is it best to turn the necks of my cases before or after they've been fired?

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born on a mountain, raised in a cave, hunting and fishing is all i crave!

After fire forming. If you turn before, you don't know where the junction of the neck/shoulder is going to be. It WILL change on firing by at least .004", and quite a bit more on a belted case. I'm curious, why would you want to turn necks on a hunting gun? Those chambers are pretty ample. If your necks are within .0015" in thickness, it's counter productive.

The only gun I turn necks on is thoes varmint/target rifles that have a zero tolerence chamber by design, such as my 6X45 and I can reload it without a die....your just ruining brass in a factory chamber as it will overwork itself...

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

The answer to your question may depend on the cartridge you are firing and the chamber dimensions. What Bob and Ray have said is true, but if you have a tight chambered neck, you may have to trim before fireforming.

By way of example, my 6.5 Gibbs has a .292 neck. If I neck down .270 brass, trim to length, and fill with a fireforming load (complete with bullet), it won't chamber. In this case, I must turn the necks on the original brass first.

If I do not seat a bullet, and instead use Unique powder and cream-of-wheat, the cases will chamber (no expansion from bullet seating), and I can neck turn after case forming.

As Bob mentioned, the latter (trimming after) is preferrable, as you know exactly where the junction of the neck and shoulder is.

Hope this helps,
Canuck

[This message has been edited by Canuck (edited 10-11-2001).]

What Canuck says is right, but you'll likely end up turning twice in that instance. In this case, remember that most necks aren't chambered straight, but rather with a slight taper. You probably only have to turn the first part of the neck before fireforming. Then, after, you can complete the job, if you feel like it.

There is no need to turn the entire neck, unless you use all of the neck to hold the bullet. However, if the bullet seats past the neck/shoulder junction, you WILL have to experiment with how deep into the shoulder to turn. If you don't go into the shoulder far enough, you can create a brass ring inside the neck (the "dreaded doughnut"), which keeps the bullet from seating properly. If you turn too far, you can severely weaken the brass.

Have fun! Dutch.