 60-80% mentioned above.
Has neck turning 'helped' my accuracy? Not a lot. There's a finite limit to the accuracy potential of any barrel, especially factory barrels, so going to the extremes of case prep used by BR people is pointless. I do some of it but I know I'm spinning my wheels!

deepcore · December 2, 2011, 09:00 PM

Thanks guys.

mrawesome22 · December 2, 2011, 09:23 PM

You can also turn necks to do away with the need to use the expander ball.

December 2, 2011, 02:21 AM	#1
deepcore Senior Member Join Date: July 24, 2010 Posts: 364	Neck turning for factory stock chambers? Is neck turning for factory stock rifles worth the added work?

December 2, 2011, 06:30 AM	#2
Tim R Senior Member Join Date: November 30, 2004 Location: God's side of Washington State Posts: 1,601	Bench Rest people think so, but they do odd things with animals any ways. If your brass is way off, then it might help. Other wise I don't think there would be enough gain with a factory barrel to make it worth your time. You might gain more by weighing cases. IMHO. I do know weighing brass for the 600 yard line helps some. But it's a PITA to keep the weighed brass from the non weighed brass when shooting a match. __________________ God Bless our Troops especially our Snipers.

December 2, 2011, 07:34 AM	#3
IllinoisCoyoteHunter Senior Member Join Date: December 23, 2008 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 1,527	I neck turn my 243 brass for a stock chamber. BUT, I do not turn the entire neck. I turn it to knock down the "high spots". When I find I have taken material off of about 60% (surface area, NOT thickness) of the neck I will stop. I do this to ensure I have a more uniform bullet pull out of the case (in other words neck tension on the bullet is more uniform all the way around). The reason I dont take material off the entire neck is that I don't want the neck to be really undersized and too much slop. __________________ ~~IllinoisCoyoteHunter~~ ~NRA LIFE MEMBER~ ~NRA CERTIFIED INSTRUCTOR~

December 2, 2011, 12:02 PM	#6
wncchester Senior Member Join Date: December 1, 2002 Posts: 2,832	Neck turning for SAAMI chambers isn't highly effective but it can help make the necks more concentric and that's not bad. BR guys usually have necks too tight to accept 'normal' case necks so they must turn to chamber their ammo, sometimes the necks must be as thin as 8 thousant of an inch. They also strive to turn so there is very little chamber neck clearance, sometimes less than 1 thou. Most factory chambers have 10-15 thou clearance so thinning necks more than the bare miniumum needed to even 'em up just a bit simply makes an already poor fit even worse. I full length turn my necks but only to skim off enough to make the inside and outside cylinders reasonably concentric, like the 60-80% mentioned above. Has neck turning 'helped' my accuracy? Not a lot. There's a finite limit to the accuracy potential of any barrel, especially factory barrels, so going to the extremes of case prep used by BR people is pointless. I do some of it but I know I'm spinning my wheels!

December 2, 2011, 09:00 PM	#7
deepcore Senior Member Join Date: July 24, 2010 Posts: 364	Thanks guys.

December 2, 2011, 09:23 PM	#8
mrawesome22 Senior Member Join Date: November 9, 2005 Location: Ohio, Appalachia's foothills. Posts: 3,779	You can also turn necks to do away with the need to use the expander ball.