Best neck size for the 223 Remington

A

abintx

Guest
Most 6PPC shooters believe a .262" neck gives the best accuracy.

Is there a 223 Remington neck that is thought to give the best accuracy in that caliber ???

If so, what is the size ???

Thanks for your assistance.
 
Good .223 brass will have a neck thickness of about 0.0125", 2x0.0125"+0.224"=0.249", so with whatever clearance you think is good so from 0.250-0.252". For a field or high power rifle which most .223's are, 0.252" would be good or maybe 0.253" - assuming brass with 0.0125" thick necks. If the brass is thinner or thicker the necks will have to be turned or the chamber neck made larger. A larger chamber neck likely won't hurt accuracy appreciably in a .223, but will shorten case life.
 
i use a 250 neck on my "223 ar-br man" reamer. this is for cleaned up brass. it is min spec if i recall correctly. this is for offthe shelf or hand loaded ammo. for br/neck turned ammo i would go less, use cleaned up lapua brass and set it for 1-2 thou clearance. soo 224 plus (.011x2) plus 2 or 1...is 247/8.
i "think" when i did my reasearch that most available brass was able to clean up at .011.....

in a bolt gun...maybe just .001 for clearance.......buy some brass and work backwards to get the numbers.

mike
 
A while back I measured all different loaded ammo I had around the house and I don't remember anything being over .248. S&B, Hornady, Q3131A, Rem reloads, Win reloads.
 
.262 neck

abintx said:
Most 6PPC shooters believe a .262" neck gives the best accuracy.

Is there a 223 Remington neck that is thought to give the best accuracy in that caliber ???

If so, what is the size ???

Thanks for your assistance.
Click to expand...

Is this .262 neck diameter equated to ultimate accuracy or does it harken back to the day when Lapua brass was a certain dimension and reamer makers were grinding their necks to match? The reason I ask this question is that some phenomenol groups are being shot with no neck turn chambers in 6mm BR. Some of the more experienced shooters will be able to shed light on this.
Chino69
 
The first batches of Lapua "Match" 223 brass came out right at .250" loaded. My brand new no-turn 223 chamber suddenly became a bunch of work. I haven't bought any since then other than the Dakota headstamp version, but I haven't used any of that yet.

I sincerely doubt that anyone has any proof to claim that one neck diameter is any better than another for a 223. Just decide if you want to turn necks or not.
 
chino69 said:
Is this .262 neck diameter equated to ultimate accuracy or does it harken back to the day when Lapua brass was a certain dimension and reamer makers were grinding their necks to match? The reason I ask this question is that some phenomenol groups are being shot with no neck turn chambers in 6mm BR. Some of the more experienced shooters will be able to shed light on this.
Chino69
Click to expand...


yep... jackie uses a 269 and i use a 270. and gene has a couple of no turn reamers in 22 and 6mm. two advantages, less work to turn, and more metal in the neck...harder to damage.
mike
 
Pefect neck size

mike in co said:
yep... jackie uses a 269 and i use a 270. and gene has a couple of no turn reamers in 22 and 6mm. two advantages, less work to turn, and more metal in the neck...harder to damage.
mike
Click to expand...

So, is the correct answer the neck size which will be closest to a no neck turn chamber using quality and uniform brass?
Chino69
 
I use a .244 bushing in my RCBS neck sizer. Are you talking about the measurement of the finished case with a bullet in it? I will have to beasure that some time.
College
 
College

I'm asking which bullet seated neck size [.245", .246", .247", etc] provides the best accuracy for the 223. I'm not referring to neck tension dynamics. My unturned 223 Lapua brass with a seated custom made bullet measures .249" consistently. I use a .248" bushing when I size for neck tension. Is the .249 the best for accuracy? Would one of the above sizes be more accurate? I don't know. That's the question. I couldn't find a study that had ever been done on this aspect of the 223 so I brought the question here. Based on the answers I've received so far, and information received from Dave Kiff at Pacific Tool and Gauge, and in the absence of better information, I'll probably stick with the .249" seated size and go with a .2515" or .252" no-neck-turn chamber dimension recommended by Dave when rebarreling. Thanks for everyone's interest and comments.
 
I am using .252 neck dia. reamers and I'am very pleased with it. You can
call it no turn if you want. I set a neck turner to sort brass, rather than
clean up. I am cutting 25% on half of my cases. anything worse is set aside.
They shoot well. The 223 normally will never be a 22waldog. turning more
than that causes problems with long and deep seated bullets,. as the bullets are seated past the donut.
 
you are right...no one , to my knowledge, has ever worked the 223 at benchrest quality. maybe in the past but not currently.
the 262 6ppc is the results of poor original brass and lemmings. its the most common used, but other sizes work as well. its not a MAGIC number.

the answer is probably a combination of chamber neck size and bullet selection.
is it a bolt gun ?? or an ar ?? custom chamber ?? neck turned required ??
i go 2-3 thou below finished dia, with bullets seated at the lands in my ar's.
i just started working on my first 223 bolt gun. i started at the same point as above BEACUSE the throat is too long , so i am relying on some neck tension for ignition help. just zeroed the gun , nothing further yet...but will be trying 133 and 8202 with 52/53 ( 1/12 twist).

i do not know anyone with benchrest experience/technique currently working on a 223. most ar 223's with 1 to 1/2 moa are done with load development.


maybe someone else will jump in with some current data...

mike
 
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