Neck turning kits

hey guys im thinking about getting a neck turning kit how many of you use them and are they worth it? how much better accuracy can you get but turning the neck? and which kit would you recommend? thanks

I have the RCBS. For me it was a waste of money. I rarely if ever use it anymore. IMO unless your shooting some serious competition with a rifle that costs more than I make in a year. Neck turning is going to do you very little good. It has its place if your reforming a lot of brass from one caliber to another. But very little use in a hunting rifle. my .02 if its worth that.

If you are trying to gain 1 hole shot groups it is well worth it. If you are looking to use the ammo for general shooting or hunting I would save the money and spend it elsewhere.

I have the forester neck tool and have not had any problems with it doing its job. I do think the rcbs setup is a little more user friendly based on video I watched on the operation of it. The forester doesn't have a micrometer dial like the rcbs does. The forester has marks on the dial and a reference mark on the housing. When I first bought it I got carried away with setup by measuring the case neck and setting the cutter.blade up using a feeler gauge.

I have had great results with ammo that had this step done. It can turn a good shooting rifle into a great shooting rifle.

If your as obsessed with accuracy as I am I would go for it. If your reloading because you enjoy shooting and want to shoot more for less I would spend the money elsewhere.

Tripples

i think im gonna try to make one and try it im cheap lol it just seems like a really simple tool to cost 60-80 bucks

I too have the Forster and agree with tripples.

I would think making one is possible, the hardest part would be getting the cutter positioned correct. As for the pilots I think I would stick with the ones that are available. I would find who sells the least expensive and adapt from there that way you could replace the pilot to do different calibers.

If I had the time I would make a lot of things, but time is hard to come by around my place.
Tripples

i got a hold of some materials im gonna try making it if it dont work im not out of nothing

If you have some new brass and the necks of some of the cases are dented would you use a neck turning tool or would you use your re-sizing die to straighten them up?

M./Karb. wrote:If you have some new brass and the necks of some of the cases are dented would you use a neck turning tool or would you use your re-sizing die to straighten them up?

I'd resize all new brass...dented or not. what doesn't come out in the sizing process will iron out when fired.

The only time neck turning is really needed is in cartridge converting (say, sizing a 30-06 case down to 308win). The neck turning is done to remove any extra thickness in the neck after converting. Neck turning also is also done to true necks on ultra accurate match ammo....but I still wouldn't turn the necks on new brass until it has been fired once.

Back to Dart's Idea...even though it's over a month old. What do you plan on starting with as a base to build you turner on? A cheap micrometer might be the ticket.

I finish the neck on every case I shorten. I have got a tool I got in trade, a while ago it was made by Lyman it goes on the drill press and not only addresses case length but with one extra step it turns the necks as well and since they are all ready there on the drill press I just go a head and turn the neck as well.... force of habit is all...

I use a K&M neck turning tool with a hand drill-mounted el-cheapo Lee case holder.

I have only two calibers at present that I have to neck turn - a .22 Cheetah Mk1 and a 6.5x284 with a tight neck.

I have two of the little K&M tools one is set for each caliber. It is a tedious and time-consuming chore.

My .22 Cheetah was rebored from a .22-250 T/C Pro Hunter barrel by Mike Bellm. If I had to do it over again I would not have bothered, as the barrel's 1-14 twist is too slow to stabilize the heavy bullets.

My .22 Cheetah is great for blowing up bullets in the 40-50 grain area. If I do it again, I would stick with a .22-250 AI or .225 AI with a faster 1-8 or 1-7 twist and no tight neck.

The .22 Cheetah (AKA .22-243 or .22-308) is fun to play around with but is a serious pain to load for. I need to shoot heavier bullets to hold together at the ridiculous speed the round is capable of.

I have not yet tried the solid homogenous alloy bullets but they are in the to do list. See if they hold together at 4,200 fps in a 1-14 twist barrel.

Over on 6mm bechrest they have a couple of good articles on neck turning:

http://www.6mmbr.com/jgcaseprep.html