What powder to use in fireforming

[central iowa couple]

I want to fire form some 280ai from 25-06. I'll seat the bullets long into the lands. I see people talk about unique....but i don't know how much to use. My first attempt at this

 

[RegionRat]

Be careful not to confuse techniques that use a wax or tissue plug, versus ones that fire an actual bullet.
Many forming techniques will use a very fast powder, like a shotgun or pistol powder, but they don't push a bullet.
Unique is pretty fast for a full size bottleneck cartridge, so be careful who gives you this recipe and get ALL the details.

Wouldn't you be better off starting with regular 280 REM to get the shoulder? The 25-06 case is kinda short to begin with?

 

[central iowa couple]

Good point....i wont use a bullet. Wanted to try cow methods. Maybe the free 25-06 brass isn't worth messing with. I've ff 30-06 brass to 35 whelen...thats easy. Open to suggestions

 

[just_jon]

I use 19.0 grains of Green Dot for COW fire forming 280AI brass from 280 Rem.
General rule of thumb is to use a charge equal to 1/3 of a normal rifle powder load. Unique should be just fine if you keep the charge low.

 

[central iowa couple]

Thank you very much. I'll be giving it a try after Easter

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

I want to fire form some 280ai from 25-06. I'll seat the bullets long into the lands. I see people talk about unique....but i don't know how much to use. My first attempt at this

Don't use a bullet with pistol powder.

 

[MagnumManiac]

Rule of thumb using pistol/shotgun powder is to use 1/3 of what a max load is normally, if 60g, then you use 20g of pistol/shotgun powder.
Personally, I like 'fluffy' pistol powder and I use Universal, but have used Green Dot and others. Important thing is to use a wad above the powder, then COW to the bottom of the neck, then toilet paper tightly packed into the neck.

Cheers.

 

[Prairie Sasquatch]

I think you'd find it pretty easy to sell the 25-06 brass and use the funds for 280ai. It's not easy finding 25-06 brass.

 

[FEENIX]

Rule of thumb using pistol/shotgun powder is to use 1/3 of what a max load is normally, if 60g, then you use 20g of pistol/shotgun powder.
Personally, I like 'fluffy' pistol powder and I use Universal, but have used Green Dot and others. Important thing is to use a wad above the powder, then COW to the bottom of the neck, then toilet paper tightly packed into the neck.

Cheers.

Mine was pretty close to yours, using 11g (20%) of WSF with COW on my .30 Gibbs. I could probably used a couple more grains, but I stayed conservatively.

 

[Zen Archery]

Primers are too valuable for me. I'd buy 280 AI cases. But I do a lot of wildcat fire forming. I typically use a low charge to hunt with to form case. Develop a full charge load once I get enough cases worked up.

 

[lancetkenyon]

Find an accurate fire forming load like any other load, and go have fun with it.
Bang steel, shoot paper, hunt, shoot rocks, varmint hunt.

Breaking in the barrel and forming brass at the same time is a worthwhile pursuit. I have shot my fire forming loads out to 1400 on steel.

 

[xsn10s]

Find an accurate fire forming load like any other load, and go have fun with it.
Bang steel, shoot paper, hunt, shoot rocks, varmint hunt.

Breaking in the barrel and forming brass at the same time is a worthwhile pursuit. I have shot my fire forming loads out to 1400 on steel.

This is what I do with my fire forming loads. And I jam into the lands. Last week it was consistent to 1400 yards. And last year my fire forming loads accounted for my farthest badger kill.

 

[Sealesniper]

When I fireform, I just shoot a standard load and firm the brass with the firing of the round. My 22-250 AI shoots normal 22-250 rounds very accurately out to 350-400 yards, and my brass is formed. So I just load up a normal 22-250 round and coyote hunt with it. If yote is past 400, I rack one round out of mag and shoot a 22-250 AI round. I see no need to waste components fire forming hitting paper.