Okay guys, I have been reloading for a short time. I am wondering if neck turning is worth it or if its a waste of time. Does it really help increase accuracy... Any info would be great.

I've done a good bit of neck turning in my time and found that it does increase accuracy, but it is bench rest/target shooting accuracy, not the accuracy needed in the hunting field. Unless there is a grave discrepancy in neck thickness, which would affect bullet run-out, I don't think it's worth it.

Some cases are more uniform than others to begin with. I have found, for example, that Lapua cases are uniform enough to be used in competetive shooting at long range with no neck turning. European cartridge cases in general are more uniform than American cases, in my experience.

quote:

Originally posted by bike8300:
Okay guys, I have been reloading for a short time. I am wondering if neck turning is worth it or if its a waste of time. Does it really help increase accuracy... Any info would be great.

Neck turning is pretty far down the list. You need to understand where you are at and why first.

It all depends on the rifle.

Factory rifles, that will chamber a standard case, will not benefit from neck turning.

Only tight neck barrels require neck turning.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
It all depends on the rifle.

Factory rifles, that will chamber a standard case, will not benefit from neck turning.

Only tight neck barrels require neck turning.

+1
In fact, neck turning (thinning) is detrimental with most rifles with factory chambers since the neck dimension of the chamber is usually overly generous. This means that the thinned brass of a turned cartridge neck stretches more, which will lead to premature neck splits. I believe that perhaps the applicable caution here is "If it ain't broke don't fix it".

You might also find that turned necks resized with a standard die may not provide adequate neck tension for a normal hunting round.

yep what Saeed said.
most factory rifles could use another 4-5 thou. in the cases neck area.

I neck "turn" all my brass even for standard chamber sizes BUT I only turn so it scuffs about half way around the neck so its MORE consistent in thickness all the way around. Does it help? Hell ya, I feel better for doing it. LOL

Obviously a few of my customs and/or wildcats were made with very minimum neck release so true turning is in order.
"Thin necks win checks" so the big boys say.

Zeke

Depends on your rifle and it's intended use. Targets or varmints, it can be. On a big game rifle? Not really.

quote:

Originally posted by bike8300:
Okay guys, I have been reloading for a short time. I am wondering if neck turning is worth it or if its a waste of time. Does it really help increase accuracy... Any info would be great.

It is a waste of time on anything but F Class or Bench rest rifles. Whatever "improvement" neck turning does towards accuracy, is well within the noise level for the average shooter.

The average shooter is a 3 to 4 MOA guy on the best of days, therefore he will not see 1/16 MOA improvements with esoteric reloading practices.

Just buy good brass and load the stuff. A shooting bud of mine, winner of a number of Camp Perry 1000 yard matches, he purchased Lapua match brass, and just loaded and shot the stuff.

He was shooting prone with a sling, maybe the guys who shoot off rests might see something, but probably not.

For me it helped immensely for my Remington 700 in 308. This is stock barrel not a varmint barrel. I shoot both jacketed and cast. Not sure how long my brass last because on my 10th loading I throw the cases away. My 308 is the only caliber I neck turn.

Since I rarely load or shoot anything under 33 caliber, it is a big waste of time.

Neck reaming or neck turning may be a necessity if you're forming cases from a larger to a smaller caliber, for instance, .308 to 7mm-08 or .260 Remington.
Reducing neck size thickens the brass and it could create a dangerous situation if there is not enough clearance to allow the bullet to release when the cartridge is fired.

Only with a bench rest chamber, otherwise it will over work brass to a couple of firings as your neck will be undersized and you get more expansion than needed, then the resizing die squashes it back to specs..and on and on....

I have to outside neck my zero tolerance 6x45 as my chamber refuses to accept a factory round or resized 223..but only on the first firing...Actually after the first round can reload without a die more or less.

quote:

Originally posted by bike8300:
Okay guys, I have been reloading for a short time. I am wondering if neck turning is worth it or if its a waste of time. Does it really help increase accuracy... Any info would be great.

For me it’s worth it.
Savage 110 in 223 Bull Barrel
With a set trigger
Tuned load off the Bench
Rifle consistently shoots in the 3s and 4s

I’ve never met a rifleman who wasn’t interested in accuracy

I neck turn all my cases—for both my precision rifles and hunting rigs. I use the same logic as ZekeShikar in removing a minimal amount of brass—just cleaning up the necks to have consistent brass thickness all the way around. I haven’t done any turned vs. not-turned tests to evaluate the advantages of this practice, but it is a quick and easy job and, in my view, can’t hurt. I also employ a lot of other BR techniques in my loading like weighing cases, uniforming primer pockets, deburring flashholes, etc., so neck turning fits into this regimen.

Stonecreek makes a good point about the effects of this on neck tension, particularly if you’re using a standard sizing die with an expander button. I use Wilson bushing dies for all my sizing and have enough bushings to ensure adequate tension after turning. I generally size my precision rifle cases down to give about .002” neck tension, and my hunting rifle cases down to about .003” tension.

I resized a .308 case in my 7mm08 die and seated a .284" bullet. The diameter of the neck is .0015"-.002" less than a fired case neck out of my rifle. Do I need to turn the necks? Thanks

keep it simple, if you can drop a bullet into the fired case and you normally can no need to neck ream, if you cannot then outside neck ream or since its a hunting caliber I would run a neckreamer in the chamber to factory spec..s

Neck reaming is detrimental to any caliber if its not needed..it creates more expansion and work hardens the brass as the die pushes it back.