Where can I find an article on fire forming using a filler but no bullet?
- Thread starter wchartz
- Start date
Re: Fire forming info
Look up the cream of wheat method.
Look up the cream of wheat method.
Re: Fire forming info
I have a home made baffle made from a heavy cardboard roll (8" diameter) normally used for concrete pilings which I lined with carpet, with a 1/4" steel plate screwed to the top and a piece of plywood across the bottom and hanging on a rafter in my garage.
I use any surplus fast pistol powder and experiment with the amount starting low and checking the results.
I use ordinary newsprint, about 1.5" square and roll it into a ball and tamp it down the case neck. Then I insert the barrel into the hole in the center of the plywood base and pull the trigger. Everything is pointed vertical. Then I check the results. There is virtually no pressure but the reason for the steel plate was because the original plywood plate was destroyed by just a few blasts of hot gasses, and easily rectified, screwing it to the existing plywood.
I do not use cream of wheat, just 10/12 grains of powder. It normally takes 3 or 4 trials to get the charge correct. The shoulders will be slightly rounded but full capacity of the "improved" case.
I fireform four Ackleys and a 22/243 Middlested so it is not an elaborate baffle for my purpose. A caution; do not stick the barrel more than a couple inches into the chamber or you might see scorch marks on it, from the gasses inside.
This has never caused a problem with neighbors calling the cops, it is not silent but about like striking a hammer and I do not have to travel to the range which for me is 18 miles. The wad of paper is completely disintegrated and holds a small amount of pressure, just enough to blow out the shoulder.
Now, a better way. I used to have a friend that would chamber my rifles for me and would alter a Wilson die with the same chamber reamer. (Wilson dies are not hardened like most other conventional dies) He would also chamber a barrel in a junk loaner rifle so that I could load a couple hundred surplus bullets and fire them in less than an hour with no harm done to my premium barrel but giving me almost perfect fireformed brass without deducting a round count from my expensive barrel. Works for me, and it will for you IF you have a friend who can do this for you. BB
I have a home made baffle made from a heavy cardboard roll (8" diameter) normally used for concrete pilings which I lined with carpet, with a 1/4" steel plate screwed to the top and a piece of plywood across the bottom and hanging on a rafter in my garage.
I use any surplus fast pistol powder and experiment with the amount starting low and checking the results.
I use ordinary newsprint, about 1.5" square and roll it into a ball and tamp it down the case neck. Then I insert the barrel into the hole in the center of the plywood base and pull the trigger. Everything is pointed vertical. Then I check the results. There is virtually no pressure but the reason for the steel plate was because the original plywood plate was destroyed by just a few blasts of hot gasses, and easily rectified, screwing it to the existing plywood.
I do not use cream of wheat, just 10/12 grains of powder. It normally takes 3 or 4 trials to get the charge correct. The shoulders will be slightly rounded but full capacity of the "improved" case.
I fireform four Ackleys and a 22/243 Middlested so it is not an elaborate baffle for my purpose. A caution; do not stick the barrel more than a couple inches into the chamber or you might see scorch marks on it, from the gasses inside.
This has never caused a problem with neighbors calling the cops, it is not silent but about like striking a hammer and I do not have to travel to the range which for me is 18 miles. The wad of paper is completely disintegrated and holds a small amount of pressure, just enough to blow out the shoulder.
Now, a better way. I used to have a friend that would chamber my rifles for me and would alter a Wilson die with the same chamber reamer. (Wilson dies are not hardened like most other conventional dies) He would also chamber a barrel in a junk loaner rifle so that I could load a couple hundred surplus bullets and fire them in less than an hour with no harm done to my premium barrel but giving me almost perfect fireformed brass without deducting a round count from my expensive barrel. Works for me, and it will for you IF you have a friend who can do this for you. BB
Re: Fire forming info
im not a fan of the inert filler method. I dont think it produces enough pressure to properly form a case. But i imagine that would depend on how much forming you had to do in the first place.
some people will tell you that you need to shoot 3 full pressure loads in order to fully form a single case. If that is true , you'd never get there using an inert filler and a fast burning powder.
im not a fan of the inert filler method. I dont think it produces enough pressure to properly form a case. But i imagine that would depend on how much forming you had to do in the first place.
some people will tell you that you need to shoot 3 full pressure loads in order to fully form a single case. If that is true , you'd never get there using an inert filler and a fast burning powder.
Re: Fire forming info
Well, that's not true, Amigo. At least in my world. One full charge with a bullet blows out a shoulder just fine.
Blowing out a case without a bullet serves one purpose, economy. The life of your barrel's best accuracy should not be wasted fireforming cases.
As far as "inert filler method" I said above that I don't use a filler. It's messy and tends to fall back into your action and trigger. I blow out the shoulder very nicely, but as I said, the corners are slightly rounded but the capacity is virtually equal to what you would get with a bullet.
It seems to me that if somebody requires three rounds to fully form a wildcat or improved case, he is not using enough powder, three separate times. I guess? That's why I need 3 or 4 experimental rounds to find out what it takes to do the job. Then, it's only one charge for 196 additional rounds.
And, that's all I need, for what I do. 200 cases last me ten years and by then, I'm down to 140 or so that have seen possibly ten firings? I don't find it complicated or even unpredictable. BB
Well, that's not true, Amigo. At least in my world. One full charge with a bullet blows out a shoulder just fine.
Blowing out a case without a bullet serves one purpose, economy. The life of your barrel's best accuracy should not be wasted fireforming cases.
As far as "inert filler method" I said above that I don't use a filler. It's messy and tends to fall back into your action and trigger. I blow out the shoulder very nicely, but as I said, the corners are slightly rounded but the capacity is virtually equal to what you would get with a bullet.
It seems to me that if somebody requires three rounds to fully form a wildcat or improved case, he is not using enough powder, three separate times. I guess? That's why I need 3 or 4 experimental rounds to find out what it takes to do the job. Then, it's only one charge for 196 additional rounds.
And, that's all I need, for what I do. 200 cases last me ten years and by then, I'm down to 140 or so that have seen possibly ten firings? I don't find it complicated or even unpredictable. BB
Re: Fire forming info
There is no reason to use cream of wheat. It is actually a good way to ruin a match barrel. What most people do not realize is that when you hear of guys doing this they are NOT using their match barrel to perform this exercise. They are using a shit barrel with a chamber cut exactly the same from the same reamer.
I know I am going to get some flame from some of the "do it all the time" guys. Save your breath. I have seen what cream of wheat will do to a barrel. Don't do it unless you have two barrels with teh exact chamber. Its the only safe way.
There is no reason to use cream of wheat. It is actually a good way to ruin a match barrel. What most people do not realize is that when you hear of guys doing this they are NOT using their match barrel to perform this exercise. They are using a shit barrel with a chamber cut exactly the same from the same reamer.
I know I am going to get some flame from some of the "do it all the time" guys. Save your breath. I have seen what cream of wheat will do to a barrel. Don't do it unless you have two barrels with teh exact chamber. Its the only safe way.
Re: Fire forming info
I agree with the above, 100%.
I agree with the above, 100%.
Re: Fire forming info
I think I had rather shoot some practice bullets at the range.At least I can practing breath control, trigger etc while doing it
I think I had rather shoot some practice bullets at the range.At least I can practing breath control, trigger etc while doing it
Re: Fire forming info
I think the salt in the cream of wheat should work wonders on bbl. steel. Yummy!!
I think the salt in the cream of wheat should work wonders on bbl. steel. Yummy!!
Re: Fire forming info
Thanks guys I think. But now my wife is going to make me eat a box of cream of wheat.
Thanks guys I think. But now my wife is going to make me eat a box of cream of wheat.
