Neck Turning

[ATH]

Here's a rookie question. I was buying my first reloading supplies last night and looked at (but didn't buy!) the preassembled starter kits. They have nothing for neck turning (along with several other processes). I didn't get anything to do neck turning; when does it really become necessary (in a 300WM)?

[jb1000br]

[ QUOTE ]
Here's a rookie question. I was buying my first reloading supplies last night and looked at (but didn't buy!) the preassembled starter kits. They have nothing for neck turning (along with several other processes). I didn't get anything to do neck turning; when does it really become necessary (in a 300WM)?

[/ QUOTE ]

NO

If you are NOT shooting off a bench, neck turning will most likely get lost in the noise of driver error...

JB

[Buffalobob]

Here is a rookie answer

If you have a factory chamber you will most likely not do yourself much good and will ruin some amount of brass learning how to do it right. (what is right I don't have a clue being as I didn't turn into the shoulder as JB recommended and I got donuts as he says you will, secondly I turned weatherby cases with an angled blade and just thought the angle was a machining defect on the blade). I also ruined a hundred cases of 17 Rem by turning too much and getting the neck so thin that in the sloppy factory chamber I can't get the necks sized back down to the correct neck tension with my neck sizing die. Fortunately, my old full length die has a little tighter neck and will get it back down.

After doing all of that it seems to me that most of my shooting issues reside with me and not with the gun or the the cartridges.

Final thought - I bought 100 cases of 338LM and after considering my case prep skill and the cost of the brass I decided to just rely on Lapua to have made good brass and not do anything to screw it up. I have a lot of Norma brass and it is very consistent (by my standards) and if I hadn't already turned a bunch of it I would quit messing with it also.

These are just some examples of the learning curve associated with neck turning. There are more mistakes to make but it would take too long to list all of them I have made.

[BountyHunter]

Normally you do not need to neck turn factory cases. factory chambers normally have anywhere from .004-.008 or more slop in them.

If anyone turns cases for factory and find that their sizing die does not work, they have two choices.

buy a Redding bushing die OR send their original die to Jim Carstenson at jlcprec@netins.net

JLC Precision
13095 450th ave
Bellevue, Iowa 52031

for $35 Jim will convert a standard die to redding bushings. He will also build a custom honed die from the $24 redding body bump die with neck bushings (cost is about $75). You can see his work on www.6mmbr.com under "tools"

Great dies, I have about 4 sets.

BH