I have read up to the most recent reply #8. It would be good to tell us what cartridge your rifle is chambered in. There are numerous methods, as have been described in the previous replies, that can be used when forming brass for a wildcat. I prefer the COW method, but thanks to your thread I'll be trying the "Choc-full-of-nuts" method next. If you've talked with FEENIX I strongly recommend following his suggestions, he will not set you wrong. He is the one who really helped me along when I first started loading for my .270 AI. I've used hydro form dies from Hornady, after forming 10 cases the piston on the die started burring up and became impossible to take apart. I would recommend Whidden hydro form dies if you want to go the hydro form route. For the .270 AI I am using 16.0 grains of Unique in the case first, then fill the case up with COW to where the shoulder junctions with the neck, then fill the rest of the case with rolled up toilet paper. This is a pretty stout load and quite load so don't be surprised when the round goes off. Also I "strongly" recommend that you invest more of your hard earned money, yup that's right this ain't a cheap date!!! After I bought an annealer I found that I would not fire form without annealing my brass first no matter what cartridge your reloading for. I also strongly recommend investing in a good set of dial calipers and some Hornady loc an load comparators to measure shoulder dimensions and COAL as well. Annealing your brass prior to fire forming will give you a better fire form because the brass is softer and you will get a better fire form or hydro form on the first try. If you are using the parent case and have components, don't worry about costs then by all means load up some rounds with a mid-range powder charge and you will get a pretty good fire form with the first firing. For me personally I really do not get a really good formed case until after this first actual firing of a bullet. "If" you are reloading for the .270 AI, I would suggest starting using a powder load one-grain below the maximum load of the .270 WInchester and work you're way up from there. I also would suggest using caution when getting load data recommendations off the internet. Every rifle has its own variables and every rifle reacts to loads differently, so tread carefully with recommendations. For an case annealing I use an Annealeez, but started out with a salt bath process, cost about $120 to get set up. The salt bath system works well, I just didn't like having liquid/melted salt (like 450 degrees hot) around my face and hands. If there's a mistake made with the melted salt the results can be catastrophic. Some may argue that a torch is equally as dangerous, however I believe that a torch is much more forgiving than extremely hot, melted salt. If you do a search on the forum there are plenty of threads referencing annealing. When I started reloading the .270 AI, I figured there would be a learning curve, and there was, so bought some WInchester brass instead of Lapua or Petterson brass because I preferred to destroy inexpensive brass instead of premium brass while learning to fire form. If I we're to go this way again I would only invest bin like 60 pieces of the inexpensive brass to learn my rifle from and then move on to the quality brass. I say this only due to the amount of time and money invested in components put into fire forming. A couple of more pieces of equipment you can spend your hard earned cash on would be a neck turning tool, and either bushing dies or a mandrel die set up for tuning your neck tension. I've never used bushing dies do cannot help you there. Again do more searches on the forum and you'll find lots of information on these processes. There's a bunch of good guys on here with a wealth of information and "experience" who are willing to share and help you through. Most on here are strongly opinionated and can be a real PITA, but you will get some good information related to reloading. I apologize for the long and unorganized dissertation. I'm typing on the iPhone, fat fingers and small device. Good luck with your new adventure. Hope this reply helps you out.
