Neck turning with a bushing size die

[jonaddis84]

I have a KM neck turner on order so will soon be attempting some neck turning. What Ive read so far says I need a standard full length resize die for this operation, so that the neck is sized all the way down to the shoulder.

My problem is that I do not have a standard FL die for 338lm. Has anyone come up with a way to succesfully neck turn using a bushing die?

My only idea is to turn the RCBS bushing upside down so that the large chamfer is on the top, thus sizing more of the neck, and only back off the bushing stop by 1/16 turn.

If not I guess I need to order another die.

 

[lightman]

Re: Neck turning with a bushing size die

I neck turn for a few calibers.I would suggest you buy an expander die and the caliber specific mandrel for your caliber.K&M and Sinclair both make them.This expands the neck to the correct clearance for the mandrel on your neck turning tool.You usually do this with new brass,but I guess you could try it with fired or resized brass.For more info on the particulars of neck turning like choosing your final neck wall thickness,look at www.varmintal.com and www.6mmbr.com.Varmint Al has neck turning info under his reloading section and 6mmbr is under technical articles.Hope this helps, Pete

 

[bignada]

Re: Neck turning with a bushing size die

Last thing you want is to turn necks for a tactical rifle.

Maybe you missed the turn at Albuquerque? On your way to benchrestcentral.com? Good guys over there for sure. Or drop ol' Dave Brennan a schmoozy letter at Precision Shooting...

 

[MALLARD]

Re: Neck turning with a bushing size die

get yourself an f/l die , they are not that expensive , except those 50 bmg dies , haha.

i agree with pete you really want to expand your cases on the mandrel you will be turning them on

bignada why is Last thing you want is to turn necks for a tactical rifle?

 

[jonaddis84]

Re: Neck turning with a bushing size die

I ordered the k&m expanders along with the turner. I have just read one of German Salazars blogs on neck turning saying you HAVE to use a standard fl die or you will damage the brass when turning due to bushing sizers not sizing the entire neck. I already ordered a two die standard set for $28 so that not as bad as I thought it would be.

 

[DocB]

Re: Neck turning with a bushing size die

jon,

I use the Redding neck sizer to size them down a couple of thousandths past where they will expand, then use the Expandiron to get them back to size. Make one pass to clean up 80% of the neck, then size down 1 thousandth at a time to where the donut reamer just barely takes off any material off the inside while doing the final outside cut.

HTH,
DocB