Comments on: How to Fire-Form Brass without Bullets

By: joe Esposito

joe Esposito — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 01:08:51 +0000

I have (3) 6.5cm complete guns. Two Kimbers and one new Custom build 6.5cm with a Shilen premium grade barrel for LR.

I also used some premium Eagle Eye loads in the Kimbers with Alpha brass when I was setting them up to hunt. I want to use the 150 rounds of Eagle eye I fired through the Kimbers and now load it for the new rifle. To make the brass conform to the new rifle chamber without loading up complete charged cartridges , can I just pop a primer in uncharged brass and get it a little tighter in the new gun chamber?
I dont shoot competitively. But the new gun is doing .5moa when I’m doing everything right and I dont want to blow 150 rounds through this new gun just to fire form the same caliber.

By: Grant U

Grant U — Fri, 10 Feb 2017 01:32:33 +0000

Initially used the CoW method using a take-off barrel chambered with the exact reamer, but found that simply forming the brass with a bullet, with the false shoulder, in my primary barrel, still shot remarkably well. In fact, coached an acquaintance in a 1000yd sling match while he fire-formed my brass in that rifle. It is the only 200 score he has ever fired before or since.

By: spclark

spclark — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 13:29:48 +0000

2016 had me building a 7mm wildcat called 284INCH that uses 308 brass. Needed to FF cases from Lapua PALMA brass (previously used for Palma shooting) & with no COW in my house I used plain corn meal.

I’ll try tissue paper wad as suggested for the next batch! Corn meal works fine but without extra filler it’ll be less hassle.

By: Rich Kayser

Rich Kayser — Sun, 05 Feb 2017 20:35:01 +0000

Excellent option!

By: Boyd Allen

Boyd Allen — Sat, 04 Feb 2017 20:07:52 +0000

I have fire formed a lot of 6PPC cases (from .220 Russian) using pistol powder (usually Bullseye) without filler. I stuff a small square (about 3/4″) of paper towel in the case necks. It works just fine. I will say that I have no experience doing this to form cases such as the Dasher, where the shoulder is moved forward by a significant amount…but I do not see any reason why it would not work. One caution about using Cream-o- Wheat. I have heard of deposits inside of cases, on the underside of the shoulder, no experience, just a report from a credible source. If I were going to try that method, I would take the extra time it took to use bent wire to check that area after fire forming.