Neck turners??

S

skeetlee

Active member
I am just curious as to what brand of neck turner you prefer and why you like it over the others. I am in the market for a new neck turning tool and i think i will either go with a 21st century or the PMA tool. The PMA tool adjust by the mandrel moving in or out towards or away from the cutter. Thats seems kinda cool, but is it practical? The 21st century is a nice tool as my good friend has one that i sometimes use. I have been cutting my .262 necks with one pass and all seems fine? I havent turned my own cases until recently so i am still a bit of a newbie to all of it. Just looking for some different opinions. Lee
 
pumpkin...but today i would try the others..........

mike in co
 
If you have a lot of brass to do and a drill press... Forester make a good one... I have turned necks to diameter and cases to length at the same time... it just takes a little set up...

powertrimmer-0.jpg
 
If you subscribe to the philosophy "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" then the Pumpkin is the obvious winner.
 
I have a PMA and it works fine. I was a little skeptical of the moving mandrel idea but I heard a lot of good reviews about it and tried one. The mandrel is easy to adjust and once locked in place it doesn't move. There are some good youtube videos showing how it works. I just did batches of ppc's and 30 br's and it did a great job. I know of others using the 21st century who are very happy with them.
 
Sean Kinley said:
I have a PMA and it works fine. I was a little skeptical of the moving mandrel idea but I heard a lot of good reviews about it and tried one. The mandrel is easy to adjust and once locked in place it doesn't move. There are some good youtube videos showing how it works. I just did batches of ppc's and 30 br's and it did a great job. I know of others using the 21st century who are very happy with them.
Click to expand...

I second the idea of the PMA tool. I too was intrigued by the idea of a moving mandrel and it has proven to be a useful feature. The instructions that come with the PMA tool are good. I understand they did well in selling them at the Super Shoot this year. Their two owners BTW are benchrest shooters.
 
Al I have to agree with you, I have the Pumpkin and thought I'd try the Stiller when it came out, mainly due to price.......sold the Stiller and bought another Pumkin. I also bought the new Sinclair NT4000 neck turner and find it excellent, with the NT4000 I find it easy to change calibers. Also the body is nice and easy to hold onto like the Pumpkin, the only advantage of the Sinclair over the Pumpkin is you can see the neck/shoulder junction....Kiwi
 
K&M Neck Turners

K&M. I have six dedicated to 3 rifles. 2 for the 6PPC. 2 for the 6.5x47L. 2 for the 308 Match. They are relatively cheap. They will hold .0001. Never had a problem.

Roy
 
I've owned about every turner out there but the PMA and 21st Century. I don't know how much brass I have turned over the years but it's in the tens of thousands. The only mistake I can say that I every made with reguard to neck turning....I didn't buy my pumpkin setup soon enough. However Lee, since you have a lathe, why do you need a turner?

Hovis
 
I wish I could say I was happy with my 21st but it never really worked out, adjustment wheel was sloppy, blade locking screw never locked. Hopefully it was just a lemon but I tossed it and went with a Time Precision.
 
I can use the lathe but everyone has always told me that i dont need to use the lathe to turn brass?? I have only turned about 150 pieces of brass in my shooting career. All that being the last couple months on my buddies 21st century tool. The turner works quite well. The only downside to his turner is that is has the steel turning mandrel and not carbide. We can easily remedy that though. We also just have the one turner and we are cutting the brass in one path. I had one guy tell me thats not a good idea as it puts run-out in the brass when you cut in one pass. Something about twisting the brass? I dont know about any of that! I do need another tool for my 22cal stuff, thus the question. Lee
 
Greg
Thanks for the link. I will have to try and make a mandrel but i am pretty sure my machine wont hold these kinds of tolerances. .0001 i doubt it very much. I did chamber another new barrel this weekend and its a shooter!!! I am very pleased!! Lee
 
I have the K&M. With the add on it is super comfortable and very very easy to adjust. I had the pumpkin style and it was harder to hold on to than the K&M and I didnt find it to be as adjustable. Just my opinion.
 
I have turned quite a few necks on my lathe with mandrels I made, but I much prefer to use a hand held neck turning tool with a shellholder that adapts to a battery powered drill. I find it faster, more accurate and just a lot simpler.
 
Using a lathe

I have turned quite a few necks on my 1440 lathe using a KM tool. It is still easier than using a screw driver. I have no idea how it compares with the other brands mentioned, but I know that Bruno has them (including mandrels etc) in stock and I can always run up to his store and get them when I am in a pinch. I usually run about 100 rpm when turning and put a drop of lube on the mandrel to keep it from getting warm.
 
I agree that a lathe and a K&M would work fine. I was referring to using a lathe with just standard lathe bits and single point cutting the necks and not using a purchased neck turner. Some guys seem to have worked out a good process with the single point method and it must work for them or they wouldn't do it.
 
I'm new to neck turning and have only used the PMA. It has worked fine for me. I would buy another.
 
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