One more BRA Fireforming thread!

[KenOath]

Done some ff for BRA today only at 110yds, 30gns Varget, 103 Copperheads jammed. First shot in first group was on clean barrel which made the 5 shot group a .568” the next 4 shots went into a .104”. Shot a total of 7x5 shot groups and 2x10 shot groups.. no flags,wind 10 to 15 mph gusting to 20mph from 12 to 2 o’clock. Avg for 9 groups including the fouler was .324”, without the fouler .303”. Smallest group .147”, largest .568”
Not overly impressive groups compared to the short range guys but very happy with the elevation over 9 groups..188 rnds on Barrel now so time to start load development.. Avg speed for first 20 shots on Barrel was 2818fps, Avg speed today for last 15 shots was 2873fps on the Lab. Hope 4895 is as good to me!!!

 

[mikeeg02]

Looks good.

I've found while load developing for my br-ackley's very little noticeable elevation, if any with varget and h4895 at 200 yards. Rl15 was the only one I could get to show any, but it would get incredible speed without any signs of pressure.

My fire form load of 29.6 grains of h4895 would drill a hole at 200 yards once you found a seating depth. Which was jammed to some extent.

Edit: I had tried 30 grains of varget for fire forming and didn't have the greatest success with that on paper. 30.1 was a little better, but h4895 was incredible for forming. Afterwards one of my barrels didn't seem to want to come around with h4895. But with varget and formed cases, it's a winner.

 

[KenOath]

I’ll have to try fire forming with 4895 next Barrel, save the Varget for the BR..
I’ve also found in general that evevation with the BRA needs less attention than horizontal during load development..
There’s a few now with BRAs having success with Varget, think it may be worth looking into if 4895 won’t play the game.

 

[MDM]

What's your cleaning regimen like during the FF process?

 

[mikeeg02]

Once the barrel is broken in, fire forming uses the same routine as formed cases. Certainly shouldn't take all your cases being formed to break in your barrel.

 

[KenOath]

What's your cleaning regimen like during the FF process?

Initially fire 1 clean x3, Fire 3 clean, fire 5 clean, fire 10 clean done..

 

[KenOath]

Once the barrel is broken in, fire forming uses the same routine as formed cases. Certainly shouldn't take all your cases being formed to break in your barrel.

Some rough estimates of powder charge and seating depth but no final load till Barrel settles speed wise..

 

[mikeeg02]

Some rough estimates of powder charge and seating depth but no final load till Barrel settles speed wise..

I agree with that. Fire forming is a good time to see what it likes for seating depth.

 

[Gilbert Garza]

With the Ackleys do you start load development with new brass or wait till it’s fireformed ?

 

[mikeeg02]

I got pressure at 29.8 and above with h4895 while forming. Once formed, I can run up to around 31.1 until I get a little bit of bolt lift. You'll find there will be a fire forming powder load and a formed case powder charge. And it should allow you to stuff more in once formed.

Varget forming loads seem to be around 30 grains.
My h4895 forming load was at 29.6. And it was the best I've ever seen at 200 yards.

 

[Phil]

With the Ackleys do you start load development with new brass or wait till it’s fireformed ?

You need to form them first, the case will have an increased capacity, once this is accomplished then you can proceed to load development...

 

[KenOath]

You need to form them first, the case will have an increased capacity, once this is accomplished then you can proceed to load development...

This is the way to go for final load development, ff cases to Ack first..

 

[KenOath]

With the Ackleys do you start load development with new brass or wait till it’s fireformed ?

You can use a ff load, eg 30gns 2208 with 105gn bullet and virgin brass with speeds from 2820 to 2870 and accurate enough for club matches. For final load development start with the formed Ackley case.

 

[Gilbert Garza]

Going from virgin brass to full formed takes how many firings based off of 30g of Varget

I noticed while fireforming Dasher it took 2 firings to be fully formed

 

[mikeeg02]

95% of mine formed perfect the first time. I had a few that still had rounded shoulder/body junctions.

In my experience this year, I would anneal after fire forming. I did last year after forming to a dasher, and things worked as I expected. This year I did not and its taken a few firings to get them consistent(had certain cases not consistently shoot with the group). And naturally it took me a few firings to realize I probably should have annealed. Thats been across my three barrels for this year. Your results may vary.

 

[KenOath]

Going from virgin brass to full formed takes how many firings based off of 30g of Varget

I noticed while fireforming Dasher it took 2 firings to be fully formed

So far with two barrels I’ve found that one firing is enough, the length is fine, the shoulders are formed out to .460, some at the .200” line are .0005” to .001” under what a twice fired piece of brass is but doesn’t seem to make any difference in load development.

 

[newbieshooter]

Going from virgin brass to full formed takes how many firings based off of 30g of Varget

I noticed while fireforming Dasher it took 2 firings to be fully formed

I fireform with 30gr Varget and shoulders appear to be fully formed (using a FF barrel). I do find that it might take one more firing to get the base and shoulder dimensions to fully expand to the barrel dimensions. After the first firing, the base/shoulder dimensions seem to match the dimensions of a full-length sized case. YMMV.

I usually have one of my kids (teenager) fireform cases - Today, he got bored shooting the red target dots so he decided to draw instead -> he drew a stickman holding a sword....

 

[KenOath]

I fireform with 30gr Varget and shoulders appear to be fully formed (using a FF barrel). I do find that it might take one more firing to get the base and shoulder dimensions to fully expand fully to the barrel dimensions. After the first firing, the base/shoulder dimensions seem to match the dimensions of a full-length sized case. YMMV.

I usually have one of my kids (teenager) fireform cases. Today, he got bored shooting the red target dots so he decided to draw instead. Today he drew a stickman holding a sword....

View attachment 1049131

Impressive, now he’s just showing of!!

 

[newbieshooter]

Impressive, now he’s just showing of!!

I figured he can do whatever while fireforming. Got to keep it fun - keeps them coming out to the range.

 

[KenOath]

I figured he can do whatever while fireforming. Got to keep it fun - keeps them coming out to the range.

Agree, it’s a good idea I’ll be getting my young bloke to ff next Barrel.