Outside Neckturning
- Thread starter newt
- Start date
What kinda groups are you getting now? What type of rifle?
IMO if you're getting MOA or less at 100m or < 2" at 200m I say your shooting tacks for a hunting rifle.
I would bed the rifle and free float first if it hasn't been done, probably the best thing you could do to improve accuracy.
IMO if you're getting MOA or less at 100m or < 2" at 200m I say your shooting tacks for a hunting rifle.
I would bed the rifle and free float first if it hasn't been done, probably the best thing you could do to improve accuracy.
great advice. Big game animals are not small targets to hit.Are you capable of shooting 3/4MOA in the field under hunting conditions? If not, spend your time practicing instead of worrying about shaving 1/8" off your groups. Your rifle is already more than capable of shooting big game to 800yds or more, it needs nothing else.
OTOH, if you just want to tinker for the hell of it, knock yourself out. You won't gain any material improvement from what you have now, but it is a good excuse to spend more time shooting and tinkering with your gun and reloading gear and that is never a bad thing.
Personally, my scoped hunting rifles are all around 1-1.25MOA and the iron sighted ones are ~2MOA or better and I find that more than adequate for my uses to date. I am the weak link in the system and try to spend my time improving on that.
Mark
I like the idea of having the chamber neck so tight that it requires neck turning just to chamber the ammo, I'm less impressed when I try it for other chambers, and i certainly wouldn't bother for hunting rounds. Who can hold less then 1/2MOA at 100, offhand, shivering in -30 degrees, when hunting?
Bingo. There's a reason it's referred to as 'Minute of Bambi' - with a target the size of a dinner plate, few hunters really need MOA rifles.
You want to do it because it's a challenge? Go for it and have fun. It's not really necessary however.
Last edited:
Hunting accuracy
I too wish to have my hunting rifles shoot as well as possible within reason, it makes taking that extra long poke at that sheep a much more confident experience, BUT at 3/4 moa you're there, man !!!
Let's put it in perspective, at 3/4 moa your rifle and load is capable of hitting a sheep in the heart at 600 mtrs, accurate enough? Biggest question is are you?
Like a previous poster said instead of neck turning and tuning loads beyond what you have, spend that time a-shootin'
IMHO
I too wish to have my hunting rifles shoot as well as possible within reason, it makes taking that extra long poke at that sheep a much more confident experience, BUT at 3/4 moa you're there, man !!!
Let's put it in perspective, at 3/4 moa your rifle and load is capable of hitting a sheep in the heart at 600 mtrs, accurate enough? Biggest question is are you?
Like a previous poster said instead of neck turning and tuning loads beyond what you have, spend that time a-shootin'
IMHO
Not necessary but if it's something you want to try go ahead. It certainly isn't going to hurt anything. If you have to buy everything then you might want to think about it but if you already have the tools it's not a big deal. Just knowing all your brass is consistant and as good as you can get it is worth something. One warning though is that after you get one tool set set for a particular case you start thinking you should but another one for the next case. Don't ask me how I know.
Likely nobody in the world can hold like that, but not all people hunt like that! Some people hunt out of blinds with good rests in them over fields that they can realistically take a 500 meter shot. Not advocating it, just sayin'. Some people (like sheep hunters) ply for days to get a shot that may have to be 500 yards across a gusting draw. They will have a good rest though, and just like the guy in the blind, that extra 1/2 moa that he worked hard to get out of his gun may pay off. The shivering -30, offhand is not always how it is done. Besides, it's about trigger time, and the more you mess around like that the more trigger time you will get. Has to help, cant hurt at all. JMO
Ha ha, I as thinking the same thing! There are lots of guys that hunt like that! There are a lot of people that can shoot too. But I'm not the guy with thousands of posts, so I must not spend enough time on the computer......Did I mention that I shot 3 coyotes yesterday off of a cow carcass that the farmer put out at 496 yards, off of my bulls bag out of the back of my truck? Missed that whole internet thing.....1 bag, no flags, known range, 240 weatherby performing .6 moa regularly. 3 shots, 3 dead coyotes. not on the cmputer either.
Generally outside neck turning is done on cases used in a rifle with a custom chamber, cut to minimum specs. then the brass is turned to accomadate the tight chamber. Little will be gained on a factory rifle. I agree that bedding is the first step then go from there.
its always educational to mess with stuff like outside neck turning --you will soon get over it with a staqndard hunting rifle chamber--if it isn't a minimum chamber and you turn down the diameter of the case it expands more when fired and then if re-sized in a standard die it will fail much sooner -- unless you want to extend its life by anealing......
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Sounds as though you need to load up about 20 rounds of ammo. The first ten, you should pamper with every accuracy trick you can think of. The remaining ten, simply assemble using good handloading techniques, with the same components and loads as you match ammo.
Now go shooting. Put up a silhouette target, with no distinct aiming point, that approximates the shape and size of a big game animal at any range you like, provided you know how to hold or are already sighted in for that range. Shoot from a supported field position. Shoot as carefully as you can with both batches of ammo, quickly enough that light and wind conditions don't change on you mid group.
If you're a good shot and conditions are favorable, chances are you'll shoot a 2 MOA group out to 500 yards, beyond which it might start to open up on you a bit. When it comes to putting a bullet on a live target, all those little things we do to gain a quarter minute here and an eighth of a minute there you'll see don't make much difference at normal hunting ranges with a standard sporting rifle.
Its fun to play around with loads and case prepping techniques to see how much accuracy we can squeeze out of our pet thunder stick, but don't be fooled into thinking its something you have to do in order to succeed in the field. Game shooting under normal hunting conditions is not techniqually difficut, although we sometimes over think the problem.
Now go shooting. Put up a silhouette target, with no distinct aiming point, that approximates the shape and size of a big game animal at any range you like, provided you know how to hold or are already sighted in for that range. Shoot from a supported field position. Shoot as carefully as you can with both batches of ammo, quickly enough that light and wind conditions don't change on you mid group.
If you're a good shot and conditions are favorable, chances are you'll shoot a 2 MOA group out to 500 yards, beyond which it might start to open up on you a bit. When it comes to putting a bullet on a live target, all those little things we do to gain a quarter minute here and an eighth of a minute there you'll see don't make much difference at normal hunting ranges with a standard sporting rifle.
Its fun to play around with loads and case prepping techniques to see how much accuracy we can squeeze out of our pet thunder stick, but don't be fooled into thinking its something you have to do in order to succeed in the field. Game shooting under normal hunting conditions is not techniqually difficut, although we sometimes over think the problem.
I do it for a different reason on one of my Winchester 1894's in 38-55. It needs a bullet sized to .381 to shoot great groups and with Winchester brass the neck was too thick and wouldn't chamber. I finally found some starline brass and now I no longer need to turn them to get a proper bullet to fit.
