Who makes the best neck turning tool? What features do I need to look for before I make my decision?
I will turn 22-250, .270 and, .308 cases.

Do a web search for Varmint Al, and read his excellent essay on neck turning.

Unless you have a tight necked chamber, it isn't needed, and I have never read a published account of how much, if any, it improved the accuracy in a gun. Personally, I think its a waste of time unless you have a gun accurate enough to benfit from those nats ass improvements.

Without a doubt the forster gets my vote. It's easy, fast,and accurate... a mini lathe of sorts. Mounts solid instead of holding it in your hand. You can turn a neck without power in 15 seconds. It is actually their case trimmer with different accessories. Instead of spinning the case around a cutter, the case is held firmly with a collet chuck on the base end and a pilot on the neck end. The adjustable cutter is then spun around the firmly held (just sized)case.
A work of art-can't go wrong-must have-without a doubt.

Don't waste your time turning necks. If they are within .0015" in uniform neck walls, you don't need it. If they exceed that, dump the brass and buy some better stuff. Most brass falls within that limit and if it doesn't, it's also lumpy in the body and turning won't help that.

The best and most accurate neck turning tool is made by K&M Sevices, 5430 Salmon Run Rd., Dover, PA 17315. About $88. Turns down to, and is adjustable to, .0002".

[This message has been edited by Bob338 (edited 07-13-2001).]

Agree with Bob - if you are working with
hunting/varmint rifles with factory
chamberings, it probably will not make much
of a difference in your groupings and not
worth the trouble and tool expense.

Neck turning came into the picture when
gunsmiths started chambering necks tighter
than normal spec. Then the shooter would
turn his brass down to fit it. This pays
in accuracy benefits for benchresters who
look for any 1000th decrease in group size.
It also has the convenience benefit of not
having to size the brass for reloading.
The brass has room to expand just enough at firing to let the bullet go and then returns enough to grip the bullet.

Sinclair International is a good place to
shop for these kind of accessories. They
will send you one of their catalogs free
if you ask them. Major Warning though --
It can bring death to your pocketbook -
It is goober heaven for shooters.

www.sinclairintl.com

Chris

Neck turning will always improve concentricity. Done properly it will also reduce the working of the brass. It will be possible to load straighter ammunition. Straight is good. It is true that the rifle must be accurate enough to show the difference. I will never turn a neck for my 35 Whelen for instance. Also a rifle with somewhat sloppy dimensions will tolerate crooked ammo better than a precision chamber.
I like the forster turner fine but for turning fitted necks I do it on the lathe. Regards, Bill.

Have three forster outside neck turning units and they work great and will help add to your accuracy. When cutting your brass go easy, my first cut is very light and you can see how much your brass is out of round. In some cases one light cut may be enough. Don't make one big cut, it can cause problems. With forster I get a adaptor so I can use a cordless drill for a faster smooth cut. Good Luck!

My vote has to go to the Forster, too. I have a Sinclair setup too, but the Forster is much nicer to use, and a very nice case trimmer, to boot!
George.

All,

Neck turning came about to correct the lack of consistency in the thickness of the neck wall in factory brass. Gunsmith's did not just decide to cut tighter chambers. If a bullet is seated correctly in a neck that is cylindrical (even wall thickness around the entire neck) it is retained by consistent neck tension and it is centered in the chamber. This creates the best situation possible for accuracy in any rifle. The tight chamber (neck) is the necessary reaction to the turning of the necks so as to leave about 0.0015" to 0.003" of clearance around the neck for the neck to expand and release the bullet.

I'm sure it is a typo, because neck thickness generally runs 0.0105" to 0.015" each side not within .015" as stated earlier. No brass would chamber if it was within 0.015".

Bill

Bill~
You're right, it was a typo. Missed one decimal point. Now corrected. Wish you or I had caught it earlier.

For the money, the best neck turning tool available is the K&M neck turning tool system(with expanding mandrels).
FWIW, the Forster Case Trimmer is a fine tool....for trimming cases only. It's outside neck turning attachment will produce a neck-wall thickness run-out that, at times, is greater than the factory brass. This is because the case is being held rigidly, and not allowing the neck to perfectly follow the mandrel. The fit of the mandrel is also not what it should be.
Don't think so? Put a turned case on a neck-wall run-out guage, and see for yourself....as I did 15 years ago.

Have 17, Will Travel
Wire Gullette
Wichita Falls