Forming Ackley Brass with a New Barrel

[jackieschmidt]

.An important item to remember is to put a thin film of sizing wax on the case body so it does indeed form in length.

 

[Brians356]

.An important item to remember is to put a thin film of sizing wax on the case body so it does indeed form in length.

I lightly wet the body with Kroil or Rem Oil, for that reason, bulletless.
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[INTJ]

I ‘used to’ fireform with the c.o.w. method. Bullseye or unique, cream of wheat and the mouth pushed into a bar of soap to seal it up good. Assemble one, shoot one- slowly done. Running a brush and cleaning the chamber every 10 rounds. Always got near 100% formed cases. Until... the borescope became affordable and you wouldn’t believe the fire cracking it caused in a freshly chambered barrel. Over 6 inches front the threat forward. That was years ago.
Best to make sure it’s chambered right and tight and just use max load of parent case. Never found the need to “jam it” to insure the case head holds tight against the bolt face. The neck-shoulder junction “should be” doing this just fine..

70 percent Bullseye with a piece of TP to hold results in full formed shoulders and no fire cracking. After fireforming 200 rounds for a 6BRA using 20 grains of Bullseye and 1/8 piece of TP, the borescope showed just a light haze of gray that cleaned up quickly.

 

[centershot]

.An important item to remember is to put a thin film of sizing wax on the case body so it does indeed form in length.

So if I form cases with Trailboss and a bullet, you are stating to lube the cartridge with Kroil? What does that do?

 

[Steve Ladino]

What are the important factors forming brass with a new barrel? To me it is slow rate of fire to keep the heat to a minimum. Anything else? What powder produces the least heat and wear and tear on the barrel? Thoughts?

Yesterday with my 6.5 Creedmoor and 50 new Hornady case's loaded with 16 grains of Bullseye topped off with synthetic fiber pillow filler then a wax and mineral spirit mix gave me a reduction in headspace of .004 " which left the H-Spc. at .002", about perfect for my gun.

 

[6MMWASP]

I fireformed 150 rounds of 223 AI and 50 ,22 K Hornets on Friday shooting prairie dogs. I'm fortunate to be able to do that and probably would resort to fireforming without bullets if that was not available to me.
I have never had any difficulty finding an accurate fireorming load in more than 50 improved chambers and don't hesitate to hunt with them.
Match loads certainly would be a different story

 

[TAJ45]

Many times fireforming loads shoot as well as formed loads. I regularly form 22-250 to 6XC in matches with the same loads I use after they are formed.

Say Walt, using that case, dont you end up .020 or so short for an XC?

 

[Walt Krafft]

Yes. Has never caused a problem and I never have to trim. If it grows to that point it gets pitched. I just retired a group of 1000 cases that fired their 12th loading.

 

[urbanrifleman]

The beauty of the Ackley cartridge is that fireforming might shoot shoot smaller than the full load. So, just enjoy it.

 

[centershot]

The Trail Boss worked really well. No recoil and it formed the cases very well. I did clean a lot as it was a new barrel. Got a lot of green out in the beginning. Funny thing was that I used IMR 4451 for the last three shots and there was no trace of copper at all. Appears that stuff works.

 

[JFrank]

Yesterday with my 6.5 Creedmoor and 50 new Hornady case's loaded with 16 grains of Bullseye topped off with synthetic fiber pillow filler then a wax and mineral spirit mix gave me a reduction in headspace of .004 " which left the H-Spc. at .002", about perfect for my gun.

I am afraid of Synthetic anything quickly melting in the Barrel

 

[acloco]

Usually, 1.0 to 3.0 grains LESS than maximum charge of the standard cartridge/powder/bullet you are using.

Seat bullets at lands + 0.010 - bullet is jammed 0.010 into the lands.

Fireform on paper or hunting varmints.

 

[rardoin]

When chambering jammed cartridges does anyone put a thin film of something like resizing wax on the case head face to prevent brass staining on the bolt face?

I don't. It wipes off easily enough. Probably would not harm anything if only a very light coating of lube used.

 

[TAJ45]

Usually, 1.0 to 3.0 grains LESS than maximum charge of the standard cartridge/powder/bullet you are using.

Seat bullets at lands + 0.010 - bullet is jammed 0.010 into the lands.

Fireform on paper or hunting varmints.

Interesting. I have Ackley type friends who were active when you could do 500 rds a day in a dog town. They would load to max of parent cartridge for fire forming with nary a hiccup.... Just saying.

 

[rardoin]

Interesting. I have Ackley type friends who were active when you could do 500 rds a day in a dog town. They would load to max of parent cartridge for fire forming with nary a hiccup.... Just saying.

I do load testing while forming brass and shoot it at whatever velocity gives me a competitive load. I proceed to shoot matches with it until I get all my cases formed. Usually the forming loads are almost as precise as the fully formed loads and are usually within a grain of charge weight. My current comp load uses the exact same charge for forming as well as formed cases and shoot mighty well with both. Understand that I am not loading hot but moderate velocities for the bullets/cartridges used.

 

[rardoin]

I've seen mention of lubing the case as well, but not sure that that's something that I would want to do.

A light coat of lubricant, very light, will allow more full forming of AI brass with moderate loads....particularly if the design takes a of of taper out of the case body.

 

[acloco]

Interesting. I have Ackley type friends who were active when you could do 500 rds a day in a dog town. They would load to max of parent cartridge for fire forming with nary a hiccup.... Just saying.

I lose less cases when fireforming using the above method.

Can you form with top donor cartridge load? Yes.


Did your Ackley type friends seat long/jam?

 

[rardoin]

If properly chambered with a 'crush fit' on the neck/shoulder junction jamming bullets is not necessary forming AI cartridges.

 

[TAJ45]

I lose less cases when fireforming using the above method.

Can you form with top donor cartridge load? Yes.


Did your Ackley type friends seat long/jam?

Iirc, they would do a medium jam.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Like rardoin said above, a proper ackley doesnt need a bullet jam, false shoulder or any trick except bumping the virgin brass back .004-.005 to chamber snugly