Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Fire Forming brass to a different caliber

Without getting into why I think 9.3x62 Mauser is one of the greatest and most successful (has killed more tonnage of game throughout the world... than any other caliber)... I will simply say, I LOVE THE CALIBER!!!

I fire form .30-06 brass (lower shoulder and .308 case mouth) to 9.3 x 62 Mauser (higher shoulder, larger diameter, .366 case mouth)... and tada over two tons of energy... very flat (260 Yards will keep you on a paper plate without hold over) and decent speed (2,500 FPS with a 286 gr. pill). 9.3x62 is legal to hunt elephant with... it also works well on smaller animals.

Cartridge on the left is a "ready to Fire Form" .30-06... 9.3x62M on the right.



Any primer will work (pistol, rifle, magnum etc.)... does not matter.



These case were annealed... the last batch was not (I had 3 splits out of 120 fired from that lot).



Powder charge is about 1/2 of what you read on the internet... 5 grains would do it... I did 7.3 grains... 10 grains will also work, but you will get more splits... and have more brass to trim.

What powder you ask? About any pistol or shotgun powder. Rifle powders are two slow... Have a 40 year old jug of questionable Unique? Give it a try... My advise is to ladder up your charges until you have one that you like. Every caliber varies.

Next comes the Cream of Wheat... yes that breakfast cereal you ate as a kid. Fill up the case... straight on top of you powder.



COW (aka Cream of Wheat) comes to about 1/4" from the top



Then stuff a napkin piece in the top to keep the COW from spilling out.



Wax off of those little cheese red round hockey pucks works also, but napkins are cheap and my Doctor told me to eat more fruits and vegetables and less cheese...

Take the rounds outside and shoot in your 9.3x62M (or whatever caliber you are doing)... After, your brass will be perfect to reload.

I am sure this has been covered before... I only posted because I was showing folks how to do it on another forum.

well you going to show the inside of your garage after forming is done???

Very nice photo essay. Worth about 7,000 words by my count.

Back when I was doing this sort of stuff (mostly blowing out .338 Win Mag cases to form .375-338 wildcat) I put a TP wad over the powder before filling w/ COW. IIRC, I took a square "sheet" of TP cut it into 9 smaller squares, then folded those twice. Use the eraser side of a pencil to insert and position the wad.

Can't see the pictures, but how are you controlling headspace?

I have two 9.3x62s... the CZ550 is my FF gun. Cartridge rim clips on the extractor...

It is a PITA... has to be feed thru the magazine box.

I was takin a trip out to L.A.
Toolin along in my cheverolet
Tokin on a number and diggin on the radio

Just as I crossed the Mississippi line
I heard that highway start to whine
And I knew that left rear tire was about to blow

Well the spare was flat and I got uptight
Cause there wasn't a filling station in sight
So I just limped on down the shoulder on the rim

I went as far as I could and when I stopped the car
It was right in front of this little bar
Kind of a red-neck lookin joint called the Dew Drop Inn

I stuffed my hair up under my hat
And told the bartender that I had a flat
And would he be kind enough to give me change for a one

There was one thing I was sure proud to see
There wasn't a soul in the place except for him and me
He just looked disgusted and pointed toward the telephone

I called up the station down the road a ways
He said he wasn't very busy today
And he could have someone out there in just about 10 minutes or so

He said, "Now, you just stay right where yer at!"
And I didn't bother to tell the darn fool
That I sure as hell didn't have anyplace else to go

I just ordered up a beer and sat down at the bar
When some guy walked in and said, "Who owns this car
With the peace sign, the mag wheels and the four on the floor?"

He looked at me and I damn near died
And I decided that I'd just wait outside
So I laid a dollar on the bar and headed for the door

Just when I thought I'd get outta there with my skin
These 5 big dudes come strollin in
With one old drunk chick and some fella with green teeth

I was almost to the door when the biggest one
Said, "You tip your hat to this lady, son!"
And when I did, all that hair fell out from underneath

Now the last thing I wanted was to get into a fight
In Jackson Mississippi on a Saturday night
Especially when there was three of them and only one of me

They all started laughin and I felt kinda sick
And I knew I better think of something pretty quick
So I just reached out and kicked old green teeth right in the knee

Now he let out a yell that'd curl yer hair
But before he could move I grabbed me a chair
And said "Now watch him Folks cause he's a thoroughly dangerous man!"

"You may not know it but this man is a spy.
He's a undercover agent for the FBI
And he's been sent down here to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan!"

He was still bent over holdin on to his knee
But everybody else was looking and listening to me
And I laid it on thicker and heavier as I went

I said, "Would you believe this man has gone as far
As tearing Wallace stickers off the bumpers of cars.
And he voted for George McGovern for President."

"Well, he's a friend of them long haired, hippy-type, pinko [bleep]!
I betchya he's even got a commie flag
tacked up on the wall inside of his garage."

"He's a snake in the grass, I tell ya guys.
He may look dumb but that's just a disguise,
He's a mastermind in the ways of espionage"

They all started lookin real suspicious at him
And he jumped up and said "Now just wait a minute Jim!
You know he's lying I been living here all of my life!"

"I'm a faithful follower of Brother John Birch
And I belong to the Antioch Baptist Church.
I ain't even got a garage, you can call home and ask my wife!"

Then he started saying somethin bout the way I was dressed
But I didn't wait around to hear the rest
I was too busy moving and hoping I didn't run outta luck

When I hit the ground I was making tracks
And they were just taking my car down off the jacks
So I threw the man a twenty and jumped in and fired that mother up

Mario Andretti wouldda sure been proud
Of the way I was movin when I passed that crowd
Coming out the door and headed toward me at a trot

And I guess I should of gone ahead and run
But somehow I just couldn't resist the fun
Of chasing them all just once around the parking lot

Well they headed for their car, but i hit the gas
And spun around and headed them off at the pass
I was slinging gravel and putting a ton of dust in the air

I had them all out there steppin and fetchin
Like their heads was on fire and their asses was catchin
then I figgered I had better go ahead and split before the cops got there

When I hit the road I was really wheelin
Had gravel flyin and rubber squeelin
And I didn't slow down till I was almost to Arkansas

I think I'm gonna reroute my trip
I wonder if anybody'd think I'd flipped
If I went to L.A., via Omaha

well said.... and impressed I remember that line, I have been trying the cotton ball method with mixed results not as messy but not as reliable, synthetic cotton balls work much better but do leave a residue in the case mouth and barrel, 6mm BRM from a 30-30 case 5 grains Bullseye 2 synthetic balls and boom a finished case, real cotton not so much even tried more powder ended up with 15 grains of Blue dot worked but not quiet and cotton all over the place, no it does not stay lit

Great refresher course! IT's been a few years since I've needed to use the CoW case forming method. Who'd have thought that stuff was meant to be food?

Load error and let er chew....

Well, I've long use a stiff load of Bullseye and a wax plug. Fortunately I have 100 rounds of Lapua brass, but If I form 280AI, 6PPC, 30BR, and others I have always used the Bullseye method.

Just some advice from one who's willing to share lessons learned from the 'errors of his ways'. Having fire formed plenty of AI brass, the one thing I don't do now is use any type of solid top plug; for me it’s no longer necessary and in my case, using wax lead to unwanted 'side effects'. I used to use paraffin wax as a top plug with COW. I found that after forming as few as 40 cases in one rifle, I had accumulated build up of partially cooked COW and paraffin in the lug races inside the receiver ring. I’m anal-retentive when it comes to cleaning and although I expected there to be residue, it was impossible to see with a 90deg reflector on my borescope, and impossible to get at and remove completely. It seems the more a rifle is fired afterwards the more it ‘bakes’ in the recesses. The real eye-opener for me was a Model 70 in 30-06AI which I had fireformed less than 50 rounds over its life time; when we removed the barrel to lengthen the throat, there was all kind of ‘hard-baked’ built up COW inside the receiver ring.

I had known that the wax would not burn or at least not completely, and had found wax residue that was easily cleaned up; however, in the areas I couldn’t reach it obviously combined with COW and tissue residue and hardening over time. So now I fireform without wax AND without a top plug.

My load WILL BE DIFFERENT than yours... ALWAYS work up...

Fire forming of .30-06 brass.

9.3 grains of Bullseye powder was the best, Clays (7.3 gr) also did well... 300+ cases FFed with only two split necks.

Bad news...

12.3 grains of Blue Dot (same load data as the others) started to back out primers... and "ching" snapped off the extractor (CZ-550 Medium) after about 40 rounds (didn't realize until too late).

New extractor is $35...

Such is life... different powders act differently.