Was just looking in Ken Howell's Designing and Forming Custom Cartridges. On pg. 54 he covers Fire-Forming without Bullets.
He advises priming with pistol primers to keep pressures down and references George Nonte's advice for powder charges in his book on cartridge conversions:
"Sixteen grains of Bullseye does a good job in blowing out standard .30-06 cases to size and shape for the .35 Whelen Improved ... start with a small charge of Bullseye that will fill about ten percent of the volume of the unformed case. Work up from this until a charge is reached that gives a cleanly formed case. Watch the primers closely for any signs of excessive pressure. Half grain increases are plenty until adequate expansion is achieved."
Ken also advised sticking with Instant Ralston, cornmeal or Cream of Wheat as the inert filler for fire forming without bullets.
Use a wood dowel to lightly tamp a quarter sheet folded wad of toilet paper over the powder and fill with Cream of Wheat. Press a small blob of bullet lube over the case mouth to seal and keep the inert filler from spilling out.
I made 9.3x62 cases from 30-06 this way. It worked well enough.
Okie John
