Neck turning a .260

[jgh4445]

I've just ordered a new rifle in .260. I've never turned a neck in my life and I've reloaded for 45 or so years. I'm not a competition shooter. I hunt and I do like to work up loads that shoot as small a group as possible. "Minute of deer" at 100 doesn't cut it for me. I saw the thread on turning, but didn't want to hi jack it with this question.
I've read that for some reason the 260 REQUIRES neck turnong to group well due to its parent case the 308 and having to be sized down to 26. I've never heard this about the 243 or the 7-08 or any other 308 down sized load. Is there something I'm missing? While we're talking about the 260, I'd like your suggestions on which dies. Gotta buy some .260. I now use RCBS, Lyman, and Hornady with a Lee or two thrown in. Think I'll full length size.

 

[witchhunter]

There is nothing magic about the .260, you could see accuracy improvement from turning necks, but be careful not to take off too much. Most of my neck turning is just to make them concentric. Adjust your cutter to just take off he high spots, not take off brass all the way around the neck.

 

[Offfhand]

Neck turning is often necessary when making .260 cases from .308 brass because of the increase of neck wall thickness. If you use original .260 brass you're good to go as is. I neck turn .260 and virtually all other bottleneck calibers I load for in order to have uniform neck wall thickness.

 

[gamestalker]

I'll chime in, as that other thread you saw was about me. I'm the same type of reloader / hunter as you, 100 yd. MOA deer hunting doesn't cut it for me either. I haven't been reloading as long as you, only 30 some years, and other than a very short introduction to turning necks 20 something years ago, I'm a green horn. But thanks to the experts here at THR, I've had absolutely no hiccups getting started, and from what I can tell, it was a good decision, and IMO, I'm already experiencing positive results.

If you are turning for a production chamber, then consistent neck tension is the key focus, not clearance, as would be another key area with a SAAMI spec chamber.

Make sure you use plenty of lube on the pilot, and also put some on the inside of the necks to prevent galling. Imperial is good stuff.

Don't run your drill at high RPM when turning, this is to avoid galling. A nice slow steady RPM is best.

I didn't order a shell holder, the Lee trimming shell holder works perfect with my drill.

Make two complete passes, this ensures that you don't leave any high spots.

Be extremely careful with the cutter, you don't want it to make hard contact with the pilot, or any other steel for that matter.

Make sure you wipe the pilot and cutter off after each case. I'm using a tooth brush, it makes clearing the shavings off the cutter easier, and then I wipe the pilot off with a Q tip. You also want to make sure the pilot stop doesn't have any shavings on it, other wise you'll get false stops.

And just an FYI, if you haven't already bought the cutter and pilot, I recommend you get the carbide one's. Makes things go so much smoother.

I think this particular aspect of reloading requires good tooling. That said, I bought the K&M, as it seems to be highly rated, and so far it is working very consistently. I especially like the way the cutter adjusts, allows me to make precision depth adjustments, and no slop to deal with.

As far as die's, I'm using RCBS FL die's. I use the competition dies, but I don't think this matters much, it's just a personal thing and I like the comp seating die.

GS

 

[Reloadron]

Neck turning is often necessary when making .260 cases from .308 brass because of the increase of neck wall thickness. If you use original .260 brass you're good to go as is. I neck turn .260 and virtually all other bottleneck calibers I load for in order to have uniform neck wall thickness.

This. Unless you are making 260 brass from 308 brass factory 260 brass should be fine. Now if you decide you want to neck turn to improve accuracy I suggest you try the rifle and see how well it shoots before considering neck turning. I would also get the tools of the trade if you pursue neck turning your brass, consider a good micrometer to measure neck thickness.

Ron

 

[MrBorland]

I just spring for .260 Lapua cases. Lapua brass isn't the cheapest, but it's good stuff, lasts a while, and saves time on brass prep. With Lapua cases and a load it likes, I'm shooting sub-0.5MOA with my factory stock Tikka CTR without turning the necks. If I were to start shooting long range Tactical Precision or F-class matches, and using a match-grade rifle to do so, I might be tempted to turn necks to see if I could eek out a hair more accuracy.

 

[ZGunner]

I've had good luck making .260 from .243. Didn't require any extra trimming, just size and load. I don't know how many loads you can get from the stretched brass as I only have two loads on the ones I've fired.

I am however looking at getting into neck turning for the 6.5 Creedmoor and could use that to start using my plentiful supply of .308 for the .260.