Turning those necks...
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New brass. About .0147" on one side of the neck and with the worst being about .0150" on the other. Not terrible, but for a rifle that I'm going to be doing some serious work with, not something I'm willing to tolerate any longer either.
A pass through the 21st Century titanium nitrided expander comes first.
On to the cutting!
Took them down to .01470" on one side to .01475" on the other. Seems like its about impossible to get the necks to the perfect thickness, even with full cleanup... but this is close enough for me. When I neck them down, this measurement will thicken up a bit and end up right where I want it.
After 125 cases, there gets to be a pile of brass. ;)
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Do you have a lathe? Or did you run to Travis'?
I've wondered if a mini lathe would be helpful for tasks like these.
7mm-300Norma?
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I would have a lathe if @tscustoms wasn't so close. ... I wouldn't turn brass again without a lathe of some kind. Those little mini-lathes might be just the ticket, but this gives me an excuse to go play with big machines. :)
@rhyno said
7mm-300Norma?
Indeed. :sunglasses:
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Are you happy with the Shars tube micrometer?
I need to buy some more measuring tools and for the price of one Mitotoyo digital outside 0-1" $150, I can get a similar Shars and a tube mic and depth mic and stand.
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@hypo said:
Are you happy with the Shars tube micrometer?
It's what Travis handed me. ;)
I think I'll get something fancy at some point. Just haven't bothered yet.
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I know it's been 5 months since you posted this thread, but how many of those 300 Norma cases did you measure with that caliper to decide you were going to set the cutter to cut down to .0147? I'm going to have to do the same thing on the same brass soon. That is if I read the stamp on the cases correctly. Did you measure them all and set the cutter to trim back the worst one and trim the rest back to that spec? Trying to work out my action plan for when the toys arrive.
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I didn't measure with a caliper, but rather a micrometer. Also I'd like to point out that I don't consider myself an expert at neck turning.
I decide what to turn to based on two factors: The chamber dimension indicated by the reamer spec and the consistency of the brass. If I'm forced to turn because of a turn chamber spec, then I will use that as my guide as how to cut the necks. If I turn because I'm wanting more consistent seating pressure and what not, I'll just clean up about 80-90% of the neck with the intention of making them "round."
