Half way through Glen Zediker's book, Handloading for Competition, I am now convinced that neckturning can be useful for accuracy. He says that Hornady found that a 13% variance in neck thickness greatly opened up groups. (Not a scientific test, but just now, I picked out a random Lapua case and a random Lake City '09 case and measured 6% and 13% respectively with a Sinclair/Starrett MIC-3).
I have narrowed down my decision (so far) to two tools that are much different in approach, but similar in price and speed. Now I need comparisons by people who have used them. The two 'finalists' are 1) the Doyle Gracey model: http://www.matchprep.com/shaver.htm
and the 21st Century Shooting - Neck Turning Lathe:
http://www.21stcenturyshooting.com/Neck_Turning_Lathe.php
They both hover around $300 (the second one requires a few accessories which bring it up to the Gracey price). The Gracey looks faster and is the one recommended by Glen Zediker; however, the 21st Century model was not around when he wrote his book. The Gracey model looks much harder to set up (need to adjust three cutters to make identical cuts) but I will only be using it for one caliber so it should be a one time adjustment. You have to supply your own power for the 21st Century model (but I have plenty of drills around.) Part of my issue with the Gracey is that I am sure I saw one writeup (have not been able to locate it again) which only claimed a much looser tolerance than the 21st century model. That seems logical under the nstaafl (No such thing as a free lunch) cliche, since the Gracey is faster (once set up), and a similar cost, it seems that something has to give. On the other hand, there is something to be said for speed; however, does it balance out a possible loss of accuracy (when that is the main point)?
I have narrowed down my decision (so far) to two tools that are much different in approach, but similar in price and speed. Now I need comparisons by people who have used them. The two 'finalists' are 1) the Doyle Gracey model: http://www.matchprep.com/shaver.htm
and the 21st Century Shooting - Neck Turning Lathe:
http://www.21stcenturyshooting.com/Neck_Turning_Lathe.php
They both hover around $300 (the second one requires a few accessories which bring it up to the Gracey price). The Gracey looks faster and is the one recommended by Glen Zediker; however, the 21st Century model was not around when he wrote his book. The Gracey model looks much harder to set up (need to adjust three cutters to make identical cuts) but I will only be using it for one caliber so it should be a one time adjustment. You have to supply your own power for the 21st Century model (but I have plenty of drills around.) Part of my issue with the Gracey is that I am sure I saw one writeup (have not been able to locate it again) which only claimed a much looser tolerance than the 21st century model. That seems logical under the nstaafl (No such thing as a free lunch) cliche, since the Gracey is faster (once set up), and a similar cost, it seems that something has to give. On the other hand, there is something to be said for speed; however, does it balance out a possible loss of accuracy (when that is the main point)?