More neck questions...

[fgw_in_fla]

What are y'all doing to clean the inside of case necks? I started using the Lee collet neck sizing set up for my .270 win. & 30.06 and absolutely love it. Santa gave me the deluxe die sets for Christmas.

Prior to neck sizing, I run a brush into the necks to remove soot & clean up the outside of the neck with steel wool. Then, run them thru the press, then clean the primer pocket & lock the case up into the battery drill. I like to run the brush thru the neck for about 15 to 20 seconds or wrap a strip of Scotch Brite around a thin piece of bamboo stick and run it thru the neck to get them nice, clean & shiny. Is this taking it a little too far? Is this OCD or some other form of addiction? The end result I'm looking to achieve is consistancy when I seat the bullets. I notice greater consistancy with the neck sizing as compared to FL sizing.

I notice I had to adjust the charges a little since I was full length sizing & pressing the case necks down to .275" for the .270 & .306" for the 30.06. The collet neck sizing dies set the case necks at .276" & .307" respectively.

It's also important to handle all completed rounds with care. It doesn't take much of a bump to shove the bullet into the neck...

Thanks for any responses in advance.

[scratcherky]

If it does not take much of a bump to move the bullet, Your neck tension may be too light especially in a rifle using a magazine.

[fgw_in_fla]

They're tight enough to survive loading & unloading, etc. I usually load one at a time, anyway. Besides, the OAL is too long to fit the mag.

I recently read a few articles about long range shooting and such and I get the impression consistant neck tension is quite important. Also, release of the bullet upon firing, such as tension on the bullet as it expands in the chamber. I guess the ability to expand in the chamber to evenly release the bullet makes a difference.

What I look to do is satisfy my obsession with accuracy. My Savages are very stock. Not alot of aftermarket goodies. I look to use the same hole on the target at 100 yds. 2 holes for 3 to 5 bullets is acceptable, too .

I spend alot of time tinkering with the rifles and ammo to achieve max accuracy. It seems to go hand in hand with the Savage addiction, as I'm sure you understand

[Smokey262]

Is this taking it a little too far? Is this OCD or some other form of addiction?

Do you wash your hands a lot too :)

One man's OCD is another man's not enough loving attention. When it comes to the rituals of reloading to each their own I say

You might want to try annealing as your next obsession. Awesome neck tension repeatability

[fgw_in_fla]

You're too late, my good man. I've been annealing for many months now. I have tried to anneal everything in the house. Dishes, the TV set, the cat, etc.

You know how it is...

AND... you are absotively, posolutely correct. Annealing does provide outstanding neck tension consistancy & repeatability.

[Nandy]

Lee will sell you a smaller mandrel under request. Im not sure what are the sizes options but I have been meaning to order one too but I keep forgetting... Right now what I do is resize the neck without the mandrel very lightly and then run them again in the die with the mandrel in. I was shooting .5 moa at 100 yards using my rcbs full size die set up to just do the neck size. When I moved to the lee neck only die I was achieving that but not too consistent until I started to do the above procedure. One of my problem is my "reloading" bench (actually a simple computer desk) that is not to strong so I cant torque down that press when using the lee die as I should. Reason I have to use that desk is because my reloading is done inside the house in the dinning room and you know my girlfriend will nag me to death if I use something that will ugly up the dinning...

[gotcha]

Hi FGW! With only .001" difference in neck dia. between nk sized & bullet seated dimension of neck your mandrel could be polished down by .001" and give you .002" nk tension which is what I try for. The Lee instructions refer to this issue. Lee will also turn a mandrel down for $5.00 Look in your instructions under "tighter bullet fit" Turning the mandrel down yourself could provide literally hours of reloading enjoyment if you use 1500 grit wet-or-dry. Just trying to be helpful ;D

[fgw_in_fla]

Gotcha.... I know, I saw all of that in fact, I did polish the mandrel down just a wee bit (less than .001" or so). My actual question concerns the condition of the inside of the neck & how it's cleaned. I know some folks are using tumblers. I do everything by hand so, getting the inside of the necks consistantly clean has been a concern. When I seat in the bullets I notice some go in smooth & easy, occasionally some will go in scratchy & rough.
Just wondering If anyone else is "hand jobbing" it & how they clean the neck inside. I found after annealing the neck inside needs to be dressed up a bit as it feel scratchy when bullet seating. Barrel brushes & Scotch Brite strips are the usual methods I use. Anybody use anything easier, simpler & easy on fingers with arthritis?

Thanks in advance....

[Nandy]

Oh, I knew I missed something. My cleaning is done by spraying with carburator cleaner inside and out after decaping and cleaning the flash holes. I could not care less to have a shiny load. My a&B barrels shoots in the .5 moa at 100 yards. That how I do it but I don't see a problem with what you do, neither I see an advantage to it. If it makea you feel good and you enjoy it keep doing it. That is what this is about, having fun for the most and doing sometrhing we love.

[gotcha]

Fgw, I hear ya', getting a little arthritic myself. I'm not too concerned that inside necks are shiny clean & actually like to see a bit of powder residue to act as "lube" to yield more consistent bullet seat pressure / resistance. I mount my variable speed drill in bench vise & chuck-up a nylon bore brush of appropriate caliber. Make one in & out pass (low RPM) on neck then tap case gently to remove the residue. Thats it. The nylon brush takes out the build-up without grinding into the metal as a bronze or stainless brush will. We all have our little quirks so, whatever floats your boat ............. I use a Makita corded drill w/ rheostat controlled variable speed for case trimming, neck brushing, primer pocket uniform, flash hole deburr, annealing, chamfer/deburr & primer pocket cleaning. Great tool for $35.00 & a big help if arthritis is a bother. Itty bitty groups to ya' , Dale

[fgw_in_fla]

Ok... Gotcha. I can see leaving residue as a little bit 'o lube. I look to have consistancy in pressure on the press handle when I seat bullets sooooo, I try to make them all the same, all clean & shiny, all a pain in the fingers and / or butt when cleaning them. I do notice whenever I have a bullet that seats differently (see scratchy / more pressure on press handle) I mark it & they usually do not shoot as consistant as the others.
Oh well.... no matter.

Like so many other tasks with shooting or reloading. What ever works for you or more importantly your rifle is the way to go. Speaking of going, I gotta go & reload a few for tomorrow. My package just came with my Noslers and, as usual, my wife has that look on her face. You know the look.. It's the one that clearly says "Oh,.. I see we have more gun stuff..." I need to run to the bedroom closet & make believe I can't find something because of all those women's shoes in there BEFORE she has a chance to follow up on "the look".

Stay well all & thanks for the input.

[Smokey262]

"Oh,.. I see we have more gun stuff..."

We ?

You buying Nosler bullets for her too? :D

[stangfish]

I have one more thing you can get for your wife. A VLD id chamfer tool from lyman

[fgw_in_fla]

Stang - I'd get her one of those but you'd see me on the 6 o'clock news with it sticking out of the top of my head....

For a Florida redneck woman, she's got absolutely no sense of humor and places no importance on the necessities of life.

Maybe someday...

[barrel-nut]

I use the RCBS trim mate case prep center:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/565...enter-110-volt

It has five powered stations that all rotate at the same speed (fairly slow via gear reduction). Each station is threaded and can accept a number of different tools. I use a .338 caliber brass brush on one of them to clean the insides of my .30 caliber case necks. One pass on and off the rotating brush cleans them up nicely. After trimming, I use the Lyman VLD chamfer tool in stang's post to bevel the inside of the neck. The cutter unscrews from the handle, and fits perfectly on one of the Trim Mate's powered bases. Doing both of these helps uniform seating resistance.

fgw- to sell it to your wife, tell her you could screw 5 cake mixers into this thing, then flip it over and she'd have the coolest mixer in the neighborhood! Think how much easier her life would be! :):)

[fgw_in_fla]

Ya know BarrelNut.... The more I look at those gadgets, the more I like them. My procedure is chuck the 30.06 shell in the battery drill (Lee shell holder) & run the brush in & out a few times (Lyman handle with multiple gadgets) to clean them up nice & shiny (on the inside). I made a battery drill holder station on the end of my bench where the Ryobi variable / reversible drill is held securely. It can get tricky when I gotta hold in the trigger & manipulate a shell end beveler or brush or steel wool or whatever. I could be seriously injured, not to mention repetitive motion syndrome (aka carpal tunnel). I can use the "dangerous situation" approach on the 'lil woman. Surely, she'd want me to practice my chosen hobby safely. ::)Those multi task gadgets like the one you listed look too big for her to stick in my nostril (or other body cavity) . How heavy are they? Can I outrun one if she overhands it at me?

All kidding aside, I gotta good 'ol lady this time. These Florida Redneck girls are great. She handles a 12 ga. Mossberg better than alot of guys I know. She can hunt, fish, cook & kick my ass when necessary. I have no complaints.... Well, maybe one or two minor ones :-X But I think I'll keep them to myself...

[larryk40c]

Use rubber bands to hold the trigger on the drill

[barrel-nut]

Always a good thing when you and the little lady are "on the same page", fgw! :)

You know, I actually used the "dangerous situation" card once, to explain my pressing need for a new bow. "Have you ever seen one of those things blow up? I could lose an arm!". Worked like a charm. But that was a while back...

Seriously, if you have the chance to get the Trim Mate case prep thing, or something like it, I doubt you'd regret it. It's one of those little things that makes life just a little easier.

[fgw_in_fla]

Hey, by the way ... Anybody use mica for a neck lube? I've tried a few different types for full sizing & hate all of them. I see mica & brush neck cleaning stations but I don't hear anybody jumping up & screaming for joy about them. Anyone here using one & if so, how do you like it? Anything has to be easier than cleaning Hornady Wax Goop or Lee Neck Sizing Spooge out of a neck (for us guys that don't tumble).
I believe the Hornady stuff I'm using is wax based - based on the way it smells. SInce I started with my new Lee NS Collet set, I don't use the neck sizing lube very much.

By the way, for using the "dangerous situation" routine for reloading when purchasing a new piece of equipment, I always mention - "I'm assembling the components to create & contain a small explosion 3 inches from my face. Everything must be perfect".
It always gets my point across except the time I tried to convince her I needed another rifle of a different caliber in order to continue my learning about & perfecting my reloading skills.

It didn't work... ::)

Whatcha think? ???

[barrel-nut]

Fgw, I have the Forstner neck brush set with the motor mica "lube". I like it so much that I'm willing to buy it a one-way ticket to Florida! Just pm me your address!

[fgw_in_fla]

Barrel...
PM sent.