neck turning

I need new brass for my one 7mm-08 . the primer pockets are getting to loose in my old batch . I turn the necks on the brass for this rifle , and thought some of you guys might be interested in seeing what's involved . I use Norma brass in this rifle and neck turning is probably unnecessary romance, being the necks are pretty darned good right out of the box . the necks fall in the .0138" - .0134" thickness range . I cut them to .0133 " - .0132" , I can hold about a tenth on this. but I will get an occasional .0131" . I already had a few done when I thought about taking a few pics . the old brass has the loose primer pockets . I just measured the neck thickness to be sure of that measurement .



this is a piece of rem brass that I have for another rifle . I cut it to show how out of round brass can be . it measured from .0146 " - .0124" . the cut is at .0132"







a finished Norma brass with 100% cut .



I forget where I bought the mic , but they modify it so it can measure in close the the shoulder . notice the taper on the mic end that contacts the brass neck . I use the forester neck cutter . I expand the new case necks with the sinclair expander die . I just use RCBS case sizing lube for lubing inside the case neck .




this is a RW Hart case holder . it uses redding shellholders . I have always used a small rechargable power screwdriver . it was a slooooooooooow process . this is the first time I've ran this with a drill , and I don't mind it at all . the reason I'm using the angle drill is it has a very positive speed control screw in the trigger . I'm running it very slow , I can hold the drill stopped with my hand . I cut a few then lets things cool . I don't want anything to get heated and expand causing neck thickness to change .



everything ready to go .



cutting brass .





measuring the neck thickness .

Good tutorial..... I do the same thing only I use a K&M handheld Turner and an electric drill.
Once I started using Lee collet dies I pretty much phased out of doing a lot of that.... it is a labor of love!
I too like Norma brass..... I mostly encounter it on Weatherby cases.
It seems to start softer and stay softer than Rem or win brass. I found when cutting necks that the Norma brass felt different than the others.... to me it seems like the norma peeled off in sweet little curls... but rem or win brass kind of shattered a little more and came off in chips. Not sure if I'm describing what you run into or not but there definitely is a difference in feeling!
Maybe some of that is the fact that Norma is so nicely consistent in thickness that it's not got as much high spots and low spots as other brands might have?

Very interesting. Thanks for the detailed post.

gettin closer




all done !

Kraky , I've noticed the difference in how different brands of brass cuts . now that you mentioned K&M , I think that is where I bought the mic with the modified angle cut .

AFG , I'm glad you looked . I'm just trying to show guys it's not difficult to do .

Great post Jim.
I use these guys stuff. Expensive but durable and works well.
http://www.xxicsi.com/17-338-cal.-neck-turning-lathe.html

Dewey , I've looked at that 21'st century tool and I think it looks like a nice set up .

Awesome tutorial Jim. I've never turned a neck but have thought about trying it a 100 times. Great stuff. Thank you for taking the time to post it up.

Thanks Jim that is very interesting and also informative.

you're welcome fellas . it's like everything else we do , a little intimidating at first . after you do this a few times it's no big deal .



I've been asked a couple questions, here are the answers .

I'm probably running the drill speed at 25 RPM's maybe 50 RPM's . I'm running it slow , remember these were made to be turned by hand .

the Forster cutting tool gets the job done . it has a lot of lash in the screw for cutter depth adjusting . it is a PITA to get the depth set . meaning if I go a little to deep I have to back it way off and start to turn in again . you will see a piece of tape on the knob so I can keep track of where I'm at . if I were just now getting into neck turning I'd buy something different because of this . I'd buy something that has a micrometer cutter adjustment , this should have no lash . I turn necks on two of my rifles . I have two forster tools they are set and don't touch the adjustments , these are that frustrating to me .

I turn all my case necks to about 85% cleanup, all I'm trying to do is remove the excess brass. Personally I consider neck turning to be a vital step in the chase of concentricity of my loaded rounds. A few thousand'ths here and there in your efforts add up after awhile when chasing accuracy.
I use the Forster neck turning attachment for my Forster case trimmer. It's sorta like a lathe. Works real well.

The good news is you only have to do it once for the life of the case. AND..... it's healthier than sitting in front of the TV eating peanuts and drinking beer. Then again the wives are probably not impressed with the sound of an electric drill whurring and little brass chips flying around....!