Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Fire forming?

Roy:

My 8.32 Ackley Improved Sherman Mashburn Edge Magnum should be finished up in a week or so!!

Roy you might not load a "full pressure" load. I normally form with a little less charge than formed cases get. Lol.....I'm gettin ur text as I type this. Anyway yes work up a load that forms your cases nice and enjoy.

Obviously other ways work but when forming with bullets normally I'm close to being done with load work up and scope is also close to zero. Plus I'm shooting. To each his own though.

I've done it both ways making Dasher brass, which blows the shoulder forward a hundred thou, changing it to a 40 degree, and taking the taper out of the body.

It still takes a second firing before I trust them to do serious load work.

I've also FF'ed thousands of them at prairie dogs, but when it's colder than a well digger's ass, and snow up to tall Indian's nuts, it's nice to have another viable option.

That's a good looking case. I've no experience with that one and have formed only 2 cartridges that way. The 240 Gibbs which blows out even further. And the 17AH which blows out tremendously.....about 2,000 of those, all shooting bullets in the field, all fireforming with a load that was only a bit less than with formed brass. There's no reason to use 2 shots forming a shoulder. Brass stretches the same amount total. The shoulder winds up in the same spot whether it gets there in one or two stages.

Reading posts on these boards.......some people think fireforming should be done with a reduced load. Pretend your 6.5 Sherman is actually a true AI cartridge. An AI case holds more than the parent case and it's fired in a larger chamber. With true AI's the difference is more or can be quite a bit more. Even a top end load from the manual is wimpy in the bigger case. (With your 6.5 wildcat the difference is considerable) No reason to use reduced loads when fireforming. When you work up the most accurate fireforming load for that cartridge, I'll bet it's very close to what you'll be shooting with formed brass.

Bullshitt.....I've proven it more than once.

Of course if you don't have a BR capable gun, or the ability to shoot it, you wouldn't know the difference....

I don't know myself but Rich, who developed the cartridge told me u need two firings to get good sharp shouldered brass. Whether its the cow method or loading actual loads. Guess I will find out this weekend. I'll try both and see.


Roy

Bully for you. I didn't say it wouldn't work, of course it will..... I said there's no reason to do it that way. But if you like doing it in 2 stages, then go ahead on.

This is what I do. I do back off just a smidgen of my intended velocity/pressure just because.

Again, I was talking more specifically about a 6 Dasher, which is one case that needs a second firing before you can get the best accuracy, no matter how hard you pound it the first time.

I'm not talking about every case needing two, as you can't claim one firing does it for all.

BTW, I added in the rest of my response in your quote you seem to have left out that's quite relevant.....

Well said... Any handloader knows how to do it either way.

Of all the asinine threads that hit this forum, the ones preaching "live fire only" for forming wildcats takes the cake. 223AI shooters may be able to preach, but the guy who wants 100 rounds of 375AI brass, ready to hunt, and who grinds himself through 100 rounds of 375H&H in an afternoon, is brain dead and possibly retarded.

Cant think of a bigger waste of bullets and powder just to get to the "real stuff"; not to mention abuse to the body. But some like to show how tough they are...

BTW...RCBS dried corn husk tumbling media works swell; I like it better than COW.

Oh.....comments of factory load shooters should be ignored....if it weren't for wildcatters, they wouldn't have a lot of factory rounds to pluck from boxes.

Bully for you. I didn't say it wouldn't work, of course it will..... I said there's no reason to do it that way. But if you like doing it in 2 stages, then go ahead on. [/quote]
Again, I was talking more specifically about a 6 Dasher, which is one case that needs a second firing before you can get the best accuracy, no matter how hard you pound it the first time.

I'm not talking about every case needing two, as you can't claim one firing does it for all.

BTW, I added in the rest of my response in your quote you seem to have left out that's quite relevant..... [/quote]

I left out the last of your response because I didn't feel it was relevant.

On another forum was a thread by a guy forming Dasher with one firing, full power loads, and extremely good accuracy. No, I don't shoot the dasher.

You fellas try water dies yet? I believe Harrells makes them, caint imagine they are cheap though.......

I wonder why one just wouldn't use a form and trim die if you still have to FF. Then again, I guess cost is moot and maybe depending on actual change (significance) it may matter.

Your 6.5 sounds a lot like a 6.5 Gibbs. I would like to see the specs on the case.

A form and trim die is useless on cartridges that are moving the shoulder forward or making an improved shoulder.
Jump on me with my method. I use Bullseye and a wax plug. I do use a fireform barrel. I don't like to waste bullets and wear out barrels.

Butch... please describe that method in detail.


Thanks Roy

I once saw where a guy set up a Mauser action so he could screw a reloading die into it. He fired the COW loads though the die with the decapping/ expander plug removed.

Bb

RTSJ,

I purchased a Hornady hydraulic forming die. Kinda like the folks to suggest an expensive optics. Cry once. My cases come out looking about like fire formed cases.

Can I get an amen?


If I had to fire form 375, I'd invite some friends and tell them to shoot all the want. Fook that.....

I just put a healthy dose of Bulleye in the case and use candlewax to seal the neck. Everybody says"Bullseye! it will blow up". You are not building that much pressure with the wax plug. It might take two tries to form your case.