Fireforming question - 6 Dasher

[CShooter92]

I'm going to be fireforming 6 dasher soon here. I've heard a couple schools of thought on this. One is to just load a bullet, jam .020 - .030 with 30gr of varget and pull the trigger. The second is to false shoulder with a mandrel and also jam a bullet.

What, if any, benefit is there to either method? Obviously false-shouldering will take some more time at the reloading bench to get it done properly.

 

[El Cid 92]

I'm in the simple and effective camp. Varget 30gr, jammed 0.30" into lands, and repeat until all brass is formed. I use this while practicing positional shooting. I have suffered NO loss of brass due to split necks or incomplete forming.

Andrew

 

[spife7980]

Im in the opposite camp. I false shoulder AND jam.

 

[Milo 2.5]

I like a false shoulder and the bullet seated where it will shoot accurately while firing. If you get the false shoulder set right, all you need, powder does it's job. If your bullet shoots well jammed, go for it.
That said, if I had 200 pcs of brass or less to FF, I probably would not take the time to do a false shoulder.

 

[spife7980]

That said, if I had 200 pcs of brass or less to FF, I probably would not take the time to do a false shoulder.

HA! My thinking is the opposite, if I had more than 200 I wouldnt bother false shouldering again.

(Im betting your line of thinking is you would retire the less than 200 pieces with the barrel so any increase in case life would be unobtainable?)

 

[Dthomas3523]

Unless you’re in a pretty tight budget, the extra $50 per 100 for hydroformed brass is way to go IMO.

You can load 32.0 or so varget with you normal bullet and shoot a club match to do the final fireform.

 

[Milo 2.5]

HA! My thinking is the opposite, if I had more than 200 I wouldnt bother false shouldering again.

I have never had luck jamming bullets where accuracy is concerned. Not that I have tried hard though. Setting the die is the hardest, once done, whip out a lot of cases in a hurry.

 

[spife7980]

OP, note that Dave is talking about 32grains in the larger hydroformed brass, I tried 31-33gr varget ocw in virgin br brass to fireform due to misinterpreting it and 32gr in a virgin br brass is a pretty tough load, my bolt was getting really heavy to lift starting around there.

 

[Milo 2.5]

Unless you’re in a pretty tight budget, the extra $50 per 100 for hydroformed brass is way to go IMO.

You can load 32.0 or so varget with you normal bullet and shoot a club match to do the final fireform.

Solid ^^^ option too. I hated those short necks though, no losses I could see from the neck length, still did not like the looks.

 

[CShooter92]

Thanks all, I have 500 to do and I'm actually still waiting on my sizing die. I might try to jam a couple in the meantime and see how it works. To me it sounds like either way works, but does the false shoulder lead to better brass life or less chance of splitting cases?

Hydroforming isn't really an option since I'm in Canada and no one up here really does it.

 

[Milo 2.5]

Thanks all, I have 500 to do and I'm actually still waiting on my sizing die. I might try to jam a couple in the meantime and see how it works. To me it sounds like either way works, but does the false shoulder lead to better brass life or less chance of splitting cases?

I would say no to both, expect to lose 5-8 cases FF, either method.

 

[eldritch]

So far, I have been able to firearm 46 cases with my Dasher using a false shoulder from a 25 caliber mandrel and a .267 bushing in a Redding Type S FL die. This is using new Lapua brass, 30g Varget, 0.010" jump, and CCI 450s. Out of 50, I had 4 that didn't ignite. For some reason, the shoulder didn't seem to hold it strongly enough on 4 of them. I figure it was either from using the 25 caliber bushing instead of a 6.5mm one, using harder 450s, or a combination of the two. At any rate, they shot really well. I have some more loaded up the same way but with a 0.010" jam in addition to the false shoulder. I would already know how they shot if my state wasn't on lock down at the moment. The lengths were all within a thousandth or two of each other and I lost no cases. The shoulders look pretty sharp as well.

 

[Milo 2.5]

So far, I have been able to firearm 46 cases with my Dasher using a false shoulder from a 25 caliber mandrel and a .267 bushing in a Redding Type S FL die. This is using new Lapua brass, 30g Varget, 0.010" jump, and CCI 450s. Out of 50, I had 4 that didn't ignite. For some reason, the shoulder didn't seem to hold it strongly enough on 4 of them. I figure it was either from using the 25 caliber bushing instead of a 6.5mm one, using harder 450s, or a combination of the two. At any rate, they shot really well. I have some more loaded up the same way but with a 0.010" jam in addition to the false shoulder. I would already know how they shot if my state wasn't on lock down at the moment. The lengths were all within a thousandth or two of each other and I lost no cases. The shoulders look pretty sharp as well.

Fireform with a softer primer, like 205, if there are discrepancies in the false shoulder measurements

 

[shoot4fun]

DJ's Brass Service is the way to go.
You will get brass that you can load and shoot, even with that 32.5+ grains of Varget.
I have been shooting 6 Dasher for a long time now. I've put untold cycles on brass and it just doesn't seem to ever need trimmed or get loose primer pockets.
I finally make myself put it aside and have3 DJ hydro-form some more.

 

[eldritch]

Fireform with a softer primer, like 205, if there are discrepancies in the false shoulder measurements

Thanks! I'll load a few more up with some 205Ms and give that a try.

 

[buffybuster]

If you're going to use the jam method, make sure you have sufficient neck tension. That is not the time to try 0.002" neck tension.