Nosler custom brass nick thickness

[timmyatnop]

Hi everyone Iam working on my 338 edge loads. I don't as yet have a ball mic ,to measure neck thickness. I was just wondering if anyone know if this brass has uniform neck thickness or if I might benefit from turning the necks slightly.

 

[Trickymissfit]

Hi everyone Iam working on my 338 edge loads. I don't as yet have a ball mic ,to measure neck thickness. I was just wondering if anyone know if this brass has uniform neck thickness or if I might benefit from turning the necks slightly.

I'm not a real fan of ball mics, and prefer a good pin micrometer as it measures a larger area than the ball head. But each his own. What you can do to measure the case necks is to get you hands on a set of small hole gauges. Then measure over them with a micrometer. Then measure the O.D. and subtract. Most of the time I use a home brew device that you can now buy from Sinclair. It uses a .218" gauge pin and a micrometer head. These are extremely accurate. I highly recommend that Sinclair device.
gary

 

[timmyatnop]

Re: Nosler custom brass neck thickness

I was looking at a digital device sinclair has ,that looks very nice,but it is expensive. Seems like a guy spends a lot getting started out in this hobby a couple hunred a month for quiet some time lately, mabey some day ill have everything i need ,for reloading the best cartriges i can. Do you know if nosler brass neck thickness varies or is it very uniform ?. Thanks for the the replies.

 

[Rustystud]

I bought some Nosler .300Win Mag Brass from MidwayUSA a few years ago. It had .08" yes, .08 variation in necks thickness. I contacted Nosler and they acknowledged they had a problem. They said to send it back to MidwayUSA. I called MidwayUSA and they said not to send it to them and send it to Nosler. I ended up throwing $70.00 worth of Nosler brass in the trash. I will not buy brass from either MidwayUSA or Nosler ever again. If you can find Lapua brass in the case you need it is hard to beat. I have also had good luck with Winchester, Federal, Hornady, Remington, Norma, and Lake City Match.
Nat Lambeth

 

[timmyatnop]

I guess Iam going to have to spend more money on an accurate tool to check neck thickness to know for sure.

 

[Trickymissfit]

I guess Iam going to have to spend more money on an accurate tool to check neck thickness to know for sure.

goto the Sinclair page, and then click the reloading tools place from there goto the micrometers. The one near the bottom of the page that's "L" shaped and cost about $160 is similar to what I built. But you can build one for a lot less, by buying a head from Enco and then making your own. I did mine with a band saw and a drill press, with an afternoon's worth of elbow grease. A buddy of mine built one similar, but got the head off an old micrometer he picked up at a hocshop for $20. The gauge pins are nice, and you can also use something like a 3/16th" or 6mm dowl pin. I have about forty dollars in mine.
gary

 

[timmyatnop]

Iam gona go check it out right now. Thanks.

 

[Mikecr]

No, no. This is what you need:
Sinclair Digital Case Neck Micrometer - Sinclair Intl
or a bit cheaper but very good:
Sinclair/Starret Case Neck Micrometer - Sinclair Intl

With either you need to modify them with an adjustable stop so that you're measuring at the same depth all the way around, & case to case.
The reason this is important is because brass tapers in thickness from the webs all the way to the mouths. A 'pin' anvil would produce only a mechanical average of neck thickness over a relatively large spread of contact points, rather than actual at any single point.

Reloading is not about saving money. Don't go cheap on it

 

[Trickymissfit]

No, no. This is what you need:
Sinclair Digital Case Neck Micrometer - Sinclair Intl
or a bit cheaper but very good:
Sinclair/Starret Case Neck Micrometer - Sinclair Intl

With either you need to modify them with an adjustable stop so that you're measuring at the same depth all the way around, & case to case.
The reason this is important is because brass tapers in thickness from the webs all the way to the mouths. A 'pin' anvil would produce only a mechanical average of neck thickness over a relatively large spread of contact points, rather than actual at any single point.

Reloading is not about saving money. Don't go cheap on it

the one on the bottom is similar to what I use. As for a stock, all you need is a sleeve with a small set screw to hold it in place (a drill stop collar should work just fine).
gary

 

[timmyatnop]

I have one headed my way. Thanks for all the advice everyone.

 

[jerusin]

I have been reloading for a long time and never worried about neck thickness. now I want to step up a bit and get more techenical but don't know where to start. can someone give me the basics on this subject.

 

[timmyatnop]

The basics for what I have read on this subject, is that some brass have thicker necks on one side than the other. This can cause more bullet runout. Your bullet won't be centered. Perfectly in the rifle bore and therefore possibly would be not as accurate as could be. I have read that uneven Necks can screw up the amount of neck tention a bullet and therefore lead to higher extreme spread and standard. Deviation. That's the quick version, there are lots of articles on the web that deal with this subject. I am no expert just a beginner so take it for what it worth. Some guns shoot 1/2. Moa with brass that is unifrom. Even withlow low es and SD. So take it for what its worth.. Iam sure there are lots of people on here that know a lot more about it then I do Mabey some of them will jump in.

 

[MMarshall]

My first box of 300 RUM Nosler brass last year had two split necks in it. I called Nosler and emailed a cell phone picture of the necks and the lot number. They quickly replaced the brass and I've been happy ever since. The weight sorting they do is very good. That 50 count box has 41 pieces that are dead on matched and the others are +/- 0.1gr.

I have not measured neck thickness or turned the necks, minimum gain there for a production chamber. You can't add material but you can certainly take to much off. Custom reamers can be set up tight and guys turn their necks to get optimum clearance. They true their walls in the process.

I always check run out with a NECO after loading and last nights batch was .0015 or less. Most came in under .001, those are very good numbers.

I did have large variations with Hornady brass for the 375 Ruger. I did turn those necks as little as possible to get the walls balanced. If I recall they had a variation of .004 on a few necks. In that cartridge at that time there was no other brass available,