After about 12-15 firings out of my current brass and after getting some that are now giving me "bolt click", I thought it would be time to retire this brass soon. As I was getting new brass out to prep for the next shooting cycle (2017), I wanted to try a few different ways to fireform.
The standard way to fireform is to load ammo with 54gr H4831SC and a 180gr Berger Hybrid seated into the lands and go shoot a match. I have shot this in 3x600 matches with good results. This is probably what most shooters do because it allows one to do what all of u like to do and that is, shoot. This method has been noted by many people to be very accurate. It is so accurate that Larry Bartholome (US F-Class Champion and top shooter) mentioned that he took a 284 Shehane fireform load to the Creedmoor Cup in Ireland and it performed exceptionally well. However, for the shooter getting into wildcat cartridges requiring fireforming, this can get expensive because you are using a bullet and full load of powder, not to mention if you do not have a fireform barrel or old barrel to sacrifice, you are putting rounds down a barrel and reducing its barrel life. If you are doing 150-200 cases, you can imagine how much it would cost to someone to fireform cases in this manner. In F-Class and with the hot 7mm's we shoot, barrel life could be as little as 700-900 rounds for competitive shooting. Luckily for me, I have an old barrel that I can do this in now.
I also tried the COW (cream of wheat) method. For the 284 Shehane COW method, I used some Win primers that I do not really care much for (perfect for fireforming), loaded 2 rounds at 10, 11, 12, and 13 gr of Titewad, then topped it with corn meal to about the neck and tapped it down with a 1/4 sheet of tissue paper. The reason for trying a 4gr spread is I wanted to see if there would be any difference. I also took two cases with 12 gr of Titewad and a single piece of toilet paper stuffed into the case, no filler. The reason for doing this is to see if I can generate enough pressure without any filler, it makes less mess and I hoped it would yield the same results with the filler.
When shooting these COW loads, I saw no difference with the 10-13gr spread of Titewad. With the cases with no filler, they ignited just fine, but I did notice that the shoulder edges looked a tad bit sharper with the filler. I compared the COW loads with a normal fireform load of 54.gr and a 180gr bullet and the results are below. (right case with soot on the neck is the one shot with a bullet). As you can see, there was no difference in a case fired with a bullet and one using the COW method.
One thing to note is that the COW method can get very messy depending on where you do it. Hint, do not shoot it into the wind as the particles of toilet paper make it look like it is snowing and your shooting neighbors will hate you. Ask me how I know...
I also saw that the Titewad burned very clean and cleaning the barrel was very easy. I was very happy with Titewad.
Measuring the cases below the shoulder, I got a perfect case blow out from virgin case dimension of 0.474" to about 0.485". The case dimension below the shoulder for a 284 Shehane is 0.486". I got this for both the COW and fireform load. No difference.
After this test, I decided that I would load the last 110+ cases with the COW method and with filler. I found a dipper (spoon) that gave me about 11-12 grains of Titewad consistently and was able to just dump powder into each of them without weighing. This saves a lot of time and is the reason why I tested a 4gr spread. I filled them each with corn meal and topped it with toilet paper. I would imagine this would work well with something like a 260AI, 284 Walker/Improved, etc. In my experience, the COW method for the 6 Dasher is not nearly as consistent in blowing out the cases, so I go with a false shoulder and fireform during 3x600 matches.
Time to shoot them off, get a new barrel(s) out for testing and get ready for the Berger SWN
The standard way to fireform is to load ammo with 54gr H4831SC and a 180gr Berger Hybrid seated into the lands and go shoot a match. I have shot this in 3x600 matches with good results. This is probably what most shooters do because it allows one to do what all of u like to do and that is, shoot. This method has been noted by many people to be very accurate. It is so accurate that Larry Bartholome (US F-Class Champion and top shooter) mentioned that he took a 284 Shehane fireform load to the Creedmoor Cup in Ireland and it performed exceptionally well. However, for the shooter getting into wildcat cartridges requiring fireforming, this can get expensive because you are using a bullet and full load of powder, not to mention if you do not have a fireform barrel or old barrel to sacrifice, you are putting rounds down a barrel and reducing its barrel life. If you are doing 150-200 cases, you can imagine how much it would cost to someone to fireform cases in this manner. In F-Class and with the hot 7mm's we shoot, barrel life could be as little as 700-900 rounds for competitive shooting. Luckily for me, I have an old barrel that I can do this in now.
I also tried the COW (cream of wheat) method. For the 284 Shehane COW method, I used some Win primers that I do not really care much for (perfect for fireforming), loaded 2 rounds at 10, 11, 12, and 13 gr of Titewad, then topped it with corn meal to about the neck and tapped it down with a 1/4 sheet of tissue paper. The reason for trying a 4gr spread is I wanted to see if there would be any difference. I also took two cases with 12 gr of Titewad and a single piece of toilet paper stuffed into the case, no filler. The reason for doing this is to see if I can generate enough pressure without any filler, it makes less mess and I hoped it would yield the same results with the filler.
When shooting these COW loads, I saw no difference with the 10-13gr spread of Titewad. With the cases with no filler, they ignited just fine, but I did notice that the shoulder edges looked a tad bit sharper with the filler. I compared the COW loads with a normal fireform load of 54.gr and a 180gr bullet and the results are below. (right case with soot on the neck is the one shot with a bullet). As you can see, there was no difference in a case fired with a bullet and one using the COW method.
One thing to note is that the COW method can get very messy depending on where you do it. Hint, do not shoot it into the wind as the particles of toilet paper make it look like it is snowing and your shooting neighbors will hate you. Ask me how I know...
I also saw that the Titewad burned very clean and cleaning the barrel was very easy. I was very happy with Titewad.
Measuring the cases below the shoulder, I got a perfect case blow out from virgin case dimension of 0.474" to about 0.485". The case dimension below the shoulder for a 284 Shehane is 0.486". I got this for both the COW and fireform load. No difference.
After this test, I decided that I would load the last 110+ cases with the COW method and with filler. I found a dipper (spoon) that gave me about 11-12 grains of Titewad consistently and was able to just dump powder into each of them without weighing. This saves a lot of time and is the reason why I tested a 4gr spread. I filled them each with corn meal and topped it with toilet paper. I would imagine this would work well with something like a 260AI, 284 Walker/Improved, etc. In my experience, the COW method for the 6 Dasher is not nearly as consistent in blowing out the cases, so I go with a false shoulder and fireform during 3x600 matches.
Time to shoot them off, get a new barrel(s) out for testing and get ready for the Berger SWN
