Hey Eddie,
I heard ya' the first time...
Does it matter whether or not I own one?? How is the 22BR any different than anything else?
WHY does it matter to you?
It's thinking like this that I respond to, it's muddled and incomplete. "Shooting something" or owning a certain caliber or chambering doesn't somehow make you an expert.
You come on the Centerfire Bench Rest forum spouting your opinion on a chambering because you own one.
?????
Maybe pushing your argument by reiterating your opinion and finding others who'll back you up works over on Ye Jollie Communal Hunting and Grunting Forum but here you must explain yourself not just keep insisting that "I own a Ferd Truck and THEY'RE THE BEST! And here's another Ferd owner and he sez so too!!"
So, for all of you who're following this opinion-fest, here's what matters. (Note that this information holds true for anything, it's not just relevant to "The Twenty Two BR" for some weird reason.)
The first thing to know is that brass 'springs back' just like any other common metal. This means that if you want to bend a bar to 45 degrees you must bend it
past 45 and it'll spring or bounce back to where you want it. And just a gentle nudge is needed to bring it back after bending.....it's still got some tension in it. So you need to go PAST and then BACK etc experimenting until it settles down where you want it. The same holds true for sizing a cartridge case whether it be neck sizing or body sizing you must size it down to smaller than you want it and it springs back to where you want it. In round figures a thick no-turn 22nk that was squozen down from a 6mm neck will bounce back a solid thou+ then it will creep another tenth or two over the next week. The amount that you size controls this to an extent, as does thickness. Also springback changes with the number of firings. Brass work-hardens from being hammered, stretched, squeezed, folded spindled or mutilated.......... suffice it to say that you'll size it down 'X', it'll bounce back 'X', but in the end you'll end up with "something" under bullet diameter. There are maybe 50 people in the world qualified to "measure" this but that doesn't really matter. To the rest of us it's sufficient to gage it or arrive at our settings thru experimentation. You need a bushing small enough to make a difference, the difference between neck size and bullet size is called interference.
Interference is often referred to by the term "neck tension."
Neck tension affects "bullet pull" or how much pressure it takes to remove the bullet from the neck.
Neck tension varies wildly depending on conditions a simple as WHEN you reload the resized cases. It's different for bullets loaded immediately or bullets loaded a week later.
Probably the most common neck tension figure currently being bandied about is ".002 neck tension." Many folks feel that this is an appropriate starting point for the 6PPC burning V133 because "133 likes neck tension" and some run up to .004 in half thou increments as they tune. To get .002 neck tension one would normally use a bushing that measures .003 smaller than the loaded round measured over the pressure ring on the bullet. To get .004 interference requires a bushing that's .005 smaller. Most people feel that going beyond .004 is futile and I generally agree although when working with thick brass that's been fired many times I've still found adjustment in the .006 range. Beyond a certain point extra interference is wasted effort because the bullet just swages the neck back out beyond what you swaged in, bullet pull becomes constant.
Many competitive shooters feel that interference is an important variable. Some reasons quoted for messing with neck tension are that it "changes the pressure curve" or that "it raises pressure and makes my powder burn cleaner" or "more tension decreases my ES." There are many more reasons. A lot of people play with neck tension while "tuning" with no regard for the why of it, just tuning by shooting for group.
It don't MATTER why......if it works.
Most if not all of the people shooting the rifles used here on the centerfire have played with neck tension
a lot. The question of "how may bushings do I need" has been asked many times. It's generally been considered accepted practice to order bushings from .001 down to .005 under so one can "play with neck tension" from .001 to .004 interference. There are no hard and fast rules but some of the common variables that affect their effect are;
- neck thickness and variability.
- neck hardness (age, lot and number of firings)
- bullet size
- bullet hardness
- bullet coating
- chamfer or trim
- lube
etc
etc
I've yet to meet a guy who doesn't at some time in his pursuit get bitten with the bug to turn necks. Turning necks for your rifle to "clean them up" is advocated by about 99.876% of the shooters on the planet. As a shooter YOU WILL be told that "cleaning up your necks will make your rifle more accurate."
And you will try it.
And you will need a smaller bushing. You will use that stupid .004 under bush at last
Also, let me state that neck tension gets more airtime than is warranted IN MY OPINION. I generally set up my chambers one of two ways;
-I chamber for .001 neck clearance and often use a .002 under bushing.
or
-I chamber for .002 neck clearance and use a .003 under bushing.
This is because I don't "play with neck tension" much anymore. My goal is to maintain concentricity while not letting the bullet fall out of the case. In fact, I like enough tension that I can throw some rounds in my pocket while I walk out to the bench to test another load. I like enough tension that it's not easy to move the bullet. I add another thou interference for hunting rounds. My current neck tension settings have less to do with "accuracy" and more to do with utility....and case life.
I earned this opinion by owning and using over 40 bushings in whole and half-thou sizes both standard and carbide. There are a number of other variables.... I could double the length of this post without repeating myself or citing endless instances, JUST variables, but my little fingers get so tired. (Ohhh, and
just to be clear for Mr Ed, uhhhh, YES Ed, I own 22BR's. In three neck sizes)
It hurts to admit that but I've wasted enough time trying to be subtle....
My intent is simply to help Bold Lion spend his money wisely.
opinionsby
al
