Gene Beggs
Active member
Loading and shooting the no-turn 220 Beggs (aka Lapua 220 Russian)
The question often comes up as to whether or not a no-turn neck shoots as well as a tight neck. I suppose one would have to say, 'It depends.' Yes, it depends on the quality of the brass case and the design of the chamber.
The Lapua 220 Russian case, right out of the box, has very concentric neck wall thickness. A loaded round measures .254 with only .001 total runout. The neck diameter of the Beggs no-turn chamber is .257 leaving plenty of room for the case neck to completely release the bullet. Freebore is such that a 52 grain flat base bullet seats a little more than half way down the neck.
Hodgdon H-322 and Alliant LT-32 are perfect powders for the 220 Beggs. A thrown charge from a 17 caliber drop tube provides 100% load density and results in around 3500 to 3550 fps. A .2530 carbide neck bushing provides perfect neck tension. A .2525 bushing should be kept in reserve. As always, I recommend seating the bullets 'just off' the lands.
"Okay Beggs, all this is well and good but answer the question; 'Does the no-turn version shoot as well as a tight neck?'
YES! Darn right, it does!
In both the 220 and 6mm Beggs cartridges, I have seen no difference in accuracy between the tight-neck and the no-turn versions. The 220 tight neck uses a .250 diameter, the no-turn a .257. In the 6mm Beggs the tight neck is .269, the no-turn .274. The Hornady Custom Shop makes the sizing dies and I keep them in stock. The same die sizes both the 220 and 6mm by changing only the neck bushing.
Of course, I realize that to suggest to a bunch of benchresters that you can have benchrest accuracy in any cartridge without laborious neck turning is asking for trouble, but what the hell. This won't be the first time I've been on the receiving end of skepticism.
Just think how nice it is to simply pluck 20 new Lapua 220 Russian cases from either the old gold, cardboard box or the later blue plastic box, load 'em and shoot! By the way, the only case preparation is to run the new cases over either a 22 or 6mm expansion mandrel, (depending on caliber) lightly deburr the inside case mouth which makes seating the first bullet easier. Yeah, at first I tried to seat bullets without doing that and promptly crumpled the neck on the first case.
Well, that's about all I know about that. Oh, by the way, almost forgot; when fireforming the new cases the first time, be sure to thoroughly lubricate the loaded round, bullet and all with light oil, grease or better yet, Imperial sizing die wax. It's better to use a little too much lube than not enough. (Say what? Are you nuts?) Yeah, I've been accused of being nuts before but believe me, lubing the new cases before fireforming is very important. Both Ratigan and Boyer cover this in their books and I'll go over it carefully in my next, "Feedback From The Tunnel."
Flame away because that's the subject of my next thread; 'Lubricating loaded rounds before fireforming.
Later,
Gene Beggs
The question often comes up as to whether or not a no-turn neck shoots as well as a tight neck. I suppose one would have to say, 'It depends.' Yes, it depends on the quality of the brass case and the design of the chamber.
The Lapua 220 Russian case, right out of the box, has very concentric neck wall thickness. A loaded round measures .254 with only .001 total runout. The neck diameter of the Beggs no-turn chamber is .257 leaving plenty of room for the case neck to completely release the bullet. Freebore is such that a 52 grain flat base bullet seats a little more than half way down the neck.
Hodgdon H-322 and Alliant LT-32 are perfect powders for the 220 Beggs. A thrown charge from a 17 caliber drop tube provides 100% load density and results in around 3500 to 3550 fps. A .2530 carbide neck bushing provides perfect neck tension. A .2525 bushing should be kept in reserve. As always, I recommend seating the bullets 'just off' the lands.
"Okay Beggs, all this is well and good but answer the question; 'Does the no-turn version shoot as well as a tight neck?'
YES! Darn right, it does!
In both the 220 and 6mm Beggs cartridges, I have seen no difference in accuracy between the tight-neck and the no-turn versions. The 220 tight neck uses a .250 diameter, the no-turn a .257. In the 6mm Beggs the tight neck is .269, the no-turn .274. The Hornady Custom Shop makes the sizing dies and I keep them in stock. The same die sizes both the 220 and 6mm by changing only the neck bushing.
Of course, I realize that to suggest to a bunch of benchresters that you can have benchrest accuracy in any cartridge without laborious neck turning is asking for trouble,
but what the hell. This won't be the first time I've been on the receiving end of skepticism. Just think how nice it is to simply pluck 20 new Lapua 220 Russian cases from either the old gold, cardboard box or the later blue plastic box, load 'em and shoot!
By the way, the only case preparation is to run the new cases over either a 22 or 6mm expansion mandrel, (depending on caliber) lightly deburr the inside case mouth which makes seating the first bullet easier. Yeah, at first I tried to seat bullets without doing that and promptly crumpled the neck on the first case. Well, that's about all I know about that. Oh, by the way, almost forgot; when fireforming the new cases the first time, be sure to thoroughly lubricate the loaded round, bullet and all with light oil, grease or better yet, Imperial sizing die wax. It's better to use a little too much lube than not enough. (Say what?
Are you nuts?) Yeah, I've been accused of being nuts before but believe me, lubing the new cases before fireforming is very important. Both Ratigan and Boyer cover this in their books and I'll go over it carefully in my next, "Feedback From The Tunnel."Flame away because that's the subject of my next thread; 'Lubricating loaded rounds before fireforming.
Later,
Gene Beggs
