fire forming ?

47studebaker

ended up trading for a 7x30 Waters rifle length in a Contender. I have run some cases thru a die but now have to fire form. I have some 2400 and Red Dot along with cream of wheat, Lee dippers and wax that I used to make some 7mmTCU cases. I don't want to waste any bullets but can't recall how much Red Dot to use. I don't think it was very much but I don't know how much.


Can someone give me some guidance ?

charliemeyer007

I never liked the cream of wheat technique. Some people have used like 3 grains of Bullseye in the case, fired straight up. I much prefer to load a cast lead bullet with a medium charge, almost free and better alignment.

wanted man

Most normally, when fire forming I run a stout charge (according to the book) for the parent cartridge and have at it. Works well for me

243winxb

By "some cases" meaning what? 30-30?

After sizing in the correct die, normal loading data should work fine.

The loaded rounds neck diameter should not be larger then .306" for safe firing.

wanted man

wanted man wrote:

Most normally, when fire forming I run a stout charge (according to the book) for the parent cartridge and have at it. Works well for me

That's exactly what I've done for every case I've ever fireformed

hobo9650

I understand what you are doing. But, why fire form just to be forming the case?

I am new to reloading so this is a learning process for me.

Thanks

charliemeyer007

Sometimes there is no factory brass or ammo. For example I obtained a duel heat treat Springfield that had been punched out to 300 Gibbs. I took some full length sized match brass and opened the neck with an 8mm expander ball. Then I carefully work the very end of the neck back down to 30 cal. until the cases would just chamber. I loaded cast bullets seated out to just engage the rifling with a mild charge of Unique, and fired them. The resulting cases were fire formed to that exact chamber. That rifle was easily in the top 10 best shooting rifles I ever owned/shot - I never had reloading dies for it.

I have to make cases for 45-350 Rem Mag that was build by P.O. Ackley. I can blow out 350 RM cases or cut down 458 Win Mag, other mag brass will work. I have dies made for the rifle.

nononsense

47studebaker,

Generally speaking we use a percentage of the case capacity to initiate the fireforming loads. Sometimes an adjustment upwards is necessary to get a complete case form without exceeding cartridge pressure. I use a small piece of TP over the powder then add the CoW and the wax cap. As to clean up, get over it. Every rifle needs to be cleaned and this process is no different. The residue looks worse than it is. Here is a guide:

The basic method for determining the charge weight is to fill a case with the powder that you choose to use and then weigh the powder. Take this weight and divide it by ten to determine the charge to use with the Cream of Wheat. For example, if you determine that the case will hold 40 grains of Bullseye, then the charge weight that you should start with is 4 grains. This is the starting load. It may or may not be enough to completely blow out the case. I experimented with each of the powders that I tried and found that, on average, I needed to go to around 13% of the case capacity to get good results. I tried Bullseye, Unique and Power Pistol. All produced well filled out cases at a 13% charge. I am deliberately not listing actual charges. Brass varies from lot to lot, and the brass that you use to form your cases may not have the same case capacity. Of course, different calibers will require different charge weights. Keep in mind that you have a little more latitude in regard to charge weight when working with larger cases like those based upon 444 Marlin brass. If you intend to fireform smaller cases remember that very small increases in the powder charge can result in large increases in pressure. The bottom line is to proceed carefully until you find a charge that completely fills out the case.

Best.

navc130

To fireform a 30-06 size case: 10 to 15 grs. Red Dot with Cream of Wheat filler. Also, 12 to 15 grs. Unique with Corn meal filler.