how do you blow out the shoulders on a stw?

[antitactical]

I recently picked up a trg-s sako brand new in the box. It's in 7mm stw and I could not find nosler brass for it. I settled on 8mm Remington magnum nosler brass and I am going to run it through the die but then I need to blow the case back out. I ask this because I got some old remington 8mm stuff with the gun. I ran it through the die and then filled the case approx 1/3 with pistol powder then topped off with cream of wheat and stuffed a tissue in the neck. I shot it to blow out the case like a ppc. Needless to say the bolt was plenty sticky and it blew out the primer pocket. (it was quite loud too.) I didn't want to shoot all the cases with a regular load because of a stw barrel life. I also don't want to screw up almost 3$ a piece case of nosler brass. I've done the case forming in a lot of smaller calibers but nothing this big. Thanks for any help.

[J E Custom]

Originally Posted by antitactical

I recently picked up a trg-s sako brand new in the box. It's in 7mm stw and I could not find nosler brass for it. I settled on 8mm Remington magnum nosler brass and I am going to run it through the die but then I need to blow the case back out. I ask this because I got some old remington 8mm stuff with the gun. I ran it through the die and then filled the case approx 1/3 with pistol powder then topped off with cream of wheat and stuffed a tissue in the neck. I shot it to blow out the case like a ppc. Needless to say the bolt was plenty sticky and it blew out the primer pocket. (it was quite loud too.) I didn't want to shoot all the cases with a regular load because of a stw barrel life. I also don't want to screw up almost 3$ a piece case of nosler brass. I've done the case forming in a lot of smaller calibers but nothing this big. Thanks for any help.

The simple and safe way to fire form it is to = Size with the proper die, load with a mild load for
that cartrige and shoot it.

I dont substitute powders and dont like squibb loads because they can cause problems (as you
found out).

This method is safe as long as the head space is within the limits (.001 to .006 thousandths) and will chamber. it also does a good job of fire forming. also in many cases it can be accurate enough to hunt with (Less than 1 MOA).

Sometimes when using a squibb (Very low velocity and pressure) the cases have to be fired several
times before they fit the chamber well.

Hopes this helps.

J E CUSTOM

[AZShooter]

JE's method is useful. A friend is doing that approach with his 22-250 AI. He is getting 22-250 velocities with excellent accuracy. Once he does this to all 200 pcs he will work up an AI load.

An alternative is to install a rechambered a rem 7 Rem Mag takeoff barrel with the same reamer and use it to fireform all your brass.

I have seen Dave Miller the gunmaker show up at the range to fireform his brass. He has an old Mark X action with a short barrel chambered in 300 Weatherby that is bolted to a huge chunk of aluminum. He then clamps this to the concrete bench. He will shoot at least 10 in a row. By then the barrel is very hot and the heavy plate has relocated enough that he has to move and reclamp. He says he won't use virgin brass in his hunting rifle. I have thought of trying his method with a future rifle.

[Lefty7mmstw]

Stop for a second here guys.....
The only difference between the 8 rem and 7 stw is neck diameter. NO FIRE FORMING IS NECESSARY....

Neck, square your brass in a trimmer, load and shoot. The first firing will be similar to having new 7stw brass and the head space will grow to where your rifle's chamber is. Have fun.
Another note; you don't need a third of a case of pistol powder to cream of wheat fire form. A five to 10 grain dump will do and you should try to run it as low as possible while still getting form. I personally dislike this way as it'll soot your pipe up good.

[antitactical]

Thanks for the help. I guess I am going to shoot some light loads. I was just cautious because a 7mm stw isn't exactly polite to barrels. The case looks like it has less taper than a 8mm rem mag. I bought the gun originally to turn it into a 30-338 Lapua Ackley improved. The 995 action is big enough to handle the horsepower but I am growing fond of the stw.

[J E Custom]

Originally Posted by Lefty7mmstw

Stop for a second here guys.....
The only difference between the 8 rem and 7 stw is neck diameter. NO FIRE FORMING IS NECESSARY....

Neck, square your brass in a trimmer, load and shoot. The first firing will be similar to having new 7stw brass and the head space will grow to where your rifle's chamber is. Have fun.
Another note; you don't need a third of a case of pistol powder to cream of wheat fire form. A five to 10 grain dump will do and you should try to run it as low as possible while still getting form. I personally dislike this way as it'll soot your pipe up good.

You are right about the chambers being the same except for the neck, but Each chamber is
slightly different and it is recomended that to obtain maximum accuracy you should fire a
case at least once in the chamber before loading for accuracy.

When a squibb load is used the case is not forced into the chamber hard enough to be consistant
from one case to another. This is the reason I use medium loads to fire form brass. (Fire
forming does not have to be only when blowing out shoulders or case body's) It is actually every
time you fire a round for the first time in a particular chamber. After that most size only enough
chamber. This keeps the case more consistant and extends brass life.

In fact I like to fire form new brass, then size it to just barely chamber, trim all the cases to the
same overall length and then weight sort to be the most consistant.

J E CUSTOM

[Lefty7mmstw]

[QUOTE=J E Custom;755779]You are right about the chambers being the same except for the neck, but Each chamber is
slightly different and it is recomended that to obtain maximum accuracy you should fire a
case at least once in the chamber before loading for accuracy.

When a squibb load is used the case is not forced into the chamber hard enough to be consistant
from one case to another. This is the reason I use medium loads to fire form brass. (Fire
forming does not have to be only when blowing out shoulders or case body's) It is actually every
time you fire a round for the first time in a particular chamber. After that most size only enough
chamber. This keeps the case more consistant and extends brass life.

In fact I like to fire form new brass, then size it to just barely chamber, trim all the cases to the
same overall length and then weight sort to be the most consistant.

J E CUSTOM[/QUOTE/

I've been putting holes through things with the stw for 15 years with two different rifles. My father has also has two of these, but he still has his first. Both of mine(and the one my father still has) will shoot under 1/2 moa with any brass you put into them. I've shot cloverleafs fireforming 375 h@h brass. It really isn't necessary to pre-fire your brass here( I would blow out h@h brass first because of the volume difference). You are peeing into the wind for the most part.

My current rifle has rather long headspace; I believe it was cut with a new reamer. I still can't get it to care whether the brass has been shot before of not. I've adjusted my dies so the brass grows about .003" per firing instead of the .010" I was getting on the old rifle's setting( the old rifle was giving .002" at that setting).