fire forming .243 AI cases....how?

[CT10ring]

I have a new to me .243AI 1:8 twist Rem 700, seller gave me some formed, resized brass. I need more & want to know if there is a best way to form it.

I have read of using a fast (pistol?) powder, and poly batting or cream of wheat on top to blow out the shoulder. It seems that this might save the throat from erosion vs shooting bullets (?).

I have some Lil Gun-anyone have a thought if Lil Gun would work safely, or thoughts on how best to do this...

 

[Cheechako]

If you have a properly chambered Ackley Improved, it's best to make cases exactly the way P.O. Ackley recommended. Use a high end 243 W load and a bullet. There is no reason that your fire-form cartridges cannot be used just like any ordinary 243W. You will see a slight decrease in velocity but that is all.

Notice my use of the words "properly chambered".

Ray

 

[spikers220]

Yeah I am the same way. I always use standard 22-250 loaded roads and shoot them at critters. I just seat the bullets out so they are slightly in the lands. I get awesome groups with my fireforming loads, usually under 1/2 MOA.

 

[CT10ring]

thanks, gents. That seems..easy- I like it. Going to use it for long range PD shooting as walkabout rifle-
for not too fat & furious shooting - I will try with standard .243 brass & see what happens-never had an AI rifle before...thanks for the info. Going to try V-max 75g, maybe 87's...guess they should be just in/at the lands.

 

[acloco]

Should not have to put the bullets into the lands. Cannot hurt, but just don't load max book loads.

 

[pahog]

In new brass I use between 10-11gr's of Unique, then fill to case/shoulder junction with Cream of Wheat, then top it off with a hunk of cotton ball. I use a Q-tip with the end pulled off to pack in the cotton fairly tite. I use Standard Large Rifle primers. I can load up 50 fairly quick, I use a Lee dipper for the Cream of Wheat.

 

[CT10ring]

thanks for the info, will try fire forming too, just to see how it's done...save $ on bullets, that way...

 

[LWolken]

Strip the bolt and make sure the virgin case fits snug in the chamber. You should be able to feel it tighten up when you close the bolt. I can see a shiny ring right at the neck shoulder junction where it headspaces. If not then make sure you seat the bullets out to the lands. I went through a nightmare and lost about 400rds of once fired brass that had case head seperation after one firing, but all is good now. Gun shoots great with fireform loads.

 

[kjcpoint]

9.5gr of universal clays and cream of wheat packed tight with polyester. Just make sure all the polyester or cotton is inside the case. Shoot them in your garage.

Kyle

 

[Ackman]

I have a new to me .243AI 1:8 twist Rem 700, seller gave me some formed, resized brass. I need more & want to know if there is a best way to form it.

I have read of using a fast (pistol?) powder, and poly batting or cream of wheat on top to blow out the shoulder. It seems that this might save the throat from erosion vs shooting bullets (?).

I have some Lil Gun-anyone have a thought if Lil Gun would work safely, or thoughts on how best to do this...

Making .243AI brass is real easy. A lot of what you read about AI cartridges and forming brass is complete nonsense. Many people waste a lot of time doing things that are pointless. Don't screw around with fast powders, pistol powders, reduced loads, medium loads, and especially fillers like cream of wheat. Don't screw around with any of that stuff. Just find a load using bullets and go shoot them at whatever.

I don't go much by what the manuals say, they're good for a rough idea and that's about it. But ok....the Speer manual lists the top 243 load with 70gr bullet and W760 powder as 46.0gr. So start there and keep going up until you find best accuracy, and of course stop if there are any signs of overpressure. My fireform load in three different rifles was a 70TNT bullet and 48.0-48.7 / W760powder. (That was in my rifles, yours could easily be different. However, a friend used the same load range in his also.) With formed cases it's almost the same. With the best load, all bullets will touch and velocity is well over what a std. 243 does. Just realize.......you're not wasting components, wearing the barrel out, or even "fireforming". First you're finding an accurate working load that's well faster than std. 243, then you're shooting it and getting formed cases as a bonus.

I formed about 1,000 each of WW and R-P brass with those loads. Not one lost case.

 

[Cheechako]

You guys need to listen to Ackman. He knows what he is talking about.

I'm sure that P.O. Ackley turns in his grave when he hears talk about pistol powder, cream of wheat, wax, polyester, etc. He designed his Improved cartridges so that a factory load or a good reload could be fired and a nice AI case came out.

JMHO

Ray

 

[CT10ring]

interesting comments & appreciated. Going to do some work on this rifle 1st, will get to the shooting aspect in awhile, and will post my results, hopefully w/pix.