Fireforming

I just fire form while working up an accurate (ie, repeatable) load. This methodology gets me there faster with less barrel wear and many times the best FF load just becomes my go-to hunting load in the FF cases.

I fire form mine while just a trip to the range, or hunting.
I've seen guys fire form while shooting at a match.

A lot of great info in this thread!

I will adapt some of my fire-forming methods. I have used bullseye & cream of wheat with a piece of paper towel in the case mouth.

I fire form in the garage. I purchased a large plastic trash can, drilled a 1" hole in the bottom, and then purchased some of memory foam for twin size beds The foam, plus the trash can(turned upside down) eliminates all noise.

When I was doing a lot of varmint hunting using 17 Ackley hornet, 223 AI, 22/250 AI, 243 AI, and 6 Rem AI, I always fired formed while hunting. Accuracy is incredible while fire forming cases at a powder charge that would be red line pressure in a parent case chamber, but since the shoulder is being blown out, pressure on the case is lower.

When using cream of wheat in the6 Dasher, 6 BRX, and 280 AI, I did find some cases that had an accumulation of Cream of wheat stuck against the inside of the case's shoulder. A bent paper clip used to scuff the inside of each case shoulder insures that case volume will not be decreased on the next full power load.

I sure appreciate the tip on using Coffee grounds.

I think barrel status is an important consideration here. Old barrel/old chamber - COW makes sense. New barrel/new chamber - might as well load cheap bullets and break the barrel in. It will make subsequent load development a lot easier because you're not chasing the barrel break-in and speed-up cycle.

Eric H said:

I tried that in my 243AI with a -.5gr full load and didn't group well. Trying not to waste components. Every gun is different but if you have about 100 .264 bullets I'll gladly fireform with those.

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If you can afford custom gunsmith work, I'd think the price of a box of bullets wouldn't be a big deal

Your always going to be doing the final forming with a loaded round, no other method really blows the case to the final dimensions.
I hate the mess of any method that blows crap down your barrel, and it's not at a high enough pressure that it's truly formed. Hydro basically the same thing only you get to play in water also and beat a press up.
The best method is to just load it and shoot it, if you find a nice load you just shoot and break everything in and get familiar with the gun and by the time your all formed your ready for serious load development.

Eric H said:

I tried that in my 243AI with a -.5gr full load and didn't group well. Trying not to waste components. Every gun is different but if you have about 100 .264 bullets I'll gladly fireform with those.

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Here you go. https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/3

$0.28 per bullet. You can break in your barrel and probably find a really good load with them as well. These shoot great in my 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 Creedmoor, and 260 Rem.

Eric H said:

I tried that in my 243AI with a -.5gr full load and didn't group well. Trying not to waste components. Every gun is different but if you have about 100 .264 bullets I'll gladly fireform with those.

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As with anything else, YMMV. @Justice1327 has an excellent experience with his .243 AI fire-forming, https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/fire-forming-243ai-brass.364809/#post-3158174

just_jon said:

I've fire formed thousands of AI cases using various methods. COW is my preferred method because of reduced cost, barrel wear and the ability to form cases without a trip to the range. One thing I've learned to avoid excessive case stretch during forming is to first establish a false shoulder by expanding the case neck up one caliber and then resizing the neck back to desired caliber. It is an extra step, but well worth it given the price of brass today. As for powder, almost any fast pistol or shotgun powder will do. I used green dot in a charge weight approximately 1/3 of a normal powder charge for the parent cartridge. After topping off with COW, I seal the case with Ivory bar soap.

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If your cases are stretching during forming or you have to use a false shoulder then you aren't headspaced properly. This is why Ackley used a .004' crush fit. Manson ackley headspace gauges have this built in and work perfectly.

just_jon said:

I've fire formed thousands of AI cases using various methods. COW is my preferred method because of reduced cost, barrel wear and the ability to form cases without a trip to the range. One thing I've learned to avoid excessive case stretch during forming is to first establish a false shoulder by expanding the case neck up one caliber and then resizing the neck back to desired caliber. It is an extra step, but well worth it given the price of brass today. As for powder, almost any fast pistol or shotgun powder will do. I used green dot in a charge weight approximately 1/3 of a normal powder charge for the parent cartridge. After topping off with COW, I seal the case with Ivory bar soap.

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As noted in #6, I had an accuracy load for .270 Win and .270 AI, so I never had to establish a false shoulder. However, in my .30 Gibbs, I had to.


(From L-R: .35 Whelen virgin brass, after re-sizing to establish false shoulder, fire-formed with 11g WSF (COW method), and after re-sizing).

Gibbs sure didn't mind gaining capacity at the expense of a short neck.

Phil Rizzo said:

Gibbs sure didn't mind gaining capacity at the expense of a short neck.

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The neck is no shorter than .264 WM, 7MM RM, 300 WM, STW, etc, or my wildcats (.30 LARA and .338 Thor). Stan Ware's is the shortest neck I know.

@Eric H, my apologies; I did not mean to contribute to hijacking your thread.

For curiosity sake, what does the neck measure? Seems like caliber is accepted minimum and Litz prefers like 1.09 if I remember right.
I fully realize it's not always necessary for the goal to be achieved tbough.

Phil Rizzo said:

FF loads can be every bit as precise as the final product.
Starting out with consistent brass yields good results as usual

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This what I've been saying for many years! My cases come out perfect every time.