best brass fire forming method?

[AHILL]

I too am a fan of the COW- cornmeal fireforming method. Ido mine with a false shoulder formed in the neck, cream of wheat, and some Hodgen Titewad... no papertowel needed. I just point it to the sky and let her rip. Ive never lost a single case with this method... and thats with about 800 or so cases formed. I usually ultrasonic the cases after they're formed to be sure theres no COW in the case. The ring that forms at the mouth of the case is a result of the differance in the chamber and case length. make sure it dosen't drop out and get on the bolt face... as you will then form the next case with a bump under its rear!
Great method!

You boys just ant from the South.I use "GRITS" then cap off with canning wax,works great. AHill

 

[Ridge Runner]

I've done it both ways

this is a bullet fireformed group from my 7AM, 15 gr under max with WC872

Now using Unique/CM/TP just leaves the shoulders slightly rounded, after the way the pressure as to form the shoulders with a bullet load, how much could slightly rounded shoulders hurt accuracy?
JS

 

[Steve Shelp]

One thing that I found that helps with fire-forming brass that hasn't already been mentioned is lightly lubing the cases. This ensures they don't momentarily stick to the chamber walls and not properly setback against the bolt face. If this happens you stretch the brass walls. I use just enough imperial sizing wax to just make my fingers shiny. And then evenly apply to all cases. Swabbing your chamber every so many rounds is a good idea as mentioned above to make sure that debris doesn't stick to the greasy chamber.
I lube my cases very lightly when using the cornmeal/toilet paper or full load fire-forming method. Have seen the evidence when I forgot to do this to 10 cases out of a batch of (100) 338 Lapua cases. Of the 10 that I forgot to lube when forming I lost 4? cases after 5-7 firings. I only lost 2 cases out of the other 90 cases after 20+ firings. Pretty conclusive evidence.

Steve

 

[devildoc]

I've always just used midrange loads and light bullets to fireform with, that way I get to do some practice shooting while fireforming loads. I find it much more enjoyable to shoot rocks and varmints while fireforming.

 

[Boss Hoss]

This is the method that Speedy Gonzalez has used for hundreds of thousands of rounds.. He formed his brass this way and set world records and shot himself into the BR HOF by doing this.. I have done many thousands this way some for his shop even for customers.

Very simple fill the case about 70% full with Bullseye and place a small piece of cotton ball or wax into the case mouth. Then fire it up into the air---creates some heat so the process is kind of slow (about 60 or 70 per hour)unless you have dedicated fire form barrels. I use this for even the largest of cases I shoot like my 338 Lapua variant and the 300 RUM variant.. Works like a charm every single time…

 

[dmgreene]

This is probably a stupid question but has anybody ever tried to do this hydraulicaly? Could you use your chamber reamer to make die and then fill the case with water and then insert a tight fitting rod into the case neck and give it a whack with a hammer?

 

[Ridge Runner]

I did notice in my 6.5 gibbs that necks are about .001-.0015 thicker useing COW then they are shooting bullets.
RR

 

[CatShooter]

This is probably a stupid question but has anybody ever tried to do this hydraulicaly? Could you use your chamber reamer to make die and then fill the case with water and then insert a tight fitting rod into the case neck and give it a whack with a hammer?

Hornady makes a custom die for forming wild-kitties like the Ackleys, and others that are normally fire formed.

The die is made on a computerized EDM, and can be made from fired cases, Cerosafe castings (and probably others like sulphur), or chamber drawings.

You can use water or oil... and it works in your 7/8x14 press.

Not a catalogue item - call them.


.

 

[britz]

catshooter, you had me excited. I called hornady and they said that they didn't offer those dies

 

[long ranger]

catshooter, you had me excited. I called hornady and they said that they didn't offer those dies

Call them back and as for Lonny. They do make them custom.I have 2 sets on order at the moment, they work well.

 

[esshup]

Well, I feel real embarassed. I have about 80 cases in .257 Wby that were neck sized only, but I had a problem so they have .006" of runout. I checked a fired case, and the runout is .001", so I thought I could fireform the bad cases to straighten them back out. They wouldn't straighten out when run thru a bushing neck sizer, so I wanted to give it a try. I filled the case with Bullseye and weighed it. 55 grains. So, 5.5 grains of bullseye, topped off with COW to the bottom of the neck, then plugged with a bit of cotton ball to hold the COW in the case, right? A bit of COW came out of the barrel on the first shot, but it still had a plug in the neck. So, I loaded another one and pulled the trigger again. It didn't seem to fire, (no noise even like the primer going off with earmuffs on) so I waited a minute and opened the bolt. The bolt was hard to open, and when I did, the primer popped out of the shell and a bit of COW seemed to come out of the breech as well. Well, it seems that the 5.5 grains of bullseye mixed a bit with the COW when I poured the COW into the case and it wasn't enough to throw the first case full completely out the barrel. The 2nd firing kept pressure in the chamber until I opened the bolt, and the pressure pushed the primer out of the case. The barrel is plugged good now! I'll take a bore mop, trim most of the mop off of the end, and sharpen the twisted wire into a flattened point to try and "drill" thru the COW that is stuck in the bore using my hand and the cleaning rod with the chamber protector in place.....

Where did I go wrong? Should I have put a tiny wad of cotton ball between the powder and COW?

At least it's on the Vanguard!

 

[ZSteinle]

Well, I feel real embarassed. I have about 80 cases in .257 Wby that were neck sized only, but I had a problem so they have .006" of runout. I checked a fired case, and the runout is .001", so I thought I could fireform the bad cases to straighten them back out. They wouldn't straighten out when run thru a bushing neck sizer, so I wanted to give it a try. I filled the case with Bullseye and weighed it. 55 grains. So, 5.5 grains of bullseye, topped off with COW to the bottom of the neck, then plugged with a bit of cotton ball to hold the COW in the case, right? A bit of COW came out of the barrel on the first shot, but it still had a plug in the neck. So, I loaded another one and pulled the trigger again. It didn't seem to fire, (no noise even like the primer going off with earmuffs on) so I waited a minute and opened the bolt. The bolt was hard to open, and when I did, the primer popped out of the shell and a bit of COW seemed to come out of the breech as well. Well, it seems that the 5.5 grains of bullseye mixed a bit with the COW when I poured the COW into the case and it wasn't enough to throw the first case full completely out the barrel. The 2nd firing kept pressure in the chamber until I opened the bolt, and the pressure pushed the primer out of the case. The barrel is plugged good now! I'll take a bore mop, trim most of the mop off of the end, and sharpen the twisted wire into a flattened point to try and "drill" thru the COW that is stuck in the bore using my hand and the cleaning rod with the chamber protector in place.....

Where did I go wrong? Should I have put a tiny wad of cotton ball between the powder and COW?

At least it's on the Vanguard!

Same thing happend to me but i was dumb and didnt add any cream of wheat, just 8gr. or so of green dot and plugged to neck.

 

[Trickymissfit]

This is the method that Speedy Gonzalez has used for hundreds of thousands of rounds.. He formed his brass this way and set world records and shot himself into the BR HOF by doing this.. I have done many thousands this way some for his shop even for customers.

Very simple fill the case about 70% full with Bullseye and place a small piece of cotton ball or wax into the case mouth. Then fire it up into the air---creates some heat so the process is kind of slow (about 60 or 70 per hour)unless you have dedicated fire form barrels. I use this for even the largest of cases I shoot like my 338 Lapua variant and the 300 RUM variant.. Works like a charm every single time…

have not tried this method, but it came right out of the mouth of Ferris Pendel. Use Red Dot powder with cream of wheat. make wax bullets, and freeze them right before seating in the case. I usually use the cheapest bullets I can find, and firfore with a heavy midrange load
gary

 

[elkaholic]

What have you guys found to be the best way to fire form brass? Is there any difference in the technique that you would use in fire forming in a barrel that is new vs. one already broken in? I would appreciate any recommendations on powder, wads (bullets), etc.. I have several large case rifles in which I need to form brass. Thanks for your input.
Paul

Buy a hydro die from Hornady and forget about the hassle. Also saves blowing of bunch of crud down the barrel. I still do SOME fireforming, but this is a far superior method....Rich