# Case neck turning



## derekp1999 (Nov 17, 2011)

Gents, I have a new 7mm-08 rifle and I'm trying to work up a load for it using a bunch of military surplus .308 brass necked down to .284.

The reloaded brass does not chamber smoothly and takes a bit of effort to close the bolt (factory 7mm-08 brass chambers easily). I have several hundred of the resized .308 brass and I'd like to be able to use it for the project. I'm thinking that a solution to my problem would be neck turning... 

What would you guys recommend as the better/best option for a hand tool?


----------



## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

Funny thing, I just turned 100 Jamison 220 Swift necks last night. I have a Forester outside neck turner I bought from MidwayUSA. I actually have two. I tried to order one from Graff&sons and they wanted too much for shipping and I backed out but they sent me one anyway. Turning my necks on my 6.5s, 6mms and 220s have helped a lot. I've used it on other calibers but it didn't make any difference. I'm sure it had more to do with the brass quality and not the caliber.
I don't use the case holder. I chuck them in a drill and use that instead. I get much smoother results with the drill.
I tried to sell my extra turner and three pilots for $100 but had no bites. I'll tell you what, I'll send you my extra turner and three pilots (.308, .338, .243) for $75. When you get them you can send me a check. If you're not interested that's fine.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/219509/forster-hand-held-outside-neck-turner
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/237877/forster-hand-held-outside-neck-turner-pilot-308-diameter
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/127360/forster-hand-held-outside-neck-turner-pilot-243-diameter
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/401244/forster-hand-held-outside-neck-turner-pilot-338-diameter

Be sure to check your case length to see if it's not hitting the end of your chamber. You might not need a neck turner.


----------



## derekp1999 (Nov 17, 2011)

longbow said:


> Be sure to check your case length to see if it's not hitting the end of your chamber. You might not need a neck turner.


Of all the things that I'm sure it's not... it's case length. The factory brass that chambers smoothly is very slightly longer (I don't have exact measurements at my disposal currently) and I have the Lee Precision Rifle case length gauge for the caliber and when I go through the case prep process to trim to length the necked down .308 stuff is all short so nothing trims off.
The necked down brass chambers perfectly right after neck sizing, but once the bullet is seated it requires some force to close the bolt. A quick Google search lead me to a longrangehunting.com forum where neck sizing was recommended for the same problems and later identified as the solution... so I figured I'd try it out.
I like the Forster from everything I've seen and read on it. I also have the chuck for the drill, so I was planning on using that instead of the little handheld case holder that comes with the kit, I had also read that better results could be achieved this way. I appreciate the offer, let me negotiate with the powers that be and I'll let you know how interested I'm able to be.

Do freshly sized cases fit over the mandrels? I have read that there are some brands of these neck turning tools that require an additional step to expand the neck diameter to fit the mandrel.


----------



## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

derekp1999 said:


> The necked down brass chambers perfectly right after neck sizing, but once the bullet is seated it requires some force to close the bolt.


Sounds like you're right about neck turning. I bet Cabelas or Sportsmans would have them in stock.


----------



## derekp1999 (Nov 17, 2011)

So, with considerable coaching from longbow I have given this neck turning stuff a try and we'll see soon enough if it makes any difference at all...

I received the neck turning tool from longbow on Friday and ordered a 7mm pilot which arrived on Saturday. I was pretty anxious to give this a try. I grabbed a freshly sized 7mm-08 case and just for kicks and giggles thought I'd give it a try just with the hand tool (I had to wait for my drill battery to charge anyway).

I had read that some of these tools require an additional step to expand the neck to just fit over the pilot... and that is the case with this system. I wasn't interested in buying yet another tool to perform just one step of an operation... so I thought I'd try a few things. I tried a fired but not resized case and the neck was too big on the pilot, it didn't fit snug and the because of that the cut was rough. I had a couple extra rounds that I had loaded but not fired so I pulled the bullet and tried that. That fit perfectly and the cut was smooth. So instead of buying a separate tool to expand the necks I'm just going to resize, seat a bullet, then pull the bullet... it adds another couple steps to the process but I only have to do it once on each case so I am just going to power through with it.

Once I got that all figured out the process of neck turning was actually quite easy... and fascinating. I was completely ignorant to just how "un-uniform" this military surplus .308 brass was and I'm sure the fact that I was necking it down to .284 also compounded the problem. I set the cutter to take a light cut on the first pass (first picture). I adjusted the cutter by 0.0005" and made another pass (second picture), and then another adjustment of 0.0005" and made a third pass (third picture). It is really pretty cool to see the little curly shavings fly off the cutter (especially when I use the drill) and be able to visually see the high and low spots.

I have turned just over 100 of the casings as of last night and I've found that "sweet spot" where there are no low spots remaining on the necks and they are still slightly thicker than the necks of the Remington factory brass that have actually shot pretty well from the guns. I'm hoping to get out to the range sometime next week and we'll see how this goes.


----------



## derekp1999 (Nov 17, 2011)

So I made it out to the range on Friday morning and I'm not exactly sure how to explain the results other than I'm fairly certain the neck sizing helped.

The rounds cycled flawlessly this time, no difficulties with chambering or the bolt being difficult to close so that was an absolute plus.

I shot the best group that I've been able to get (about an inch and quarter) and that group fits within the string of targets that have a very similar point of impact (per the OCW method). That particular load shows good pressure tolerance and perhaps with a little bit more tweaking of seating depth I can bring that in to about 1"... but to be honest for my hunting applications this load as it currently stands is perfectly sufficient.

For what it's worth the same load that I shot before neck turning was slightly more than 3"... but I don't know if I should really make any direct comparisons because I really have removed quite a bit of material from the neck so I'm sure the pressures within the chamber have changed completely.

Chuck, a check is in the mail... thank you!


----------



## toasty (May 15, 2008)

I fought a 7mm-08 for a couple years trying to get it to shoot. 1-2" groups with every powder and bullet I tried. After some research, went to H414, with a 120gr sierra pro hunter bullet. .3" 100 yard groups now. Dropped several deer and antelope with a single shot and perfect recoil for a youth hunter.


----------



## El Matador (Dec 21, 2007)

Neck turning is one of those things that can make all the difference. Or it can make no difference, haha! Such is reloading. Glad you've found what works for your rifle. I've neck turned for a few rifles and I also think its fun. I'd recommend making your pilot smaller to save the extra steps of seating and pulling the bullets. Take a small strip of 220 grit or similar sandpaper and put the pilot in your drill. Measure the diameter with your caliper then make a few uniform passes with the sand paper. .001 to .002" is probably all you'll need to get a nice fit. Another thing I like to do is hit the freshly turned necks with some steel wool while the case is still in the drill.


----------

